Are you thinking about starting a business? If so, we think you’ll enjoy reading about how these seasoned entrepreneurs thought about the question when they were in your shoes.

Chloe Panta | Lifestyle & Travel Content Creator

Ideally I wanted to do something that I would light me up everyday. I also wanted to help people in some form or another and help make their day brighter if I could. Thinking back, I had no idea what that would be and that starting a business would mean helping someone else. I just knew I wanted to give back in some way; in my own way. My process was simple; I wanted the ability to live out my dreams which are to travel the world and work from wherever I am in the world; or not – and still earn money. Over time that business has become creating content and helping others see joy in the world by inspiring them to live in the moment and live out their very own dreams. If I can build a business to do that, anybody can. Read more>>

Dave Stencil | Woodworker, Designer & Punmaster

I started with an idea for a silly zombie cutting board kickstarter campaign that luckily funded at over 700%, buying me my first laser.. the thought at that point, is maybe this side hustle could pay my car payment every month? I never thought past that point at first. Having the laser in house warranted the need for my own drum sander, and then my own table saw, and then my own bandsaw, so the shop rather quickly built out due to necessity. Then, as i got everything together, I think i had my first real viral moment online, and my thought maybe moved up to perhaps this can do $1,000 a month? Shortly after, i had to rent space for my own shop, and the viral attention persisted. I was featured in food x wine, george takei, dude i want that, the awesomer.. you name the blog, I was probably there. At that point, my focus was on much more than side income, and more on building out my workspace, tools, and abilities. Read more>>

Miriam Jimenez | Owner of Mexican Heart I Latina Entrepreneur

I was excited to think that it would be interesting to show my roots and make known the talent of the Artisan Community in Mexico through the beautiful handmade crafts that we actually are promoting. Read more>>

Stacey Lee Webber | Artist

I have always wanted to be able to support myself financially working as an artist full time. My artwork is a passion that I continually have ideas to create both conceptually and technically. Being able to support myself with my passion is a dream that has come true for the past 5 years. When your work is your passion it is not work at all… it is expression of your being. Read more>>

Brittany Withouski | Self Employed Hairstylist

When I decided to start my own business it was definitely scary, you have the mindset of “can I actually do this?” and “what if I fail?” I come from a business oriented family, so that gave me the confident boost I needed. I am fortunate enough to have a constant support system, and can get advice from my dad or brother (both business owners) if need be. I would say my life and career moto has always been, “fake it until you make it.” It relates to both going off on your own initially, and the building process of trying to grow your business. You lead with confidence and learn as you go. Read more>

Ilse Almazan | Resin Crafter/ Artist/ Waitress

It honestly started as an experiment. I’ve always been a painter, but have enjoyed trying out new mediums. One day I had an idea for some earrings I wanted to make for myself out of clay, which developed into ideas for resin earrings. It organically grew, and for the first time in a long time, I felt new ideas and excitement for making new things. I realized the potential for a business as more and more people began asking me about my earrings, and I slowly began developing marketing tactics. Read more>>

Amrit-Sadhana Boyd | Holistic Health and Anxiety Coach

I had been working in holistic medicine for about 8 years and there wasn’t much room for growth working for another person. I had people coming to me asking me what I did for anxiety and having a balanced life. That I felt so calm and collected to them all the time (of course how we appear and what’s going on inside of us can be two very different things). I had friends coming to me asking for help. As so many of us do, I was dealing with major imposter syndrome. I went to Institute for Integrative nutrition to become a licensed holistic health coach. That was the beginning. I realized that helping people is what brings me joy, makes me feel fulfilled and if I stayed at my current job then I wouldn’t be able to make the impact I wanted. I had started to slowly cut back at work and take on more clients when Covid hit. It was the perfect time for me to go head first into my business. Read more>>

Katie Seibert | Seibot (Moniker) Artist and Gallery Owner

When I consider the thought process behind starting this business, I realize it was never about starting a business to begin with, it was about figuring out how to sustain what I wanted to be doing every day. The business was incidental. I was actually really apprehensive about starting a business, especially as an artist. I think there is always some level of aversion to capitalizing on your own creativity. At least for me there is. It has a lot to do with not being sure that I’ll be able to sustain something long term, rely on my muses, produce good work, without selling my soul in the process. For my business partner and me, this is a way to help other artists, support our community and have space to make our own art in the process. So our work looks like nurturing our community through being a weird, accessible gallery. At the same time it gives us a great environment for our own art. Read more>>

Erica Joan | Fashion, Lifestyle & Commercial Photographer

A few years ago I had been pursuing photography as a side gig/hobby, and integrating it into my full-time position as a senior graphic designer. As I refined my photography, the inquiries kept coming in and I began realizing that my passion was a much more viable career path for me. For the couple years leading up to actually leaving my 9–5 to work for myself, I kept saying yes to almost every job and finding a way to make it work while being employed full-time. It was a rough schedule and I’ll forever be catching up on sleep for it, but it set me up to hit the ground running once I was on my own. Read more>>

Ry Ryan-Lim | Gym Owner & Coach

I wanted to create a gym environment that allowed our members get everything they needed for a happy and healthy lifestyle, whether that is from our workouts, treatment options, meal plans, or a place to feel safe and loved. Read more>>

Geena Pearson | Interior Designer & Owner of Hello Home Interior Design

It was all happenstance, really. I’ve always loved design and my start in the industry was totally accidental, but it was right where I needed to be. Since I was little, I was obsessed with rearranging my room (and my sister’s!) and asking my parents to take me to tour the new model homes that would pop up around our neighborhood. I loved navigating through them and imagining what kind of furniture would go in each room and how I’d live in them. Little did I know this quiet obsession was an actual JOB! Having my own design studio was something I always dreamed about, but never thought I’d actually get the chance to make it happen, until a friend asked for some advice. My friend, who is a contractor, had been at a condo to bid on a bathroom remodel and the client had all sorts of design questions he wasn’t equipped to answer. He knew I had been in the industry a long time and asked if I would be interested in talking to her. Read more>>

Katelyn Woolley | Founder + Creative Director at The Noble Paperie

I didn’t really plan to start a business… I sort of fell into this little greeting card company. In 2015, I suffered a miscarriage and felt incredibly secluded and alone. We didn’t tell anyone about our loss, as there was so much shame and stigma associated with sharing about an early pregnancy. (News flash, not a whole lot has changed) Once we were able to try again, I was lucky enough to become pregnant, but that pregnancy was filled with complications. I spent 40 days in the hospital on bedrest, had an emergency C-section 2 months early, and then spent an additional 34 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with our son before we were able to bring him home. Needless to say, I suffered quite a bit of trauma between our loss and the subsequent pregnancy. I was still grieving, and also struggled with postpartum depression. After sharing our experience with a close friend, she recommended I use art to try and respond to some of the grief and depression I was feeling. Read more>>

Halle Roberts | Professional Dog Trainer

Honestly, starting Heel House was a huge leap of faith. I had gotten to a point in my career where I was unsatisfied with how larger companies were running their business and treating their clients. I wanted to make positive changes not only in my own life, but also in the lives of others. When I got my first dog, I didn’t have access to the training he needed and ended up developing a passion for communicating properly, first with him, and then with my friends’ dogs. This quickly turned into getting an education, and taking notes on the things I wanted to see improve in the pet training industry. Heel House was developed shortly after that. Read more>>

Dr. Natasha Hastings | Doctor of Physical Therapy, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, CrossFit Level 1 Trainer.

I wanted to provide physical therapy and strength training in the same realm, while giving clients the quality sessions they deserve. I used to work for physical therapy corporations/companies who unfortunately only saw patients until they were deemed “functional” by insurance, and then were discharged, leaving this vast opportunity of strength & conditioning lost. I wanted to help people who want to get better and stay active. My niche is field & court athletes, as well as functional strength training athletes. I thrive in the athletic environment, and when you believe in something so strong, living it day to day, the passion combined with knowledge will undoubtedly get your clients to where they want to be. So I branched out on my own, starting a cash-based hybrid physical therapy/strength & conditioning business, aka Athletic Edge Physical Therapy. Read more>>

Melissa Bates | Energetic Manifestation Coach + Spiritual Activator + Angelic / Galactic Channel

My thought process behind starting my own business what 100% knowing there was more out there for me than what I was raised with throughout my life! I was raised by a single mother and knew the idea of struggle at a very young age. Right out of High School, having 2+ jobs was very normal and I felt like I was missing out on life and high level life experiences. The bosses that I came across didn’t fully view me as a human, but more so of an individual that just gets the job down. Let me tell you, my soul always knew that was more for me and it kept screaming out to me to feel worthy of more. After saving up and being determined to travel to Europe, I did and it opened my horizons in so many ways! It allowed me to see there was a whole world outside of work that wanted to be celebrated and acknowledged. Read more>>

Angel Manus | Digital Creator

Originally I started my page to build a following for when I open my boutique one day, but it has now turned into something all its self. I absolutely love what I do, it is my way to share my love for fashion and styling. Read more>>

Brittney Ellers | Pelvic Health Educator, Activist, and Physical Therapist

When I was in graduate school, I imagined owning and running my own private outpatient orthopedic physical therapy practice. Fast-forward to when I was working at an outpatient clinic, and I realized that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I left that job and started working for a wellness company. I was encouraged by my boss (and friend) at the time to pursue my passions, because it was so obvious to her that they didn’t lie with just outpatient PT. My passions included menstrual health and hygiene, pelvic health, and prenatal and postpartum support, on top of the physical therapy and yoga I was already providing. I realized in that one conversation with my boss that I needed to start my own business to actually be able to combine all my passions in any way I saw fit. It’s been two years since then, and the business, Being Better, continues to grow and evolve as I grow on my own personal journey through life. I am grateful every day that I get to do what I do, and that I had support in pursuing my passions. Read more>>

James Balmer | Owner of My Mum’s Nuts

I had a long stay in the hospital back in Dec. 2006. It lasted until May 2007. During that stay my mother would bring me her candied pecans with curry and honey. I loved these pecans and ate pounds of them. After my stay in the hospital, I wanted to do something different for work. I wanted to do my own thing. I came up with an idea! To use my mum’s recipe for her candied pecans and make a snack food business. I thought I’d sell them to my local coffee shops and breweries. I’d call them My Mum’s Nuts. By the way my mother is a witty, smart and humorous elderly British lady. So it seemed fitting. A few breweries carried My Mum’s Nuts. I made several different flavors. Then I soon realized that for a one man operation the profit margin wasn’t there so I started to redo my business plan. So I started to create my own method and process of naturally infusing cannabis into coconut oil. Read more>>

Veronica H. Speck | Founder

I would say I have the spirit of an entrepreneur, but I am perhaps a touch more risk-averse. After 10 years working for other established brands and corporations, I finally took the plunge to begin my own business this past year. Read more>>

Madison Catania | Podcast Enthusiast & Tech Co-Founder

I always had the desire to be an entrepreneur, but as I got older and a bit further along in my career, I didn’t know if that would be the case. I was, perhaps for the first time, feeling really fulfilled by my 9-5 which consisted of producing a range of top-charting podcasts. However, when I had the idea for my startup, the more I spoke to friends and family, the more I realized this idea was different from previous ones. I could tell that others were excited about it, too, and that it could go from an idea to a business. I decided that if I didn’t take the leap to start the business based on this idea, someone else would, and I would likely have to watch them succeed knowing it could have been me. Read more>>