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.

Ellie Nichols | Confidence Coach

Personal growth and confidence are so important to me. In searching for a creative outlet in modeling, I really developed a sense of self. I spent years learning how to establish a better environment for myself to thrive in and sought to find a way to help others do the same. Now that I’ve started coaching I get to share all that I’ve learned and watch my clients grow into their authenticity. It’s so rewarding! Read more>>

Cony Martinez | Director of Cinema Culturas

Human connectivity through storytelling and film. We have so many “official centers” (Hollywood for example) and cliques in our society that determine who and how others are represented and treated. My mission is to create spaces for human connectivity, for people to come together through storytelling and film; have everyday people tell their story on the “big screen” in their own communities and see films that are relatable to their own experiences. The big screen can be any space where we can tell a story: Read more>> 

Karina Guthrie | Yoga teacher trainer, yoga teacher mentor and women’s wellbeing coach

I’ve worked the yoga space for roughly a decade and typically had worked for businesses with a clear voice and direction (as all businesses should, of course). I always felt as though there was growth for me within those frameworks…until I didn’t. Read more>>

Anya Overmann | Anya Overmann | Writer, Humanist, & Activist

I was tired of being screwed over by bosses who would take advantage of my desire to work hard without paying me what I was worth. The final straw was when a remote boss for a digital marketing company hired me on full-time from part-time, I started working my butt off, and then he didn’t pay me. Clients were also not receiving the deliverables I was creating, because my boss would fail to deliver them. I was lied to repeatedly about when I would see a paycheck. After five weeks, I quit. I had gone to London to stay with my then-boyfriend because I could work remotely, and now I was without a job to fund that lifestyle. So, at the suggestion of another friend who left the same company, Read more>>

Anna Simanis | Owner & Maker

Calavera Craft started at the beginning of the pandemic. I needed a creative outlet and since we were at home a lot more candle making seemed like a natural answer. I also have a background in design so it was both fun and challenging to design something on my own. I started with an online website and social media to start building the brand. Read more>>

Alicia Mae Chavez | Eyelash Technician of Minked Babe

My thought process as to starting Minked Babe is drive. Drive for something
greater. Passion is what drove me out of a place that made me feel ordinary. Before starting this brand, I was working as an assistant manager at Forever 21. I felt stagnant, I felt like my purpose as a 21 year old was greater than an assistant manager. I was overlooked and discriminated against. Therefore, I had to make a change. I had to prove my own worth to myself. I had to be placed in an uncomfortable position in order to challenge myself. With comfortability, lies oppression. Read more>>

Nanette & Rae | Co-owners of Rainbow Pack Pet Care

For Nanette, it started roughly 16 years ago when she was working as a nutritionist and generally feeling like it was not a career she was meant to do in life. Although it was an interest she had, it wasn’t a deep passion, and the more work she put into it, the greater unease she felt. When she thought about what really brought her joy and made her happy, she thought about her two dogs at the time, Winston and Lily. There was a lot of stigma around making dog walking and pet sitting a full-on career, but Nanette felt like that was where she felt the most whole and connected. Read more>>

Rebecca Rogers | Social Media Creator

I started out as a high school social studies teacher who was just trying to make my students laugh during online learning. My kiddos were my “why”. I didn’t mean to go viral, it was a complete accident. I think keeping the kids in both my mind and my heart has been a huge impact on me and where my social media accounts are now. Once my social media started blowing up, I realized I could both bring awareness to the broken education system while having fun and making people laugh. That has been my new focus and thought process! Read more>>

Talia Burkett Helvey | Wedding Photographer

I have always been passionate about photography from a young age and I even went to art school for it. But I was so focused on making art that I didn’t know how to actually create a sustainable business. I ended up working in hospitality and started to make a career out of it in beer sales, but when I was asked to help photograph a wedding for the first time I realized that wedding photography was the perfect way to make beautiful images, use my hospitality background and make a living. At that point I knew I had no choice but to make my wedding photography business flourish. Read more>>

Maria Rodriguez Steve Reyna | Baker & Musician

We started this company during the pandemic. We both lost our jobs due to covid, and so we decided to create something that not only could sustain our living situation but keep us motivated during these hard times. One day browsing through youtube we stumbled upon a video of a lady making poffertjes in the streets of London, we both instantly fell in love with the mini pancakes and thought it would be a good idea bringing that concept to L.A / OC . We immediately got to work and in about a month we created our own home made pancake recipe from scratch. Read more>>

Christina Cardenas | Designer/Creator

This was a dream that I thought it was going to stay as a dream. It started with the idea of create a brand of swimsuits to many years ago but something happened when I was pregnant of my baby boy. I was feeling the necessary to create something to scape a little bit of what was happening with the world at that moment. It was in the start of the pandemic between that and my insomnia I decide to start designing my first pair of leggings, thinking in something comfortable for any kind of body’s, something that can make you feel good on your own body, having the support to do any kind of exercise and the fashion style to go out. Read more>>

Daniela Sarcos | Henna tattoo artist

Since an early age I’ve always wanted to be my own boss and often talked about one day having my own business. Being artistic my whole life it was a matter of time until I found the medium I could express myself through art and build a business in the process. Henna did just that for me. I always thought I was going to be a graphic designer but after the first semester I realized it was not for me, so I dropped out of school and moved to California from Venezuela back in 1997. Read more>>