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.

Rachel Roberts | Brand & Web Designer

I had sat on my idea of launching my digital design business for 3 years before taking the leap of faith. Over the course of my career I had worked for marketing agencies (small and large) and in-house at startups. I learned so much along the way, and learned so much about what I’m truly capable of. I dreamt about the ways I knew I could truly help more people while feeling fulfilled and having fun along the way. The only thing that was missing was the belief in myself. Read more>>

Darcy Ripple | Partner & Vision Architect

I always knew I would start my own business. My dad is what we lovingly call a “serial entrepreneur,” and I’ve watched him, time and again, take risks, enter new industries, and concurrently start businesses from the ground up. He instilled in me the value of carving out my own space for success. During my undergrad, I pursued degrees in both Sales and Entrepreneurship. I began my career in medical sales and then moved into the financial services space. Read more>>

Craig Nickell | Dietitian & Eating Psychology Coach

I chose to become an entrepreneur primarily for time-freedom. I am happiest when hiking in the beautiful outdoors with my family and friends, and I realized being tied to a 40-hour/week office job felt stifling to me. Furthermore, as a person with ADHD, I am most focused and creative when walking. Just like being in the shower, walks have given me some of my greatest ideas (and prevented a few of the bad ones, too!) So, I wanted a job where I could do that everyday. Read more>>

Matthew Tangeman | Photographer/Videographer

Working for myself always seemed like the natural, intuitive path to take – at the most basic level, I simply don’t like being told what to do! But beyond that, self employment really is the best solution in my line of work (photography/videography). Read more>>

Mj” Mary Chambers | Certified nurse midwife (CNM)

Just Call the Midwife is a prenatal health education platform has been was born out of the need offer pregnant women in the Denver market and beyond reliable prenatal health education at a time when health care providers are critically understaffed and patient access to safe reliable medical educational services and patient care is at an all time low. The pandemic continues to reek havic on the healthcare workforce in the US, A recent report by Definitive Healthcare, illustrated the gravidy of the healthcare provider shortage. Read more>>

Cory Herschk | Director of Hockey Operations, USA Ball Hockey

We wanted a program that will focus on the major three aspects of growing the sport of ball hockey: 1. Education 2. Accountability 3. Application to enter into the Olympics Read more>>

Maddie Stansell | Owner & Creator of Art unBlocks

I created Art unBlocks at the end of 2020. I had decided in early 2020 that I wanted to become a full-time artist. I started attending workshops, developed a website, and was painting every day. But there were days where I just looked at all my supplies, stared at a blank canvas, and felt so overwhelmed with possibilities. I also recognized that it had been ten years since studying art in college and I wanted to grow my skills, but felt, again, overwhelmed with what specifically I needed to work on. I also had a wonderful teacher named Angel Ramos who told me that creating daily and approaching it from a place of joy was the key to getting better and making great art. Read more>>

Amruta Parmar | Spiritual Artist & Candle Maker

I never thought I will have my own business, and that too as an artist in a new country with no art background?! It was not even in my wildest bucket list. Marriage brought me to Cincinnati. My spiritual journey paved the way for Art to happen through me. I started painting a few months after I moved to Cincinnati, when I saw visions in my meditations and an inner voice/urge to start painting. Read more>>

Brandon Scott | Concept 7, LLC Partner

We are actually in our 3rd generation of family ownership. Our founder (my Grandfather), Richard Scott, started in the hair care industry in the 1960’s and that is when we entered the professional products market. Until the early 1960s, all shampoos and bar soaps were alkaline type cleansers. They could not be used with frequency because they stripped the hair and scalp of their natural oils and moisture, causing the hair to become dry, brittle and uncontrollable. Read more>>

Rainbow Shultz | Chef/Owner of The Jamestown Mercantile Cafe

When I first walked through the doors of this 130 year old building, I felt a shift, I knew it was a special place for me. I was inspired at the opportunity to own the cafe because I could work on all of my favorite goals at the same time: celebrating community, being creative with food, offering a gathering place for my friends and neighbors and being able to constantly learn and evolve, not only by offering classes at the cafe but by trying different things as a business owner and learning what would work or not. Read more>>

Emily Ritoch-Hamm | Photographer & Dog Mom

So my story is a bit different. I actually didn’t have a plan to start a photography business. My Mom owned a bed and breakfast, I worked there part-time but had recently gotten remarried and was working on being a stay at home wife. I had a small leather working business on the side at home, just to keep me busy and for extra cash. My mom called me up one afternoon and said they had a wedding in a few weeks at the Inn and needed a wedding photographer (just an elopement, not a full-blown wedding, thank goodness). Read more>>

Tiffani Sahara | Author & Artist

I think at heart I’ve always been something on an entrepreneur. I was always trying to make friendship bracelets and sell them to my classmates or other various arts, crafts, or drawings as early as middle school. If you had asked me what I wanted to be when I was a little girl, I would have told you “an author and an illustrator”. Unfortunately, I had one particular art teacher who told me I would never amount to anything, I had no skill, and I would never be an artist. I believed her and nearly gave up on art after that. Read more>>

Nathan Heintzelman | Student/Entrepreneur

In my earlier years, I spent a lot of my time on my family’s farm. A huge chunk of this was spent in the agricultural industry being involved in 4H. The years I spent in 4H, gave me the building blocks to be innovative and do things differently. When I entered my later years in college, as a wildlife and natural resources major, I realized that if I wanted to be out fighting the climate disaster. I would have to make a salary that was based off of my time, in order to survive. I had a few business possibilities, but nothing sparked a true interest for me. Read more>>

Cheri Jensen | Officiant for funerals, memorials and celebrations of life

I am a retired minister who retired too soon, and I have found my new ministry in sacred service officiating funerals, memorials and celebrations of life. Post retirement I worked in the public sector and did not find it fulfilling nor a meaningful way to spend my time. Working with families to co-create a service that meets their needs allows me to be comforting, compassionate and creative, It is an honor and a blessing to be of service in a profound and powerful way. Read more>>