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.

Jessica Bowman

The thought process behind Skyy’s Frequency was rooted in mental health. For years, I’ve been on a personal journey to understand how to truly experience peace in my life and it all began with my mental space. Despite reading extensively, researching mental health, and attending therapy sessions, I still couldn’t find the sense of clarity and peace I was searching for. That changed when I discovered sound therapy. Read More>>

Kimberley Flores

The thought process behind starting my business really came from conversations I kept having with women who loved the idea of travel but didn’t always feel confident going on their own. I realized that, for me, traveling solo or in small groups had always felt natural, but that wasn’t the case for everyone. I saw a need for travel experiences that felt approachable, supportive, and a little different from the typical big group, tourist-heavy trips. Read More>>

Amy Weisenhorn

I really wanted my community to have a thriving opportunity to learn how to dance. During covid, the town’s only dance program had to close, so I felt the strong desire to create one. Read More>>

Shawn Denoyer

To be happy and create a place for like minded driven individuals to accomplish their goals! Read More>>

James Lauriello

It was one of the those obvious things in the space – where I saw a need and kind of just jumped on the idea.

I had been a professional athlete in the sport for about two years at the time when I thought to myself that there were very few media organizations, and commentators following the sport – so what a better way to do the thing then have an athlete who actually knows the sport take a shot at covering it with the podcast. Read More>>

Gillian Grant

I have long been drawn to healing and helping support others on the journey to living their best damn life. I started my career as a health educator with teens in a high school clinic, which was the start of me really investing in myself and others. My journey started from a toxic place of people pleasing, but changed into a more grounded space of sharing my learnings with others. I love working with people and seeing them grow into self love and belief.  Read More>>

Susannah Allen

I used to work for CU. My boss was at the time was a serial entrepreneur when he wasn’t working at the university. He mentioned how easy it is to start a business in Colorado, and I knew I had to form my own LLC for photography. I had studied photography in college, had photographed a few weddings for friends, and loved photographing people, pets, and events. So it was a no-brainer. Read More>>

John S. Miller

I was born in Bangkok, Thailand, to a Thai mother and an American father. We moved to the U.S. when I was very young, and I watched both of my parents work tirelessly to build a life for our family. My father was a computer engineer at a large company, but his true passion was music. My mother, an exceptionally skilled cook, put herself through cosmetology school while learning English and adapting to American culture. Read More>>

Johna Johnson

During my short 37 years, I have had experience in many businesses. At a young age, my parents sold candles and jewelry at craft shows around the south and my sister and I were able to have our own business inside theirs, selling water balloon yo-yos! I guess you can say thats where the fire started of being a business owner. My parents instilled in us at a young age what it took to be a small business owner. Read More>>

Sam Korn

Like many people out there, I originally got interested in starting a business when I realized that I needed a way to make money while I sleep. I value the opportunities that free time can enable, but if you have to go into the office 5X a week, even if that office is at home, then for most of my life I am limited in what I can do. where I can travel, etc. Read More>>

Emily Schmidt

I’ve always been someone that wanted to have my own thing, I’ve been told I have the personality for it! I really wanted to find something that drove me, allowed me to be creative, work with people and tell their stories. I found my way in to wedding photography and fell in love- actually, I fell in love first and planned my own wedding then I didn’t to stop. Read More>>

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling

I started my own business after receiving my BSN and working in health care. I had been brought up to believe that nature and natural remedies were far better than medications, so working in a traditional health care setting with my healthy dietary knowledge, lifestyle and supplement background clashed with our conventional sick care system. We saw the same patients over and over again, and they got sicker and needed more medications every time they were admitted to the hospital. Read More>>

Cassie Gifford

After working in the medical field for so many years and seeing the trajectory of patient care I became discouraged. In opening my own practice I am able to care for and treat patients in the manner I would wish to be cared for both as a human and as a patient. Read More>>

Colleen Quigley

This summer marks 10 years as a professional track and field athlete for me, so I’ve been in this sport for a while now and have learned a ton about how it works well and where improvements can be made. Since I’m a athlete, I wanted to solve for problems that I see athletes are having in our sport with the way that pro track and field teams are structured.
Most of the big teams in our country are owned by a major shoe brand and have one coach (who is a male). Read More>>

Mo Tregenza

Something I’m not always eager to admit, but I’m a “retired” lawyer. Most cases end up settling (more on that below). Yet lawyers and clients spend months and often years, wound up in costly, life draining legal process. In the U.S. a half a trillion dollars (that’s 12 zeros!) is spent on litigation each year. None of which goes back to the pockets of the parties. So I’m an unhappy, stressed-out lawyer, making unhappy, stressed-out clients–for no reason??  Read More>>

Nathan Buschman

Honestly, starting my own business came from a mix of passion and necessity. I’ve always loved creating, whether it’s through photography, video, or content strategy and I realized I wanted full control over how I use those skills. I didn’t want to just work for someone else’s vision; I wanted to help build others up using my own. Read More>>

Terin

I wanted to spend my life doing something with meaning and fulfillment. I spent so many years of my life just making a paycheck, and one day woke up and realized the real path to freedom is to get up every day and get to do something that you love. Read More>>

MacKenzie Momper

Honestly, it started with a deep desire to serve women in a way that felt more whole, personal, and supportive than what I saw in mainstream wellness and motherhood spaces.

I came from a background in movement and nutrition, and after going through my own journey into motherhood, I realized how much was missing especially around the transitions of pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. Read More>>

Matt Martensen

I never set out to start a business—much less a cooperative. I was just trying to find a job, not build a company. But one stubborn idea—giving users a real ownership stake in the tech they use—pulled me in and wouldn’t let go. After traveling the world, job-hunting in Brexit-era London, and getting rejected more times than I can count, I dove into research. I discovered a latent global demand for user-owned tech, uncovered an overlooked cooperative model, and realized a web browser could be the perfect launchpad. What started as a maybe morphed into a mission. That’s how User Cooperative was born. Read More>>

Mikaela Nichols-Lionetti

I thought I want to be a photographer for a living. Why not start my own business? Now I’m 10 years in and I’m so glad I did! Read More>>

Perla Bustillos

For me, starting my own business wasn’t just about entrepreneurship, it was about reclaiming my voice and purpose.

For years, I helped build other people’s dreams, supporting organizations, leaders, and teams behind the scenes. But deep down, I knew I was meant to build something of my own. Something that blended my creativity, operational mind, and passion for community. Read More>>

Angel Uribe

I wouldn’t say a business more like a community. My thought process was,”shit, where do I begin?”. Then for some reason at 3:345AM I stood up making music and remembered a bar about some name I made up called D!RTBVGCL!QUE (dirt bag clique) and just had a final thought of making a rap group called that. So that inspired me to be more open with people in the community. Read More>>

Johana Alvear

I started Golden Cleaning because I wanted freedom—not just financial, but freedom over my time and my future. I had worked hard for others and realized that if I could put that same energy into something of my own, I could build something meaningful while also creating opportunities for others. I wanted to offer a service I could be proud of, one that made a real difference in people’s lives and homes. Read More>>

Tobias Uhrig

When I started my business, I really wanted to focus on what I felt made people walk away from funeral service with a bad taste in their mouth and work with people to overcome those issues. Whether that be cookie-cutter services that look very similar to other funerals they have been to in the past or price gouging with over-expensive services/merchandise. There are cases where this is not what people want, and I recognize that as well.  Read More>>

Azailah Knox

The thought process behind starting Knoxie Cosmetics was deeply personal and purpose driven. I wanted to create more than just a beauty brand—I wanted to build a movement rooted in creativity, confidence, and care. Growing up, I didn’t always see beauty brands that truly reflected the individuality, attitude, and skin-first values of girls like me. I knew there was space in the industry for something more intentional, products that not only enhance beauty but nurture it, inside and out. Read More>>

Awais Khan

I took some very high-profile writing courses in London which were very useful for my writing career, but also very expensive. It was after I returned to Lahore that I realized nothing like this was available for aspiring writers here. The Pakistani rupee had consistently been falling in value, which made taking foreign courses even more expensive.  Read More>>

Scott Pincsak

Well, starting your own business is way more of a grind, than it is about the glory. I learned this as a young entrepreneur in my mid-twenties, when I started my own business in Lincoln, NE, owning my own catering business in the Old Historical Haymarket. That is probably why it took me almost another 20 years to go down this road again…not an easy decision.  Read More>>

Chris Johnson

I had experience in the fitness space working for other gyms and I was disheartened by the lack of community and “numbers game” of the big box gyms. I wanted to create a place that felt like home for people of all ability levels and one that noticed if you showed up each day. Read More>>

Jess McGowan

Starting my own mobile veterinary acupuncture practice was rooted in a desire to offer more personalized, low-stress care to pets and their people. After working in general practice and in veterinary clinics, it was obvious that most animals experienced stress and anxiety just getting through the door, let alone during their actual exam or treatment. Read More>>

Shea Clifford

I grew up in southern Michigan and moved to North Carolina in 2011 to follow my husband as he served in the U.S. Air Force. While there, I completed my student teaching and graduated with a degree in Middle Childhood Education. Born to be an educator, I spent the next nine years as a classroom teacher, teaching primarily English Language Arts to third and fourth graders. Read More>>

Ana Heinrich

Añuska Pastry Studio has been a dream in the making for several years now, but my love for baking started long before I knew it would become my life’s work. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are in my grandmother Nina’s kitchen, covered in frosting, elbows deep in dough, learning recipes passed down through our Argentinean and European roots. She was also the one who gave me the nickname Añuska, without knowing that one day, it would become the heart of my own pastry brand. Read More>>

Luis Gonzalez

Prior to starting my own business I was working in security. I had a son who was 4 and 1 year old. My 4 old had just recently been diagnosed with with autism and my wife was really struggling and would call in tears as our son would go running into traffic or opening doors while the car was moving. I loved my career but knew that I needed something more flexible to help my wife and son. I had never done woodworking before but saw pictures of flags and gave it a try. I am self taught and once I started it I was hooked and loved working with my hands. I was also able to be home more and help my family at this difficult time. Read More>>

Shaun Davies

My decision to start a business was inspired from my academic work and passion for financial markets. I trained as a financial economist at UCLA, where I earned my PhD in Finance, and much of my career has focused on studying inefficiencies and frictions in financial markets. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, my long-time coauthor, David C. Brown (University of Arizona), and I turned our attention to the Target-Date Fund (TDF) industry. Read More>>

Kevin Hanover

I grew up in a small town south of Boston that was mostly a tourist industry. My father owned a coffee shop that expanded into an award winning breakfast spot, and by the time I was seven years old he had renovated an inn and rebuilt another bed and breakfast. So being a part of the entrepreneurial world was natural for me. I fried clams in the kitchen on a milk crate, raised money for the local sheriffs department and cleaned pools throughout the summer until I was old enough to get into the bar scene.  Read More>>