Starting a business is a commitment and requires dedication, resources and sacrifice. We asked some of the rising stars in our community how they thought through the idea of starting their own businesses.

Jeffrey Tousey | Founder & CEO

The first business I started was the digital marketing agency Beekman Social, a collective of digital storytellers that approach everything through a social-first lens. Prior to launching Beekman Social. I was the social media director at Vanity Fair, and often found that when brands would send us content for sponsored posts that they would just send us campaign images that really didn’t fit with how we told stories on our social platforms, and further we knew wouldn’t perform well with our audience. Read more>>

Norah Candito | Registered Dietitian

When I was in my clinical program to become a Registered Dietitian, I completed twenty different rotations, mostly clinical, as part of the practicum. In each setting I thought, “this isn’t for me.” That was until I had an experience at an Inflammatory Bowel Disease clinic. Seeing individuals listen intently to the recommendations of the dietitian, follow them, and see their quality of life improve was eye-opening. I thought to myself, “this is it.” Read more>>

Maria Paula Ahumada | Dance Instructor and Confidence Coach

The process behind starting my own business was less thinking and more feeling. The idea came to me in the middle of working out in my aunt’s living room. I had moved back to my childhood home in NYC temporarily to figure out what I was going to do with my life. As i’m hip thrusting on the couch a message comes through that I was going to start my own business. Read more>>

Maritza Coscarelli | Empowerment Coach, Transformational TEDx Speaker, Bestselling Co-Author,

Our thoughts matter so much. Every action begins with a thought which informs our attitude and drives our behavior. Minding our thoughts can be the most empowering step we take in life and business. To be fully transparent, I made a highly unconscious decision in 2015 to take a j-o-b I knew very little about. What I found was a freezing cold and toxic environment, figuratively and literary. “What was I here to learn?” I asked myself. Read more>>

Lindsey Burda | Marketing consultant and owner of Burda Marketing

It really all started with being surrounded by other small business owners and entrepreneurs. I’ve always admired those working hard to accomplish their goals. I too had that same drive to accomplish my own. For a decade, I was working as VP in the corporate world where I built a full-service marketing department for small businesses from the ground up. “We like working with you because you GET US,” I would hear. I didn’t feel like I was anything special. I just listened. Read more>>

Nic & Tamz Liu | Digital Nomads | Entrepreneurs | Vloggers

This might sound a bit cliche but my husband (Nic) and I really just wanted to own our own life. We were tired of waking up early, sitting in traffic, sitting in pointless meetings all day, to only repeat that process again and again. By looking at our boss and our boss’s boss, we quickly realized that corporate life would never give us the life that we wanted. Of course, our seniors were getting paid much more than us but the question is, at what cost? They were more stressed, more unhealthy, had less time, and were more unhappy. Read more>>

Dane Drebin | Owner of BartenderForHire

I started my business to give power back to the bartenders of the word. Showing people how to be their own business owner as well as teaching them their own potential. I believe there isn’t a shortage of service industry workers right now due to people not wanting to work. It’s because they aren’t being paid what they are worth. By becoming your own mobile bartending business you set your own wage. The more bartenders I can help find their true potential the better. That’s my mission. Read more>>

Hannah Stouffer | Founder / Director H+ Creative

In 2015 I ventured out to start something bigger than myself, to curate, support and assist a hand selected group of artists who’s style and aesthetic I was deeply attracted to. I had been a working artist and commercial illustrator for about 10 years prior, and was ready to build something greater, to promote the work of others and use the knowledge I had gained in my professional experience for the betterment of their careers while growing something completely new. I had a vision in mind as to what that would look like, how it would visually be defined and where we could take it. Read more>>

Ryan Jor El | Author. Speaker. Host. Beacon of Fatherhood

In the summer of 2017, I was on the phone with a friend, saw a Black Girls Rock commercial and decided I wanted to host an awards show for fathers. Often times the media portrays the “deadbeat dad” image and quite frankly, black fathers outperform their counterparts, as it relates to child rearing. After my call, I took out my black notebook and wrote down the scope, and scale of the event, potential venues, hosts, honorees and anything it would take to make it happen. When I receive a download, I simply go with it. Planning is definitely important as well, but I say it all the time, it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be out! Read more>>

Celinett Ortega | Founder & President of Stellar Role Models

Stemming from my own personal experience as a mother and working in public schools, I identified a void in programming that infused fun ways to build up self-esteem in preschool through middle school aged girls, hence Stellar Role Models (SRM) was born. For me, this is not a business, it’s my passion. The goal is to empower youth, especially girls. SRM is a tax exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that focuses on boosting self-esteem, confidence, and developing communication and social skills in order to equip youth for success. SRM also promotes education and community service involvement to make for a well-rounded individual. The goal is to nurture and develop the future leaders to be the best version of themselves. Read more>>

Odara Hall | Real Estate Professional

Everyone who knows me personally know that I like doing things my way. I have worked many jobs from pharmacy technician in a specialty pharmacy to insurance case worker. I made good money but I was so unhappy. I wanted something that I would be proud of , passionate about and where I can build my own brand and grow with. I’ve always wanted to be a Realtor but I was filled with fear that I wouldn’t be good enough. Read more>>

Calisa Hosten | CEO, JM Party Rental and Supplies

As a young adult I’ve always wanted to start my own business. I would enroll in Entrepreneurship courses at YTEPP or ministry of community development to help me prepare myself for my business start up. I also completed my bachelor’s degree in Marketing in 2020. These courses helped to gain an abundance of knowledge in business management, marketing and entrepreneurship. Read more>>

Gia Adams Wheeler | Sustainability & Design Enthusiast | Founder of Adamo1987

Two years before Riki and I set out to create our homeware label, our world was in a pandemic. I noticed the impact that widespread interruption was having on small businesses and our environment. Quarantines were reshaping consumer habits towards online shopping convenience and mass produced prices. As entire shopping lists to distant fulfillment centers were purchased in just a few clicks, it seemed like production was at a halt for local skilled tradesmen and women. Read more>>

Joshua Smith | BSED, LMT, PTA, MLD-C

It all began when I was six years old. My mother was a single parent at the time, and she would come home stressed from work so I would massage her. She would tell me that her body felt “great” afterwards and that “this was a God Given Gift and use it to heal others”. After she told me that, I started massaging my grandmother who was immobile sometimes. She stated that “I needed to massage her everyday”. Soon I was massaging other family members such as one of my uncles and stepfather every so often. They would also praise me about my gifted hands. Read more>>

Adem Cayir | Entrepreneur

As 4 partners with an experience in e commerce and entrepreneurship we were always on the look out for the best product that is environment friendly, made of natural goods such as cotton, wool etc. and is traditional. So we came across of Turkish style beach towels, that cotton, thin easy to carry , quick dry and sand resistant so it was a perfect fit for a Country with lot of beautiful beaches , camping sites, yoga sites and more! Read more>>

Christian Ochoa | Creative Director

Like most people, I knew I had knowledge and expertise to share but I didn’t know exactly how to market it. It’s funny because I’ve been working in advertising for over a decade but I struggled a lot when I did it for myself. One thing that changed my perspective about business was to understand that I’m not selling a service, I’m solving a problem. I started my business because I realized how hard it is for small companies to succeed online. Read more>>

Krystal Marie Balladares | Licensed Esthetician

My thought process behind starting my own business stemmed from falling in love with the beauty of being in my own, natural state. As women, we constantly struggle with body image and insecurities and I want to be someone’s boost of confidence. Getting my own treatments done, I fell in love with how healthy skin made me feel, and ultimately, look. My goal for my business is to instill that same confidence and appreciation for my own clients’ skin. Read more>>

Raul Ulloa | Amazon Seller & Entrepreneur

Being an immigrant, most of the time is not easy to pack your stuff, take a plane and start from zero. You need to focus 100% of your time, weakness is not an option but even if you have a strong mind sometimes you got broken. In the end, everything I do I do it for my family and then for me Read more>>

Jessica Talley | Architect & Owner

My intention is to start something new and exciting for the wellbeing of people and the planet. The meaning of Spring, the time of year, is a time of growth, renewal, and of newborn plant and animal life. The term is also used more generally as a metaphor for the start of better times. Culturally, some religions believe the start of spring marks the start of the New Year. Read more>>

Ryan & Kelsey Danley | Co-Owners of Ohio Drip

To Make Life Colorful. In January 2019, Ryan was in a snowmobile accident and suffered a spinal cord injury, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. Times were tough and we were searching for a creative outlet to bring joy back into our lives. With Ryan’s limited hand function, the key was to find something we could do together. Kelsey has been quilting since 2015 and came across the technique of ice dyeing. The process was attractive because of the beautiful watercolor patterns and long-lasting nature of the vibrant colors. She proposed dyeing fabric together to use in her quilts. Read more>>

Trisha Jay | Photographer

Photography has always been my passion, even more when I began traveling all around the world with my high school sweetheart in the early 2000s. Fast forward to 2014 I was asked by a dear friend to photograph her Engagement session and the rest is history. I realized that capturing love behind my lens is what I was destined to do. Destiny has let me to where I am today. I finally parted ways with my “career” job as a banker, so I thought, and pursued my passion full time. The best decision I ever made! Read more>>

J’Lysa Wilson | Founder & Creative Director

My thought process for starting Clem has always been to break barriers by building a community in fashion for people who look like me. Creating opportunity for change and growth from a Founder/CEO standpoint, to my team, and to people I work with indirectly. Clem was started when I didn’t have the opportunity so I’m very intentional about my brand and the message I portray. Read more>>

Faustino Lopez | Entrprenuer

During the pandemic, I was furloughed from my IT job of 16 years. It is an aviation company and they were hit very hard. They were on the brink of bankruptcy. I was furloughed with the promise that I would be recalled in three months. Suffice to say like millions of other americans at the time, I faced with the possibility I would not be recalled, the unemployment system in Florida was overwhelmed and unable to provide financial assistance and jobs at the time were scarce at best. Clearly, my *ss was handed to me. Read more>>

Ricardo & Cristina Braga | Owners of Let’s Chill Homemade Ice Cream

As a family, we would go out for ice cream every week. Eventually, the ice cream was just not special to us. We started seeing ourselves staying home more often and buying ice cream at the supermarket. Then, we would do a movie and ice cream night. We would scroll through social media and hear about all these fantastic small-batch ice cream locations. None of which were in South Florida. After doing a lot of research and attending ice cream school, we decided we wanted to bring small-batch ice cream to our community. Our focus is on providing delicious homemade ice cream without additional preservatives, artificial colors, and customer service that is second to none. Read more>>

Rina Kang | Owner and photographer

I created Say Woof because of my childhood dog. When he was a senior dog, I realized that I had no photos of him and wanted to make sure I could capture memories of him and the time we had together. I had studied photography in school and was freelancing at the time. I ended up taking pictures of my dog and ended up taking more photos of friends’ dogs. Read more>>

Melisa Brown | Wedding & Event Planner

Melisa’s idea for “Lux Lifestyle Events” started while running her empire company The New York Fame which produces fashion week events in NY during NY Fashion Week for top designers around the world, such as Bravo TV’s The Fashion Show, Season 1 finalist Reco Chapple, Korto Momolu winner of the 5th season of Bravo’s hit show Project Runway, and Stevie Boi who’s designs have been worn by the likes of Lady GaGa, Teyanna Taylor, Lisa Raye, Meagan Good,Michelle Rodriguez, Rosa Acosta, Dawn Richards, & Eva Marcille to name a few. Read more>>

Jairo Lanzas | entrepreneur & Business owner of Bahamas Auto Interior Upholstery Broward

I had previously worked 13 years- at Bahamas upholstery. Previous to that I worked 3 years has a chauffeur, and lastly as the manager of an upholstery shop. My brother had bought his business, the miami broward location from a man named Herman Hernandez who named it Bahamas in 1973, he named it that way because it reminded him of his home in Cuba. So this business has passed through a lot of hands and it’s been a long time coming. Read more>>