The first step to starting a business is deciding to start a business. They say the first step is the hardest and in our experience this is especially true when it comes to starting a business. Getting over the mental roadblocks can be tough, often harder to overcome than the challenges you’ll face once you actually start the business. Fellow entrepreneurs share their thoughts below.

Jalisa Ann | Fashion Designer

Creating my brand, Good Fruite, was a deeply personal journey centered around celebrating life and reflecting my own personal growth. “You will know them by their fruit.”… It began with a vision of independence, and a commitment to empowering people who embody qualities of consistency, diligence, vibrancy, and resilience through fashion. Drawing inspiration from my upbringing, each piece of wearable art tells a story of strength, perseverance, and self-expression. Good Fruite is more than just a brand— It’s a testament to the journey of everyone who embraces their authenticity. Read more>>

Andres cucu” Morales | Music Curator

Luckily the thought process was simple for me. I noticed there was an unattended necessity (musically speaking) within the hospitality Industry in Miami, and I was already curating playlists without even thinking about making it a business, so connecting that gap I noticed, with what I was doing genuinely, was a happy realization. Now, executing my idea was not that simple, I had to combine creativity, technology, a convincing proposal, contacts and time management to actually make it a reality. Read more>>

Elizabeth Milian | Managing Partner @ The Milian Legal Group, Brand Protection and Trademark Attorney

Business owners regularly balance competing demands for their time and financial resources. This inspired our firm to launch the Brand Builder ™ one of our firm’s flat-fee trademark services. The flat fee model eliminates uncertainty by offering straightforward, transparent pricing from the outset. Read more>>

Skylar Fleming | Ceramacist

Essentially it all started in 2015 after a visit to an estate sale where I found a handful of plaster molds used for slip casting. I had studio space where I knew there were kilns around. I started playing around combining pieces of the molds, vintage doll parts, animals etc.. making fun obscure and some may say macabre artworks. I fell in love! So I just kept creating pieces and peop[e started buying so I figured may as well start a business and see how it goes! Read more>>

Ms. Joyce Poliard | Success Coach for Mompreneurs

Great question. The process behind starting my business was providing an essential service that mompreneurs need to thrive in life and business. Many moms strive to make more income and neglect the impact that burnout can have on their well-being. Read more>>

Liz Hahn | CEO & Founder of Bad Boy Strip

I grew up in Southern California, and half of my family lives in South Florida. Whenever I go visit my family, I love the nightlife and culture. I am part Venezuelan, so the Latin culture in Miami makes me happy. I absolutely love dancing to the music, eating delicious foods, hitting up famous restaurants and going out on the town. We launched Bad Boy Strip in Miami because it is such a hot spot. We find that bachelorette parties love hitting up South Beach for their destination bachelorette party. Read more>>

Alisa Metzger | Co-Founder of iNNBEAUTY Project

My co-founder, Jen Shane, and I had been working in the beauty industry our entire careers at some of the biggest companies as well as successful indie startups. We shared a deep passion for the skincare category and saw a white space in the clinical-meets-clean space when it comes to value and price point. We saw pioneers like Drunk Elephant come to the market with a better for you formulation yet it also came with a luxe price point. We knew that we could use our deep industry knowledge to create skincare that’s even more effective than what was on shelves at a much more accessible price – and more attractive package! We took the leap, quit our jobs and started INNBEAUTY Project. Read more>>

Lisa Morales | Owner of Allegory PR Services and Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Live in Italy Magazine

I began Allegory PR Services in 2010 for a couple of reasons. First, because from the time that I was studying business administration at Ryerson University, followed by Cinema Studies at the University of Toronto (the city where I was born), I greatly enjoyed public relations. I find great joy in the written word to influence others and showcase important people, businesses, and events. Secondly, my children were getting older and didn’t need me as much. I’ve always felt that as much as it is a privilege to stay home with your kids, your professional skills should never become obsolete. You never know when you may have to re-enter the workforce, and at this point in time, it was necessary due to the economic recession. Fortunately, my husband’s job was not greatly impacted at this time, but I thought that it was good to have a “Plan B” should we ever need it. Read more>>

Angel Robertson | Food Prep and Cook

My thought about starting my own business: my passion is helping people and cooking. So starting Angell’s Place was the beginning of something very amazing for me. Why because in all aspects I want to eventually open up a Soup Kitchen and help the homeless; starting out with feeding them and then eventually getting into the business of sheltering and getting help with helping them to become self sufficient and learning the necessary skills to get them back up and running on their own. With all things considered, every thing that I encountered in past, from county jail stays both in and out of Broward County and out of the state of Florida as well; seeing and meeting different people and hearing some of them talk about not knowing what they were going to do or where they were going to go once they were released. Once I was released I thought I had my stuff all out together and established but I found myself sometimes sleeping in a rental car and thinking about some of the conversations that I had while locked. I began to get my bearings and get situated and my mate and I began to live together. We would have parties and cook for many people. And we began to talk about opening up a restaurant. I was afraid to venture out into because I was afraid to fail. It wasn’t until he passed away in 2021, that I told myself that I really wanted to follow my passion and my thoughts. But I let it linger for some more time. August 2023 I finally established ANGELL’s PLACE LLC. Since opening I’ve cooked for several events and parties. All of the gigs that I have catered for were words of mouth no Promos, no website, no business funding or anything. My goals are to get my website up and running with pictures of my plates foods and pricing and eventually opening a full functioning storefront, taking online and phone orders. Read more>>