Our city is home to so many incredible businesses and so we asked the founders how they came up with the ideas for their businesses and have shared their responses below.

Dr. Jennie Bennett | Director and Founder of Reconstruction of a Survivor

I was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ breast cancer and almost lost my life following surgery. I began helping women diagnosed with breast cancer to understand their diagnosis, treatment options, and to manage the treatment. In 2007, I started the non-profit, Reconstruction of a Survivor to provide curriculum focused breast cancer support group sessions to women and men diagnosed with this disease. We later began providing financial assistance to the women in the support group who have financial challenges during treatment. Finally, based on research, we started breast health education sessions for undiagnosed African American women because the breast cancer mortality rate is higher than any other ethnic group. Read more>>

Lisa Colvin | Issa Vibe Adventure LLC Co-Founder

When thinking on how we came up with the idea for Issa Vibe Adventures, the answer is simple. We all experienced the great outdoors for the first-time in adulthood and once we experienced it, we were immediately hooked. We fell in love with being outside, waterfalls, hiking, and more. However, this new hobby demonstrated that there were not a lot of other Black people experiencing nature with us. In fact, many times we were the only Black people on the trail. It was at that very point that we knew we had a job to do. Read more>>

Travis & Monay Miller | Founder of The Miller Initiative & Certified Life Coaches

Having been involved in our community through working with state entities, ministry, mentoring, and community service… we noticed that there was something missing. We’d see programs geared towards women, women & children, children, or men & women… but nothing that serviced the family unit as whole. We believe the family unit is a pivotal piece in communities growing and thriving. We saw that families were overwhelmed and losing hope, and we wanted to step in to help change the narrative. Read more>>