Our city is home to so many incredible businesses and so we asked the founders how they came up with the ideas for their businesses and have shared their responses below.

Luz Silva | Birth and Family Photographer at Mint & Cocoa

I found that photographers in Miami were shooting in a style that I think didn’t offer enough to families to capture real moments. I don’t like to force kids to pose or smile for photos. Shooting in a more documentary style allows for everyone to express their own personalities. Also, I was eager to hire someone who could capture my family’s life in a more candid way and a few years ago that was very rare. Read more>>

Gabrielle Resnick Ariana Kenigsberg | Be The Blank Podcast

Gabrielle: I thought of the idea for starting the podcast the summer before Junior year as I began thinking about college, majors, and careers. I felt that I was unprepared to make such important decisions and wanted to learn more about different careers. That summer I found internships, shadowing opportunities and spoke to women across professions when I realized that the information I was learning would be valuable to many. Read more>>

Maria Elena Monroy | Digital PR & Marketing Specialist in Hispanic Market in US

As Digital Marketing and Public Relations Specialists, We noticed the impact that press releases and media tours had on the positioning of a brand on Google and digital. We saw how our clients began to have a constant and consistent appearance on the first page of Google and their brand began to have authority, which is called brand awareness. For this reason, we decided to offer our clients and partners a 360 strategy that includes Integrated Marketing Communications, Public Relations and SEO, which has given us great results. Read more>> 

Carolina Pozo | Founder, MUZE Chocolate & Cacao EcoVillage

MUZE started as a result of my experience running my non-profit AVANTI since 2008, which implements sustainable development projects to fight extreme poverty in rural communities in Ecuador. In 2014 we started working with cacao farmers in the Province of Manabi, which led to the start of MUZE, a social business focusing on disrupting the cacao and chocolate industry with a focus on innovation, social impact and sustainability. Read more>>

Tara Waganouni | CEO president Karl-Optical

I have always had a passion in the fashion industry. From a very young age, I had fun decorating my dolls and designing my own clothes. I loved the art of being able to inspire myself through my environment, nature and the seasons. It was a continuous admiration until the time to go to college. From where I finally chose to study I.T. Nevertheless I never stopped making art, my first passion. Read more>>

David Moss | CEO, Conch Pearl Entertainment 242

The Conch Pearl Entertainment 242 brand is built on culture. The idea for the company came from the need to preserve and package the culture for generations to come. Read more>>

Aiyana St. Hilaire | Blogger & High school student

Regarding my blog sphere “As I Know”, I wanted to create a space for me to write, educate others, and foster learning and change. This blog’s purpose is to delve deep into societal issues surrounding race, culture, equality, and justice. Then, these vast issues will be analyzed and broken down from my perspective, As I know. Read more>>

Christie Ross | owner and purveyor of handcrafted confections + cocktails

In 2011, I was working as the executive director of a very small non-profit. At the suggestion of a friend, I joined the Junior League to network. I had to bring a dessert to one of the first meetings I attended and found a recipe for from-scratch cupcakes on Pinterest, which was just starting to take off. Read more>>