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.

Ravi Ramadeen | DJ/Producer/Writer/Radio Personality

Answering that question isn’t easy, as there wasn’t a clear initial plan when I first started the business. My journey began with music at fourteen, and by seventeen, I had officially founded my company. It all started one night when my best friend/music partner and I were joking about starting a business. The next week, we made it a reality. As teenagers, we thought, “Why not? What do we have to lose?” That was back in 2001. Here we are in 2024, and it’s incredibly humbling to reflect on how far we’ve come. It still amazes me that I get to wake up every day and dive into something I’m genuinely passionate about and love. I am immensely grateful for this journey. Read more>>

Dee Marie | Founder

Growing up in a predominantly white, affluent neighborhood as a Hispanic woman from a large, middle-class family, I felt like an outsider. It was a constant struggle to find my place, to feel like I belonged. The added complexity of coming out as queer exacerbated my sense of isolation. The lack of acceptance and understanding within my community and family pushed me to seek a different environment. Denver seemed like the perfect escape. As a young adult, I packed my bags and made the move. It was in Denver that I found a sense of belonging and a community that embraced my individuality. While the city’s diverse population and LGBTQ+ scene provided a much-needed support system, I noticed a growing need for entertainment and community spaces specifically designed for queer women. Read more>>

Nick Hanyok | Founder of Styled in Pride

The main idea behind starting Styled in Pride was and still is to help make the wedding industry more LGBTQ friendly. Even today there is still resistance to gay marriage and that has spread to wedding vendors denying couples simply for who they have decided to love. Being gay myself I hate thinking that couples are being denied simply because they are gay. Read more>>

Caroline Fausel | NBCHWC, Author, Podcaster, and Creator of Olive You Whole

As a child, I was sick very frequently. I had stomachaches so often I stopped letting my parents know. These digestive issues persisted into my adult life. I found the love of my life in college, and immediately after graduating, we got married! We moved to Savannah, Georgia. The “Plan” was for Chaz to finish medical school, and maybe 8-10 years later start our family. God had other plans! Six weeks later we were pregnant with our sweet Ella Rae. I was working as a graphic designer at a web design and development firm, and I planned to go back to work full time when she was born… Read more>>

Jayme Greenfield | Wedding venue owner

My dream was to open a wedding venue in the beautiful Colorado mountains to give couples a special place to get married. My husband and I have owned a couple of businesses and we wanted one to carry us through our retirement years. We decided to build our dream venue, work hard at it for a few years, then hire some help and enjoy retirement! Read more>>

Kelly Gonynor | Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, and Ceremonialist

I love this question! I started my business in April 2020 following the start of Covid because I felt a deep desire to create community during such an isolating time. I created my LLC and then launched a Facebook group called Adventure Into Love. It was a place where people could connect and share what was on their heart. On Mondays I would go live and lead a meditation for Monday Morning Meditation. From there my business has continued to evolve and transform. Adventure Into Love’s vision is to create a world of love, compassion, and celebration by helping people fall in love with themselves and their relationships with others. The main areas of my business include therapy, coaching, ritual & ceremonies, and clinical supervision & mentorship. Read more>>

Kay Allison | Opportunity Creator

I was a single mom working for a global ad agency. I’d created a process that invented new products for our clients… a process that had generated about $1 million in profit to the company. My bosses didn’t bonus me or give me any financial incentive. I observed the way they treated powerful, c-level female executives (not good) and the kinds of shady deals they engaged in. I made an assessment that it was riskier for me to remain an employee at that company than to start my own innovation agency. I’d proven I had skill that I could attract clients. And that those clients were willing to pay premium prices for the outcomes I created. Read more>>

Kayla Trujillo | Event Designer & Planner

The primary thought process behind starting my own business was finding the cross-section between what I am passionate about, naturally skilled in and something that had value to others in the world. I spend years at a job I was good at but found very little fulfillment in – once I saw an opening for myself I thought “I will always regret if I don’t take this opportunity.” Upon creation, I reflected back on how I have navigated my life and the roles I have played in my interpersonal relationships and realized it all led to the business I am in now. Read more>>

Tati Taylor | Artist & Model

I wanted to create a brand that embodied beauty from the inside and out while making it affordable for people to buy. Brands nowadays focus more on profit than having a clear and impactful message behind the brand. My brand Avenue Angel is affordable, comfortable streetwear that focuses on spiritual and mental health while being swaggy all at the same time. Read more>>

Kylee Rodriguez | Childcare Provider

When we first moved to Colorado I was working remotely from home for a credit union in my home state of Louisiana on a temporary project. When the project was complete, I started looking for a new job. I went to work for a week for a company that handled my hiring process poorly. During that time, a good friend of mine was running her own in-home daycare as a military childcare provider. I started talking to her about it, gathering information on how to get started and decided that it was something that I would be interested in doing. I have always wanted to be a teacher like my dad so I knew this was a way that I would get a chance to do that as teaching the children in my care would become one of my top priorities. I also found that I missed being home with my children. Read more>>

Benjamin Rios | Webmaster & Creative Expert

So my thought process to starting my own business consisted of a few key considerations. The first was identifying a specific niche or market need that I knew I could provide and address better than others. The desire to create something independently. To have leverage and control over the direction and growth of my business. The ability to make my own decisions. Evaluating the risks involved such as financial investment, financial security, and other competitors in the area. Having a long-term vision, creating a roadmap to grow and scale my business. And also, committing myself to it, understanding that growing a business requires a significant amount of time, energy, and patience to overcome hurdles and challenges. Read more>>

Sonal Patel, Md | Pediatrician/Neonatologists & Activists

I was sitting in my pediatrician’s waiting room watching the snow softly descend. I had finally made it! I was on time for my fourth son’s discharge appointment! It was a feat comparable to birthing. Six hours prior, the morning had started: The baby was breastfed, the diaper bag and formula were packed, the older three boys were showered and dressed, breakfast was eaten and lunch was packed. I think I remembered to eat, brush my teeth, and put on clean underwear (yes!). I breastfed the baby again, got everyone in the car, dropped the boys at their schools, parked the car, and finally checked in for our appointment. Read more>>

Michael Kimball | Ice Cream Chef & Self-Diagnosed Sadboy

I was ready for a new challenge and I knew that for the creative freedom I was looking for I would need to create the opportunity myself. I had been working in culinary product development and food media for years. When I attended the Fancy Food Show in 2023, I saw people following their dreams creating unique products and I felt inspired. For me, it was always going to be ice cream. I played around with a few concepts but when I had the idea for Sadboy something clicked and I immediately knew that this was what I was going to do and that I could do it. I didn’t know how exactly, but I got started. Read more>>