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.

Derrick L. Miles | Founder/CEO of CourMed

As a former hospital executive I experienced a tremendous amount of early success on the operational side of the business (departmental turnarounds, becoming CEO of a specialty hospital at age 31 and being part of teams that financially transformed poorly performing hospitals.) However, I constantly struggled to get innovative projects approved. The feedback was always “that innovation may work in the general public, but it won’t work for healthcare.” Those failed attempts to innovate within a healthcare system fueled my desire to start my own business outside of the healthcare system. Read more>>

Michelle Alva | Mindset/Energy Coach, Sex, Love and Intimacy Coach, Tantra Practitioner

I saw a need for people to learn how to become their own greatest source of healing and transformation, rather than seek the solutions only outside of themselves. I felt I needed to also have the freedom to express my gifts and services being my own boss, so I created my own coaching services and the Alva Method Empowerment Academy Online and Conscious Sex Academy Online. Read more>>

(Chris) Friday | Trans-disciplinary Artist, Curator, Mother

A while ago, while shopping for graphic tees for my young daughters, I went into a store filled with merchandise that said things like “Totes adorbs”, “OMG” and “Amaze”. I realized in that moment that as a Black person, I had only ever purchased and worn things created by people who did not look like me or talk like me and that my daughters would also have to live with this lack of representation as well. When thinking of racial injustice and inequality, most people think immediately of issues of systemic racism, economic inequality and the like. Rarely do we, as a society, consider injustice and inequality in terms of things like consumer goods. My chosen form of activism is not simply to bring attention to or to mourn injustice, but to actively imagine and create the kind world I want myself and my children to live in. Read more>>

Dani Glickson | Founder & Space Creator

I had an eight year career in Commercial Real Estate with some of the top Real Estate Investment Banks and major owners and developers of commercial real estate. Fortunately, and unfortunately, at age 31, I became ill due to auto-immune complications and years of prioritizing work over my health. After a year of getting my health back on track, I decided it was time to prioritize myself and pursue my passion for interior design. I felt the only way I could maintain my health (and sanity) was to scale things down and provide a personal service where I had the ability to manage my own schedule and was able to source projects and clients that inspired me. So, I guess, to directly answer the question, the idea to build my own business came more from necessity than thought, though my thoughts centered around my well-being and how to incorporate my skills into a creative process that I was most passionate about. Read more>>

Molly Fonseca | Personal Trainer & Accountability Coach

As someone who dealt with weight issues growing up and struggled to find a healthy balance between health and fitness, I knew I wanted to help others reach their wellness goals. Taking the steps to start my own business has given me a sense of accomplishment and the flexibility I wanted to balance being a wife, mother and working professional. I get enjoyment out of teaching people how to becoming the best versions of themselves. “Health” doesn’t look the same on everyone. I believe you should be able to live healthy while still enjoying life’s simple pleasures – Strong Mind, Healthy Body. Happy Life. Owning my own business and working in several local studios over the past couple of years I’ve had the opportunity to help clients reach a variety of goals from weight loss to training for races to setting basic lifestyle habits. Read more>>

Jik-Reuben Pringle | Visual Ninja: Photographer and Filmmaker

There were several factors that lead to me starting my own business. I studied Land Surveying and Geographic Information Science at the University of Technology, Jamaica, W.I. While there I rekindled with my passion for photography and I always heard people say if you’re career aligns with your passion you’ll never a work a day in your life. I also by the end of my second year of university I had summed up that being a land surveyor sitting around a computer doing GIS related. So after University, I decided to jump into photography working with other photographers, while building my name in the local industry. However, it wasn’t until 2017 that I registered my Media company where I specialize in Photography and Filmmaking called Jik Reuben. Read more>>

Michael Pettine | Hair Colorist Stylist Writer Life Coach

I realized after my second job as a hair stylist, that as long as I was on a fixed salary or giving over fifty percent of my earnings to someone else, I would most likely struggle financially to become financially independent within the salon industry. I also aspired to create more individually as I have also been able to think and create more, while being a out-of-the-box thinking sort of artist rather than being confined by traditional policies and procedures and thought processes. Also, the idea of education via in salon work shops/training and giving back to the hairstylists community combined with the ability to employ and create opportunities for others, was very important to me. So, I opened my first salon after three years experience in the salon industry backed only by my ambition, one year of college and passion. Read more>>