Starting a business is a commitment and requires dedication, resources and sacrifice. We asked some of the rising stars in our community how they thought through the idea of starting their own businesses.

Kodi Nottingham | Entrepreneur/Digital Marketer

All of my experience working since being a teenager has led up until the moment of me starting my own businesses. Whether it was an after school/summer art teacher, working political campaigns, to eventually becoming a corporate sales trainer. I picked up important skills and strategies at each that eventually led my to flourish as a digital marketer. It was March of 2020 and we were all locked in our homes and I knew that I wanted something different for me and my family. Read more>>

Isaiah Korpita | Prospector and proprietor

I loved rockhounding and I had been making jewelry for the past couple of years, and the two hobbies collided to make my business. Read more>>

Mike & Sandi Penfound | Glass artists

With both of us being artists, we wanted to start a business that was fulfilling for us and at the same time bring joy and happiness to others Read more>>

Leslie Jones | Founder & CEO of Spiral Method

My thought process behind starting SpiralMethod was to help leaders create workplaces where people can own their power and be fulfilled without sacrificing organizational goals or vice versa. I’ve never had a J-O-B in Corporate America, so entrepreneurship is where I belong. Too many people want to give advice instead of holding space for others to find their own wisdom and power. Read more>>

Ginger Broderick | Photographer

I was laid off from my full-time job near the end of the Covid pandemic which left me without a job or income and forced me to decide on the next steps in my life. Having done photography as a creative outlet for decades prior, it was a choice between job hunting again and going back to the same grind that was not satisfying, or following my dreams and starting my business and steering my future. Read more>>

Karissa Requa | Small business owner, HOTWORX Franchise

I had been in the medical massage business for 12 years and had been a massage therapist 16 years. Being a massage therapist can be very taxing mentally and physically and the average career life span for a massage therapist is about 7 years before being burnt out. Being a medical massage therapist requires not only skill and knowledge but significant physical effort, which became harder as the years went by. Read more>>

Jenny Sung | Co-director and founder of One Dance Company

When we started One Dance Company we were craving a place to move and create where women could be portrayed in broader roles than just crazy, over sexualized, or being partnered. Women have a much wider voice and range of experiences and we wanted to see it represented through the art of modern dance. Read more>>

Jonathan Beers | Photographer

Well I’ll be honest. I’m pretty new to the whole running my own business thing if I’m being honest. I’ve been doing photography since I was about five years old. But recently I did a wedding for some close friends that insisted I take the photos for their wedding. I did warn them that I was not a wedding photographer, that I did landscapes, but they said that’s why they choose me. They really enjoyed my work and thought that I was the best choice. Read more>>

Anne Gifford | Fine Artist

When I was a sociology major in college, I found myself opening my sketchbook instead of my textbooks, so in my sophomore year I switched into the art program. I never looked back. Although I knew that being an artist was possibly not the most lucrative path to take, my parents encouraged me to pursue my passion. When I graduated, I found a job hand silkscreening tee shirts, which very much resembled the factory jobs I had endured during my college summers. Read more>>