Are you thinking about starting a business? If so, we think you’ll enjoy reading about how these seasoned entrepreneurs thought about the question when they were in your shoes.

Makayla Wheeler | Director and Videographer at MGW Productions

Some people thought that film school or college was the way to go and gave me that advice; however, to be in the arts and entrepreneurship arena you really don’t need a degree. I think the culture is moving toward a lot of online self education as opposed to a traditional 4 year college. Read more>>

Kelsey Rose | Fitness Expert

I’ve always been super independent, ambitious, and liked the idea of being my own boss. Once I figured out what I was passionate about and what I wanted to do, I started taking steps towards making it happen. I didn’t know what I was doing to start out, but my passion for fitness and making a difference for other people drove me to figure it out and become an expert of my craft Read more>>

Brenda Garcia | Wedding Planner

When I first got engaged one of the very first things a friend told me was ” whatever you do hire a coordinator” that stuck with me and I did just that. My coordinator was amazing, handled everything so I wouldn’t have to stress then once the wedding and the planning was over , everyone around me was getting married too. My best friend then my brother and I started helping them plan their special till one day I got home and told my parents ” I think I want to be a wedding planner” I thought I enjoy this so much and why not make money out of it? I am also very OCD and very organized, I love to- do list . Read more>>

Rafael Roger | Insurance Public Adjuster

When I opened my company my thought process was to provide the best customer service that I could. In this buisness its a sign up and forget about the client. I said I want to do the total opposite. Read more>>

Holly Fowler | Health Coach for Crohn’s and Colitis

The idea of supporting the Crohn’s and Colitis community came from being diagnosed in 2008 with Ulcerative Colitis and not knowing what to eat, how to exercise, or how to even live my life with an autoimmune disease. It took me years to even begin to figure it all out for myself. Then in 2016, I started a blog to share my journey with Ulcerative Colitis with others for the first time. I had begun getting tons of questions about how I was managing my health and ultimately decided to start the blog to consolidate my responses all in one place. Read more>>

Alexander Hernandez | Professional Photographer / Automotive and Aviation Service Consultant

I wanted to be my own boss. At the moment, I, like almost every one I know, was going through a hard time. I saw a need and I decided to fill that need. I’m still not where I’d like to be but I am definitely going to get there eventually and I’m going full speed ahead. Read more>>

Adam Wilber | Master Magician and Inventor

As a professional magician, the pandemic really brought my work to a screeching halt so instead of sitting around doing nothing we decided to start an Eccomerce business and try to make the best use of the time we seemed to have a lot more of. We set out to build the online magic shop we had always wished existed. No false advertising, only high quality props that have all been real-world tested by myself to make sure they get the impact they should before selling them to the community. Read more>>

Loni Paige | CEO & Founder of Loni Paige Events & Mixology Mixer

I have been an event producer for as long as I can remember, at least 25 years, and with in 12 hours my entire business was gone. Just like that Virgin Voyages launch party, canceled, Little Lighthouse Foundation: Hearts and Stars weekend, cancelled, Carnival Cruiselines annual gala, also cancelled,
This was how my day ended on March 12th 2020. This is not a story about how I started Loni Paige Events, but how I started Mixology Mixer among a pandemic. Read more>>

Andrés Torann | Music teacher

I have been around music education for more than 15 years. I was a professor in the Tec de Monterrey in singing, music production and music composition workshops. I loved my job but after the earthquake in September 2017 the buildings collapsed, students died and it was a challenging time for me. After this time I decided to move to Montreal and I studied Music production it was a fantastic experience because I met different people like me with similar hobbies, ideas, etc. Read more>>

Rochonda Ferrelli | Artist for Truth Seekers & Conscious Leadership Coach for Women

I’ve always had an entreprenurial spirit. Even at a young age I was selling stickers to the kids around the neighborhood so that I could make money for the icecream truck. As an adult, I worked in corporate for 12 years but felt so limited and boxed in. Even with kind bosses who gave me a ton of freedom, I still felt limited – and just overall miserable. So that’s when I decided to start my own businesses and go all in on them. I was seeking freedom in my creativity. Read more>>

Lauren Miller | Salon Owner

I had worked in the salon industry for years and never truly felt home. I decided that opening up my own place was the only way I can make it exactly how I want! Read more>>

Queen Ravenden | Licensed Creative Arts Therapist & Circus Performer

At the height of covid, everyone was isolated. It made sense to create a virtual wellness center to reach those at home across the 50 states who needed additional support. Read more>>

Meghan Blait | Owner/Head Baker/Cookie Creator

I’ve always loved baking. I always remember helping my mom bake when I was little and it’s just something that as always stayed with me. I’ve played with the idea of starting a bakery business of some sort for a long time but it was something I kind of just dabbled in from time to time and it never really turned into anything.Then about five years ago I got really into baking cookies. At first I was seeing all these unique cookie recipes on Pinterest and then I realized how boring the cookie selection I was finding at the time was. Read more>>

Dave Gerber | Surf Instructor & Owner/founder of Miami Surf Academy

People say if you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life, and I believe this to be completely true. I always wanted to combine my passion for surfing with my passion of entrepreneurship, and for me, starting and running a successful surf school is the embodiment of doing what I love. I also wanted to be able to share the joy of surfing with as many people as I can and I’m grateful to have the platform to do so. In another way I was looking to “prove” to people that you can actually find great surf in Miami – since the majority of people don’t even believe Miami gets waves. I’m also thrilled and feel lucky to be able to run a business in Miami – the best city in the world! Read more>>

Loreto and Nicoletta Nardelli | Food bloggers

We have a deep passion for food and cooking and we thought why not combine that and start a food blog and make a career out of it? Read more>>

Gary Hawkins Jr | Lead Creative & Photographer

Becoming my own boss and creating generational wealth for my family. Read more>>

Vinicio Larios | CEO Fade Masters Of Miami / Hair Stylist

growing up I always heard people well family say oh well its not right time or I have to wait for the right time to do something.I find that to be untrue for me I feel if you have the vision the passion the work ethic and understanding that whatever you set your goals out to be it will require all your effort that to me is when its right. If you wait for the ‘right time” I feel like you will always just be waiting.I feel like that saying is just to procrastinate maybe out of fear of failure and peoples opinion. the advice I took is to stop over thinking stay focus follow your dreams. Read more>>

Petia Kolibova | Abundance Alignment Coach

In the coaching industry I see very often we are told to niche down. That in niches are the riches. And that we get to pick one thing and stick with it. That doesn’t apply for everyone. Through the past years of studying Human Design I have discovered that we are truly all very unique. For some of us we are meant to be exploring, to be multipassionate, multidimensional and not to choose one thing, one way, and then stick with it for the rest of our lives. Read more>>

Elysa Galloway | Attorney

As an Attorney, it is often conventional to begin your legal career as an Associate for an established firm. Commonly, an attorney will work as an associate for however many years to gain the experience “needed” prior to opening their own firm. However, I knew there was other ways to gain experience and knowledge and it didn’t have to fit into that cookie cutter scenario. I opened my law firm immediately after being sworn in as an Attorney in the State of Florida and I have not looked back since. Read more>>

Andres Arevalo | Artist and cultural events producer

I consider myself a creative person who was born for the arts. From a very young age, I thought about creating different, disruptive and unique spaces, and when I arrived into the United States, as an immigrant, I began to put my ideas together, telling myself, “I have to make a living using all these ideas” and since that moment I have not stopped creating experiences that generate ethical, social, and cultural values in people. Read more>>

George Moss | Illustrator, Fashion Designer, Mentor, and Instructor

I wanted to encourage people, especially the youth to use their gifts and talents in which ever media they were interested in. I believe in my heart that my purpose is to inspire and encourage people with my own gifts and talents. When I started my company, Gmoss Designs, LLC, I worked full-time in the fashion industry creating technical packages for many clothing designers to manufacture men’s, womens, and children’s clothing. Read more>>

Fernanda Vieira | Fernanda Vieira | Social Media Manager & Founder of Goout Digital

The moment I decided to start my own business was when I realized that to get the results I wanted was necessary to follow my feelings, intuition, and values and use all my past experiences to build my company and offer value to people’s life. In the beginning, I was a little bit afraid because I am an immigrant and my last company didn’t go well as I expected. However, I keep myself focused and confident to keep going and achieve my goals. My desire to be an Entrepreneur and do what I love was stronger than my fear. Read more>>

Shemele Villiers | CEO of Lataurruss

Well my Thought process was just like any 22year old, well for me mostly what do you want to do for the rest of your life, Think of something different that nobody is doing right now, so I thought of clothing, I know, I know a lot of people are going to say but EVERYBODY DOES CLOTHING as a business, and you’re right. But my clothing line was different in my eyes, So about 1year later me and my cousin wanted to get away for a couple of days, there was a lot going on in are life and we wanted to relax and feel stress free. Read more>>

Michelle Tran | Photographer & Videographer

The thought process behind starting my own business was probably the same as everyone else, clueless and scared. I’m still going through the process of getting everything up and running, but I know that it’s something I want to pursue and take more seriously. Google honestly becomes your best friend at this point, especially when you have no clue where to even start with building a business from the ground up. From googling “how to start a business?” to “how to get a business license?” to “how to build your own website?” Read more>>

Chance | Kayla Ryan | Cox | Entrepreneur | Artist

We both wanted to work for ourselves and wanted to do something artistic together. We’re both creative types. But we know that selling art, traditionally, is a challenge. When we realized we could not only sell our wares, but also other peoples’ art, out of a vending machine, that sounded so appealing to us. We immediately bought a couple machines without even knowing how to operate them. But once we were invested, we had no choice but to carry on. Read more>>

Sophie Bohenko | Influencer and Mental Health Advocate

My thought process when I started my social media page was to share the story of my mental health struggles in hopes to inspire others who may be going through the same thing. I know how hard mental health can be for those struggling and the people who love them as well. I want people to know that there is hope to get better and have a happy life again because I’ve experienced it firsthand. Read more>>

Priscilla Castaneda | Real Estate Professional

I wanted more for myself and my family. Working for someone else, there was always going to be a ceiling, I would never make more than the CEO and I wanted to be the CEO. Now, I am. I can structure my life and work how I want to, and now there are no limits. I have more time to spend with my daughter, be more present. Given, I am working twice as hard, and have longer days, but I sleep comfortably at night knowing that I am building something that will one day be my daughters legacy. I want to make her proud. Women can do it too! Read more>>

Nestor Bracho | Singer – Actor – Writer

My family played the most important role in my life and also in my steps no matter what was that project or business my Mom always told me to place my dreams and desires at the feet of Almighty God so that he would open doors and paths for me – so I never had any doubts despite fear, distance or living far from my family. Read more>>

Cheryl Willberg | Founder and Chief Motivator, City Shred

My thought process behind starting my own business was pretty simple once weighing out the pros and cons. I wanted to be able to wake up everyday doing something I loved and surrounded by people who motivate, inspire and lift me up. I knew it would be hard work but that the payoff would be exponential. Whether you decide to live or not, the clock is always ticking. We get to decide the value of our own time and how we want to spend it. Read more>>

Hannah Zulueta | Certified Canine Nutritionist

Having fed my own dogs a natural diet (cooked and raw) for years, I saw that other dog parents were wanting to pursue this path as well. I know the path is long with a lot of detours and felt that by starting a business providing services to guide others, I could help them avoid any mistakes. And get them to feeding complete and balanced meals right away. Read more>>

Megan Gallagher | Motivational Speaker & Influencer

When I was 18, I was very unhappy and in College. I knew intuitively that I was meant for more. I truly had a major health scare, that was so scary. Yet, it was the universe trying to wake me up. I needed to stop resisting my intuition. I took the chance and left School. I started out by speaking at YMCA’s, Boys & Girl’s clubs and PTA meetings. I built everything from the ground up. I knew my passion was to speak to young adults about mental health. During my time in High School, I struggled with chronic anticipatory anxiety as well as panic attacks. I felt alone with my pain and very insecure. Read more>>

Lia McCollum | Company’s founder & Businesswoman

In 2010, after years of experience in the cleaning services industry, I decided to start my own firm after acquiring more and more customers. A company specialized in more than just cleaning has emerged as a result of the constant growth of our customers and opportunities. I wish my company would be different from the others. So, the way we value our customers would make that difference and be the factor behind it. Read more>>

Ajanay Banks | Health and Wellness Coach

For me the idea of having my own business started at a young age. I’ve always known this was the path I wanted to take, it was all just a matter of taking the steps to lead me there. When I began Paradise Blends Juice it was just a dream. I lived in Washington DC, which is a great city but can be cold up to 7 months out of the year. Read more>>

Aurora Rivera-Arguinzoni | Communication and Marketing Consultant

After 25 years of a career in Journalism and as a mother of two, I needed a path change in order to enjoy my kids before they left for College. With that in mind and heart, I started taking online courses on business: marketing, market segmentation, and solidarity economy, among others. At the same time, I felt a call to share with my community every possible strategy to communicate their struggles or achievements in order to be publishable material and developed the course Acceso a Medios 101 (Media Access 101). The first business that I conceived and developed together with my friend and college Maricelis Rivera Santos was Access All Services, founded in 2016, two months after the first session of Acceso a Medios 101 was offered. Read more>>

Vanessa Sandrea | Makeup Artist & Content Creator

Like 6 years ago I was a little bit lost and I wasn’t sure about what I wanted for my future, at that point I was studying a career that wasn’t really making me happy at all. One day my sister invited me to a makeup workshop and was there where everything started, I’m very thankful with my parents because in the moment when I realized that I wanted to be a makeup artist they completely supported me, so I began to study everything about the makeup and the world of beauty thanks to them. In that moment in my life I was going through a very hard depression and finding my vocation helped me beat it Read more>>

Francesco De Felice | Airboat Captain

I wanted to have more time with my family and build a legacy for them. I wanted to also be a part of the local community and contribute back. Read more>>

Raycine Bonelli | Children’s Braider

I have always had a passion for doing hair I started when I was about eight years old watching my sister do other people’s hair I use to stand next to her and watch her, I would call myself a Hands-On Learner I used to practice on my friend’s hair all the time and little by little I got better and better at it I wanted to learn how to do all different type of styles so I bought myself a mannequin so that I can practice my craft over and over watching YouTube Learning different braid methods… Read more>>

Xavier Newsom | Organic Pet Treat Artisan Baker

The thought of Top Dawg Treats all started with Xavier Newsom, a kid who wanted an allowance. Picture when we were fresh and deep in pandemic and then your 10 year old son decides to ask for an allowance. That is what Xavier was on, the path for money. He just got a new PS4 for Christmas and a new computer and desk area to do his online school work as school was at home by this time and now, he was experiencing the online social and gaming world for the first time. So, he wanted the latest video games and swag that go with it like most boys his age. Read more>>