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.

Jessic Villarreal | mom blogger, Vida Consciente.

the truth all started as a hobby a way to drain with the world and understand that I was not alone that maybe there were more people out there going through the same thing as me, I liked the connection with people and helping others from my experience is a Of the things that I love doing the most, I feel that inspiring and impacting people in a positive way is wonderful. Read more>>

Alyson Young | Owner and Operator at Learning Lab

I was a teacher for 10 years and worked with students in kindergarten-second grade. I was passionate about teaching reading and worked toward a certification as a reading specialist. In my training and my experience, Dyslexia was never really mentioned. The science of how we learn to read was not discussed, how common dyslexia is was not mentioned, recognizing the signs was never addressed. It was all about checklists and meeting certain criteria, never about the brain science. Read more>>

Christian Sesenton | Videographer

As a person of many hobbies, I was surrounded by people with creative minds like myself. When asked to help out a friend for a dance video on YouTube, I started researching everything there was to know about the video production world. Much to my surprise, I picked it up naturally and found that I really enjoyed creating something visually. As time went on, I was receiving really great feedback and thought this was a great opportunity to start and own something of my own. I tried to focus on what I wanted to provide to people on a deeper level than just creating videos, My goal is to help. Help in capturing memories for loved ones, whether it be for a proposal, wedding or baby shower. Even expanding that to helping small business owners with promotional social media content. Read more>>

Joseph Shea | President – Pure Source Water Systems

The thought process behind starting Pure Source Water Systems was to bring a neatly packaged, high quality and affordable product to homeowners. When deciding how I wanted this business to look and run, those three traits were at the foundation of it all. To expand on them a little further the first was to use only high quality components so our systems work extremely well and are built to last. The second was to make them affordable, especially compared to other similar products on the market. Lastly, was to make it a neatly packaged offering meaning it’s a smoothly completed start to finish project. We provide the high quality filtration system, components and the installation so our customers are up and running with clean, fresh water when we leave. Read more>>

Adriana Florez | Entreprenuer & Dreamer

Making a difference in people’s life, that is where my mind goes when thinking about a business. Why? Who? and How? are key questions I ask myself. I am the 3rd generation of entrepreneurs of my family. It comes naturally to me to want to make a difference in people’s life on whichever venture I am currently working on. Read more>>

Dennis Smith | CEO/ Founder

My thought process behind starting my nonprofit organization was all over the place to be honest. But once I actually took a deep breath and wrote everything out step by step goals I was okay. It’s not an easy thing to wake up and say “Hey I Wanna Start A Business” nope. It actually takes prayer and really fasting with God on a personal level so he leads me or anybody in the right direction creating a business to be amazing and stand out from the rest around. Patience is key while making sure the creativity aspect exceeds the viewers mind. If I could lend advice to readers and future Entrepreneurs it would be TAKE YOUR TIME and invest in your brand completely and don’t have step presentation is key. Read more>>

Sebastian Alvarez | Photographer & Sports Performance Trainer

Starting my own business actually stemmed from my current job responsibilities as a trainer at Per4orm. I quickly noticed that the business needed more content to help build the business and began taking pictures and videos which quickly turned into a passion for me. I initially began taking photos with my bosses small Sony a600, which he would lend to me. As I began to get better and started receiving compensation for this “side hustle” I decided to invest in myself and buy my own equipment. Read more>>

Giordana Vogel | Holistic Health Coach and De La Heart Founder

De La Heart was born out of the love and personal necessity to merge my passion of caring for the body, mind and soul through holistic approaches into one place. I never intended to start a business, it was simply a combination of a passion and a vision. My true calling is to make self-care and beauty accessible to everyone so they can too experience more healthful and diverse lives. Read more>>

Maricarmen “MC” Hernandez | Owner of ChocolateGirlFitness/The Training Space LLC

Wow! you know I never thought about it like that. I just knew it was something I had to do. I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart, and I knew that owning something was the only way to build a legacy for me and my family. I graduated from FIU Business school with my bachelors, and started worked in the food/entertainment industry for years. I’ve been an operations manager for other peoples businesses, and I saw the amount of sacrifice that went with owning a business; not to mention the amount of responsibility it took to constantly stay relevant in your field amongst your competitors. Read more>>

Andres Lopez | Tattooist (@Zillotattoos)

I always knew I wanted to be an artist. To share my art with the world, my family and friends, it seemed to me as a kid, like the best job ever. Slowly as I grew older, people around me consistently told me I would need to study and get a degree, choose a 9-5 job and become “successful”. But there was one point in my life when I realized that the meaning of that word is different to everybody. What it means to me is to do what you love and create happiness from it. Read more>>

Ashley Hoffman | Owner and Nail Artist

My thought process behind starting my own salon was the need in the market. In my area there were no salons that felt welcoming or did more than just basic services. I wanted a nail salon that specialized in nail art and friendly conversation. When clients come to us I want them to form a bond with their nail artist and all the girls in the salon. Every time they come in for their appointments we pick up right were we left off and are apart of many of their big life moments and vice versa. I didn’t see any salon in my area that offered this friendly salon atmosphere or art as a specialty. So because there was a need to be filled in the market I started my own business and we have grown exponentially over the 4 years we have been open. Read more>>

Tim McFadden | Glassblower & small business owner

I was introduced to glassblowing as a freshman at Salisbury University. After a few semesters, I found myself spending all of my free time working in the glass studio. By my final year of school, I had decided that glass was going to be my focus after college. There weren’t many job opportunities in that field at the time, especially in the Baltimore area, which is where I grew up and planned to return after college. That’s when I decided to try to open my own studio. I spent my final year of school preparing a business plan, looking at potential properties around Baltimore, and trying to line up a startup loan from a bank. I felt like this was going to be the best path towards controlling my own destiny. Read more>> 

Grant Gannon | Event Producer & DJ/MC

I always knew I would work in music. I was tired of working for someone else and doing random jobs with higher stress. I wanted to bring my inner rhythm and knowledge in the musical field to really add spark to peoples’ events and special gatherings. Someone special helped me get launched many years ago since I abhor paperwork and supported me as I promoted and got the word out. Read more>>

Taylor B. Talks | Creator & Host of Murder on the Map, a true crime podcast

I first started my podcast during the pandemic lockdown in 2020 as a creative outlet. I was consuming so much true crime content and noticed I was hearing the same case retold a lot, so I knew I wanted to start my own show to bring awareness to underreported and cold cases. I always want the focus of my show to be bring awareness to the cases that don’t get media attention and getting justice for victims and their families. Read more>>

Nicolle McEachin | The Home Connector!

I am a mom of two children, a teenage son and young daughter. I always stress the importance of having your own mind and not letting anyone “tell” you what you can and cannot do (within reason of course), however, on the inside I felt like I was not living that way. I felt that I was not showing my children how to be a boss because I was always working for someone other than myself. I thought about several things I could do to become a business owner but nothing made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. So I started paying attention to the things I said to myself, people I was around, and most importantly my hobbies. Read more>>

Alex Karavias | Restaurateur

Always wanted to work for myself. Even through my college career the corporate world never really appealed to me, I’m very self-driven and want to do something creatively that represents me, my background and my culture. So while working in the food and beverage industry and learning all the ins and outs of the job I decided that I could own a restaurant of my own some day and be as successful as the people I’ve worked for because I was gaining the experience and the work ethic Read more>>

Theanna Sands | Small Business Owner

I always wanted to start my own business for as long as I can remember. Officially in 2019, after deciding my major for college was going to be Business Administration. A professor of mine had us do a project to create a business plan. After successfully creating the business plan and receiving a good grade, I thought why not go ahead and make it happen. I started designing my logo and creating different branding for my social media pages. In May 0f 2020, I officially launched Bougie Barbie Boutique. We began as an accessories boutique but, we have now expanded to a women’s clothing store. Read more>>