Ideas aren’t everything, execution matters greatly, but starting often requires an idea and so we asked folks to think back and tell us the story of how they came up with the idea for their businesses. We’ve highlighted some of our favorite stories below.

Charla Harvey | Photographer & Therapist

I have pretty much always had a camera in my hand, whether it was a Barbie polaroid, those Kodak disposables, or a point-and-shoot camera. As I got older, I switched over to DSLR and film cameras. I’ve also always loved people, so I took photos of people, places, and things. I loved asking people to smile or just taking candids (with permission)! When I moved to Colorado, I was mostly using my phone to take photos as I was in school and working most of the time. I didn’t really have as much time to take and develop/edit photos on actual cameras. Read more>>

Azul Rivera | Abuelita’s Tiendita Co-Founder & Entrepreneur

Abuelita’s Tiendita came to life thanks to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Our co-founder and namesake, Abuelita, was worried about losing her housekeeping job during the pandemic. So she started a side hustle of selling face masks at an emerging outdoor market. The face masks were brought from Mexico, During that time Abuelita realized lots of artisans in Mexico were struggling due to the lack of tourism and they were unable to sell their handmade goods which helped support their livelihood. At this point Abuelita had already recruited a couple of family members including myself, Azul, to help her with her outdoor market stand. Read more>>

Madison Stewart | Operations Manager\Owner

1. I dated a Scottish man from the UK which provided the perfect opportunity for me to travel back and forth; on my first visit I was introduced to this outstanding candy they called Scottish tablet, my first taste was at a farmers’ market at the base of Edinburgh castle, it was melty and sweet, buttery, soft and just a bit grainy, I didn’t know what it was at that moment, but I loved it! I also discovered these fabulous Scottish caramels at the airport, that did not taste like any caramel I’d ever had, they were in a very nice tin, that was the first thing to catch my eye, then man at the shop let me taste them and I bought 6 tins that day to bring back to the states with me. Read more>>