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.

Angela Hopkins | Concert & Homestay Tour Organizer

I’ve developed a close connection with my social media followers over the last 10 years with people from all over the world, through our mutual love of the band One Direction, (I’m a huge Niall fan from the start!). I am truly blessed with getting to know and connect with over 30K followers on my X (Twitter) account. I started out as a normal “fan account.” As I am fluent in Japanese, I started translating band members’ English tweets to Japanese so I could help fans in Japan understand the context of the tweets. Naturally, I progressed to becoming an update account about the band. Thankfully, many people in Japan seemed to have found my tweets helpful. Read more>>

Trina Piercy | Potter

I was going through a really hard time in my life and felt the need to pour myself into something. Everything felt really out of control…but a business of my own, I could control that. I just wanted to silence all the voices and create what I was feeling and not what was trending, or what everybody wanted me to create. It was a quiet space I could go and pour my heart out into the clay. If it was “successful” great, but not that was also fine. The goal was to create and discover my own style and connect with other hurting souls. Read more>> 

Grace Bouldin Cowan | Founder, Birthday Buds

I started Birthday Buds when my kids were toddlers. I was spending almost every Saturday morning at a park or a skating rink or gymnastics gym going dutifully with a gift in hand to a party for a child that already had so much. I’d just stopped working in my career and was volunteering with an organization that worked with young families who were struggling financially. At one of those birthday parties I mentioned how ridiculous this whole process felt. My friend Pauline agreed and said her son, Theo was about to turn 3. She asked if I knew of a family from my volunteer work that had a child with a birthday near Theo’s. I found one…and his name was Javon. Read more>>

Griffin Williams | Woodworker & Family Man

As a kid, I always loved building things and was constantly borrowing my dad’s tools. As I got older and YouTube started to take off, I would watch DIY videos from some of my favorite channels. When I got old enough to start buying my own tools in college, I began building basic furniture and serving trays for myself and my family. My dad always encouraged me to start my own business, but I went to school for marketing and got a good job right out of college and never felt like I could give that up. Read more>> 

Maxx Variant | Photographer, Filmmaker, Artist

Early 2023 I decided to metaphorically kill myself. No. Seriously. I ripped and shredded any form or essence that was (My dead name) from the internets entire existence, and started out completely fresh. While doing that was a chore and a completely out of my comfort zone decision, it led me to my current and most famed aesthetic, studio work. I went from the photographer that ONLY shot outside and battled with harsh and humid conditions whilst dressing my models in the most ridiculous and sick makeup designs and costumes, to becoming a photographer that has the tools and safety to make each session more comfortable for the model than the last. Read more>>

Cierrah Standifer | Artist & Entrepreneur

The thought behind starting my own business is to empower others and provide resources to those without. Read more>>

Angela Gibson | Founder and Artistic Director of Libation African Dance

My thought process behind starting my own business is the absence of traditional African dance in our community. I was also wanting to work for myself and leave my children a legacy that they can be proud of. Read more>>

Lauren Cupp | Photographer, Moments by Lauren

I needed something for me. Something that I could focus on that would require me to use both my creativity and my problem-solving skills; something that would give me a sense of purpose and fulfillment. That may sound harsh since I AM the primary caretaker for my three young children – but it’s true. I love my children, and my love for them is stronger than I ever thought was possible. While I wasn’t necessarily sad to leave my career behind once my firstborn was born immunocompromised (and therefore unable to go to daycare), over the years I’ve struggled with what I’m supposed to be “doing” with my life. Read more>>

Kat Hammond | Artist & Owner

As many small business stories start, Golden Gratitude started as an outlet during the Covid pandemic. While being cooped up in a house with a newborn, I was craving to craft with my hands and honestly, keep myself sane. To help myself cope with the changing social scene of the world at the time, I started working with my hands by creating gold jewelry pieces as well as writing in a gratitude journal to help shift my perspective and stay positive. The front of my linen journal says ” A Year of Gratitude” in gold foil – and one morning, while walking to pick it up, I saw the gold foil words reflecting in the sunlight – and it hit me. Read more>>