Thinking through whether to start a business – whether to take the risk, whether to go out on your own – isn’t easy. So we asked some entrepreneurs we admire to tell us about how they thought through the process of starting a business.

David Gum | Video Editor & Aspiring Photographer

To be honest, I had never even considered starting a business until necessity and some friends and mentors encouraged me to. I started my first business out of necessity in 2020 with a good friend of mine. Read more>>

Kinsey Soderberg (Streib) | Branding and Marketing Expert, Podcast Host, Entrepreneur and AI Nerd

When I first heard about entrepreneurs using AI tools, I was honestly a total curmudgeon about it. I thought: ‘Isn’t the internet fa*e enough as it it?’ ‘What’s this going to do to our creativity and critical thinking skills?’ ‘Are robots going to take over the world?!?’ Read more>>

Melissa / Christina Morris / Staten | Co-Founder

SaltWave Wellness was developed because one of the founders recognized the unmet need in the Thornton and North Denver Metro area for holistic health and wellness options. Her son is a runner and was struggling to breathe. Halotherapy was a desirable alternative to traditional steroid treatments but was not locally available. Read more>>

Valerie Russell | Solo Adventurer and Travel Agency Owner

I studied for a career in law enforcement, and worked in local law enforcement in New York, where I’m from, for a number of years. However, I was severely sexually harassed by my colleagues and decided to leave the job behind. That left me with a big question: what was I going to do for a living? Read more>>

Dr. Plashan McCune | Executive Director of Higher Learning U Inc.

We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others o Listen and include my constituents in planning, leading and organizing
o It’s individual, collective and community
o Unapologetic Mission driven focus to change outcomes for underserved youth and families that has implications for the whole community Read more>>

Garrett Troutman | Founder – Mezcla Coffee

I’m sure other business owners can relate, but when we first began to launch our business or even business plans, I wasn’t planning on even doing it. It began as sort of an inkling, a passion project, just something I was really into at the time – never realizing this is what I would be pursuing. Read more>>

pila xian | spa owner/esthetician/massage therapist

The idea for Heaven on Earth started with a simple suggestion from my boyfriend: why not offer mobile oxygen facials? It seemed like a brilliant way to bring the spa experience directly to clients. I dove in, building a clientele and securing contracts with local private golf clubs. Read more>>

Steve Hyde | Drone Photographer / Videographer

My wife and I have always loved photography and have been flying drones for many years. We started to post images on Facebook and Instagram and had interest in people buying our work. Read more>>

Kristin Hannay | Owner + Founder of Traxx Social

Truly, I never intended to start a business in digital marketing and website design. It was one of those opportunities that fell into my lap once I started saying yes to more things and stepping tentatively into the industry to see if it was something I’d enjoy doing. Read more>>

Stephen Monahan | Owner, Brewer, FOH Manager, Janitor

I always knew I would open a brewery one day, working for myself has been a life goal of mine. I made a 20 year goal when I first started homebrewing and fell in love with the craft. I beat it by 3 years, but a lot of things had to line up for it to happen. Read more>>

Kiley Decker | Gluten Free Lifestyle Creator

I started my Kiley Decker Wellness brand to help spread awareness for Celiac Disease and show that it’s possible to lead an adventurous life while adhering to a strict gluten free diet. In 2009, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, along with my 2 siblings and Mom. With that being 15 years ago, just imagine what gluten free food was like back then. It was limited, hard to find, and crumbly… to say the least. Read more>>

Jarred Thompson | Business Owner

I’ve always been someone who followed the beat of my own drum. I tried the conventional route by going to college and getting a white collar job. Sitting behind a desk and making money for a large corporation wasn’t in my DNA. Read more>> 

Buddy Gould | Bowyer & Custom Home Builder

I was born into a family of home builders, my grandpa owned a home building company and my dad worked for him. My dad eventually started his own home building company where I first started working and I eventually started a framing sub-contacting company. Read more>>

Paul Salas | Salon Owner, Stylist, & Educator

Owning my very own business is something that I’ve always thought about. Since I was young I have valued creative safe spaces and I had always hoped to make my very own. I was raised by two loving supportive parents that always encouraged me to follow my dreams so I went for it! Read more>>

Tohar Or-Amitay | Photographer

I’ve always loved photography. When I was 12 years old my parents and I traveled to Amsterdam and befriended a man who owned a photography studio and hosted workshops, and the week we were there he happened to host a famous internationals photographer, and offered me to receive a free one on one workshop on her day off.  Read more>>

Brenna Mellinger | Elopement Photographer

When I started my business, I was in a pretty bad place in my life. I was working a dead-end job that didn’t pay well and wasn’t making me happy. Then, to add insult to injury, my brother passed away suddenly in a car accident. I was feeling incredibly depressed and anxious. Read more>>

Sarah and Eben D’Agostino | Crumb City Owners/Bakers

We started Crumb City because we are passionate about cooking/baking plant-based. We LOVE sharing our creations with others and seeing their reaction when we tell them, it is plant based. There was a hole in the dessert market/plant-based world, where, finding homemade, gourmet, fresh cookies, was hard to find. Read more>>

Blake Prince | Van Builder

After spending 20+ years building and remodeling homes, we decided to turn our love for building and our love for adventuring into a business – Adventure Life Vans. We love camping and getting outdoors, and a camper van in the perfect platform for outdoor adventures. Read more>>

Danielle Kensington | Destination Wedding & Elopement Videographer

I’ve always loved creating videos for me and my friends! Throughout college I would make year end review videos, videos of trips we would take, and music videos for my friends’ band. When COVID shut everything down in early 2020, my job went fully remote (luckily I didn’t lose my job because of COVID). Read more>>

Jayson Stolp | CEO of BW Sauna Co

When we first starting looking into building saunas full time, we considered many different things. It wasn’t a race to the bottom for us, we didn’t want to be the cheapest sauna on the market. We wanted to be unique, to offer a product that nobody can go buy off a shelf.  Read more>>

Gold | Therapist, Clinical Supervisor, Yoga Instructor, and Owner of Discover Peace Within

I knew from an early age that I was meant to become a mental health therapist. In fact, as the oldest child of divorced parents, I was conditioned to be the “peacekeeper” and a good listener from the time I was 4 years old. Fast forward to a BA in Psychology, and a Masters of Science in Social Work later, when it came to starting my path to become a legit therapist and new to Denver, I was eager to help the community. Read more>>

Joey Rini | Fine Art Wedding Filmmaker

Starting my own business was an act of love inspired by the desire to tell beautiful stories and an awareness that I am a self-motivated artist. Throughout my career I have been blessed with a diverse array of opportunities; I have poured myself into passion projects that have only been seen by a select few of my closest friends and family, as well as massive motion picture productions that have played on the big screen and streamed across the world. Read more>>

Kyle Babcock and Hannah Babcock N/A | Founder and Creative Designer

Working various corporate jobs has always left a desire to see our contributions payoff in a way that brings joy to others. Wanting to break from the mundane, we strived to think of a creative business idea that would incorporate the attitude of thinking outside the box, and artistic talent. Hannah used to make annual Christmas cards, that her grandmother would have printed and mailed out to her entire family. Read more>>

Amaya Perkins | she/they | Executive Director & Advocacy Specialist

I have been advocating in some way, shape, or form for the past six years and I came to realize that I wanted a space to be able to formally share the advocacy resources that I was developing. In November 2023, I presented at a mental health conference on the importance of journaling as a therapeutic resource. Read more>>

Katrina Rochon | Photographic Storyteller

I was a math educator for 17 years, teaching middle and high school math, then through my own private math tutoring company. What I learned is that anybody can teach themselves anything, as long as they have the confidence to do so. While on the outside, it looked as though all I was doing was teaching math concepts, what I was really doing was teaching people to see themselves and to believe in themselves. Read more>>

Mike C | Mikes marketing world

I always wanted to have something of my own. Despite the economic crisis and working a 9 to 5 job, I’ve always had the urge to grow and multiply my potential instead of jumping from one office to another. Fate always had me partnering up with JD, my partner out of nowhere and here we stand with a team of 25 people working as a family. Read more>>

Patrick Drake | founder of autonomy

It’s no coincidence that I called my brand ‘autonomy’. It’s the value I hold most closely. Autonomy is the ability to control your own outcomes. To decide what you do with your body, what you put in your body and to have the tools to thrive. Read more>>

AJ Cocetti | Firefighter South Metro Fire Rescue Station 32/ Co-Owner, Firemen Movers Co.

My business partner and I were seeking something to do alongside our professional firefighter jobs. Aidan, my partner, had previously worked for a firefighter-run moving company in Arizona. During a training session, we discussed business ideas, and Aidan suggested starting Firemen Movers Co. I immediately knew it was something I could support. Read more>>

James Roede | Associate Professor and Part time Rocker

This band sprung out of the doldrums of COVID19 pandemic life. John Marentette and I began to have many discussions after work about music over beers at a local brewery during 2019. These discussions inspired me to purchase a 6-string acoustic guitar in an attempt to learn music, develop a new part of my brain and to, maybe, be able to play music with others. Read more>>

Ben Cena | Illustrator, Podcast Host, and Screenwriter

I’ve always wanted to become a freelance illustrator but didn’t know where to begin, and of course, I’ve always wanted to meet celebrities and collaborate with artists, so I started a Podcast titled Retro Podcast; you can find it on YouTube and Spotify. Read more>>