Are you thinking about starting a business? If so, we think you’ll enjoy reading about how these seasoned entrepreneurs thought about the question when they were in your shoes.

Yeshua Hannah | IT Director & Founder

There are still so many people who are afraid of technology on an individual level or struggle with best practices on a business level. The goal was to provide ethical IT solutions and training for individuals, non-profits, churches, small businesses, and organizations. Read more>>

Arin and Chris Spears | Arin (Certified Personal Trainer, Nutritionist & Entrepreneur) Chris (Servicemember & Entrepreneur)

Our brand, Motiv Unlimited, started in March 2020. My husband and I were always busy and on the go with our 9-5s, clients, and daily workouts. After a few months, we noticed that we were not able to find apparel to fit our busy lifestyle as we were having to replace a lot of our athleisure clothing after a few uses. We were sitting in a cafe one day talking and we thought, if we are experiencing this issue we are sure there are other people out there with a busy lifestyle who are experiencing the same when it comes to performance-driven clothing for the everyday lifestyle and that is how our brand started. Read more>>

Austin Anderson | Founder & President, puddin’ pop

It’s funny you called us a business, it certainly feels like I work WAY more than I did when I was earning an income. Ha ha! Starting puddin’ pop was born from a combination of wanting to get involved with the foster system, leaving a long-time sales career, COVID, and an inspirational post from childhood acquaintances in my home state of Colorado who were serving underprivileged children with used clothing. Read more>>

Nicole & Rachel Swann | Photographer & Model

We both were in college. Rachel was a senior, Nicole was a freshman. Nicole had just joined a beginners photography class and thought she was a professional after three weeks. Rachel had taken one modeling class and thought that was enough combined experience to start a business. Neither of us had ever walked into the business building on campus or knew how to spell business. But, one day we got to talking about the idea of starting up a fashion business in some sort of way and decided on Nicole being the creative director/photographer and Rachel being the model/business side. Read more>>

Jason Stablier | President & Encourager

I wanted to start an environmental service company for quite some because good service in my industry had fallen off tremendously, and I thought that I could change the industry by raising the bar in terms of providing better service. However, I was faced with a difficult situation with my current employer. I couldn’t resign because I agreed to a non-solicitation / Non compete agreement. My employer had no reason to terminate my employment when I had exceeded my revenue goals every month, which was extraordinary in 2020 when our economy was crippled by COVID-19. Read more>>

Domonique Reagan | Insurance Broker

I would have to say as I reflect on this question, I have always known I wanted to have my own business, but I was never sure what my exact business would be. I just knew I had to help and serve people in a greater way. I started with what I noticed about myself and that was how naturally I gravitated to the credit repair process. I was extremely knowledgeable and had excellent credit myself so I loved to share what I knew as well as provide strategies to those who would come to me for assistance. I didn’t start out charging because it was never about the money for me. People began insisting I take payment for my time and the results they were receiving from me helping them. Read more>>

Ethan Harlan | Founder- Hesazi-Men

As men, it think it’s important that we present our best selves to the world. Masculinity and self-care are not mutually exclusive. I wanted to create products that supports normalizing self-care in men, specifically men of color, and a brand that gives men the confidence to be the kings they were called to be. We created Hesazi-Men, an all natural male grooming line. Hesazi means he thinks, it’s a reminder to men that we are civilized by our brains not our brawn. Also, Hesazi-Men is a reminder to the world that Black men think, we also have feelings and emotions. Read more>>

Shaun Franklin | Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach

I’ve been a Personal Trainer and Group Trainer since 2012. In that time I’ve worked for four different gyms, studios, or boot camps. I’ve taken what I consider to be the positives of each of those experiences and have combined them in to something that I can call my own.Eventually I realized that people are enjoying my training style, or my “way” of training. Every trainer puts their own personal “spin” during training sessions. Read more>>

Anna Ontiveros | Professional Makeup & Hair artist

It’s the hardest thing in the world ! I have a love hate relationship with starting your own business, first because of the importance of keeping up with it and being consistent while you’re raising a toddler and currently pregnant with one , but it doesn’t stop me. I think I fight harder for my business because of my kids and their future. I grew up being unfortunate , my mom couldn’t give us everything but I watched her try so hard and for that I appreciate her the importance of not quitting. Read more>>

Brandon Emmitt | Founder/Owner/Chef At Emmitt’s Catering

I have been in the business for 16 now. After being in the business a few years at the time. I notice working with a lot of cooks, chefs, and managers didn’t care about the job. They were lazy, had no directions or vision. Many of my former managers & chefs would be in the office playing on the internet doing the busiest time of our shift. I’m working and running around with no support from my leaders. Read more>>

Justin Hall | CEO / Executive Director

How do I take control of my life, that was the thought process behind starting my own business. After spending years in the retail industry, my life became a constant cycle of work, home, work, home. Jobs have one thing on their mind and that’s making money, you as the employee are the money makers, in turn, they control your life. Every two weeks I get this same check working 80 hours a week ( I was upper management) and still being told it’s not good enough. Being told when I could be off, how long I could be off when I could go home being given a schedule that I have no say over. Read more>>

Josip Abramovic | Business Consulting for the Industry

When I matured with some experience and gained a good reputation in the industrial sector at the age of 33 I realized that I am worth more and that I can influence people and share my experience and knowledge to make them better in their work. I decided to open an industry consulting firm in Germany, and it eventually expanded globally. Today we are starting a new story in Dallas … Read more>>

Makayla Allen | Tattoo Artist

I could always draw since the age of 12, inspired by my grandmother. I wasn’t sure what i wanted to do for a career but I knew it would involve art . When I got my first tattoo I still didn’t even see it as a career I could do since back in 2014/2015 it was a male dominated industry and i didn’t see many female tattoo artists. I eventually got more interested and decided to give it a shot and it immediately became a passion.. I’ve been building my name and craft up since the age of 16. Tattooing to me is an escape from reality, and i personally never thought I would make it this far… such a long way to go though Read more>>

Andrew Bowman | Vincent Aprons

I have always been creative in nature. I find the need to create something that represents me/has a story and depth to it. When starting Vincent Aprons, I knew the name “Vincent,” my fathers name, that I wanted to use for the company’s name. There is passion, depth and remembrance behind each and everything apron sewn. With the hardest part out of the way, a name to represent me, I moved forward towards making my first apron. The first design was made/drawn down when I was on my 12th hour of my shift as a sous in a local restaurant. The rest is history… Read more>>

Briana Johnson | Bakery Owner

I worked in Social Services for over 10 years and have always baked as a side hobby. When I decided to turn my hobby into a business, I was still very afraid to take the leap and do it full-time. I liked the security of having a job to go to every day. My plan was to continue to bake as a second job and ONLY leave my day job when I was able to open a storefront. I started a website and became more active on social media so that people could find me. I was loving my daytime job and baking in the evenings was a great stress reliever. Read more>>

Maya Jones | Small business owner & Crochet Artist

I was working as a server at Mellow Mushroom when they started to have pop up markets. I thought it was really cool to see all these people follow their dreams and pursue their own business. It wasn’t until my coworkers at Spirit Halloween ask me to make a baby Baphomet for them that i really played on the idea. of course with the on going courage of Jerehmai Washington and a few others. I’d have to say the hardest part of the process was coming up with an unique business name. if I hadn’t put much thought into it I would have ended up as Crooked Hookers instead of Sunnichi’s Crochar. Read more>>

DeAndre Nevels | Director & Videographer

In high school, I was in the yearbook club where I did Photography and Graphic Design. Which I enjoyed it very much and had a passion for. After I graduated high school I worked at many food industry and 9-5 corporate jobs that never really worked out for me. Not only was I doing something I did not like to do or saw myself doing long-term, but all of this didn’t provide the financial stability that I truly needed at the time. Something inside of me always told me to go after what I loved to do and that was everything in general with media. I took a leap of faith and began Nevels Media with my wife officially in 2018 and although it was rough at the beginning, it started growing. Read more>>

Juli Henderson | Vocal Instructor, Blogger and Advocate

In terms of my JH Voice Studio, it was an easy process because my degree is in Vocal Performance and I love to teach. However, in terms of my extending my “voice” beyond my students to include sharing my very personal journey by creating the In Our Arms Blog…that process took considerable time and deep thought. Read more>>

Dee Walton | Real Estate Professional

As a business student, I went straight from college to working for some really great companies. I was a human resource professional and spent my career helping employees, manager, leaders and objectives reach their business goals. I very much enjoyed this part of my job, helping others. But….I wanted to be my own boss. I feel in love with business as a college student and I have re-engage my passion for it as I have started my own business. And the icing on the cake is that I am still helping others. Read more>>