The first step to starting a business is deciding to start a business. They say the first step is the hardest and in our experience this is especially true when it comes to starting a business. Getting over the mental roadblocks can be tough, often harder to overcome than the challenges you’ll face once you actually start the business. Fellow entrepreneurs share their thoughts below.

James Gray | Creative Director / Music artist

I always been around Self-employed people throughout my childhood my grandmother on a liquor store and a few cafés. So it only came Natural for me to start my own business when I thought about Photography and videography Read more>>

Shamin Patel | Realtor & Mortgage Loan Originator

It was intimidating but having my end goal in mind really helped destress the process. It is scary not knowing where your customers are going to come from but I had to be patient and just keep working even if I was having a bad day. In Real Estate, it takes time to generate enough business to have steady income and knowing that made me work harder every single day because I needed to reach that level of steady commission income quickly. Read more>>

DJ Gunzee | Professional DJ

To be honest, I started this mainly because of the passion I have for music. Also, knowing I’m able to give people joy and give them a great experience by being in control of the mix (that I knew I could do well) was another reason why I started this. Of course I wouldn’t take out the fact that it was also for financial independence/freedom. I also realized I could empower others if I am empowered myself Read more>>

Maria Anderson | Event Planner & Vision Creator

“I get to do something I love and people are going to pay me for it?” That was my first thought. I had been planning events to celebrate friends and families for years. It only took one person to approach me to do an event for her for me to realize this is what I was destined to do. I was destined to help people celebrate life! Read more>>

Tina Olivér | Founder / Owner

My thought process behind starting my business was, to show others what happens when you really “Keep Your Energy Elevated” and how something as known as “Hookah”, could be tied with that. I wanted to give light to those just in the same way it was giving to me, to make me start my business. The world needs good ENERGY and I wanted to be one of the people to bring it. Read more>>

Sid Karim | Personal Trainer

It was always very frustrating for me working for other businesses and not being able to improve the way things are done. Many businesses are set in their ways and they do things a certain way because it’s the way they have always done it. I wanted to create a company that is efficient and flexible. A company that listens to the customers and is always improving. Read more>>

Britanni Channer | Business Owner & Realtor

Working for someone else never made sense to me. I finally decided to take a chance on me in 2020. My Grandmother would say it was the “Devine Whisper” that spoke to me. I knew there was a need for CBD products that would allow you to relax while you bathe. I decided I would become the go to CBD Bathbomb person for customers looking for a high quality product that did not break their pockets. Read more>>

Kathleen Goerner | Owner, Pinspiration Houston Heights

Kathleen Goerner has lived in the Houston area for over 25 years, along with her husband and two daughters. Pinspiration Houston is a family business, with Kathleen and her daughter, Elise, running the studio. Both are former teachers, and they know first-hand the personal benefits of getting creative. “We want our studio to be a hub for the art community in Houston. Beginners can interact with professional artists and learn more about their craft, and people can just enjoy plugging into a creative world,” Elise explained. Read more>>

Vanessa Lopez Coutino | Seamstress, Entrepreneur & Student

Create By V grew out of financial and artistic necessity. When the quarantine started I was entering college as freshman and had very limited opportunities to pay for my tuition. Additionally, I’ve always considered myself an artist in multiple ways, and spending such large amounts of time indoors made me desire a artistic outlet. I had recently taken a sewing class for the first time and I had began to expand my knowledge on sewing during my free time. Therefore, I came up with the idea to fund my education through sewing and to start up Create By V. At first my business was just for fun and a way to share my art with my community however I began to take my business seriously when I noticed the need for stylish and safe face masks during the pandemic. In the future I plan to expand my business to incorporate accesories that a larger audience can enjoy! Read more>>

J Benjamin | Black Orville

My wife and I love to go on cruises. So we started this company just as a part time venture just to get extra cruise money. But in 2020 I was laid off due to the pandemic and started doing it full time and it probably was the best career decision I’ve ever made. Read more>>

Maya Ghavidel | Owner of Pixel Chick

Honestly, I was just a senior in high school trying to make some extra money before college. It wasn’t until after I graduated that I began to build my brand and take myself seriously. I made my own logo, ordered business cards, and came up with the name “Pixel Chick”; an homage to one of my favorite games growing up, and a reference to my business being started online. Read more>>

Khalid Rasheed | C.E.O./Chief Editor

My first thought to be honest with PulseTheMagazine was just to be a voice to the voiceless and give those people that might not have a budget but process real talent as a artist, model, dancer,etc. To give them a way to get exposure at a affordable rate and get them in the door for more magazine features, video appearance’s, release parties,etc. Since at the time of being created PulseTheMagazine was released I was a artist myself working on my second album and managing my own record label. Read more>>

Leslie and Marcy Williams and Marcum | Co-Founders Southern Roots Living

We have been best friends for over 30 years and our personalities are complimentary to each other which speaks to the long-standing relationship of our friendship. During the pandemic, we began thinking of ways we might start a business together and since the both of us have a passion for interior design and home renovations, Southern Roots Living was founded. While we have lived other places, we are both native to The Woodlands and decided it is also where we want to put our “roots” down with our own budding families. We love this idyllic hometown surrounded by trees, nature and a sense of community. Having both bought “fixer uppers”, we wanted to share our reno journey, and help others envision how they might also makeover their spaces. Read more>>

Anthony & Josefina Thomas | Co-Founders

Our thought process involved us having a desire to be able to pour out what God had poured into us. We wanted to be a light and an inspiration to as many people as we could. There were times when some of our team couldn’t afford clothes. Now we are making our own! Look at God! Read more>>

Tonya Godfrey Thomas | Board Certified Credit Consultant

My thought process behind starting my own business was how can I truly help people. I started working on my credit and then a light bulb just went off. The next thing I knew I was like this was it. I can help people by being a resource on how to help them repair their credit. Having good credit and being financial stable wasn’t taught in school nor in most people homes, at least not mines. As I was repairing my credit, I was thinking how many other people are out there wanting and needing the same thing but just don’t know how and where to start. Here I came up with the name Resource Solution Consultant Services with my slogan “Future Focused” ‘There is always a solution”. Read more>>