Our city is home to so many incredible businesses and so we asked the founders how they came up with the ideas for their businesses and have shared their responses below.

 Rachel Lefort

Prior to starting Midnight Oil, I was a personal stylist for both men and women. Styling men was much easier than styling women because menswear companies offered made-to-order options for achieving a better fit, with high quality materials and customization choices. This, however, was rare for women, especially reasonably priced made-to-order options with customization for women. I struggled to find affordable, quality pieces for my female clients, especially in neutral colors that make dressing easier. Read More>>

Sam Westfall

My journey with archery began over a decade ago, serving as a vital form of personal therapy during my time as an Army veteran. Throughout 2024, I attended various archery events and observed a significant gap: the lack of dedicated, therapeutic archery opportunities for the military and veteran community. I recognized the immense potential for archery to provide healing and camaraderie, and I wanted to create an organization that specifically addressed this need. That’s how Valor Archery Challenge was born – to offer a supportive and empowering space for veterans to experience the benefits of archery. Read More>>

Jenessa Sapp

When I was just a little girl, my favorite toys were dinosaur action figures- its only ironic that I quickly switched over to something more realistic, horses! My obsession with horses grew, and before I knew it I was the class “horse girl” who drew pictures of horses all over anything I could find. This continued to escalate, and my dad evetually grew tired of hearing, “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Can we PLEASE have a horse?” One day he gave up, and purchased our first family horse when I was just 9 years old. I joined Westernaires, an equine mounted drill organization based out of Golden, Colorado when I was just 10 years old.  Read More>>