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.

Jennifer Zera | CEO of Wittez

Wittez emerged from a home renovation. Crazy place for a business to form, but in a bathroom renovation we were seeking cherry blossom prints on black tile. Every option we found did not meet our standard in either image or durability, but as will most Google searches, this search devolved into the process for printing on tiles and Wittez was formed. While we do more than print tile- predominantly walls- we can now create our own cherry blossom tiles. Read more>>

Desmond Gentry | How I became a Entrepreneur

While attending an employee meeting, they were discussing the direction of the company as well as raises for the upcoming year. It hit me that they really didn’t care about my well being and that I would never truly be paid my worth. I began brainstorming ideas of starting my own clothing line. On November 28,2020, I introduced Destined4Greatness Apparel LLC. I knew if I left my job to be a entrepreneur I would need consistent income to start as well as maintain my clothing line. So I begin to show interest in becoming a Life Insurance Agent. I knew that my pay would be consistent as well as a long list of benefits. I was still not sure about stepping out on faith and leaving my job. I would be lying if I said that I did all of this on my own. I would like to give credit to my wife, Mavis Gentry, she convinced me to leave my job and assured me that we would be good. Just two weeks after getting married and having Desmond Gentry II ( KING ) August 6. I told my job the following Monday that I wouldn’t be back and haven’t looked back since. Read more>>

latarsha fields | Licensed Hair Braider

My thought process behind my business was to provide the best braid services I could at an affordable price. I want my clients to feel their best without digging too deep in there pockets. Read more>>

Bob and Lisa Martire | Owners – Bob was a former Dentist and Lisa is a math teacher

We previously had owned a dental practice in Connecticut and had always joked about owning a small knick-knack shop when we retired. We would dream about what that store would look like and how we would run it. Flash forward to us moving to Conway – my husband(Bob) and I would walk around town a lot while visiting the restaurants and local shops and started to think about what the town needed. My daughter and I are avid readers. She edits books for new authors as a side job and works for a publishing house out of the UK as a portfolio manager for statistical journals. Our first book series that we read together was Harry Potter. Books have been a bond between us. My husband and I decided to change our idea of a knick-knack store (since they’re everywhere in Myrtle Beach) to a bookstore. The nearest one that we would frequent was in Market Commons. We even asked one of the local shops on Main St. if they knew of any store fronts that would be opening up – still thinking that this would be our retirement adventure. Little did we know that fate would step in and move up the process. In October of 2022, Bob was in a car accident that damaged his right wrist. Being a dentist, he is unable to work with the dexterity that is necessary in his profession. He was in a bad mental state – thinking he had ruined our lives. After surgery on his wrist and knowing that going back to dentistry was not going to be an option, we decided to pursue my dream of owning a bookstore. We reached out to Hillary Howard, executive director of Conway Downtown Alive, who was very excited about having a bookstore in Conway, to help us find an available store front. Through several ups and downs, we were shown our present location – which oddly enough was the same store that we walked into some many months before – fate definitely steps in. It was “as is” and needed a lot of love but as they say the bones were good. I knew that as a family we could make this work because when the three of us want something, we figure it out. Bob and I got a mentor from Score. Michelle gave us indie stores to reach out to. I started researching to create a business plan. From there we started to find contractors, painters, and electricians to transform our space into a bookstore while keeping the bones and history of the space. Read more>>