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.

Simone Jordao | A fashion executive with the face of the 21st century, who thinks “glocal” – globally and locally – in the smallest details, in the work of curation and internationalization of brands

After graduating in Fashion at ESMOD, in Paris, I manager the women’s department at Ralph Lauren in Greece, when I returned to Brazil, I saw the difficulty of the expansion of national, Brazilian, brands in the international market ,– “Ralph Lauren was a school and a challenging experience in brand internationalization” I new that was what I intended to do to help the Brazilian brands! Read more>>

Valeria Lease | Certified Child Sleep Consultant & Truth-Telling Mama

As a first time mom, I was horribly sleep deprived. I had read so much about child sleep, and yet nothing I tried seemed to work for my son. I was simply too tired to piece it all together. That’s when I decided to hire a sleep consultant and — boom — my son became a superstar sleeper. I, on the other hand, forgot how to sleep. I developed postpartum anxiety and insomnia which later morphed into depression as well. After months of denial, I sought professional help for myself and slowly started to sleep again and feel like myself. Read more>>

Chantay Campbell Neil | Recipe Developer

I can’t say there was ever an “aha moment”. I never had any aspirations to be in this industry at all. This business for me was driven by demand, and I decided to supply that demand. Cooking is a hobby so it really all evolved over time quite organically. About 8 years ago, before Instagram introduced video and it was all images I would post little four-step recipe images to my followers of friends and family, and as it turns out, everyone wanted to cook what I cooked, I was constantly sending recipes via email, what’s app, and dm. Read more>>

Danae Nunez | Sr. Art Director, artist, small business owner

The idea actually came from an advertising brief. Every time Hispanic Heritage month comes around, brands always want to “celebrate Latino creators” by showcasing them on their projects. But time and time again I found that brands only want to *say* they support Latino creators without actually doing so. So after one such brief where we were sent to find cool Latino artists and the particular brand backtracked, I became so incredibly frustrated that I wanted to do something about it. Read more>>

Liza Sakhaie | Founder & CEO | The Reflective

There was a time where a traditional modest dresscode felt antithetical to my beliefs: oppressive, restrictive, archaic, frumpy, ugly- everything a 20 something year old feminist working in the fashion industry would likely want to avoid. But with time, and through my own religious growth, I decided to appreciate the value of covering up, eventually coming to understand it as an external reflection of my internal values: Humility, sophistication and refinement. And so, despite my younger self, I started dressing modestly. Read more>>

Nathalie Acosta | Caterer

I’ve always supported small businesses and admired them for finding something they love to make a business out of. I wanted that for myself for the longest but struggled digging into my inner creativity. I enjoyed putting charcuterie boards together for every gathering or even just as a treat for myself but it wasn’t until I hopped on the TikTok train and started seeing charcuterie businesses that made me feel like I finally found my niche! With enough support from friends and family after bringing up my new business idea, I went for it and it’s only blown up since! Read more>>

Katia Del Prete | Joy Italian Baker founder

This is the will to convey my concept. I come from Italy from a town where a simple bakery is a landmark. We go to the bakery in the morning to buy a snack for the boys that go to the school and the lunch to bring at work. After working, we go again in there to buy something to eat for the family dinner. I lived in a place where the bakery becomes the point of reference of everyone…. Read more>>

Jazmin Ramirez | Co Founder- Andale Miami

We wanted to bring a concept with passion and authenticity to Miami, where Mexican people can find again their roots and foreings can enjoy of one of the most popular and Rich cuisines of the world; the Mexican cuisine. Even when there are a lot of places offering mexican food, we often found lack of quality and authenticity. We believe there is more to be discovered and enjoyed. A door o ancient culture full of colores and flavors through our family business. Read more>>

Annastacia Opasinski | Curating Experiences

If you can say one thing definitively about me, it’s that I love a good story. I have spent my career curating story driven experiences for my clients. Whether that was in entertainment production, where I managed large scale events, or in hospitality where I curated travel itineraries for my guests, my passion was always centered on the personalized experience. I had reached a point in my life where I wanted to be able to marry my passions, events and hospitality, in a way that would allow me the flexibility to be a more present mother and friend while also still being able to do what I love most. Read more>>

Daisy Peña | Founder, Ysiad.co LLC, & Director of Sales – Mid Market Retail at Twilio.com

The idea for Ysiad Beauty Water came from brainstorming ways to simplify beauty rituals. As women, and humans, strive for beauty that promotes healthy hair, skin and nails, one has to remember to take a bunch of supplements daily or consume foods that include these nutrients, not to mention enough water for proper hydration. However, we get busy with life and that ritual is disrupted, inconsistency leads to poor results. I live in NYC, Read more>>

Destini Russell | Herbalist/Organic soap & Scrub Creator

The Birth of DesJanay From Earth to skin was created due to a series of health issues that had impacted my life right before Covid. To dive a little deeper I am a survivor of Sarcoidosis an non-curable auto immune disease. When i was given this diagnose i was pushed to find a way to create a better life as best as i could to cope with the pain I feel do to this illness. Read more>>