The first step to starting a business is deciding to start a business. They say the first step is the hardest and in our experience this is especially true when it comes to starting a business. Getting over the mental roadblocks can be tough, often harder to overcome than the challenges you’ll face once you actually start the business. Fellow entrepreneurs share their thoughts below.

Archie Murphy | Chef

Trying to support my family and break generation of wealth. Also show people my gift. Read more>>

Andrea Castaneda | Fine Artist

Well, I decided to start my own business because I’m a Fine Artist and waiting for galleries to sell my artwork was taking to long so I had to always relay on them. So one day I decided to sell my own artwork and the only person who I will relay on would be myself. In the process I started selling prints and clothing with my artwork printed on it. Thanks to that I started innovating my store and build my own website. Read more>>

Diana Brosseau | Landscape Artist

To be honest I was more driven to start the creative process than a business. I’m a full time mom to three little girls so the bandwidth to start a business didn’t really exist. But I had the desire to be creative and painting makes me feel alive and inspired. The business part happened organically. I picked up a paintbrush last summer for the first time in a decade and started painting seascapes and landscapes. After I began posting them to instagram they sold pretty quickly. Read more>>

Keniah Tenison | Youtuber, entrepreneur, brand ambassador

In 2020 I was a senior in the middle of the COVID pandemic depressed and stressed out because we didn’t get the chance to have a real senior year. So I decided to change my thinking and look for something positive. I loved doing my own hair and I had been looking into making lipglosses myself, so I set a small budget, did some research and started buying products that I thought I would like to sale. Read more>>

Karmen Alexander | Krave Catering Co., LLC

Food to me is art and I wanted to share my art with the world. The way I can paint plates with sauce or decorate with floral accents, fill the air with sweet and savory aromas, put smiles on people’s face makes me happy. I love enhancing old recipes an coming up with totally bizarre ones that no one has thought to try. Read more>>

Tahnee Brown | Business Owner of The Hair Mama LLC

I remember what it felt like to be a woman with hair loss. Not just a woman, but a hairdresser! My biggest motivation was my cause. I wanted to bring confidence back to people and bring others hope through my purpose! Read more>>

Mike Magolnick | CEO and Founder

I really like the idea of leading the ship and being flexible enough with what I offer clients to truly customize their experience in working with me. I think its important for entrepreneurial-minded people to take that step, because great things come from people who step out of their bubble. Read more>>

Ivan Pelly | Founder of ivan.bar

Serendipity led be to start ivan.bar. I’m vegetarian and hypoglycemic, so I wanted a snack that was made with minimal processing and only healthy ingredients… no corner-cutting! The engineer in me figured I could do it myself. After some experimentation, I made what I thought was the perfect bar for me, and it turned out that it was the perfect bar for a lot of people. Read more>>

Lesa Wilburn | Wedding Planner and Coordinator

Simply Eventful Wedding Planning was not a vision that I dreamed about as a child, young adult or even in my 30’s. Upon graduation from college in 1996, I followed my degree plan and became a teacher and taught 5th grade until 2020. Teaching is where I felt that I would retire from and then enjoy retirement. In 2017, my daughter was in a wedding that was literally a mess. Looking back, we all realize that and can laugh about it today. Read more>>

Russell Scott | Russell Scott | Professional Artist & Dancer

Honestly, I did not have much of a thought process prior to starting my Art business. I just dived in. One might ask why not, and or suggest you think about all things before starting a business. However, thus far in my journey, I have found ‘just doing and living in the moment and accepting each bit of the process to be more profound and successful. Read more>>

Ashley Kelly | Nanny Placement Specialist

I wanted to help bridge the gap between nannies and families. I wanted to help make the process easier for both parties involved without requiring astronomical fees to do so. Read more>>

Irwin Daye | Actor, Teacher, Filmmaker

I love connecting with people and filmmaking is a medium that can help bridge a connection between mastering my artistic craft and my impact on my nearby community. We established the need to finish our screenwriting projects to promote underrepresented artists that need a creative outlet for their artistry. I hope to build this company into a sustainable work community for unprivileged communities. Read more>>

Sergio Guzman | Cannabis Entrepreneur

Early on into our Cannabis career we realized that quality control on the consumer level was very low. Most people who were working in sales were not experienced with the products they were selling, whether it be tinctures or flower, and it was hard for consumers to distinguish between which brands are good and which ones to avoid. We decided to become the quality control for the CBD and Hemp industry and we created The Cannabis Library brand in order to market and promote good products and companies within the industry. Read more>>

Demarcus Young | Founder | CEO

It was all manifestation! I knew what I wanted to do since I was a teen and I knew that I had to work hard to get to a high level in the music industry. When I started to do music, I told myself that I wouldn’t sign to a major label and that I would create my own independent label and help build and connect the community in music. Read more>>

Mary Onuoha | Dance Company Owner and Choreographer

Starting my own business has always been a dream of mine. I have always known that I love to lead people and I knew I wanted to have a major impact on others, especially those who have dealt with difficult upbringings. My love for dancing is where I found my lane, my voice, and my emotional outlet. When I was in high school I told my friends I wanted to have my own studio one day but it always felt so distant. Read more>>

Stacy Agee Martin | Hand Lettering Artist and Nonprofit Executive

I’ve always been a doodler and hand-letterer. As far back as the 80s, my high school friends would often ask me to decorate their book covers; I might have bartered with a few of them to help me with my math homework in exchange. Since then, I’ve dabbled in various forms of artistic expression just to satisfy my own need for creativity, but those pursuits turned into unexpected side hustles every time. Read more>>

Shannon Nelson | Your Neighborhood Icecream Mixologist

I wanted to become an Entrepreneur as well as my own boss. I also desired the ability to spend more quality time with my children (Na’Cole 12 and Harmony 6), while also making the same salary or better than my previous 9-5 career. Read more>>

Summer Lee | Influencer Marketing & Talent Management Agency Founder

I had been toying with the idea of starting a talent agency for quite some time, after having worked closely with dozens of influencers over the last several years on the brand-side of the influencer marketing space. A lot of influencers and content creators don’t have a business background, because their work is 90% creative. Read more>>

D!llon | Artist/Songwriter

I just knew that their were so many ways that I could navigate through the music industry snd I didn’t want to keep my outlets limited. So starting my business D!llon was a big move and was always in the works. I just knew that I could have multiple outlets and way to accommodate and create myself and build my brand into more than just music. Read more>>

Gerardo Lira | Co-Owner of Fort Worth Barbell

Behind the thought process or our vision was not only to create a local small gym for the up coming development in Fort Worth but to share our knowledge on fundamentals, strength training, and most importantly health. Read more>>

Sha’Kreshia Terrell | Sha’Kreshia Terrell, CEO of Humble Hustle Finance

I desire freedom to live life without limits. To work from anywhere, vacation anywhere, anytime I want. I want to be able to watch my daughter grow up and give her experiences that I never had as a child without having to spend so much time at a 9-5. Read more>>

Atiya S. Brown, CPA, CA | Tax Strategist

I actually never thought I would have my own business. I pictured myself climbing the corporate ladder and one day having a corner office overlooking the city skyline. All that sorta changed on 7/11/2017 when I was laid off from my corporate job. Read more>>

JaKari Bradford | Professional Wrestler & Actor

Well the first thought that started it all was “how can I create generational wealth?” I look at my family around me and for the most part everyone is doing well for themselves but I feel as if I’m the black sheep of the family and with that mentality I want to set my kids up for success and leave them with something that can put them ahead Read more>>

Andrea Verner | Private Chef and Caterer

I wanted to have the freedom of being with my family, traveling, just creating a balanced professional/personal life. After I had my daughter, it was an obvious choice to start my own business. As a solo parent, you would think this made our life more challenging, but it actually made us have an easier and more loving life. Read more>>

Jeremy Anderson | Entrepreneur/Business Man

To definitely go for it!!! The sky is truly the limit and we mostly place limitations on ourselves but when we make up in our minds that this is something that we want to do and we dedicate our time and energy doing it then the universe has a way of making it happen. I’ve never been afraid of failure because throughout any journey if you pay attention then you will grow. So it’s so much better to start over with experience now. I once heard the amazing actor Will Smith say that whenever you fail you should always fail forward and that stuck with me. Read more>>

Jordyne Davis | Personal Chef & Caterer

I came up with the idea of Trap Cuisines due to losing my job in 2017! I had lost my job, lived in a condo in las Colinas, running out of funds in my savings account. I always had people ask me to sell them a plate or make a plate when i posted my food on Facebook or IG. I decided to do a test run on a plate of spaghetti, corn and salad. I Sold 29 Plates! I figured i could do it again, just something different. I sold plates all that weekend. Read more>>

Raven Bartee | Self Love & Confidence Coach

I started my business because I saw a need for women to truly learn how to love themselves. I personally did not love and care for myself for a while. I also saw women around me not caring and loving themselves properly. Self love is something we hear often but who is really out here teaching women what self love really is? I am. Read more>>

Kirby Hayes | CPA

Honestly I stumbled into it. I used to work for a public accounting firm performing both audit and tax functions. I had a noncompete clause, so the thought of preparing returns on the side never even crossed my mind. When I moved to Dallas and started working in the private industry I was no longer bound to bringing in clients. Read more>>

Sarah Tamayo | Stylist

It was terrifying and thrilling at the same time. My thought process was being able to be completely dependent and able to govern myself and develop my own personal brand for my craft. I wanted to branch out and experience what I could do on my own. What I could create for myself and my clients instead of depending on someone else to create the setting and style. Read more>>