Starting and growing a business is hard, but often deciding to start the business in the first place is even harder. We asked some successful entrepreneurs from around the community to open up to us about how they thought about starting a business.

Biridiana Ordóñez | Owner of M&B

M&B Tiny Shop started with the purposes of bringing our Mexican and Guatemalan culture to our city: Denton TX. We wanted to share artisan made products to our community, which was lacking. We are the first artisan boutique store in Denton. Read more>>

Elena Ortega and Anna Goot | Co-Owners and Stylists

We’ll, we both wanted the freedom to choose our schedule and make our work-life balance better. We also wanted a space for our clients to feel more relaxed and welcomed unlike our previous place of employment. Read more>>

Divya Dornadula | Franchise owner of Wize Computing Academy specializing in teaching Design, coding, Robotics inspiring young learners to be leaders of tomorrow

I believe that my skills and interests gave me the inspiration to launch this company, and that this choice did not come to me all at once but rather developed over time. The steppingstones for my interest were my engineering training in electronics and my previous work in the area of Design, Coding and Testing in Electronics. Read more>>

Benet Embry | Co Founder and CEO of Clearwater Productions LLC, SAG-Aftra Eligible Actor, Award Nominated Director, Award Nominated Radio Personality, Published Author/Writer and Poet

The thought process behind starting Clearwater Productions LLC and Benet Embry Films is basically to change the game in the film industry. As an actor there are a lot of things that I saw that could be streamlined in the process making for film and television. As an SAG-Aftra Eligible Actor, Award Nominated Director, Award Nominated Radio Personality, Published Author/Writer and Poet I wanted to create more opportunities not only for myself but for others that want to be involved in film and television. Read more>>

Kendra Thomas | Children’s Book Author

My biggest motivation to become a children’s book author is my daughter. I wanted to leave something for her that she can be proud of and maybe become a writer too. Read more>>

Justin Frazier | Doctor of Physical Therapy

I honestly felt relatively burnt out working in traditional physical therapy settings and was ready to be done with physical therapy all together. Within insurance-based settings, clinics are limited by insurance on every front – how you operate, what gets approved, how much you get compensated. PT’s are pressured to sustain a high workload in order to keep the clinic profitable, and on top of that there is so much resource from the companies that goes into appeasing the insurance system. Read more>>

Katie Burks | Founder + Executive Director

I wish I could say there was an immeasurable amount of thought – that I planned everything, researched business strategies, and even educated myself on the best ways to facilitate creating and maintaining a successful organization. In reality, the process (in thought and in action) was the exact opposite and there was exceptionally little forethought or question of, “Are you sure you’re prepared to start a business?” Or especially, “Do you know how hard it is to run a business!” Read more>>

Ben Foltz | Tile contractor

I began my career fresh out of high school. I was passionate about it from the start. As I grew and learned more under my now business partner I knew I could build something more than just a “tile business” but a brand I could pass down to my son. Read more>>

Mykel Jones | Natural hair care line

My thought process behind starting my own business was being natural and showcasing how to wear your natural hair. Feeling great in your natural skin by showing off your true identity. I want to create products that helped define but show off the luscious curls of each kind of texture. Read more>>

Sophia Williams | Business Owner of Earth Goddess Shop

I always love candles. My husband bought me my first candle making kit . So I got into making candles as a Hobbie, then I wanted to share to the world my talent. So Earth Goddess Shop was born May 2020. Read more>>

Morgan Williams | Medical Sales Rep and Scrub Uniform Owner

Forever Frances Scrub Co is dedicated to my late mother Marian Williams, who was an amazing nurse. My mother’s passion for nursing, caring for patients and teaching others have always been very inspirational to me. In 2016 my mother was in a fatal car accident that resulted in her being killed and my dad being left in critical condition. I’ve always wanted to honor her legacy as an award winning nurse and thought this would be the best way. I’m truly grateful for all that healthcare professionals have done for my family and others. Read more>>

Steve Riney | Restaurant Owner Operator

I’ve been in the industry for over 20 years and when the opportunity became a real option i jumped on it. Its just always been a dream of mine to own my own place since i have been running restaurants with success for everyone else. Read more>>

Jared Thomas | Owner & Entrepeneur

It honestly started with a dream of owning a restaurant/music venue years ago. Being a singer/songwriter myself, I have had this idea of owning a place where musicians could come & share their gifts with others. Add in that I have a genuine desire of feeding people, it just made sense to give it a shot. Read more>>

Kyle Shovan | Photographer & Filmmaker

If I’m being honest, I get bored really quickly. I’ve always sort of joked that I’ve got about a year and a half in me at any particular job, then I’m looking to do something else. Photography and filmmaking had been hobbies and side hustles for several years as I worked other full-time jobs. Read more>>

Leah Blakely | Owner & KJ

After attending many local karaoke shows in DFW, my partner and I decided we wanted to start up our own karaoke business to address some of the things we disliked about other shows. One of the major problems with karaoke is the fact that the host often plays favorites, or doesn’t manage a fair singing rotation. Read more>>

Ashutosh Acharya | Entrerpreneur

There is a demand for Indian food as people have started to open up to try different kinds of cuisines. However, there are still some people out there who are scared to try Indian food thinking that its very spicy or they dont know much about it so dont want to try it out. We want to present Indian food to our customers in the way they are acustommed to and make it mild and flavorful so that it can be enjoyed by everyone. Read more>>

Nicole Collie Jamison | Graphic artist & Artist/Painter

I started my nonprofit Gray Spaces because I wanted to help people with their graphic needs, from logos to websites and everything in-between. I choose to work with people that are beyond passionate about their projects. I am passionate about what I do so I look for kindred spirits when I collaborate. Read more>>

Life Coach Winn -Winnetka Smith | Life Coach & MHPS (Mental Health Peer Specialist)

My thought process behind starting my own business, Well, I feel as if I’ve been coaching my entire life. Family, friends, and strangers have always felt comfortable in coming to me for guidance and advice about life. In pursuit of my purpose, I realized that coaching is my purpose. Read more>>

Kiarra Sykes | Wife, SAHM, and Hospitality Professional

Like most people – a new hobby emerged during the COVID-19 Pandemic. ​
Kiarra was someone who had been obsessed with historical British culture and historical fiction books and television shows since her teenage years. During the pandemic, a phenomenon emerged on Netflix — Bridgerton. Read more>>

Kaitlen Forman | Licensed Professional Counselor

When I was a teenager, I tried the whole counseling thing and hated it. I didn’t feel like I connected with my counselor and even though I desperately needed help, I wasn’t willing to divulge my deepest and darkest secrets to someone I didn’t feel a connection to. Fast forward into my 20’s, I finally found a counselor I loved. She listened to me, laughed with me, cried with me, guided me towards figuring out my crap without spoon feeding me all the answers. Read more>>

Catriece Webster | Foodtruck

My whole thought was to work for myself. It didnt matter what i did as long as I couldnt be fired or treated poorly because my race & sexuality. So I bought a step van that was used for construction purposes and sat it in my auntie’s yard for 4 yrs in Memphis Tennessee. Read more>>

Nafeesa Spann | Traditional & Digital Artist

My thought process behind starting my own business was for freedom and also to bring a big recognition in the industry because it’s not appreciated as much as it needs to be. Having my own business feels amazing and it makes me strive for more as being an entrepreneur. It’s like I feel that only one thing is not enough. Read more>>