It takes a lot more than an idea to build a business, but there can’t be a business without the idea. So we asked folks who’ve built wonderful businesses to tell us about how they came up with the idea in the first place.

Reachelle Kacz

The ocean has always grounded me. As a young girl, I loved dolphins, but that fascination grew into awe for the entire underwater world—from coral reefs, sharks, and sea turtles to the mystery of the uncharted deep.

I earned my SCUBA certification in college and have since explored waters in Aruba, Greece, Hawaii, Mexico, the Keys, and Bermuda. But my most recent dive in the Keys was sobering: coral bleaching made clear the urgency of protecting what we love. Read More>> 

Alex Cochran

I’ve always been interested in photography but never really took it on full force. My mom was a family photographer in the early 2000s, and I’ve played around with her cameras quite a bit. She taught me the basics of photography. While getting my BA in Journalism at the University of North Texas, I took a course on photojournalism.

It wasn’t until I had my son earlier this year and started taking photos of him that I realized I could delve into this more. Thus Wild Child Photography was born. Read More>> 

Bri

I came up with the idea of ChingonasOnly after a friendship ended. I had mentioned to someone that after ending that relationship with my friend I only wanted to hang out with chingonas. My friend said “you should put that on a shirt”. I was like that doesn’t make sense, but I thought about it for a minute and was like “chingonas only” Yes! From there I had to decide what I wanted that to mean and exactly what products to look into. I wanted to be really intentional with making the brand not only a reflection of the things I love (2000s and lowriders) but also making real impact in communities of color. Read More>>