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.

Jennifer East, Lynn Carol, Mary Brotherton bUneke Co-founders | Founders of the charity bUneke.org

Jennifer East and Mary Brotherton had been friends and work colleagues for years, then Jennifer introduce Lynn Carol to Mary and a third instant friend had been created. Though a long way from retirement, the three women felt they had reached a point in life where they needed to take control. They’d all worked in creative fields, and each brought a unique skill-set and valuable traits that supported the others. For instance. Read more>>

Elliot Rozenberg | Founder, Eat My Critique

The idea for Eat My Critique arose out of a personal lack of trust of professional food critics and review companies as well as the more general food reviews you find on Google, Yelp and TripAdvisor. I would get frustrated every time I had a bad meal, especially while traveling and especially if the food was overpriced. I decided that I wanted to start a company that not only wrote honest restaurant reviews but also provided people with the opportunity to have personalized food itineraries planned for them to help ensure that the meals they eat during their travels meet or exceed their expectations. Read more>>

Jocelyn Martinez | Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer of Girl Gains

Girl Gains began when our founder Elisabeth Bradley saw that our university gym at San Diego State University was male-dominated. Elisabeth went to an all-women’s gym called Glute Lab and felt nothing but support and empowerment from the group of women. Elisabeth felt that this type of support and community was needed at SDSU and Girl Gains was created. After a year, Elisabeth and her co-founder Jocelyn Martinez and Karina Glaze thought every university needed a Girl Gains and began expanding nationally. Read more>>

Shani Bocian | CEO & Co-Founder, Allermi

I’ve had allergies since I was about 10 years old. For years, I refused to use nasal spray, despite my dad being an allergist and encouraging me to every day. When I finally obliged and took the nasal spray he gave me, I was shocked at how much better I felt, almost instantly – I could breathe again! I became a nasal spray evangelist, learning my dad’s method of mixing up multiple ingredients into one bottle. During college, my friends would come to my dorm room and I’d give them nasal sprays that I’d mixed up in my sink. Read more>>

Shanea Rakowski | Food blogger and restaurant and travel writer

I didn’t have a strong culinary background other than living to dine out, plus having a passion for cooking and baking at an early age. I also took numerous cooking classes at home in Toronto and abroad. I was always trying to seek out the latest trends. I used to read cookbooks and travel magazines the way others devoured a novel, and, along the way I enjoyed building friendships and relationships with top tier chefs, and followed them in their careers., Read more>>