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.

Geo Lehn | Videographer

I honestly had no idea about ever starting my own business in the beginning. At the time I just moved back to my hometown to take care of my grandparents and had no job. A few buddies of mine, Ryan Luriea and Rock Georges, asked me to come on by to film them producing some music. I created a little video edit of them and they mentioned how I could make money filming and editing videos. From there my amazing grandmother bought me my first professional camera and I haven’t looked back since. Read more>>

Chris Hopkins | Beverage Industry Professional

I have always been someone who likes a challenge, to veer away from the traditional pathway and find my own career goals. When the pandemic hit, we all know how much it altered the landscape of the hospitality industry, and I could see that traditional ways of approaching the business were not going to be as useful or relevant. I was also at a cross roads of sorts as I had been in the same role for almost 5 years and while I loved the work and my team, I was also wondering what my next challenge was going to be. I came to see that my motivations, personally and professionally, were about taking control over how I worked, who I worked with and projects that inspired me. Read more>>

Michelle Rupp | Memorable Results Media

I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Never saw that as a path for myself. After landing an executive level corporate job, I realized, I wasn’t happy. There was not much joy in my professional life and life is too short to not do what you love. I began reflecting on when I was most happy professionally and what was I doing? Easy. When I was a journalist. Telling other people’s story and having a positive impact. That is the why behind Memorable Results Media – although it would take another year before this dream came to fruition. Read more>>

Angela Bulich | Owner, Leather Stone Metal

The thought process behind starting LSM, 7 years ago in a rural mountain town was freedom–Creative freedom, intellectual freedom, financial freedom. Essentially the creative allowance to be passionate and pursue what brings energy and joy! I want that for me, and I want that for every person– because I’ve seen that when we operate from a mental place of freedom, and abundance, we naturally become more accountable, gracious, and selfless with one another. Read more>>

Brenda Andueza | Photographer & Business Owner

It all started as a hobby, since I was little I always liked editing and I asked my parents to enroll me in a photoshop and llustrator course, maybe it is not something that all children ask for, right? In this course I learned so many things that awakened something in me that at that time I didn’t understand yet… I was determined to study medicine or dentistry, and everyone told me why I wasn’t studying graphic design or photography. Read more>>

Brianna White | Personal Fashion Stylist

I’ve had the desire to help people feel comfortable and confident in their clothing for many years, starting during my modeling days when I’d be on set and have extra items with me that I’d share with anyone who wanted to create more versatile looks for their shots! I’ve always known the relationship we create with our clothing and self-image is incredibly impactful on our day-to-day lives, and if we can use it to our advantage, can create actionable steps toward our goals in small ways each and every day. But it wasn’t until the pandemic hit in 2020 that I took a step back and realized how important this idea was to me and my desire to support others in a creative way became more than a dream. Read more>>

Charlene Morin | AhavahDARE Inc Nonprofit Founder and President /FL Supreme Court Mediator

AhavahDARE. Inc wasn’t something I planned for initially. My future aspirations in which I am still in pursuit of, is to become a Judge. I always knew I wanted to work with, and amongst young men within the criminal justice system, for more reasons than one. The thought process started, one day as I sat down awaiting the train at the Golden Glades Tri-Rail Train station headed to Opa-Locka as I attended the nearby HBCU Florida Memorial University. I picked up a Miami Herold article, headlined “Seventeen (17) men between the ages of 11- 19 yrs. old facing life in prison for non-homicidal crimes”. Read more>>

Cristina Becerra | Newborn and Family Photographer

I was looking to combine my two passions, photography and working with babies. I also wanted to have more time for myself and manage my own schedule. When I discovered newborn photography I fell completely in love with it and gave everything for it, and I see it as a passion and not as a job. Read more>>

Crystal Sherie | Lady Influencer

When I thought about starting my own business I thought about what was important to our lives as human beings (starting with my own life), what was missing from our existence that could make life more meaningful, and how I could possibly bring a relevant solution that would hopefully bridge the gap of understanding to the table. Read more>>

Dasiel Hidalgo | Owner and Founder

When we first got together , Dasiel , Albert and Daniel – our first thought process was trying to find something that can improve a consumers life. When first thinking about starting a business most people would feel discouraged based on the competition thats on their respected industry, we figured out a way to someone what win in the e-commerce industry vrs Amazon and big retailers. We were able to find items which were in high demand and beat any retailers price by 10%-20%. Once we figured that out it was about taking action. We all committed to the idea and took action and started All-Trades Mia. Read more>>

Sabiné & Bryttany | Co-Owners & Black Female Entrepreneurs

We deserve to be our own bosses. God has truly blessed us with creative minds so why not put them to use. Starting a business is always scary but when you have a passion in life you pursue it. For years as women we were never given a REAL chance at being a boss ESPECIALLY as black women. We always had to fit the mold and conform to what society has defined our role to be. Starting our own business gives us the power to bring our vision to life. It puts the authority back in BLACK FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR and well… here we are. Why let someone else write the story in this chapter of life when you have the tools and creativity to write it yourself. Read more>>

Chanel West Coast | Entertainer / Entrepreneur

I’ve wanted to start my own swimwear line for a very long time. Growing up in LA I’ve always loved the beach, pool time, and water activities. As I got older travel became another thing I loved and I realized how much of my down time I was spending wearing bikinis. I figured a great brand for me to promote while constantly posting my travel adventures on Instagram would be swimwear Read more>>

Carly Spears | Creator & Restaurant Marketing Consultant

From a very early age, I had a strong interest in food. Beginning with baking banana bread and eventually evolving into a curiosity to try new cuisines and restaurants, my passion for the food and beverage industry has always been obvious. With a strong business & culinary education and agency & restaurant marketing background; I began to get inquiries from chefs and restaurateurs to help consult for their businesses. After working in the agency world for four years and internally for restaurants for two, I decided it was time to take the leap, starting my own restaurant marketing consulting business. Read more>>

Carolina Sanchez-Hervas | Founder & CEO, CSH Translation

As my Master’s program came to an end, I had to decide what my next move was. Around the same time, I started getting requests for translation from friends and acquaintances. I had always been known for speaking many languages, so sometimes people would call on me to help them translate something. I realized that I enjoyed translating and I started to pursue more opportunities in that area. Right before graduation, the idea for starting a translation company occurred to me. I had been looking at job opportunities and nothing fit my interests or skills. Translation was something that I was good at and that there was a demand for, so I saw it as a viable business. Read more>>

Milka Milliance, MBA | Co-Founder, Partner| Different

Different was co-founded by Alex Suggs, Milka Milliance, and Grace Yi – three DEI practitioners in the industry who had worked at a number of highly-recognized organizations delivering process-driven, rather than human-centered methods of diversity, equity, and inclusion work. Disenchanted with the serious limitations that we were facing time and time again with the dozens of companies and high-growth startups we worked with, we knew that trying to help teams heal broken relationships, create and implement strategic initiatives, and provide learning and development workshops to develop awareness of one’s biases and lived experiences was only getting so far in the organization’s journey to cultivate a safe, healthy, and innovative work environment. Read more>>

Sancia Powell | Photographer & Model

I got into photography in 2018, I was working as an assistant to another photographer. During this time, I was able to gain knowledge and hands-on experience that I didn’t want to lose. In 2020, we parted ways, and this was my opportunity to do something for myself. I never had any gears, however, that didn’t stop me from pursuing the dream I had of being an independent photographer. Read more>>

Nicole Arguello | Founder of Keep FL Clean Nonprofit

I used to do beach and park clean ups independently in my free time for fun and post them to my story. I always had several people reach out asking when I would be doing a cleanup again so they could come by and lend a hand. This sparked the idea of hosting larger clean up events to maximize the impact we could do for areas in need with large groups of people. After hosting a few successful beach and park clean ups, I decided to take the next steps to turn our fun, community project into an official nonprofit organization. I knew that no matter how many people attended our event, our efforts made an incredible impact for our local ecosystems and environment as a whole. Read more>>

Ashley Bailey | Professional Organizer

Neat Nest Miami has been a passion project in the making for many years now, only I had been preparing for my own business long before I knew I’d turn this natural gift into my very own small business. From a very young age being tidy and organized has always been the norm. I was the kid who you never had to tell twice to clean up their room and hated messes. Throughout college I worked in various retail positions with a focus in retail merchandising and management. By the time I finished my undergraduate degree I had worked in retail spaces like Express, Henri Bendel, BCBGMaxazria, & Tiffany & Co. to name a few. Read more>>

Erika Bradford | Senior Executive Brand Developer

I come a family of women entrepreneurs, so it naturally came to me that I was going to start my own business one day. Always being motivated and inspired around the support of women, family, friends and colleagues; I always had a natural knack for design. My humble beginnings led me down this career path. My church was always in need of flyers to pass out to the neighborhood for our local food drives, community events, and various conferences and banquets. I was the go-to person to create the designs, print them and I didn’t even mind passing them out door to door. Read more>>

Josefina Hernandez | Voice Artist

I started in the entertainment industry at the insistence of a friend. He wanted me to attend a casting for a reality show, I went to it and although I didn’t win the contest, the producer selected me from the group of girls to be co-host of the TV show in prime time from Monday to Friday. And in March / April 2008 everything started Read more>>

Sara Patino | Founder & Designer

I’d love to share my thought process, and story behind my brand. I learned an appreciation for handmade goods at an early age. I’m from St. Louis, but growing up I travelled back to Colombia, South America to visit my extended family. Speaking spanish and staying in the remote ultra-green farm country of central Colombia has been my normal. Even as a kid, at the end of my trips I’d come home with handmade purses, belts and jewelry from artisans. It planted an appreciation for handmade accessories, nature, cultures and love of travel. Read more>>

Joslyn Crowl | Photographer, Mentor, Author, Podcast Host

When I started my business, it was a part-time job because I didn’t think I could do it full-time. I had a lot of limitations people (including myself) put on me, from having health issues and dyslexia and needing the money to support myself. I did it for several years as just a part-time business. It was the most significant leap I could have made for myself when I went full-time. I had already had to make many hard choices with my health and life, so at that point, I leaped before I looked and had no net to catch me, so I burned the ships and set off to sail. Read more>>

Sheryl Hidalgo | Aesthetics Nurse Practitioner

During the time before my business was actually created, my boyfriend (who is the most successful person I know), asked me a critical question. He asked something among the lines of “What is just one thing that you can start offering?” Now, just a short 4 months later, I can see how valuable that one question was. We, as humans, can often times get carried away by wanting to be versatile from the beginning of our business and offering multiple services but I really honed in on the one service I started with and it is still my most requested service. Read more>>

Clinton Nelson | Boxer, Coach/Trainer, Chef

I finally believed in myself that I could make it happen. The lockdown in 2020 got me thinking about what I want to do different at this pivotal time. I felt that I had developed my skills well enough to put out my ideas in ways that I hadn’t yet tried, Through my experiences with boxing, music, and other hobbies that I had taken interest to in the past, I finally understood that I had the power to make something happen and that I finally had a bigger vision for the future. Read more>>

Beyonce Louis | Esthetician/CEO

Have you ever applied lip gloss and moments later noticed that there was white residue on your lips? Or have you ever notice it on someone else’s lips? …Well I have and that’s why I was enthused to start my business, GlossyBey.. My goal was to focus on clean, natural, healing products because most usually contain chemicals that may harm us in the future. Each product is handmade with love. Each product is made specifically to heal; whether it’s dead skin, lip burns, white residue or blisters. Many don’t know that the lips are the most sensitive part of the body and so therefore it’s important to protect them and this is where I come in. Read more>>

Eric Martinez | Clinical Performance Director and Co-Owner

When we started the business we said one thing to help individuals have a lifetime of good health and well-being. we really didn’t think it out at the beginning, we said this is what we are going to do and that’s it. whatever happens we will take it head on Read more>>

Ludger Bolivar | Owner

I’m currently a registered respiratory therapist and during the pandemic I seen a lot of people suffer and sadly past away one day at work I seened a video of a party that had Photobooths and everyone participating in the photo booth seemed so happy and excited and loved that they were able to create a memory they can take home with them. Read more>>