Starting a business is a commitment and requires dedication, resources and sacrifice. We asked some of the rising stars in our community how they thought through the idea of starting their own businesses.

Matthew and Melanie Miller | Owners, Sunroom Brewing

We started Sunroom Brewing as a way to take back ownership of our time, energy, and stress. After decades in the software industry, we recognized that working for other organizations left us constantly drained and unfulfilled. Working for ourselves certainly takes a significant amount of time and energy, however, the effort and the outcome are our own and ultimately work to meet our own goals for our family and for ourselves. Read more>>

Sameera Ahmed | Owner and Licensed Esthetician

I’ve worked for a number of skincare lines as Lead Esthetician, Educator, and Account Executive, and saw a real gap in understanding in how a lot of esthetic professionals approach skin care. I noticed either a fear-based “natural” approach that positioned all “chemicals” as toxic, or an aggressive medical approach that peeled first and asked questions after. There wasn’t a true holistic understanding of the skin and how it indicates whole-body health. So I wanted to start a practice that embodied this whole-health approach. Read more>>

Alayna Baillod | Clinical Therapist (Mental Health Counselor)

After years of working in the clinical Social Work field in a variety of settings including foster care, mental health crisis response, intensive in-home services, to name a few – I recognized that I was longing to provide a high level of therapeutic care to people struggling with trauma, relational challenges and anyone feeling alone in the world. I wanted to bridge the gap between generic counseling and well tailored, more intentional support. I made the decision to embark on creating my private counseling practice after recognizing how routinely people find themselves in a place of not receiving adequate, specialized mental health care. Read more>>

CannaBuffs | Cannabis Club of CU Boulder

While Colorado was the first state to legalize recreational cannabis consumption in the U.S., it is clear that there is an absence of education surrounding the industry on the CU Boulder campus. This sparked our interest in establishing CannaBuffs. We noticed a vast interest in cannabis education, our peers were eager to learn more but did not have an avenue to expand their horizons. This needs to be a continuous conversation fostered in and around the Boulder community. Read more>>

Brandy Benson | Humanitarian and Photographer

I have had a camera in my hands since I could. Being behind the camera is where I am most comfortable. Documenting different milestones in one’s journey is powerful. I have completed many free projects for non-profits and low-income families in my photography business. It helps me build my business while giving a family or nonprofit an opportunity they might not afford otherwise. Giving back is where I am truly happiest. Read more>>

Jennifer Solis | Event Stylist

I have always had a passion around event planning and styling. Each year for my children’s birthday’s I enjoyed styling and planning over the top themed parties. My family and friends always encouraged me to explore starting my own business, but between working a full-time job and being a wife and mother, I never thought it would be possible. After planning my daughter’s first sleepover, I realized this type of business didn’t exist in the New Mexico area and I was excited for this opportunity to bring something new and creative to my hometown! Read more>>

Jill Reddish | Co-Founder, Global Cannabis Network Collective | CMO, Gateway Proven Strategies

I had been working alongside my now-business partner and close friend, Chris Day, for a few years at MJBiz, which puts on the world’s largest trade show for cannabis business. That experience was a crash course in an emerging industry, and then when the pandemic hit and we both left in the spring of 2020, Chris had the idea for the GCNC. I knew it was a good one — investing in people and knowledge-share is always relevant, and I had learned that in cannabis especially, business gets done through who you know. Read more>>

Katie and Liliana Winter and Resendiz | Zumba Instructors

Liliana had taught at gyms in the past but wanted more freedom/the ability to co-teach Read more>>

 

Adderly Grant-Lord | Artist

For me as an artist and as a human being, it’s essential that I’m my authentic self. As a Black woman, I know that some people in this world would prefer that I make myself smaller, or that I box myself in, or make myself more like them. That’s not an option for me, and I’m glad that I had experiences in life that encouraged me to be my authentic self, even if that meant I took risks, made some people uncomfortable, or pushed the edges of things. I needed to do that to be my authentic self. The rewards of living this way are great. Read more>>

John and Davina Pope | Co-Founders of San Juan Brews

We started our journey by building a coffee food truck that was intended to be used at summer festivals. It was going to be a side gig to fund vacations, home improvements, etc. After spending the winter of 2020 building the truck, we had festivals scheduled from Mid March through October. 3 days after our health department approval, COVID hit and we were shut down. Davina pivoted the intended use and turned the truck into the ice cream man version of coffee, and drove door to door and business to business.. Read more>>

Zach Reed | Food Scientist & Lacto-Fermenter

I have always been a big fan of food and cooking and I always wanted to do something with food. I wasn’t sure how I would do that so I went to college to get a degree in Chemistry. After I did a a 10 week stint at the University of Arkansas under the National Science Foundations Research Experience for Undergraduates in biochemistry, I realized that I didn’t want to be a biochemist anymore. That is when I found food science and when I decided to get a Ph.D. in Food Science. Read more>>

Paola Torres | Denver Home Stager and Home Organizer

I have always loved helping people and beautifying spaces. In my previous career, I was a Victim Advocate for seven years. I worked in Court systems, Police systems and most recently in a Child Advocacy Center. I helped people through the most difficult time of their life. Having seen tragedy day in and day out, I decided what I would like to do with the rest of my life. I started thinking about how much I love interior decorating. Read more>>

Nichole Crockett | Licensed Massage Therapist, Advanced Movement Specialist

I have always had a deep desire to help others. For the longest time I could not find the right profession that filled that desire in a way that massage therapy has for me now. I knew through massage therapy school, that I wanted to work with people who suffered from chronic pain. There is a shockingly large percentage of people who struggle with pain that limits them in their everyday lives and I wanted to be a part of that healing process. I also knew that having a niche in the massage therapy industry by offering a variety of modalities and treatments, would set me a part in my market. Read more>>

Micala Goerke | Cut Flower Grower

At Wild Spirit Botanicals we wanted to be a part of something that would create community and give people a chance to interact with beauty through blooms. We want to help others create their own gardening beauty and to interact in events that will bring beauty, creativity and wellness into their lives. We wanted to be a part of something that was local and inspirational for our community as well as fulfilling dreams for ourselves by doing something that we love. Read more>>

Barrett Thrasher & Roger Pippin | Owners and Operators of Beats Working Vacation Rentals

Our business started with the realization that we did not want to work for anyone but ourselves, and an off-chance opportunity to manage a single vacation rental in New Orleans. Roger and I met in Atlanta, and after we got married we decided to move to New Orleans and build a different life there. We had a lot of long and serious talks about leaving the service industry and corporate lifestyle once we got to Louisiana. I spent 15 years working in luxury hotels, and was also a bartender. Read more>>

Leah Rich | Textile Artist & Slow Fashion Designer

I have been able to work with a lot of materials over the years but textiles has always been one of my favorites. I thought that if I could source fabric second hand and learn natural dyeing techniques, I could work make some exciting things and feel good about my environmental and ethical impacts. Read more>>

Eric Burden | Owner-Denver Spore Company

I had been gardening and growing mushrooms for 12 years when Denver decriminalized magic mushrooms. Throughout those years I had been ripped off by many online companies trying to get mushroom spores. Either they would be of poor quality, would take months to receive them, or wouldn’t show up at all. I set out to provide top quality products sent in a timely manner. Many people are using mushrooms for mental health benefits. Understanding this, and having battles with depression myself, I was dedicated to give access to people wanting to grow their own medicines at home. Read more>>

Lisa Chapman | Owner of Celestial Salt

I much prefer to work for myself, and as much as the hours are longer and you don’t just “switch off” when you clock out, for me I still feel like I have more freedom working for myself. Read more>>

Emily Lloyd | Relationship-Focused College Athlete, Coach, and Business Student

A few years ago, someone once asked me, “What do you want to see changed in the world, and how can you contribute to that change?” Ever since then, I have been hooked on the idea that I can use my past experience to solve the problem of unintentional coach-athlete emotional abuse. Between my experience as an athlete and my professional experience in relationship education, I knew there was a way to recognize that the vast majority of coaches who were causing harm to athletes were not doing so intentionally, and that there is a way to change their behavior. Read more>>

Marisol Bonet | Revealism Painter

When I was just three years old, my kindergarten teacher leaned over and asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Instinctively, I still remember it vividly, I announced “:I’m going to be an artist!”. Looking back I find it amazing that, for some people, we have such a strong sense of destiny from a very young age. I grew up always drawing, with sketchpads in my hand and thinking I would one day become a fashion designer. I was voted “class artist” in high school and just fell in love with painting. Read more>>

Nellie Neeman | Thriller Author

It was the summer of 2015. My son was about to fly the coop for a gap year of study overseas. I, on the other hand, was heading in the opposite compass direction, to the Midwest . . . with my new-ish husband. I was facing the proverbial empty nest 𝘢𝘯𝘥 the prospect of gregarious neighbors who, from what I’d heard, would short-circuit my New York City sensibilities by making full-on eye contact. Read more>>

Greg Gardner | Co-founder of Perspektiiv Content Club

After working with real estate agents and vacation rental hosts for 8+ years through their branding and design studio, Alison and Greg Gardner were inspired to revolutionize the way the real estate industry generated digital content. Perspektiiv Content Club was founded to lighten your workload so you can focus on what’s most important – your clients and guests. If you’re seeking a simple and efficient way to create quality, personalized, and engaging content in a flash, look no further. Read more>>

Delaney Dillon | Wildcrafter, Vulture-Culturist and Busker

Starting my own business was actually not a novel idea for me. Almost everyone in my immediate family owns their own business and have been extremely encouraging in the process of me pursuing my own – if not insistent. I’ve had a lot of chances to observe people conducting their first and following enterprises, so it was more exciting to leap into the fray than it was scary. Don’t get me wrong, I love working in the service industry and interacting with people, but my skill set is better used for creative pursuits and managing my own time. Read more>>

Deborah Westcott | Executive leadership coach specializing in Emotional Intelligence

I started my career working in an organization for 5 years. I left because I believed that I could have more autonomy, independence adn influence on my own. It was not an easy choice but it was the right choice Read more>>

Lange and Jamie Patrick | Real Estate Agents and Advisors

Synergy occurs when 2 or more things cooperate to make a greater contribution together than they would on their own. In some ways that’s always been part our story over nearly 30 years of life and marriage and 5 kids and in and out of seasons. But when the opportunity came to join forces vocationally we knew that the risk was worth the potential reward to fully leverage our gifts, dreams and lives together. Read more>>