Our community is comprised of some absolutely brilliant entrepreneurs and so we asked a few of them to tell us the story of how they came up with the ideas for their business.

Jimmienell & Jake Newell | Creators of Dates & Dines

Jimmienell: The idea came up when I started dating my husband Jake. Before meeting him, I had been on every dating app possible, going on multiple dates and trying to put myself out there. In that process, I realized that not many people know how to plan a date well. When I finally started dating Jake I saw how much effort he put into researching great restaurants and fun activities for us to try. Our dates were amazing because of his planning and all I could think is “people NEED his help”. Read more>>

Marques Jackson | Fashion Forward Creative

Be Me ‘Til They Bury Me was actually a part of lyrics I wrote for a mixtape I released back in 2016. I was hanging out with my good friend Emmanuel Everett. He’s a fellow creative and amazing at graphic design. When I said the lyrics out loud we both paused and it hit us, “That’s a dope motto”. Not even 20 mins later he had a rough draft for the logo and we took off from there. The phrase hits home for me because I struggled with finding my inner confidence for a long time. I felt like I never fit in. Be Me ‘Til They Bury Me is a constant reminder that I’m “cool” the way that I am and I don’t need to fit in. Read more>>

Rosa Elkurd | Speech and Language Pathologist

The idea of my business grew for a need to represent people of color in a private sector. I received an emphasis in cultural linguistic diversity through my masters program and felt that I needed to make my services available to my community. Latina’s only represent 8% my entire profession (less than that). Additionally, Latina business owners in our community are not well represented. I wanted to put bilingualism and cultural diversity at the forefront of my practice and focus on patient care. Read more>>

Lawrenza Williams | Custom Printing

Before I started in the print industry, I was a surgical dental assistant for 10 year’s work with children. Which I loved doing. I have two sons in elementary school. And I would show my appreciation to the teachers and staff by making them something personalized like a keychain, mug, gift basket, shirt etc. Then it turned into teachers asking for custom shirts and parents contacting me. About make them something for them or their family member. I talk to my husband and mention to him I think I’m going to focus on my small business full time and leave the dental field. It’s been the best decision ever I started with a small machine from Joann’s and moved up to a commercial printer. Read more>>