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.

Anjali Shah

I grew up a “whole wheat” girl, but I married a “white bread” guy.

I was raised in the healthy-eating, organic-obsessed, farmer’s market-driven culture of the San Francisco Bay Area; he grew up in the deep-dish pizza-loving suburbs of Chicago. My childhood was filled with fruits, vegetables and home cooked meals; I was raised to be “picky” about what I put into my body and to eat junk food in moderation. For him, ice cream and french fries were a way of life. Read More>>

Karen “wren” Estremo

Following the death of my daughter, Arielle Rose, I needed something to do. She was a Pagan and I decided the best way to honor her memory was to open a shop to be of service to the Pagan community and build a strong safe space for the practice of alternative spiritual paths. She is the Rose. The Dragon is the co-founder, who was the object of her affection at the time of her death. Read More>>

Ryan Hickman

When I was about 3 years old, my dad took me to our local recycling center to recycle a few bags of cans and bottles. I thought it was really fun and I decided to ask all of our neighbors to recycle with me. My dad made me some business cards and I handed them out to everyone I met. Soon I had dozens of houses recycling with me. We’d give them bags and they would fill them up and call us to pick up on the weekends. I saved all the money I got from recycling and then I started donating to support the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. Read More>>