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.

Anita Adokpela | Entrepreneur

I started my non-profit organizations to address a variety of social, environmental, or community needs. These needs range from providing education and healthcare services to underserved populations, to promoting environmental conservation. The reasons for starting Houz of Dyza non-profit organization is make a positive impact and contribute to the greater good. Read more>>

Tram Nguyen | Entrepreneur

Starting my own business has always been a dream of mine. From a young age, I’ve had a deep fascination with fashion, which grew as I received numerous compliments on my style whenever I stepped out. This passion, combined with a desire to empower others, inspired me to create Mypheme. Read more>>

Rayshaun Brocks | Owner of Satin Kush Sentimentals LLC

My initial thought process was to create a unique experience and meaningful product that consumers could gift to themselves or to someone special in their lives. I’ve extended my intentions to empowering women desiring inspiration and motivation in their lives. Read more>>

Yazmin/Yesenia Huerta/Huerta | Mobile Bartenders

We were tired of working our 9-5 jobs and building someone else’s legacy. We knew that we had something special when people would tell us that we would always bring a good atmosphere to wherever we appeared. Making people happy has always been something we loved doing. We were part of the night life scene for a while and that is when it dawned on us. Why not start providing our services to events. Read more>> 

Brandi Edwards | Chef/Entrepreneur/Teacher/Writer

Well as a kid I enjoyed sitting in the kitchen as my mom cooked. She would let me try almost everything and I grew to love it. It was my safe space plus having the opportunity to learn became a necessity as I got older. I started cooking more often and receiving compliments as I got better. I gained enough confidence in believing that I could do this more often but hadn’t really thought about do it on a more professional level. Read more>>

Ayisha Green | Holistic Wellness Advocate & Hydration Specialist

When I embarked on the journey of starting my business, it was deeply intertwined with my own personal healing journey. After facing the challenges of hypothyroidism, I was propelled into a quest for holistic health solutions that not only transformed my well-being but also ignited a passion within me to share these discoveries with others. Read more>>

Larrah Jackson | Event Producer & Designer

I had been planning events for previous clients while working my regular job. In 2020, during a time of worldwide uncertainty, I was given the opportunity to plan an extravagant anniversary party. This experience taught me a lot about myself and made me consider the idea of starting my own event-planning business. The following year, I took a leap of faith and created Larrah Jackson Events. The rest, as they say, is history! Read more>>

Braxton Chatman | Founder of Offszn

When I started my own business, it wasn’t so I could be an entrepreneur. It was because I wanted to solve a problem that I was seeing consistently and no one was doing anything about. JoinOffseason was meant to be a solution to support my brothers collegiate athletic career by building tools for him to monetize his name, Image and likeness and skills, knowledge and experience. Ultimately, I just wanted to put more money in his pocket. Read more>>

Jodi Gibbs | Owner/Operator Spodz Balloons

I had just been laid off from my corporate job of nearly 22 years and was a bit lost trying to find another job. I was talking with my niece who had started a balloon business in Amarillo about a year prior and she talked me through how to get started and a few tips & tricks. Silly as it may sound balloons have always made me happy – growing up my Mom & her sister used to send each other balloon bouquets for birthdays and holidays. Read more>>

Gemma Hernandez | Bridal Makeup Artist

Since a very young age, I have known I wanted to own my own business. I grew up watching my father achieve his long life dream of having his own business and I of course wanted to follow into his footsteps. When I started experimenting with makeup, I was about 13 years old and quickly fell in love. I always practiced different looks on myself and it just became my favorite hobby. Read more>>

Kristal Torres | Beauty Enthusiast

Let me take you on a journey through my life, where twists, turns, and a whole lot of determination brought me to where I am today. Picture this: a young girl with big dreams of becoming a labor & delivery nurse, absolutely enamored with science. That was me. But life had its own plans, and at 19, I became a mom to three beautiful kids. Did that stop me from pursuing my dreams? Not a chance. Read more>>

Sophia Sanchez | Owner & Founder of Barktivist Boutique

Ten years ago in 2014, I adopted a rescue pit bull from Austin, Texas that had been abused by his previous owners. At the time, he was only about 8 or 9 months old and had already experienced a lifetime of trauma. I’ve always been a huge animal lover and had fostered a handful of dogs, but had never really had a pet of my own because I was young and moved around a lot. Read more>>

Jennifer Peck | Farmer, Plant Mom & Owner of Mother’s Organics

The healing power of plants has always been our passion. We knew that the self-care & skin care products that were grown and harvested from our organic farm were healthier, cleaner and more potent than other organic self-care products we had come across on the market. People are taking a closer look at what they are putting in and on their bodies. Read more>> 

Bruce Cameron LPC-S, LSOTP-S | Counselor Consultant

As I was approaching retirement from the United States Department of Justice (Federal Law Enforcement Officer), I did a deep dive into what my career options would be moving forward. In 2016, I became a Certified Life Coach and had an executive caseload of clients, in addition to my outpatient practice. The blend of my federal experience and being a Licensed Professional Counselor opened the idea to start a private practice. Read more>> 

Kelsey Black | Owner/Founder of The Book Burrow

I think I always knew this day would come – me, owning a small business. I started by selling Lemonade to my neighbors as a kid, hand-made jewelry as a teenager, bandanas in college, Insurance in my early 20s, and now books. Books are by far my favorite thing to sell. I am a fan of the title “Bookseller”. Yes, I am technically an “entrepreneur” or a “Small-Business Owner”. Read more>>

Ashley Shihab | Certified Life Coach Specializing in Clarity, Authenticity and Getting Unstuck

I knew right away that Corporate America was not for me. I wanted more freedom and autonomy in my career, and in my life, but I didn’t know how I was going to get it. This started my personal growth and healing journey where I uncovered who I really am at my deepest, most authentic core, and what I really wanted in my life. On this journey it became evident to me that I was meant to be a life coach, and that there was no plan B I wanted to explore. Read more>>

Blue

I Visioned Uniting The Hip Hop Culture In Texas By Incorporating All Factions Of The Art Into One Media Platform, Able To Showcase The Numerous Undiscovered Talent Throughout The State.
Which Is Now… Read more>>

Karla Romero | Owner & Instructor Romero Beauty Academy

I didn’t think I would end up as a business owner. I decided to enroll into lash school to do lashes as a side hustle, eventually my clientele grew and I was able to earn a full time income lashing from home. I rented a chair from a local salon for about a year. An opportunity to become a lash instructor presented itself. I took it and enjoyed sharing my knowledge with other aspiring lash artist. The experience inspired me to open my own lash academy. Read more>>

Neiman Carlyle | Founder, Surrealty Locating + Surrealty Residential

The thought process behind starting Surrealty Locating was a pretty simple concept. As a consumer, I noticed the major pain point associated with finding an Apartment. My goal was to create a Full Service approach to finding the perfect space to call home. In addition to our services being complimentary, our agents are here to guide you through the entire process, scheduling tours, setting up your utilities, renters insurance and even assisting with getting your apartment furnished. Read more>>

Sonia Azad | Global Yoga & Wellness Retreat Leader + National TV Contributor

Starting my own business was never a personal goal. It wasn’t until a special group of women turned me onto the idea that I even considered it.
It was at the end of my Montana yoga retreat– in Fall 2022– when several of my retreat participants cornered me in the dining hall and said, “You have to do this full time! You’re great on TV and we loving watching you through a screen — but this is impactful work! This is life-changing! You need to be in rooms with people!” Read more>>

Whitney and Giselle | Owners and Creators of Highly Inappropriate Apparel

It actually didn’t start out as a business venture. We saw a sweater online and attempted making it our selves. A selfie was posted and friends asked if we could make them one. So we did and it just inspired us to do more. We put our sarcastic sense of humor and creative minds together and Highly Inappropriate Apparel was born. Read more>> 

Janie Dominguez | Ceo

My thought process was I loved being able to capture my friends and families moments and what better way then to add a 360 photo booth and I started my company to make it more extravagant, fun and more different than the ones that are already out there. We are different because we are a small company and we value the clients that we get and really truly make their experience more memorable. Read more>>