Are you thinking about starting a business? If so, we think you’ll enjoy reading about how these seasoned entrepreneurs thought about the question when they were in your shoes.

Stephanie Anderson | Boutique Owner – Andercrew

When I was pregnant with my first child and shopping for all things baby and chiId, I quickly discovered I was not a fan of traditional baby looks. Who says that you need pink for girls and blue for boys? Not me! I started to wonder if I was the only one who felt this way. By the time I was waiting for the birth of my third child, I decided to do something about it. Believe it or not, I started making onesies with stencils, a stamp, and an ink pad. I also actively searched for shops on etsy, and thought outside of the box for clothing. Read more>>

Barak B. Yisrael Bey | Founder/CEO

From a early age I’ve always had a desire to build an empire to leave for future generations, as a person who didn’t come from wealth I had to learn the hard way the importance of having generational wealth. After working a few years under major corporations I understood a 9-5 would not get me to my financial goals so I began to explore entrepreneurship. Read more>>

Tres Page | Ali@s Lead Singer, Band Manager, Owner of All Purpose Ent. LLC

I think sometimes you have a choice and other times there’s the illusion of choice. I was in a band and I had some ideas of what I wanted to do, but no freedom to actually achieve the concept. The money was great, but there were other things that made me question if I was on the right path and after an extensive talk with my wife (aka the real boss) I decided to venture off on my own with some people I could trust with the vision. It basically came in the form of risk assessment: will you be fulfilled and can you do this without it severely impacting our quality of life. I think if I had a chance to rethink it, I’d do it differently but I’d still be here. Read more>>

Guero G The Artist | Artist/Graphic Artist/Web Designer

I’ve always went against the grain, while my peers where bragging about how much they would make at work. I would contemplate on how to make money without working for someone. I’ve been involved with several business setting & helped lead others into entrepreneurialship. It’s all about taking risk, managing your assets, patience, & consistency. You will have failures in business, but each failure will only bring you closer to success! Read more>>

Kari Kane | Professional Photo Organizer

As someone who loves to organize anything and everything, including my personal photos, I realized photo & media organization is a service that so many could benefit from. Most people have decades worth of disorganized photos stored in albums and boxes or abandoned on multiple outdated devices that they’ll deal with ‘someday’. With the reality that more digital photos and videos are added to that mix each day, people are overwhelmed and looking for help. That’s where I come in. I am passionate about helping people reconnect with their memories through consolidation and organization, giving them the means to display and share their photos and sleep well knowing everything is safe from loss. Read more>>

Brittany Lewis | Entrepreneur & YouTuber

My thought process was simple. I wasn’t happy. I was miserable, going to work everyday for someone else. It was draining. I wanted to have the freedom to do whatever I wanted to do when I wanted to. So I set out to do just that. I would work 8 hours a day for myself instead of making someone else dreams come true. It actually started out as me wanting to be a lash tech but I realized I wanted to work smarter not harder and changed it to selling mink lashes and wanted to expand on that by selling tools and accessories as well. Read more>>

Pierre Perez | Beard and Hair Care Specialist & Trophy Wife

Long story short it started when my wife bought me a beard care kit from a retail chain store. Upon using it I noticed that my beard was drying out and became very unhealthy. Trying different beard care companies over the years, I noticed that products on the market were hit and miss. After talking to my wife I told her that we could make a better product using scents I know people would love. With this idea, we started on a trial by error basis until we developed our current formulas for balms, oils, and waxes that works well on all types of hair. Read more>>

Steve Passons | Owner of Be Someone Sports

I started Be Someone Sports initially because I wanted to host youth basketball tournaments for select basketball teams. I saw a huge gap in the tournaments we were attending and felt that it could be better. I wanted to provide an experience for the players and the families that wasn’t offered at select basketball tournaments. Then we were approached and asked to start a recreational basketball league. which has become one of the premier leagues in the Houston area. Read more>>

maggie Glaser | Executive Chef/Owner of Skyhigh Services

In short, I can’t be everywhere at once. I am fortunate to meet so many amazing clients, I wish I could be with them all but the next best thing is placing someone with them that has the etiquette, attitude and discipline- “The Skyhigh way” And there was void in the market for boutique culinary brogerage. I saw a lack of knowledge on the broker side and surplus of talent on the chefs side. How can a broker who has never walked in the shoes of a chef or doesn’t connect with the artistic nature of a chef, match a chef to a client? Read more>>

Mariana Barahona | Mental Health Advocate & Children’s Book Author

Starting my own business was the perfect blend of creativity freedom and the opportunity to truly control the mission and meaning behind it. This freedom allowed me to stay authentic to my vision and the intention behind creating LYLO Life Academy. The process of building my business was starting out with the basics and adding to it until I was able to find a landing place for where I wanted to take it and to where it could grow. Initially marketing and branding was an important part of starting my business when introducing it to the public. Read more>>

olivia Paredes-Tolliver | COFFEEPRENEUR

It started working in the Emergency Room for 15 years. From shift work to endless nights servicing the medical Industry, coffee was the most essential for healthcare workers. Before keurigs existed, Starbucks was opened 24 hours, so who’s going? My answer always was “If you buy, I’ll Fly.” Fast forward to the beginning of the pandemic my answered changed to “I just want to sell coffee!” So, I learned how to make it. Read more>>

Heather Gabriel | Designer, Magic Maker, & Seamstress Extraordinaire

I honestly never thought I would enjoy my hobby as a career. I thought I would get bored or grow to hate it. The truth is, I hate the construct of corporate life. I really wasn’t allowed to be my own person anywhere I worked. I had to conform to whatever their idea of the perfect “whatever” was. Starting my own business allowed me to be who I wanted to be, take on the projects I wanted to take on and the only folks I had to answer to were my clients. Read more>>

Tito Durojaye | Stock Trader & Fashion Designer

My thought process behind starting my own business was that I wanted to see something improved and I knew the quickest way to see that was to do it myself. In terms of stock education groups, I started stock trading when I was 15 with some birthday money I had on Robinhood, I signed up for countless groups but none of them really helped because it was just copy-and-paste signals. So I turned to using trial and error through the internet, and from there I learned how to handle money and read charts. Read more>>

Trina Cheeks | Caterer

My thought process behind starting my own business was why not make money doing something I love to do. Starting a business you have to be dedicated and willing to put in the time and work to make that business successful. When I first started my business I had no idea what I was doing but as time went by I was more committed to making my business successful. No matter what anyone tells you, you become better at something by spending more time on it. Of course you have to put your mind to it and get your feet on the ground and push through to what’s in store. Read more>>

Tasha Daniels | Momprenuer

My major thought process behind starting my own business was that I knew I wanted to not just be a boss, but be able to change my lifestyle as well as others. I didn’t know what it was going to be to make this change happen, but I knew that I was going to do something. Read more>>

Heather Smith | Owner & Buyer

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to own my own business. I’ve dreamed of being my own boss for as long as I can remember. The hours, sweat and tears that come with starting a business didn’t deter me. A few years ago, when I started noticing shoppers were moving away from big stores like Macy’s and Dillards and spending more time shopping at boutiques, I started to dream of owning my own store. Clothes have such an important role in determining our day. At least for me. A good outfit can make a bad day great. Read more>>

Mark Jackson | Firefighter/Paramedic & Entrepreneur

Well, back in 2016 I really started enjoying the hookah experience after a trip overseas. I wanted to bring that same experience back to the states and quickly realized many places that offer hookah were not as good as what I experienced overseas. So, from that point on, I spent countless hours trying out different hookahs from various companies all to develop a great product that would combine luxury appeal for users like myself to create thick quality smoke and enjoy an upper echelon hookah experience. Read more>>

Kandice Jackson | Permanent Artist/ Aesthetician

I have 4 children and I truly needed the freedom to have days off with their schedules. Being part of a busy spa made that’s impossible. So, one day I prayed about it and decided to take the leap of faith and I took off! I felt unstoppable for sure. Read more>>