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.

Kristyn Jackson | Makeup Artist

I’ve always found makeup interesting but it wasn’t until I got my makeup done for prom that made me realize I had a passion for it. I wanted to learn everything there was to know about it. I studied vigorously until I was comfortable with doing it on myself then I transitioned to doing it on others. It brings me genuine joy to make people look and feel beautiful. Read more>>

Carlos Cisneros | VP of Engineering & Meditation and Workshop Leader

Between 2010 and 2015 I attended multiple consciousness seminars and courses. I used these experiences and adapted them to create “The Ichi Experience” a course that uses non-invasive techniques so that the participants could experience closure and learn to practice consciousness, getting that everything adds up and it’s in that journey that one can experience content. Read more>>

Tiffany Lathrop | founder

After teaching in several different studios + traveling to teach since moving to Kennebunk, I realized that I couldn’t be the only one looking for what I wanted in a studio. I tried studios from Lynnfield, MA to Portland, ME – they felt cliquey, standoffish, they weren’t welcoming, some didn’t even show me where the studio was that I would be practicing in. Everyone was quiet. I wanted to walk through the doors and have someone say my name, I wanted to matter, I wanted someone to care that I was spending $25 an hour to spend my time with them. Read more>>

Danny Stygion | Photographer & Magazine Publisher & Filmmaker

When I was a teenager, I originally wanted to be a filmmaker. In my early twenties, I started off with photography and making experimental videos. After a couple of years, my fetish photography work was being published in various fetish print magazines, such as Marquis Magazine and Skin Two Magazine. I began to charge for photo shoots and I started doing all types of photography. I shot weddings, corporate events, behind the scenes at commercial shoots, etc. Read more>>

Shonda Broom | Da420Nurse- Cannabis Nurse & Advocate

My thought process was how can I do my part to right the wrongs of what an unjust system did to me. I honestly sat and felt sorry for myself at first. But then I realized I needed to turn my pain into purpose and do my part to fix a broken system. Having a history as a business owner, I realized I had to look at this from the perspective not only from an employee but employer standpoint and from there I seen a need for guidance on both sides of the spectrum. I’m still a work in progress and learning the needs of the industry and it’s effects on the workplace so Im in a place of continuous growth as far as my lane. Read more>>

Alyia Thomas | WSET Lvl 2 Sommelier & Digital Content Creator

Once I became a level 2 sommelier in January 2019, I knew that I wanted to build a foundation of bringing more notoriety by representing the black population of sommeliers. With only about 12% of us in this field, I was inclined to be open-minded to seek the many possibilities of working in the wine industry. Hence I created my business Wine Kulture with a “K” in August 2020 to emphasize my ideology of what a sommelier is to me. Read more>>