It takes a lot more than an idea to build a business, but there can’t be a business without the idea. So we asked folks who’ve built wonderful businesses to tell us about how they came up with the idea in the first place.

Arthur Saint-Cyr | Photographer

The idea for my business came about after graduation from college having no money and still waiting to hear back from jobs that I applied to. I was sitting with my brother Corey one night and he asked “what is something you love that can make you money?” I immediately thought back to the joy I found behind the lens of a camera, taking pictures for the yearbook and participating in the daily broadcast. I quickly grabbed my computer and spent the last couple of dollars in my bank account on a camera. The rest is history. Read more>>

Sonia Jacobson | Co-Founder and Executive Director

I was watching the morning news on CNN as I was getting ready for work one morning in 1994. There was a story about a program in Chicago that was helping women on welfare with professional clothing for job interviews that caught my attention. The light bulb went off and I loved the idea of what I saw. When I got to my office I told my business partner what I had seen and that we should start such a program in Miami. At that time I had a consulting firm called Image Development Group. Read more>>

Jeni Paradiso | Belly Dance Wellness Coach & Instructor

As a young child of 7 years old, I became enamored with belly dance. One night while dining with family at a Lebanese restaurant in Philadelphia. I was befriended by one of the dancers who took me into the studio above and introduced me to the art of belly dance, She gave me personal lessons and the adoring and star struck child that I was practiced and performed for anyone who would entertain my new passion. Read more>>

SJ (Sarah) Morgensen | Freelance Travel Writer & Content Creator

I’ve always been a writer. Exploring new places has always been super important to me – there’s so much to see and learn out there! But, I’ve never had enough time to really do it like I want to. A couple of weeks a year just isn’t enough time for me to explore. I remember one year I bought a huge map of the USA and put it over my little corporate America cube at the office. Looking at that map all day while sitting in front of my computer, I’d daydream of actually going to all these cool places I had pinned on the map. Read more>>