Starting a business is a commitment and requires dedication, resources and sacrifice. We asked some of the rising stars in our community how they thought through the idea of starting their own businesses.

Erin Patterson | Owner & Candle Maker

I’ve always had a love for candles and home fragrance, particularly their ability to change the energy of a space, create calm, invigorate and refresh. When I started making candles 9 years ago as a hobby, it was driven by wanting to control what ingredients were used, as store-bought candles often made me sneeze. Learning more about what makes a good candle, I became passionate about creating products that contain industry-leading quality ingredients while remaining richly scented. Read more>>

Tammie Polk | 958556618

There wasn’t a second thought of starting Beautiful Butterflies Transitioning, Inc back in 2019 after years of doing the work prior to. I made a vow back in 2012 after leaving an unhealthy partnership of 18 years that I would become the woman I needed during the time I transitioned out of that marriage. I vowed to be a listening ear to hear the needs of the women that have been traumatized; share my experience; offer resources; and make any referrals as necessary. Growing up I saw first-hand how abuse affected the women I loved. Read more>>

Andrea Manns | Real Estate Professional, Entrepreneur

My thought process behind starting and operating my own business is purely divine and mainly rooted in my desire for freedom to pursue my passions and specific ideas that I believe have the potential to assist an appointed group of people. Otherwise, having my own business is the only way that I feel completely comfortable in my creativity and confident that I will attract those who I believe I am meant to cross paths with by simply offering what I purposely have to give. Read more>>

Porsche Miles Grant aka Judge Miles | Comedian, Podcast Host, and Fitness Instructor

Porsche Miles Grant aka Comedian Judge Miles is a people person that loves providing resources and laughter to her community. As a result, I created The Miles Experience which incorporates all three of my businesses. I am a certified Financial Counselor, a fitness instructor and a comedian/podcast host. With The Miles Experience, I am able to bring you laughter, fitness and financial freedom. I am helping and healing people mentally, physically and financially. Therefore, the idea behind starting my business was helping people to develop and grow. My business hits all essential parts of life that is needed for a person to be successful. Read more>>

Shawna Gibson | Gym Owner/Pet Sitting/Doggie Daycare/Boarding Owner

I feel like a business can be made from anything you’re passionate about. If I was doing something well for someone else, it only seemed natural to do it for myself. Read more>>

Casey Barnette | Founder and CEO

When starting my first business CaseyTrain, the thought process was to create an online Coaching platform that would make an impact larger than me. Being in the Fitness industry for years, I saw a need for a centralized community with like-minded individuals driven to become the best versions of themself. A community and culture that could rely on and inspire each other on a daily basis. Building a brand around the coaching platform was the best thing I have ever done. Read more>>

Amber Webb | Loctician/Braider

My thought process behind starting my hair business was simply because I had a passion for doing hair, what pushed me further into making the final step was me going to someone to get braids and sis completely ripped my hair out the entire time no care was given no education on how to care for the braids or my hair seeing that it was my very first time even having weave so it drove me to want to educate myself more on how to take care of my own hair and do my own and to do the same for my clients. Not only doing great styles but also promoting hair growth taking care of your scalp exct. & teaching my clients on how to do the same for they’re hair. Read more>>

Tilesa Robinson | Business Woman, Author, Visionary

City On A Hill is an online Christian apparel and accessories company that I started about a year and a half ago. Initially I had two reasons for wanting to start my own business. The first was to try and create supplemental income as my husband and I have two daughters away in college. The second was as a way for me to share my faith. I am a person who loves to buy t-shirts. Whenever I visit a new place or go on vacation, I always buy one as a memento. I thought this was a great way for me to display what I believe in and would also be a way to potentially spark dialogue. I often get comments or a thumbs up from others that share my belief. It’s a great feeling to have that affirmation! Read more>>

Cynthia Moore | nonprofit CEO, social worker, music therapist

As a social worker and music therapist, I noticed this disheartening trend in the inpatient mental health population, Some of the patients would discharge from the hospital only to return multiple times experiencing the same challenges. There were several reasons that stood out to me: 1) They lacked the healthy coping strategies to mitigate the effects of ongoing stressors or trauma, 2) they possessed healthy coping strategies but were unaware of the implication, 3) their caregivers/support systems often failed to recognize when they were demonstrating early warning signs that their mental health was on the decline until there in crisis. My thought process was to find some holistic, simple, effective way to reverse this trend. I had a desire to improve the quality and outcomes of life of those and others struggling with mental health issues. Read more>>

Nina Amadi | I am Licensed Esthetician and Instructor.

The thought process was WHY NOT BET ON ME? WHAT DO I HAVE TO LOSE? If anything you learn about yourself. How you interact with people and interact with yourself. When you work for you YOU make the executive decision even when you dont want to or you just have to. When i started I used my Income tax return and said LETS GOOOOO! Made a list of things that i needed to start. Got active in working out and I went hiking with a friend. A lady saw my jacket with a logo on it that said Lashes ( HAD ZERO CLIENTS) and she said you do lashes? I said ŸES I DO. She booked an appointment her boyfriend booked a body wax and been booking appointments ever since. I was so elated because someone asked. I was in a salon suite so i had walk-ins, different ones found me on groupon and on Instagram. Just kept going and learning and still learning. Read more>>

Sriram Kakumanu | CMO & CFO of PlateConnect

Me and Sahil Hora scrolling through TikTok one day and noticed how much excess food restaurants and donut shops throw away at the end of their day. We decided to look into this further and research how much food these restaurants wasted. Approximately 22% of food waste in the United States comes from restaurants and grocery stores, which can amount to 1.76 billion pounds of food wasted per year. We decided to take matters into our hands and started a business along with two other people, Ashvin Jayanthi and Rithvik Chikoti, to combat food waste. Read more>>

AnnaKatrina Kelly | Mental Health/ Substance Abuse Counselor /CEO

The thought process of starting my business was orchestrated based on the adversities that I experienced in Life. I growing up in a domestic violence, an parents who suffered from adverse mental health. I have been Homeless, incarcerated, among other things. Gods grace gave me the mind to learn how to break free, and once I broke free, I wanted to help others know that they can be free and do what it takes to help them reach freedom and for families to be rebuilt. Read more>>

Tiffanie Smith | Entrepreneur

My thought process in starting my own brand , was solely me trying to find a way to make bath bombs with all natural ingredients. It stemmed from having an allergic reaction to a bath bomb from a well known bath company . I just wanted to make something that was safe for your skin without any harsh reactions. Read more>>

Jacqueline Mendez | Real Estate Agent

If you would have asked me a few years ago if I wanted to start my own business, that would have been the last thing on my mind. My immediate answer would have been ‘heck no!’ But over time, I started to outgrow my last job and then decided to pursue real estate. Being a real estate agent has been very tough but also very rewarding. One of the things I love the most is that real estate is very transparent. If you put in the hard work, it shows. I also love using my abilities to help clients find the right home for them. I am a second-generation agent and it helps when I am finding the right deals on my client’s behalf. Read more>>

Kim Ramirez | Owner & Cake Baller/Shot Caller

Thanks for having me again! Allow me to reintroduce myself – I’m Kim Ramirez, Owner and Cake Baller/Shot Caller of A Sprinkle of Sunshine – Cake Balls & More. Read more>>

Star Williams | Non Profit Founder, Executive & Educator

After retiring from the military in 2015, I decided to move back home to Dallas to start my life after more than two decades of serving in the United States Navy. I had no clue of exactly what I wanted to do but I knew it had to be something impactful. After spending some quality time with my family and making my rounds in the community I noticed that things around me felt as though time had stood still. Our neighborhood was not thriving in the way that I knew that it could, and I felt the need to do something. Our parks, schools, recreation centers, businesses, and much of our neighborhood looked dilapidated, as if we were forgotten about. Like many people who start non profit organizations, I knew something had to be done. Read more>>

Jazmin Alvarez | Founder & CEO

I started Pretty Well Beauty which began as a personal need to see clean beauty and wellness retail experiences improved upon while fostering a truly authentic diverse and inclusive selection of brands. I mapped out exactly what I wanted to build which was a 360 hybrid approach that included services. After crunching the numbers, I realized that I didn’t have the resources to begin that way so I scaled back and decided to launch as an e-commerce shopping brand. Read more>>

Gerald Person | Serial Entrepreneur & Prophet

The key reason for starting my own business was to make a difference within my family. Read more>>

Laura Leyva | Photographer

Honestly, there was absolutely no thought process at all! I always loved to look at photographs and see the all the emotion, and history in them! To me, photos are the only way to freeze time. When you see a photo, it always take you back to that special moment and allows you to relive it over and over again. Read more>>