Ideas aren’t everything, execution matters greatly, but starting often requires an idea and so we asked folks to think back and tell us the story of how they came up with the idea for their businesses. We’ve highlighted some of our favorite stories below.

KK Lin | Co-Founder of Ohana Sunshine

My name is KK, and my sister Chu and I co-founded a sock brand called “Ohana Sunshine”. The inspiration for Ohana Sunshine came from a personal need—the search for the perfect pair of socks. You might wonder, “Why socks?” The journey to create our brand was driven by the challenge of finding socks that deliver both comfort and style, a combination that was surprisingly hard to find. I used to be one of those skeptics, often avoiding socks due to their discomfort. Read more>>

Nikki Hernandez | She-eo

My business didn’t turn out the way I expected when I first started. Being the creative one in my family, I was always in charge of party decorations. In August 2022, I bought a Cricut machine to make my life easier, and within a week, I started creating cups, decor, and more. The positive response from friends and family motivated me to continue. What I always strive for is to infuse my personality into my work. Seeing people happy with the items I make brings me immense joy. Choosing the name “Vibe with Nikki” was easy because it reflects my laid-back, hustling, and kind nature. I want people to join me and just vibe together. Read more>>

Sabrina Torres | The Great Film Club Founder & Head Programmer

After the pandemic, in 2022, I started going to the Secret Movie Club and they mostly host 35 mm screenings of old movies and once a month they’ll have these short film open mics where any film under 10 minutes gets to go up. Which I was so pumped to go to every month I looked forward to that particular event every month I met filmmakers through there and I even made my short film Tape from meeting filmmakers there. It was June 22, I remember the date and Craig the host said that they were renovating the space for three months and they weren’t gonna have their open mic nights. I literally was so bummed cause I looked forward to these events every month. My whole summer was planned around meeting filmmakers and making movies. So with that passion, I felt an intuitive calling to do it at the children’s theater that I worked at, so that night I just invited everyone to do it at the theatre and a month later I started The Great Film Club. Read more>>

Nadia Lee | Co-Founder & CEO of Kollectin

The ides for Kollectin takes me back to the very start of my journey in the fashion industry. Following my graduation from Scripps College, I dove headfirst into the world of fashion by launching a jewelry business named Adia Kibur. This early venture was both a dream come true and a formidable challenge. It exposed me to the stark realities of the fashion industry, particularly the significant barriers to entry for newcomers. These barriers were not just about financial investment but also encompassed the need for deep industry knowledge and extensive networks, elements I found myself grappling with due to limited resources and experience. Read more>>

Johanna Vente & Fiona Burr | Co-Founders of Saffron + Poe

We co-founded Saffron + Poe back in 2016, an artisan home goods shop and boutique interior design studio in Mill Valley, California with a mission to uplift maker communities around the world. Everything in our collections is ethically and sustainably made by hand using traditional techniques, which means every item is uniquely its own. From how it’s crafted to the people whose hands made it and the soul of the culture it was born to, each piece has a story and directly supports the people and communities behind it.⁠ Read more>>

Audrey Lane | XR Producer

I started in photography, following in the footsteps of my father’s profession. Incapsulating a story in a single frame was an exquisite challenge, and I began to quest into the world of moving images. Videography and filmmaking captured my imagination and allowed me a medium to express and storytell on multiple dimensions of perception. Read more>>

Luciana Lino | Custom Cookie Decorator

I came up with the idea of Delici.Uso Desserts at the end of 2020. At that time I was into my 7th year of working at my job and adjusting to being a single mother. I found myself finding ways to express my creativity such as baking and drawing. I would bake for all my friends and family, for every event & would stay up for hours coloring and drawing. I’m sure like others out there, I wasn’t having the best time at my day job & wanted to see if I could come up with another source of income that would also allow me to spend more time with my daughter. I saw that people really loved to have custom decorated treats at all kinds of occasions and thought I’d give it a try! I went out and bought all the things to create decorated sugar cookies for my family’s Christmas dinner and got to work. Not only did I have the best time baking, icing & decorating the snowflakes and candy canes, but they were pretty tasty too! Everyone who had one loved them and said they would pay money for my cookies. I decided to offer valentines cookies for 2021 and have had the honor of creating custom treats for so many special occasions since. Read more>>