Ideas aren’t everything, execution matters greatly, but starting often requires an idea and so we asked folks to think back and tell us the story of how they came up with the idea for their businesses. We’ve highlighted some of our favorite stories below.

Monique Cooper and Javan Allison | Published Children’s Book Authors

Javan was born a preemie and had several complications throughout his young life. He has survived over 9 Surgery’s and I knew he was going to be a unique child that one day would tell his story. Javan now suffers from Asthma, ADHD and Anxiety. In February 2018, Javan had an asthma attack where he almost lost his life. He was placed in ICU during that time and survived this detrimental disease. While in the hospital, I asked Javan if he would like to tell his story. He agreed and this is how we came up with the Idea of “The Adventure’s of Javan and the 3 A’s”. Read more>>

Anastasia Sound | Singer, Vocal Coach and Sound Meditation Facilitator

I always knew 3 things about myself – 1. singing is my passion 2. I need a flexible schedule 3. My knowledge and intuition are my tools to navigate me through life. After completing my Degree in Music Business & Arts in London, I booked a one-way ticket to Panama City, Panama (Central America) to join my family, who moved there from Europe. I didn’t know anybody in Panama, didn’t know the language and had no clue what the music scene was. The only thing I knew was that singing is my passion and the rest will unfold! It was one of those moments where taking a risk felt safe, for some strange reason. And my intuition was right – after only a few weeks I started getting requests for gigs and my business as a creative freelancer took off! I performed at weddings, parties, events, toured Central America with a grammy winning latin ska band called Los Rabanez, appeared on radio and TV shows, traveled..,I call them my roaring 20’s! Now I teach singing lessons, perform at local venues in Naples, Fl and do sound meditation sessions – I use sound to help people to go within and let go of stress, anxiety, limiting beliefs. Read more>>

Camille Perkins | Camille Perkins I Lifestyle Influencer & Podcast Host

For the last few years, I have been sharing Miami date night ideas via my Instagram account: miamidatenite. I have also connected many Miami singles, via my company, The VIP Singles Club. This past year, I saw an increase in singles requesting to be matched with other singles as well as requests to host singles events again. Due to everything happening with COVID-19, I was not comfortable with hosting singles events, but I kept brainstorming on ways to still bring singles together. One day, out of nowhere, I got the thought – why not do a podcast show connecting and matching singles together? I was super excited about the concept because it is fun and no one else is doing anything similar now. After doing some market research, the feedback was very positive and that was how The Miami Date Nite Podcast was born. Read more>>

Jake Johnson | Wildlife Educator & Media Influencer

What connects you to nature? Is it kicking back on a tropical beach listening to the continuous loop of ocean waves? Packing up the gear and escaping for an outdoor adventure? Maybe you love exotic animals and plan trips around seeing them? Everyone has that unique connection to the natural world that makes them feel alive, yet we don’t often see ourselves as a part of that world. We disconnect our lives from it and live in the “human world” known as society. After graduating college, I really started to question the things that we, as humans, prioritized. Our society is one where economic growth is more important than the health of our planet and distraction is easier than reality. We take things like clean air and water for granted, and turn a blind eye to the rate at which biodiversity is declining. We’re currently the biggest driving force in the sixth mass extinction of our planet and most of us are just sleep walking through it. After some time, I started to realize the power in which individuals like Leonardo DiCaprio have when it comes to influence. Read more>>

Odalys Quevedo | Branded Copywriter | Co-Founder of the Virtual Mom Collective

My copywriting business came about because of my passion for writing. After I had my first child, I needed a creative outlet, so I started blogging. After a few years of blogging for fun, I thought, “How could I make money from writing?” So I started copywriting and fell in love with it. Every time I sit at the computer to work, I’m satiating my creative hunger while providing a service to help my clients succeed in their own businesses. Later, I joined forces with my husband, Luis Quevedo, and together we own Art Spark Design, providing a full suite of branding, social media, and web design services. I’m also Co-Founder of the Virtual Mom Collective (VMC), which was born from a need to connect with other mothers during the 2020 pandemic. The Founder, and my dear friend, Denise Castro, approached me about starting an online community for moms to help us connect during #thisnewnormal. And as someone who is passionate about meeting strong women, and learning more about them, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to co-create this genuine and warm community. Almost a year later, we are nearly 6,000 strong, and growing by the day. Read more>>

Kim Rodriguez | Personal Stylist

I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology for Fashion Merchandising and Marketing. I worked in the fashion industry in NY for over 15 years before moving to Miami. I was a mom of a young child, and wanted some time off to raise her and build our life in our new home. It did become clear once my daughter started school full time that I wanted, and needed more. I missed the industry in NY, but not the hours, travel or often the stress of the job, so I wanted to create something that allowed me to be a very present and involved parent but also give me the independence and creativity of continuing to work. I often was my friends go to for ridding their closets of questionable pieces, styling outfits, or just the”go to” for any fashion question. So, I decided to start charging for my advice and time…not really to my friends back then though:) They helped me realize that if they had questions and often times pain around dressing, than many women probably did as well. Read more>>

Will English | Photorealistic Animator

I began learning about 3D rendering by making video games. I always enjoyed pushing the realism and detail of my 3D environments and characters as far as computer power and time constraints would permit. I routinely search 3D art websites for inspiration, and I have found so many artists who can push this limit in amazing ways, creating art indistinguishable from reality. Eventually I found that many of these artists don’t work in video games, and they use a similar but very different rendering technology than we use in the games industry. This prompted my curiosity about photorealistic rendering. The more I learned about it the more I realized that photorealistic rendering is all around us, every day. It is used widely not only in movies, but also in TV / social media commercials, industrial visualization, and signage. Learning these facts inspired me to take my 3D knowledge and provide photorealistic rendering services to other creative professionals in my network. I started small and over the past two years have been taking on more and more ambitious projects. Read more>>

Ilana Karcinski & Kelly Maronpot | Co-Owners & Wedding Day Pet Care Experts

We’ve been bringing pawsitivity to the wedding community since 2015 The idea for our company came to us while working for a Tampa-based hotel. We saw a need in the wedding industry that spoke to us; couples wanted to include their pets in their special day but quickly became overwhelmed. Our pets are our family and we couldn’t imagine them missing out on such a special day. There was no other company offering the services we knew these couples needed, so we paved the way & created what we’ve now coined as the Wedding Day Pet Care industry! It was difficult in the beginning to introduce this very unique service, to vendors & couples alike. We worked extremely hard educating & perfecting our service. It’s been so incredible to watch as wedding pet care has become an option for so many couples across the world. Read more>>