Starting and growing a business is hard, but often deciding to start the business in the first place is even harder. We asked some successful entrepreneurs from around the community to open up to us about how they thought about starting a business.

Ryan Peek | Transformation Specialist & Injury Prevention

I was fortunate to grow up in the fitness industry, with my mother being a personal trainer and gym owner. I discovered early on that I wanted to inspire people to achieve a level of success that they had perceived as unattainable. Whether someone is just getting started or wants to get back to where they once were, I knew I was capable of providing a roadmap that would get them to their destination. Read more>>

STEFANO GIORDANO | DESIGNER & CO|FOUNDER OF STORIES FASHION BRAND

Stories is a brand of revolution and change in which fashion, art, and ideology come together. The brand derives inspiration from the Industrial world and the art of the post-World War I era, especially Art Deco. Like the art movements of the 20th century, Stories also has a Manifesto written by Stefano Giordano Read more>>

Dan Misuraca | Owner and Pit Master at Red White & Que Smokehouse

I had worked for a retail shoe store as a district manager and a store manager throughout Florida, Washington D.C. and Manhattan for 15 years and had always been successful at running and managing business for someone else so I thought “huh, I bet I can convince Katie (my wife who also worked for the same company for 10 years as a store manager throughout NJ and NY)) that we can do this by ourselves!” Read more>>

Isis Mesa-Rubin | Doula, Childbirth Educator & Activist

The Intuitive Womb was created out of a deep passion for all things birth and motherhood. My own journey and experiences from pregnancy, birth, and motherhood changed the way I view myself and the world. I recognized then the importance of standing in your power and trusting our bodies’ innate ability to birth. Read more>>

Rebecca Peri | Health & Wellness coach, Business Consultant

As a successful business owner in the health, wellness and business consulting industry, my thought process on starting my own business was rooted in my passion for helping others succeed. I saw a need in the market for high-quality consulting services that focused on the unique needs of small to medium-sized businesses. I wanted to provide services that would help these businesses grow, optimize their operations, and achieve their goals. Read more>>

Suzy Salerno | Owner

My kids are getting a little older and are both heavily involved in sports. My husband also works in the hospitality industry, so our schedules were just CRAZY! My mom was hoping to retire soon, so we thought that it would be a great idea to open a family business where we could work together and create our own schedules. Read more>>

Sarah Franklin | South Florida Florist + Curator of Plants

Wildwood Flower Co. was born out of a yearning for more than just fresh flowers, a lovely bouquet, a simple delivery: we wanted to provide an experience. An experience of beauty, of solace, of celebration and the full spectrum in between. Read more>>

Victoria Tinker | Photographer

I’m quite a creative person and I love everything beautiful. I have always dreamed of working independently from anyone, with my own schedule, which would bring me pleasure and income. And before moving to America, I thought for a long time about what direction of employment I could choose for myself, Read more>>

Nicole Dini | Young Business Owner & Entrepreneur

Financial Freedom. As a 17 year-old high school senior, I have always been clear in my mind that I want to create my own business. My main goals in life is to be financially free and be able to control and manage my own finances and not live paycheck to paycheck. First I started with my small marketing agency called DINI MEDIA @diniimedia , which I produce, film and edit highlights for athletes, photography and real-estate marketing content. Read more>>

Lucie Allaire | Founder and CEO of Guiltless ToGo

As a certified health coach with over a decade of experience in nutrition and weight loss coaching, I saw the need and opportunity for a diet-friendly, on-demand food ordering platform that wasn’t a weekly meal subscription service. The idea for Guiltless Grocery first came to me in a dream. Read more>>

Roman / Ernesto Trovato / Pesaola | Founding Partners

I (Roman Trovato) and my partner Ernesto Pesaola are passionate about sailing, He in Uruguay and I in Argentina already had 20 years of experience on the water. When we moved to the USA in 2019 we did not hesitate to turn our passion into a business. This is how we created Flamingo Boat Rental Read more>>

Barbaric Budder | Businessmen

My background is in Marketing & Public Relations. I had a successful ten year career in corporate-marketing, which allowed me to learn and hone my skills to be an entrepreneur. My friend, [who is from Brazil], had me try Buriti fruit. It was so unique…so delicious. Naturally, I looked up the fruit online and saw the health benefits. Not only did it have benefits when consuming the fruit, but I learned it had great benefits for external use as well. Read more>>

Tynasia Been | Small Business Owner, Food Blogger, Foodie

My thought process when starting my own business was that this will be difficult, but, I will have the freedom to create, have fun and seek financial independence. My motivation was to take control of my life, career and living situation. I never wanted to be a dreamer because when you dream for so long you’re just sleeping. Read more>>

Dino Marcell | Car designer / builder

Coming from a sports managment background alt of guys I’ve assisted in things always would compliment car i would have a time or always buy them from me before even had chance enjoy them, especially jeeps. So its was very organic when it just became a buisness overnight. Read more>>

Alex Guerra | Chief Pilot / Owner

I worked in the Implantable Medical Device field and after 9 years with this company, in early 2019, I was laidoff. Up to this point, all I did was work and fly my drone that I had purchased a few years back. Of course, I was also was married and have 3 children but drones were my passion. Read more>>

Supa Dave In The Mix | DJ / Emcee / Radio Personality / TV Host

As a DJ and Emcee for the last 20 years working in Radio, TV, Nightclubs, and events, my passion has always been about entertaining people and creating memorable experiences. After years of working for other companies, I felt that I could create a business that better aligned with my values and allowed me to offer a more personalized experience to my clients. Read more>>

Francine McCaughan | Pilates Studio Owner and Teacher

Honestly, I had always thought about starting my own business, but I never thought it would be in the industry that it is in now. I am a trained lawyer, and worked in Entertainment Law in Beverly Hills, California, so I used to think that I would open my own law firm or some sort of entertainment company. In fact, I actually did open an L.L.C. Read more>>

Elaine Hart | Chief Banana Officer

My vision for POWER began in 2012, when I was reflecting on how I could share what helped me recover from anorexia, in 2001, age 19. My recovery was fuelled by connection and community, and my self-practiced mental strength toolkit that I’ve since added to, over the years, navigating life. Read more>>

Aimee Robles | Kinderart Class Instructor

I have always worked with children since I graduated high school and I wanted to create a program that would focus on the individuality of each child. I think back to when I was growing up and remembered how much I loved doing arts and crafts in summer camp and after school and wanted to bring that element to my classes. The arts have so many benefits for children as well such as motor skills, language development and more. These are all the elements I wanted to bring into my program. Read more>>

Coree Aussant | Intuitive Wellness Guide + Owner of Karma Wellness

I grew up as a people pleaser. I always made decisions based on what other people thought I should do or what they thought was best for me. My early life was spent gathering degrees and certifications to further myself in the corporate world. As I continued down this path, I became increasingly anxious throughout the days. Although I was excelling in my work, I was deeply unhappy. I began reassessing my decisions and the path they had taken me down. Read more>>

Davia Dwyer | business woman

In 2017 I was diagnosed with a total of 3 autoimmune diseases. From there I became sensitive towards alot of products, that force me in trying something new. I started ordering natural products from a company a their products helped me. The company started advertising wholesale price and I decided to buy and try sell them, in which that worked out for me. Read more>>