Deciding to start a business is an unusual decision. It’s often considered irrational and yet for many it’s the best decision they’ve ever made. So we asked folks to think back to when they were starting their businesses and to tell us about their decision making process.

Lauren Brunetti

’ve always had a deep interest in health and wellness—from a young age. I earned my CNA license in high school and took premed courses in college—experiences that reminded me how powerful it is to take care of our health and help others do the same. As a longtime wellness ambassador, I’ve encouraged others to make small, meaningful changes that lead to healthier lives. Read More>>

Christina Hoffeld

That’s a funny question! I am type A. There are a lot of things I can be super chill about, but most things in my life are structured, organized, systematic, and regimented. I mean, at least 6 out of 7 days a week, I eat the same breakfast every single morning. Read More>>

Jenny Remack

In 2021, I lost my job of over 18 years working in Community Corrections. The facility closed down due to COVID outbreaks, limiting the number of clients able to move from the prisons and jails back into the community. Read More>>

Philip Crumpton

I had a friend and mentor at the time that really pushed me to go out on my own. He saw potential in me and also saw that I would be much happier with the journey of entrepreneurship. I was VERY fortunate that my employer at the time was open to renegotiating my current position to a contract position and they became my first client. Read More>>

Brandon Olson

I started Olson Outdoors as a means to provide a living for my family. I finished my Ph.D. from Boston University and had a job lined up at Tufts University but my heart was in Denver. My wife and I decided to turn down the stability of the Tufts job offer and move back to Denver. Read More>>

Shawn Mccune

I have been doing handyman type of work for over 20 years. My background is HVAC (wholesale). Ive helped neighbors, friends, and the community with different types of work. My last job I worked as a maintenance supervisor for a feed mill. This was a rewarding job doing industrial maintenance. I spent six years here running the maintenance department. Read More>>

Blaine Lawson

From a young age, I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset and a drive to create something of my own. Starting my own business was the natural next step- a way to take control of my future, follow my passion, and be my own boss. Read More>>

Jeannette Smith

Honestly, I didn’t originally set out to start my own business. In fact, early in my social work career, I used to say that private practice was the ONE thing I would never do! Read More>>

Mauzie Mays

I spent 11 years working for several prominent jewelers, where I gained valuable technical expertise and a deep understanding of the industry. Over time, I developed a strong desire to bring my own creative vision to life. Read More>>

Sarah Arntt

The thought process behind starting my own business came about after I learned how to do AcuDetox to better serve the clients I worked with when I was employed with a local detox service I realized the benefits of auricular therapy and how ear acupressure could help all people not just individuals who were having issues with substance abuse. Read More>>

Rachel Zinanti

I’ve always known I’d work for myself. The question was never if, just when and doing what. After 15 years in marketing, I had my answer. I started at an agency, then moved in-house to lead performance marketing at a company where every dollar had to connect to revenue. Read More>>

Katie Ehlenbeck

After more than a decade in corporate sales, I realized I was done with the grind. I had worked hard to become a top performer, but deep down, I knew chasing quotas and commissions wasn’t the kind of success that fulfilled me. Read More>>

Donnie Hennop

My decision to start Colorado Vintage CamperS emerged from a blend of nostalgic passion and a mission-driven mindset. As noted on our About page, our journey began with “childhood memories of family camping trips in what we fondly called ‘caravans’,” and when we witnessed the growing popularity of vintage campers, we felt compelled to restore one—or two—and turned that hobby into our mission. Read More>>

Teresa Calderon-Rouse

My motivation stemmed from observing the standards at my previous place of employment and realizing I wanted to offer more. I set out to elevate those standards by prioritizing lash health above all else. I also wanted the freedom to own my time and create a space that raised the bar without overcharging clients. Read More>>

Taylor Anderson

I was a senior in chemical engineering at Mines, and I wasn’t happy about the trajectory I was on for career options. Working in a factory for the rest of my life was going to make me miserable. Meanwhile, I had been struggling with my skin for years. I dealt with acne, dryness, and redness, and didn’t know how to make it better. Read More>>

Xavier Calderon

The idea for Sabor y Salsa really grew out of my family and the food my sisters and I were raised on. My dad has always been incredible in the kitchen — he’s the one behind the prep, the cooking, and especially the grilling. Read More>>

Paul Baumgartner

My decision to establish Synergy Emotional Wellness was deeply personal and driven by a series of experiences that highlighted the urgent need for accessible, compassionate mental health care – especially for adolescents. It began when I noticed a troubling spike in adolescent suicide rates in El Paso County. That data became devastatingly real when my teenage son lost a friend to suicide. Read More>>

Josh & Mauricio (Brother & Associate) Ramirez

Josh: When my brother and I started the firm, the thought process was driven by a very clear, two-part vision. First, I wanted to focus on a specific type of work that I wasn’t able to do yet: designing gorgeous, legacy homes for clients who had achieved their goals. Read More>>

Travis Koenig

The main thing that took me down this route, is having parents trapped in the corporate world. I’ve experienced layoffs, reapplying for their own job, HR nightmares, and corporate downsizing with them as a kid. I never wanted to have my livelihood contained in the hands of somebody that had no care for me, or my family. Read More>>

Jen Judg

I’ve always wanted to do something entrepreneurial, and I’ve long been passionate about wellness. In our modern age, we all need different wellness modalities to help us stay grounded and adapt to the pace and pressures of life. After years of working in technology, I wanted to create something tangible, rooted in community and nature. Read More>>

Angie White

While the road of an entrepreneur isn’t easy, it is one I have come to love. I have owned a number of small businesses. Everything from a resale shop in the Highlands neighborhood of NW Denver to a home service company. My ex-husband and former business partner is the one who started me along this entrepreneurial path. Read More>>

Richard Bell

The idea of starting my own Sports Performance Business started after reading one of the books written by the late Charles Poliquin back in 2002. After reading his book, ‘Modern Trends in Strength Training’ I was quickly on a plane to Cleveland Ohio to attend one his seminars on sports performance for athletes. Read More>>

Menyhért Böröcz

When I first started La piadina, I felt like there wasn’t any true italian authentic street food in Colorado and I always missed piadinas since I ve moved to the United States in 2002, so once I completed my masters degree in business, and decided I should start making piadinas, and introduce them to Colorado. Read More>>

Lisa Curwen

I started Mind the Body Pilates at the beginning of the pandemic. I had been working at Life Time Fitness when the staff was put on furlough. Not wanting to stop practicing and teaching Pilates, I took the opportunity to build a Pilates studio in my home. Pretty soon many of my clients started to come to me for training. Read More>>

Kylie Faildo

Starting Jeen was really about creating the kind of care I wanted my patients to experience- something I wasn’t seeing enough of in traditional healthcare settings. I’ve worked in both in-person and digital physical therapy models, and I kept noticing the same gap: people, especially women, weren’t getting the time, education, and individualized attention they needed for their pelvic health. Read More>>

Mark Condon

When I was thinking about starting my own business and my goals, it needed to be something that I was passionate about and enjoyed deeply. As a career hospitality manager, there were many responsibilities and a lot of stress, which was impacting my health. I made a commitment to take better care of myself by working in an area that I love -wine. Read More>> 

Amber Imiolo

I decided to become a business owner because, at 41, I realized life was too short not to bet on myself. With a background in both business and the esthetics industry, I wanted to combine my experience and take on a new, exciting challenge. Read More>>

Rosemary McKenzie

My thought process behind starting the business was the desire to continue in a culinary career without the negatives that come from restaurant life. I wanted to connect with my clients and provide personalized culinary experiences for them. Read More>>

Maria Kouzmina

Well, the first thing that I can point out before starting my business is conceptualizing how it is going to be. It took me a really long time. It took lots of mental preparation and envisioning things before even taking first steps towards certification in beauty industry. Read More>>

Debbie Allan

When I first started Debbie Allan Photography, I was a mom to two young kids, striving to balance work with being present in their lives. Being a self-employed family photographer gave me that flexibility. Most of my photography sessions were held on weekends, and I managed business tasks during my children’s school hours. Read More>>

Sydni Saunders

My enjoyment of photography was the main reason behind my decision to establish my own business, but it has paired with the desire to create long lasting relationships with all my clients. One of my main goals as a photographer is to be the one you trust to capture your most significant moments throughout the years. Read More>>

Beth Smith

I made a really bad hire when I owned my restaurant. I hired a manager, and he let in two underage football players. This was one of the incidents in the Colorado Football Recruiting Scandal, and it made national news! It took me forever to clean up the mess. Read More>>

Kyoya López

There are a collection of things that made me pursue streaming and content creation. It was always my dream to become some sort of content creator, with one of my main goals being to someday be in a YouTube Rewind video; not because of fame or because I saw rich youtubers, but because I always wanted make a career out of my likes and hobbies. Read More>>

Mercedes Rouse

I grew up with a grandmother who did hair for a living, she had her own salon in her basement. Through high school I tried nails and loved it but wasn’t ready to go back to school. Read More>>

Brenda Jones

I pursued an art career because I couldn’t not do that. It is really as simple as that. From grade school on, creating has always been a refuge for me and a way of survival. Making art has generally come pretty easy to me as from an early age I found I could trade drawings for answers to homework in school. Read More>>