Many books on startups and business talk about how there are right and wrong reasons for starting a business. So, we asked a handful of successful founders about their reasons and the thought-process behind starting their business.

Finleigh Zack | Artistic Director

I have been a dancer my entire life since the age of four. I always knew I wanted to do something in the dance field growing up. Once high school started I found an interest in choreographing and working with other dancers in that way. Read more>>

David Dance | Pest Control Business Owner

I always wanted to start my own business and be my own boss. After a lot of years of working for other people and consulting for large corporations, I decided it was time to solve my own problems, instead of my clients’! I also really believed that I could change the trajectory of a lot more people’s lives by being in charge and starting a business. Read more>>

Andy Rodriguez | Musician, Educator, Producer, Host

I started Music On My Mind to help promote local bands in the North Texas area. It started with bands I had friends in; shout out to Suite Sensations for being my first interview. I ask bands questions that help promote themselves and the location where they are performing at. I’ve been fortunate enough to have bands invite me to come to their shows! Read more>>

Nicole Arnold | President and Principal Designer

I knew I was a successful business person by my historical career in corporate America, working for a Fortune 100 company as a sales and marketing executive, When it was time to change my environment, I knew I wanted to focus on sales, and I wanted to work in an industry where I could feel passionate about the services and products I was going to bring to my customers. Read more>>

Clarisse Bertiaux | Artist and applied arts teacher

After my studies, I worked in different places, but always with a link to art and artistic culture. Whether professionally or as a hobby, the cultural sector has always attracted me. I like to create, I like to share. At first, I mostly shared. Through artistic management, diffusion and cultural mediation. Read more>>

Megan Bond | Owner | MB Marketing

The short answer? “Why the hell not” From deciding to start my own business to actually filling my LLC only took a matter of weeks. At some level, deep down I had always wanted to own my own business, but that thought didn’t make it to my “waking brain” until the very end of 2016. Read more>>

Lua White | Portrait & Music Photographer

I had been tentatively exploring photography since my teens, but really started to deep dive toward the end of 2021, when my husband gave me a Sony ZV-1 camera as an early Christmas gift. I started taking the camera out to local concerts and planning portrait sessions with my close friends, and in practicing on a regular basis, quickly realized that I was much more passionate about photography than I had previously thought. Read more>>

Joe Yow | Joe Yow

The thought process behind starting my own business is the passion I have to help the next generation. We have so many of our youth going in the wrong direction with no one to really talk with or teach them how to handle what they are feeling internally and how to positively express what they are feeling. Read more>>

Johnny Roth | Here’s Johnny – Entrepreneur

The thought process behind starting my own business? Let’s see, before I started my own business I was working full time and then some. At a steel mill putting in 60-72 hr weeks most weeks. 12 hr rotating shifts. Nights, Days, Weekends, Holidays, Birthdays that place never shut down. I liked what I was doing, moving tons of steel around the plant in rail cars and a locomotive. Read more>>

Sabrina Vaseleck | Sabrina Vaseleck – Owner/Creator of Ruby + Begonia

I never thought as a kid, “I want to be a candle maker when I grow up”… but life has a funny way of not working out as planned. I joined the Air Force at 18 and served for almost a decade as an Imagery Analyst. At 27, I left Active Duty and my home on Hickam, AFB in Hawaii to move back to Mount Pleasant, TX where my husband and I could raise our two boys closer to family. Read more>>

Sam Decorato | Owner

Our thought to starting our own business is simply this, we recognized something was missing in our beauty profession and we knew we could be the ones to provide it. We wanted to provide an establishment with highly skilled professionals that were more that average stylists, barbers, and skin care specialist providing celebrity status services at cost effective rates for our community. Read more>>

Brandi Wright | Texas Real Estate Broker

My first job in real estate was working as a buyer’s agent on a team. It was a great introduction into the business, but as I got a little experience under my belt, I would find myself sitting in team meetings with ideas flowing through my head of changes I wanted to see or new ideas I wanted to try, but my role on that team didn’t allow for me to step outside of a somewhat narrow list of responsibilities I had. Read more>>

Rohan Mitchell | Owner of DMS Rapid Delivery

My thought process of wanting to start my own business didn’t begin until I had my own experience of finally living on my own in my early 20s and having to experience the unpleasantness of moving to a new apartment. While I was moving I thought about how easy would it have been if I just hired a local moving service, and just paid them, and be done with it. Read more>>

Christi Rose | Realtor®/ Board Certified Credit Repair Specialist

My thought process behind starting my own business is leaving a legacy for my name and reputation. I believe that I have so much knowledge and determination that I needed to pour into something that would be beneficial. Read more>>

Raquel Jarjoura | Owner of Hannah Mae Boutique

I was very familiar with boutiques before opening my own! I shopped, and actually worked for a boutique for over a year. My thought process when starting Hannah Mae was to be able to provide women no matter the age with affordable clothing that will make they feel confident and beautiful! Read more>>

Alex O | Car Detailer

As an entrepreneur, starting my own business was an exciting opportunity for me to take control of my career and have the freedom to express my creativity. I have always been passionate about exploring new ideas and projects. Starting my own business allows me to fully immerse myself in my work and bring those ideas to life. Read more>>

Rajendra Chirumamilla | Research Scientist, PhD Biotechnology

It was my all-time dream to have my own company and COVID pushed me to make my dream come true. When the company I was working for had layoffs, I was affected and I was not prepared for that change to be forced upon me. I had one thing in my head: “A virus or poor management in a company cannot stop me from what I love doing.” I love to bring innovation to society through the research and development of green and socially conscious products. Read more>>

Bryanna Roberson | Social media graphics specialist

I started my business in May of 2022 after walking out of my job that I had at that time. I knew I had a talent that I could put to use to keep my afloat during that hardship, I was really unsure at first but I had two cousins that encouraged me to do it, so I did it and I haven’t looked back since and it’s honestly been the best thing I’ve ever did in a really long time. Read more>>

Ashley Carrero | Owner & Lead Instructor

My husband and I started this business after he began teaching CPR part time. Being a first responder, he saw first hand what early CPR can do to help someone survive. We decided to turn it into a full business after we realized the majority of public school teachers in Texas are not CPR certified. Read more>>

Jessica Morales Serna | Small Business Boutique Owner

I started my small business about 6 years ago when my children were in middle school and playing sports. I found it hard to find shirts or any apparel to support my kids and their teams. I was making designs and then sending them to someone else to print and make a shirt for me to wear to the games. Read more>>

Christopher Bussey | XKO Co-Owner

Its what we do. Our family has been promoting various live events since 1991. We have learned all aspects including marketing, ticketing, staff management, venue negotiations, setup/teardown, graphics, video productions and Pay Per View. Read more>>