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.

Ashley Casoria + Lauren Camino | Professional Picnickers

It all started back in 2018! Lauren had this vision for her birthday to host a backyard, floor-style seating celebration. It turned out beautiful! Fast forward to 2020, Ashley was brainstorming ways to celebrate Laurens birthday (amidst Covid and restaurants only accommodating smaller groups) and she remembered the genius “picnic” idea that Lauren had executed two years earlier. This time, we hosted the party on the beach! Within days, our personal social medias were flooded with friends and acquaintances asking “who did you hire for this” – and, it was us! Read more>>

Haley Jaeger | Designer & Founder of Atonement Design

The concept of Atonement Design started when I was in high school and was learning about poverty and trafficking happening around the world. By this time, my brother and father had passed away and I realized my life would look incredibly different if we were in another country with no men in our home to protect and provide for us. This realization guided me toward the idea of partnering with artisans through creative efforts which would one day become Atonement Design. Read more>>

Chelsea , Mary Shoff, Wilson | Chelsea – President, co-founder / Mary – Vice President, co-founder

The Oasis Project is a 501c3 located in South Florida that exists to provide holistic resources to our local community through building relationships to motivate people to walk in their God given purpose. We came up with the idea to start this non-profit because when we looked around our community we saw so much darkness and destruction. People are so lost and so desperate to belong and have no one in their corner to call out their purpose and believe in them. Read more>>

Pat Koler Liana Abreu | She & Her Photography

The love of photography seems to run in the family. Pat originally became interested in photography in her 20’s. She did quite a bit of travelling throughout the years (she’s been to 44 states). And throughout her travels she began to photograph it. Throughout documenting her trips through photographs, it wasn’t only something to look back on it became a creative outlet that she was passionate about it and good at! Read more>>

Chris-Ann, Sherene, Kamai | Event Planners/Dream curators

Our business is a combination of 3 sisters and our talents. We came up with our business idea from what we were already doing for friends and family. Whenever a close friend was having an event we were called on to plan and execute the party. Also whenever we had a party everyone would say how much they enjoyed themselves, how beautiful everything was and that they always looked forward to anything we were hosting. After years of hearing this and wanting to have more autonomy over our lives, we decided that we should turn thing we love, that makes other people happy and allows us to be creative into a way that could support our families. Our name Sisters of Soiree is show our bond and love of party! Read more>>

Justin Myers | Photographer & Videographer

I’m a big fan of “just try and see”. So, several years ago my brother suggested to me that I would enjoy making videos using my smartphone. I tried it and it seemed interesting. Eventually, I bought my first camera and started learning photography as well. At first, I was shooting portraits for friends and just charging enough for gas money, but eventually I realized the power of being able to create images that represented an idea, evoked an emotion, or just connected with someone on a personal level. That has helped me to start working with different brands and business to help them create content that tells their story in a meaningful way. Read more>>

Dominique P | Lip Care Plug

I came up with the idea for my business after spending several nights making different concoctions for my lips. I began smoking in college and eventually did so often that my lips were becoming so dehydrated that they would turn “black” or “purple”. I would Google ways to help it and all there was available was to “stop smoking” lol. Obviously that wasn’t in my plans so I started making scrubs and balms that helped repair, restore and hydrate my lips bringing them back to my liking. Read more>>