Our community is comprised of some absolutely brilliant entrepreneurs and so we asked a few of them to tell us the story of how they came up with the ideas for their business.

Trevor Davis-Dressner | Entrepreneur & Business Major

The idea behind my finger surfing business started when I was a kid. I found myself sticking my hand out the window and feeling like I was surfing the wind. I remember using old playing cards and nickels that I had laying around and it amazed me how they would stick to my hand if I put my hand out the window due to the wind resistance. I was always fascinated by the concept. Around the time when COVID first hit, I found myself going on drives and dealing with boredom while on the car rides. Read more>>

Ashley & Kayla | Co-Founders of The Boudoir Party

Our journey began in college, at Chapman University, where we worked on multiple competitive advertising campaigns together and learned the ever valuable lesson of “work hard and play harder.” We both had a passion for photography, we both loved to travel, and although we graduated at different times, we stayed in touch post-college. When Ashley started developing her passion for photography into a growing business, she’d have Kayla come shoot with her, or if we traveled anywhere together, we’d both have our cameras around our necks. Read more>>

Judy Pham | Personal Development Coach, Beauty Educator

The concept of my beauty and wellness program was based on a need I felt was missing in beauty. After being in the beauty industry for twenty years, I noticed that no matter how beautiful I made women feel with make-up or facial services, it didn’t increase their self-worth over time. I noticed there was an increase in confidence but women were still apologizing for their looks and pointing out their flaws. I noticed women still did not have compassion for themselves. Read more>>

Amanda Brown | Lived Experience Expert Advocate

The credible messenger/lived experience movement has been a staple in San Diego and I’ve gotten to know a lot of great mentors that have impacted youth and adults in a transformational way. If I think about a human’s life, there are several choices a person can make in various ways and I believe that people really do have a choice to live how they want, which includes removing themselves from the gang or human trafficking culture. I designed my business to be able to work with lived experience experts that can shift someone’s life dramatically just because I believe fully that humans do want harmony, safety, peace and fulfillment in life, which I want to be a part of. Read more>>

Randi Knott | Owner/Innkeeper -Retired Lobbyist and Public Administrator

As a woman in her 50’s who had worked on legislation that created the legal cannabis system in California, I found it crazy that I could go to a beautiful winery and get a smashed as I chose (which I don’t because I hardly ever drink) but if I wanted to consume cannabis, I was stuck out in a parking lot! I wanted to create a place where people could enjoy their experiences-including cannabis-in a beautiful setting. Read more>>