Starting a business can be terrifying. Weighing the pros and cons, the risks, and other considerations can be so overwhelming that often promising entrepreneurs stop before they even start. We asked some phenomenal entrepreneurs about their thought process behind starting their own businesses. Our hope is that by making the thought-process less intimidating we can help more folks think through whether they should take an entrepreneurial leap.

Mykel Davis | Health and Wellness Enthusiast & Owner of Muscle Up Mommy, Inc.

After being welcomed into the world of motherhood, I experienced a cycle of postpartum depression and loss of individuality. Postpartum Depression nearly took the best part of me. Working out literally saved my life. I retrained my thought process to focus on who I was as an individual before the kids and responsibilities. I began to constantly remind myself that I was worthy of feeling confident, happy and let’s keep it real—sexy! On my journey as a health and wellness enthusiast, I decided to create Muscle Up Mommy, Inc. Instead of suffering in silence, I used my experiences to unite women all over the world and together, we provide exclusive support through our products, services and sisterhood. Muscle Up Mommy, Inc and all of it’s affiliates are committed to supporting mothers through maternity and beyond. My twin girls, Kyndall and Blair, are my pride and joy. Read more>>

Stephany Medina | Community Organizer & Founder of De Luna y Tierra

When I first started my business journey, I wasn’t sure about what all it would be but I knew the things I wanted it to reflect. I wanted my business to reflect my love for my Mexican roots, my love for creativity and my love for community. Everything else just fell into place once I had these things are structures. Like anyone who starts a new journey, it was scary but knowing the heart and motive behind my business made it all worth it. Read more>>

Karen Zambrano | Head decorator and Founder

Sounds cliché but my own business began as a hobby that made me discover a creative self that I didn’t know before. I fell in love with the decorating part of the custom cake process. So much that I would indulge in countless hours on my kitchen counter workings with new materials and utensil discovering and learning new techniques to bring a design to life. I found peace in my creativity, a creative side of myself I didn’t know existed. I was attending the University of Houston in Downtown at the time so working throughout the night on a project was nothing new to me. I found peace and time to reflect and truly express another side of me that I really never knew. Delivering the finished product and seeing my customers reaction and appreciation was the absolute cherry on top and made think, SCALE! Read more>>

Selena Britton | Owner, Aura Decor Events

I cultivated a passion for event design at a young age working with my parents in the catering/ foodservice industry, Food, Family, Friends & Fun was our family mantra. I wasn’t much of a cook, but I enjoyed the process of watching an empty room transform into a beautifully designed space. I still wasn’t convinced that I was ready to be an Entrepreneur. I grew up in a household of two minority-owned business owners, and I knew the sacrifices. I started planning and designing my daughter Zoe’s birthday parties, and it slowly grew the passion I had somehow suppressed in working my 9-5. Birthdays were a big deal in our home, and we both looked forward to planning. I thought of planning and designing as something I just enjoyed, similar to a hobby. But I was good at it. It was my sister who encouraged me to move forward with starting my business. Read more>>

Vinny De Leon | Owner/ Master Barber

My first initial thought to start my business was to give myself longevity in a career that will also be beneficial to the community. After becoming homeless in 2010 due to the recession I never wanted to be at the mercy of a company and experience hardships/ circumstances that was totally out of my control. That idea drove me to what we are today. Read more>>

Courtney Wilson | Wedding Planner

I have been a planner and organizer my whole life. I enjoyed my planner being filled out, color coordinated, creating daily routines, packing precisely for trips, and making sure my days had a purpose. After college I transferred my love of planning and organizing into being a classroom teacher. Planning and organizing were major keys to successful days for me. Then came my own wedding. I found a joy I hadn’t had before in all the small details of my wedding. The more planned out and organized I was, the more I wanted to do. It was one of the best times of my life. It wasn’t until a couple months after my wedding was over I realized how much I missed planning my wedding. I had finally found the perfect outlet for a talent I had been cultivating my whole life. I reached out to some wedding planners I knew, became certified, assisted at a couple weddings and I just knew this was my future. With extreme joy, excitement and some hesitation, Moonstruck Events was born. Read more>>

Emeline Kuhner Stout | Co-founder and CEO of Elastique

As a new mom looking for the best and most efficient way to get back to my pre-baby body, I was struggling to find the right products that would work for me in the little time I had for self-care. We all want to look and feel our best, but our schedules don’t always allow it. I tried everything to help with my cellulite and after spending months researching the best products and techniques, I started looking into the root cause. This is where I had my “a-ha!” moment and discovered our body’s natural detox system, our lymphatic system. I realized that our lymphatic system is 100% responsible for cleansing/detoxing our bodies, and that lymph fluid stagnating is part of the cellulite problem. I also realized that lymph fluid needs to constantly be stimulated with movement and massage for it to do its job. This is where Elastique and our famous first leggings came in. Read more>>

Dr. Raven Bradley | Chiropractor

The idea of going into business together came about while we were in our last year of Chiropractic school. We both had great work ethics when it came to studying and getting things done and had the same mindset about the type of practice we wanted. We both value work life balance and didn’t want to be a slave to the office and figured two heads were better than one. The biggest driving factor for us taking the leap into the world of business ownership was that we knew we both wanted to create a space that truly embodied the term “healthcare” as opposed to the Americanized approach of “sick-care”. Our common goal was to help people understand their body and what health means for each person by treating patients as a whole with conservative care, instead of masking symptoms. We knew that being on the same page in our approach to treating musculoskeletal disorders was a solid foundation to opening a practice together and that we would be able to figure out everything else as it came along. Read more>>

Genesis Loera | Salsa dancer and Certified Financial Planner

I think having your own business is something admirable. The idea of possessing a valuable product or service that provides a solution to a problem and solves a need, and then turning around and offering it to the world is something exciting! What a special way to live life! By helping make other’s life better in some unique way. Whether that’s bringing a moment of peace and joy to a family after a hot day through a scoop of your homemade chocolate vanilla ice cream, or helping families keep cool on that same sunny day with a top of the line AC system you developed, what it boils down to is this .. business is about making the world a better place. Period. After working in banking for a few years, I knew this was the route I had to take. And the idea of using my knowledge and understanding of finances to help other make better more informed decisions about theirs, was born. Read more>>

Michael Rahn | Founder & Lead Advisor

I worked at a large financial services firm for about a decade and found myself constantly wanting to improve or change the service model that clients experienced. In a large organization, change can be difficult if it happens at all. My goal was (and is) to provide the highest level of advice and service at a fair cost. Given that I was not able to impact these decisions directly, I took a leap of faith to create The Sum. Being an entrepreneur allows me to make all decisions that directly impact the experience my clients receive. It was challenging to start, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Read more>>

Dominique Welch | Business Owner, Cheer & Dance Coach & Cosmetologist

The thought process behind starting my own business was in essence provide an affordable service to people that want to have their own definition of Royal Beauty. For example I have aloopecia areata I’ve had it since I was 11 years old. I remember my mom struggling to find products for me and the products of good quality were super expensive. I used to be a competitive cheerleader and dancer and also competitive dancer so my hair had to be on point and top tier. It was hard finding hair stylist that could style my hair so my older sister taught herself how to do hair in order for me to still be able to do the things I have so much passion for. Read more>>

Juan Salazar | Artist, Toy Store Owner, Creative Genius

I didn’t really have a thought process; I never really wanted to own a vintage toy store. I kinda fell backward into it. I thought In the least I would get a free art studio out of it. And that would allow me to produce more art. So in doing all the work it took to turn the toy store around; I fell in love with the community. And I decided I wanted to become an integral part of it. Read more>>

Wendy Lee | Transformational Life Coach/Singer/Yogi/Lover of Life

What kind of person walks away from a high-level, great paying, rewarding position, at the height of her corporate career spanning more than thirty years, to start a business with zero business experience? It sounds crazy, right? Trading in security and reliability for uncertainty and the unknown was not at the top of my bucket list. And believe me, I had many ruminating conversations with myself about the impractical nature and gravity of burning the ships to leave behind a world, that at the time, was a big part of my identity. Even though it felt scary, I had a secret weapon. I had accumulated enough personal transformational awareness on my spiritual growth path to know that I could trust my intuition and take a chance. And my gut was screaming it was time to do the next thing. So despite my comfort zone throwing a hissy fit, I stepped into my purpose and created LeadHERship Revolution Coaching in 2018. Read more>>

ADEJOKE JAGUNNA | Entrepreneur & Tax Accountant

The inspiration to create Ejona stemmed from my own personal need for clothing that reflected my evolving style. As I got older and settled into the joys of adulthood, I found that my sleepwear did not evolve with my changing style. I found myself on weekend trips reaching for the same mismatched sets that were relatively presentable but lacking in style and quality. My sleepwear consisted of old college t-shirts, frumpy night dresses, uncomfortable lingerie or low-quality matching sets. Relatively I was comfortable, but considering we spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping I knew I needed better. I set out to find sleepwear that reflected my style, felt good and made me feel confident but nothing in the market met that need so I decided to create my own. Read more>>

Effie Flores | Custom Cake designer

I’ve always liked decorating and baking so I decided to combine two of my passions together. I wanted my family and friends to not only enjoy my baking but also see my process and my steps on how I became who I am and where I am now. I wanted to show my daughter that even though you are a stay-at-home mom you can still make income for yourself and always be what you want to be and I wanted to show my son’s how no matter what happens in life you can always find a way to keep making money and push yourself to the Limit as long as you do what you love to do. Being a stay at home doesn’t mean you just that…Baking was my way to express myself and my personality. I went for it and never looked back. Besides my children.. this was and has been the best choice in my life. Read more>>