The first step to starting a business is deciding to start a business. They say the first step is the hardest and in our experience this is especially true when it comes to starting a business. Getting over the mental roadblocks can be tough, often harder to overcome than the challenges you’ll face once you actually start the business. Fellow entrepreneurs share their thoughts below.

Malori Plush | artist and community builder

The inspiration for starting the Pop-Up Art Café originated from a personal desire to make more art, which seemed to always take a backseat due to lack of time and other commitments. The idea emerged from a simple thought: “Wouldn’t it be neat to have a communal space where people could create art and connect with others?” My passion for fostering community played a significant role in shaping the idea. I read once that loneliness is more detrimental to your health than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, and that struck me. So this idea combined two of my greatest loves, art and community. The overarching goal of the pop-up is twofold: to integrate art into everyday life and, more importantly, to offer people a welcoming space to come together and meet new people. Read more>>

Alyssa Butor | Candle Maker

Hi! Im Alyssa and I am the creator of Rocky Mountain Waxory . The idea for Rocky Mountain Waxory came in early 2021 from the need of wanting a clean candle along with my passion for trying new things. I went back and forth with what I wanted to create as my new business venture. I wasn’t sure it was even going to be candles but I knew I loved them and there was a definite need for better burning candles in the world. So I thought let’s give it a shot! I will figure out the rest as I go if I am successful in creating a candle that actually burns the way I want it to in my mind. Read more>>

Denise Tallcott | Business Coach & Motivational Speaker

I love getting to serve people. It’s beyond humbling to me to get to work with business people and discuss their professional goals and personal strengths. Through one-on-one business coaching with Denise Tallcott Leadership, we get to identify areas of opportunity and create an action plan to accomplish your deepest desires in both your career and personal life. Business and life coaching is so impactful and having an accountability partner checking in on you and encouraging you along the way is so life giving. Getting to do this for a living is beyond amazing. Read more>>

Celeste O’Brien | Co-Owner, Chief Visionary, LMT for Symmetry360 Massage, Symmetry Collective, Elixir Mind Body Massage and Symmetry Education and Training

Myself and my business partner and best friend worked at the same spa and salon together. We saw the ways that we wanted to be able to improve the massage service we provided to our clients, along with wanting more freedom and autonomy within our craft. We were motivated and excited by the results that we could provide to our clients and we have a desire to see that grow and expand. We took the leap and rented our very first massage room in the back of a pilates studio in the Highlands neighborhood. Read more>>

osamagbe izevbigie | Director and Creative Writer

Upon arriving at the University of South Wales in 2019, I noticed that the music played at the student union club lacked diversity. This realization led me to establish the African-Caribbean Society, which organized the first-ever Afro-Caribbean event in the university’s history. The event was a huge success and opened up numerous opportunities, including hosting events for the university and securing a contract with Club Ice to promote RnB Wednesdays, a pioneering venture in the valleys. In 2021, fueled by ambition and a vision for change, I founded OTID Entertainment. I transformed a student-led initiative into a cultural powerhouse that celebrates diversity and empowers the community through groundbreaking events and initiatives. Under my leadership, OTID Entertainment has become synonymous with excellence, innovation, and inclusivity, hosting prominent acts such as LAX, Adesope (Afrobeat CNN), Spyro, Ajebo Hustlers, Fave and Yxng Bane Read more>>

Véronique Lussier | Music Director & Conductor

From a young age, music has always been present in my life through the exploration of different instruments such as the piano, the violin, the guitar etc. During family gatherings, my grandparents who expressed themselves musically in a self-taught way were a great motivation. With these inspiring role models showing me their love for music, I felt the impact of music on me and around me. Different courses and musical camps fueled my desire to pursue studies at the Vincent d’Indy music school and at the University of Quebec in Montreal, where I obtained my diploma in Pedagogy with Piano as my main instrument. For around ten years, in this effervescent environment of creating numerous musical projects with students in collective groups, I realized the highly beneficial impact of music on the cognitive level as well as on the behavioral and social level. Music can change lives, I am convinced. Read more>>

Becca Boudreaux | Owner

We actually bought 3.14 Pi Bar existing. My boyfriend Don and I have owned businesses in varying industries previously. We had, however, always said we would never own a restaurant! But when we stumbled upon the listing for Pi Bar we were immediately intrigued with the concept. We approached out daughter’s fiance who had been a restaurant cook for quite some time, and asked if he wanted to join us in purchasing. We “secret shopped” Pi Bar a few times and loved it! It was definitely a gamble — at the time, restaurants were still under Covid-19 restrictions — but we ultimately decided it would be a fun new adventure. There is a lot we have kept the same but we’ve tweaked recipes, added new fun items and flavors, and brought the restaurant back from the brink of Covid shutdown. Read more>>

Brittany McNeal | Furniture Restorer + Designer

Since I was 11 years old I’ve always had my own business. At 11 years old, I sold beaded keychains and painted pottery. I had business cards and flyers I gave to my mom to give to her coworkers. I loved the idea of creating something for someone and making money. Throughout my life my business begain to vary and soon they were always leading me back to creating. I’ve always enjoyed making things for our home or taking furniture we have and giving it a new look. What is now my signature bench began in head 6 years ago. I purchased a set of hairpin metal table legs and they collected dust for 6 years. Finally, last year I built my first bench. To me, having your own business is so empowering. Working in corporate America didn’t fit into our military lifestyle. For me, I needed to have a job that could be flexible enough for me to be the mom and wife I strived to be. Lonnie Eli & Co. was built on passion, love for community, and family values. Read more>>

Chris Mahoney | Guide, Trip Curator, & Conservationist

Coming from a small family business environment I always knew it would be a huge commitment with no safety nets. Many people think having their own business means “more free time” and the opposite is true, but you have to LOVE what you do, you have to trust yourself that you can do it knowing there is no such thing as a sick day, and you have to care about that business and your clients more than your own free time. For me it was always about how do I want to spend my time… working for someone else or putting my passion into providing what i think is lacking in the industry. It was never about the pay but about being creative with that passion. The tourism industry in America is kind of a cookie cutter situation and Im focused on changing that and giving clients what they didnt know they wanted. Read more>>

Nancy Oswald | Rancher

We are third generation ranchers in Colorado and started raising grass fed and finished beef in the 1990’s. We we already had a starter herd of cattle, and were raising them naturally.,so it was an easy leap to begin the direct marketing part of our business. We chose a small family processor in Elizabeth, Colorado because they are USDA inspected and we knew, without a question, the animals we took in there would be the same animals that came back to us, cut and frozen and ready to deliver to our customers. We started out with one sale, and now we process around 30 animals a year. Our advertising is mostly word of mouth because once our customers realize how different the taste is from a feed-lot raised beef. Read more>>

Randi Paulin | Food Truck Owner

We wanted to be able to have the flexibility and creative process to do what we wanted and not have anyone else making decisions for us. We both love the mobile food industry and making people happy with good food and good customer service. We also wanted to show our kids that anything is possible! Read more>>

Carlos Perea | Terra Vera Co-Founder and CEO

Terra Vera is my second start-up, and this one I co-founded with my business partner Justin Sanchez. After I sold my first company, I tried to work for others, and was an executive for a publicly traded company for a while. But when it comes down to why I wanted to start my own businesses, it’s because I liked the idea of controlling (or at least trying to) my own destiny rather than being dependent on others. I also value the notion that by starting a company, you get to choose who you work with, and that to me, is what makes it fun and rewarding.” Read more>>

Dan Kellams | Doctor of Chinese Medicine & Integrative Functional Medicine Specialist

The decision to create Peak Vitality was primarily motivated by the aspiration to establish a distinct healthcare model that deviates from conventional approaches. Drawing upon my experience within the medical center in Houston, Texas, as well as my involvement with various practices, I recognized a significant void in what I have termed “Collaborative Medicine.” This approach emphasizes the collective participation of multiple practitioners and clinicians in the care of patients. Integral to this model is the deliberate convening of meetings to comprehensively evaluate an individual’s health history, laboratory results, clinical outcomes, and past shortcomings. The aim is to foster collaborative problem-solving and cultivate a genuinely personalized care experience that is not only rooted in natural methods but also firmly grounded in evidence-based practices. Read more>>

Daniel Colson | Hip Hop Artist

When I started making music I never really thought about the business behind it. But as I grew as an artist it was very apparent that there is tons of business behind the process of making music and performing. I guess I embraced it fully as I didn’t want financial burdens of recording studios and other aspects of making music to limit me and creating music. So I was quick to purchase equipment and develop my own home studio which allowed me to record myself as well as help other artists record. This is where I guess some of the business aspect of it came into play I also learned the networking with talent buyers and venues over the state would help me with opportunities to perform live. A lot of this never felt like much work to me as it was something that I already enjoyed to do. Read more>>

Regard Tang | Energy Healer / Medium

Starting my own business wasn’t planned. I never thought I would become an entrepreneur. In my mid-20s, I was in a corporate job. Not going to lie, after my first couple of years with the company, I was hoping and wishing every day that they would lay me off. During the Great Recession, pretty much everyone got laid off starting in 2008. My dream had come true, and I got laid off in 2009. I was in the third round of layoffs within the company and got let go Read more>>

Mimi Purnell | Digital Artist & Content Creator

I’ve always wanted to have a creative job, and as someone who loves to travel to new places I knew that the most practical way to have creativity and flexibility in my career was to have my own business. Read more>>

Jill Dreves | Founder and Cheif Vision Officer, Wild Bear Nature Center (and mother and educator.)

Having grown up the mountains of northern Colorado, I had a unique experience of attending a K-8 32 student mountain school, exploring the mountain ecosystem all day every day outside of school hours. I became a public school teacher and during the summers was a naturalist with the Vail Nature Center. When I moved to Nederland, Colorado to teach at Nederland Elementary School, I was shocked that there was no nature center open regularly to the general public in all of Boulder County. My passion was children, but also was with building community in nature. Read more>>

Marie Drake | Law Firm Owner and Entrepreneur

It was a strong hunch but I don’t remember my intuition ever being wrong. It was almost completely irrational though: I had no clients and no experience running a business. But I had a feeling if I didn’t start my own law firm in my 40s, I would never get around to it. So I took action on a wing and a prayer and I’m grateful I did. Read more>>