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.

Bill Johnston | Entrepreneur, Founder & President

I started Recover in 2010 because I wanted to work in sustainability and there weren’t job opportunities in that field. After graduating college in 2008, during the height of the recession, opportunities were sparse, much less in the field that you wanted to work, so my entrepreneurial juices started flowing. At first, my main focus was on renewable energy and sustainable development – I became a LEED AP, did internships, and continued researching different areas of sustainability. That’s when I discovered the technology of using recycled cotton an polyester in textile applications. At the time I was working in the outdoor industry as a backpacking and mountaineering guide, so I combined my passion for the outdoors and protecting the natural environment with recycled textile technology, and started a brand called Recover. In the early days it was a steep uphill battle as there just wasn’t much consumer awareness around 100% recycled products, but over time the concept caught on and we’ve been on a relentless pursuit to make the most environmentally friendly and socially responsible products ever since. Read more>>

Christa Franks | Business Owner, Clinical Herbalist, Plant nerd, Tea Lover

Starting a small business is always a risk. When I moved to Trinidad, I was still working remotely from COVID-19 and was desperately looking for a community and a home. I attended the local Farmers Market in the summer of 2021 in search of that community. I saw the need for cold drinks and local options. We were a booth at said Farmers Market a few weeks later with locally grown teas, cold brew coffee, and freshly made lemonade. Those early Saturday mornings taught me a lot about Trinidad, its residents, some of the needs for fresh food options, and the connection to providing a service. The thought process of starting Trinidad Tea Co. was always rooted in the community. Growing from a seasonal market booth to a full-time retail location was to continue to conversation of how to bring the freshest tea experience to Trinidad. We always offered our organic, loose-leaf teas and organic hand-blended spices as an option to buy, but the practical application was lost when I only saw customers 1 morning a week. Read more>>

Sarah Valentin and Julia Harris | Sarah – Fashion designer & stylist / Julia – Musician and Fashion designer

We are Julia and Sarah, sisters and social entrepreneurs, deeply committed to making a positive impact on the world. Our shared passion for sustainable fashion, music, art, and community has driven us to create a business that embodies these values in every aspect. Read more>>

Britni Mara | Visual Artist

Honestly, I was tired of grinding and hustling for someone else. I graduated in 2013 from Bradley University with a BFA and moved to Chicago with $400.00 in my savings account. I picked up a job as a bartender with the aim to work a few days a week and build my art career, but I ultimately got sucked into the hospitality industry. I spent most of my early to mid-twenties working 60 hours a week behind a bar. It eventually wore on me, emotionally, physically, and creatively. Read more>>

Nicandria/Victoria Nungaray/Carbajal | Photographer

When my sister and I embarked on our entrepreneurial journey, we sought a business venture that would afford us the freedom to craft our own schedules, engage with people, and allow the presence of Victoria’s daughters. After much deliberation, we settled on photography, recognizing its profound significance in preserving cherished memories. However, we soon observed that photography often remains a luxury beyond the reach of many. Driven by our mission that everyone deserves the opportunity to immortalize their special moments, we are committed to making our services affordable. We do not believe that photography should be a privilege reserved for the few, but instead, accessible to all. Read more>>

Melanie Joyce | Founder & Creative Director

In middle school, a spark of inspiration ignited my desire to pursue a career as a fashion designer. During my undergraduate studies, I envisioned establishing my own fashion label, a dream that persisted through my journey to a Masters of Fine Art in grad school. The prospect of building my own brand held great significance for me, driven by a deep-seated desire to leave a lasting legacy. Maintaining creative autonomy, unrestricted by limitations on my artistic expressions, became a priority. Starting my own label emerged as the sole path forward, allowing me to shape my unique vision and forge a meaningful impact. Read more>>

Dante’ Sell | Lead Creator / Lead Graphic Designer

This was more of an idea others had because I would talk about football so much. They would always say “oh you have a nice voice for video” or “you have a lot of knowledge on football”. Then I started an audio only podcast called “The Handoff” with a Co-Worker. We did 2 episodes as a “test” and then we asked another co-worker to join us and we rebranded to “Go For 2 Podcast”. We did this for about 1-year and started to venture into video live streaming. Since I have a graphic arts background this was a great move and then again we took a planning period of 3 months away from podcasting and rebranded to “East Coast Gridiron” got our LLC and took Podcasting off of what we did because we wanted to be more of a media group that did livestreaming, podcasting and football media than just podcasting as a whole. Read more>>

Tara Wells | Director and Co-Founder of Bella Terra Farms

My passion for working with people with disabilities began back in high school. I began volunteering then working for a private clinic that offered occupational, speech, and physical therapy services for children with special needs. My love and draw to this beautiful, unique community was cemented the more time I spent with them. Read more>>

Isaac Robinson-Stark | Photographer and Writer

Before Robinson-Stark Photography, I operated and ran a successful dog caretaking business in Washington. Photography was a big part of it, taking pictures of clients’ dogs having a great time made clients feel safe and connected to their dogs. My wife and I wanted to start a family, and we needed to move to Colorado to be closer to family. I didn’t have anything lined up, but the thought occurred to me that I could do photography! Since it was a passion of mine, I could pick the brain of relatives who owned a photography business, and it was something I have always wanted to do. Read more>>

Christian Grunnah | Ice Hockey Power Skating & Skills Development Specialist

After working for other ice hockey training development groups and having a major role in their success, I decided it was time to create more opportunities for myself. I had developed a full curriculum and training system that I had confidence in and I knew I would be able to offer more to my clients than I had been able to when working for others. Read more>>

Kelly Diekmann | Web Design Consultant & Coach

I got my MBA because was sure I would end up at some Fortune 500 company in a corner office wearing power suits, but my first ‘real world’ job was so straight out of ‘Office Space’ that I quit after 6 weeks. Thankfully I had this side gig of web design that I took up in undergrad that I never took seriously but made decent money. I never considered it a legit career until my husband and I started talking about having a family. Whoa – I could work on my side business, while contributing to my household AND staying home raising babies? And that’s exactly what I did (although it wasn’t quite that simple ha!) I grew my side gig into a multi-6-figure self-employed business while raising three daughters. Read more>>

Cath Lauria | Writer and Editor

I didn’t plan to become a freelancer, that’s for sure. I worked for the same company for over ten years, and at the end of it when I got pregnant, I was told they couldn’t offer me any maternity leave or compensation beyond my vacation days. To which I said, “Screw this,” and was fortunate enough to have a spouse who could float our family along until I started making money again. Read more>>

Jess Feaster | Real Estate Company Owner & Artist

In 2015, our twin sons were 4 years old and for some reason we thought it was a great time to start our own business! Thankfully, it turned out to be a great time to open a real estate business as in the Denver real estate market took off within a handful of years. Jay and I are work hard/play hard people and we wanted to develop something of our own while gaining more flexibility and autonomy in our schedules. At the time, Jay had been a real estate agent for 6 years and I had been in marketing since college. Jay had the knowledge and motivation to help clients buy, sell and build homes while I used my past experience to develop the brand, website and strategy for finding and keeping new home buyers and sellers. When we hire employees, we have the same mentality – divvy up the responsibilities by playing to everyone’s strengths. Read more>>

Jeff Jesmer | Actor & Set Builder/Designer

I come from a varied background of the military, construction, and restaurants, and find that self-employment works really well with my personality. It’s interesting because I kind of fell into self-employment. I realized I wanted something different so I started going to school, took my previous life skills to the shop, and started gigging around town. Before long, I was able to afford my own tools and I haven’t looked back since. Read more>>

Chris Mills | Tech consultant and DJ

The thought process of starting my own business. This is a very interesting question. The process was influenced by a friend of mine, her name is Briony Wilson. Briony had a customer appreciation event and had asked me to deejay for it but there was one condition. That condition was I needed to register a business behind my deejaying, so I did my research, registered a business name and here we are today. I asked her years later why she suggested that and her response was “I know how talented you are and as my friend I couldn’t have you keep sitting on it!” Read more>>

Tracy Travis | Jewelry Artist

My business, TT Objects, is a pandemic baby. During the pandemic, I started focusing on making jewelry as a hobby. At first, I was motivated only by making the perfect pieces for myself. I’d try on an outfit and think of the jewelry that would make the clothes sing and then make the jewelry. Often, I needed to order multiples of parts to make one piece and I ended up with a library of parts. Soon I had more jewelry and parts than I needed and I began to wonder about selling. That thought was reinforced when I was often asked by people about my jewelry and if it was for sale. Around that same time, I had some close friends who were painters who were starting to sell their work. I saw them turn their passions into growing, successful businesses. They were role models and supporters and as I followed in their footsteps, I also began to meet other jewelers. In my experience, creatives are so encouraging and generous. I learned more and more and slowly began to grow my own jewelry business. Read more>>

Richard Banfield | Artist, author, advisor and product builder

When I started my first business it was less a thought process and more a gut feeling. Since I was a kid, the idea of creating things was attractive to me. I’m more of a maker than a consumer. Through my teens I was a prolific artist and loved creative activities like LEGO and building BMX tracks in the open fields behind out house. A business felt like an extension of that generative mindset. My first business was making t-shirts. Read more>>

Elena Salmistraro | product designer and artist

After completing my studies, like everyone else, I began searching for a job in established firms, aiming to delve into the professional world and fully understand its dynamics. It was important for me to grasp how to approach it and, above all, discern the real differences between the academic and professional contexts. Read more>>

Mark Rossier | Studio Potter

I worked for other independent potters who had small production potteries with a few employees, and that experience made me believe having a pottery business was possible. But it was also clear to me that I had to figure out some way to sell my work if I wanted to continue making my work. That has actually always been true. What I realize now is, frankly, I was resisting the negative cultural stereotypes of the “flaky, starving artist”, and for that reason I was determined to structure myself as a business, and make my work fit that model, rather than simply be a studio artist. Now I feel like I have the experience as a business, yet I operate as a studio artist because that is truly who and what I am. Read more>>