What was your thought process behind starting your own business?

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.
My grandmother was a master seamstress and taught me how to sew at a young age. I have always loved clothes and costumes, which started my curiosity in learning more techniques behind how they were made. Read more>>
Our family has always had a love of animals. More specifically my daughter, Carly and I are very passionate about animals and animal welfare. Carly has been by my side and helped with fostering, rescuing and placing animals throughout her adolescence. Read more>>
Before the pandemic started, I was trying to build a career in photography. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to pick that back up, but my priorities have changed since this year I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Read more>>
It started with observing how other artists were successful with their own studio/gallery business. I live on the island of Anguilla in the Caribbean. I was exhibiting with a local gallery before and after I moved here. There were to French women artists who had their own studio/gallery. Read more>>
I was working full time for a company that specialized in helping small business owners and entrepreneurs build their brands and establish an online presence when it occurred to me one day that I was helping others realize their dreams but hadn’t stopped to think about what I wanted for my future. Read more>>
The thought process behind starting the company, which celebrated 5 years this year, was the desire to be the one calling the shots and to do something different than my competitors. The company was started after I spent a long stint working in the live events industry. Read more>>
I’ve always loved a good monogram and how it can take something ordinary and turn it into something customized and timeless. When I became a mom, I wanted ALL the embroidered pieces. After looking at my budget, I realized that I was spending so much money and started to really pay attention to quality and price. Read more>>
I have always been doing different businesses on the side, even as a little girl. But I had never had a partner. I had the dream, but needed the extra push. When friend, and now co-founder of Dreamer & Co, presented her business plan for marketing artisan-made jewelry to a U.S. audience, I knew this was it. Read more>>
My journey sort of started from my teaching roots. When I began thinking about having kids, I realized that the educational resources available for my own kids to learn about our native language (Gujarati) and our cultural heritage were either non-existent or poorly made. Read more>>
I spent nearly 20 years in the radio business wearing many different hats from on-air talent to promotions assistant to the highly coveted middle management. I LOVED the radio business. But, there were a few things I didn’t love about it. Read more>>
After 25 years as a graphic designer, I found that I was more passionate about fine art than design. I was painting daily in my backyard studio, and selling a few paintings online. My husband suggested that I transition to painting full time, and I’ll be forever grateful for his support… and push!. Read more>>
I was wrongly incarcerated and convicted at the age of 19 and spent 15 years in the Texas prison system. Growing up in prison, I personally experienced the lack of rehabilitative resources within the system. Read more>>