Starting a business is a commitment and requires dedication, resources and sacrifice. We asked some of the rising stars in our community how they thought through the idea of starting their own businesses.

Marquita Thomas | Founding President & CEO

After 13 years as a municipal chamber leader, I founded the California LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce to address the growing number of economic improvement opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses I have been able to create and/or advance during my career. Read more>> 

Tatiana Aguilera | n/a

We as people are like sponges. We absorb what we entertain and keep around us. I worked in music for 6 year (in audio and drums). Audio is 2% female, with a constant battle of proving yourself regardless of your experience. Read more>> 

Stylianos Psarogiannis | Music Producer | Creator

Starting my own business really stemmed from my lifelong passion for experimenting with new technologies and ways of doing things. I’ve always loved working in dynamic, collaborative environments, but sometimes, the slow pace of progress would get to me. Read more>>

Latik McNeil | Artist, Entrepreneur, & Community Servant

I don’t know if i’d call it a “thought process”, as much as a “life process”. I already had the energy of hustle in me since i was a kid, selling dolllar store candy at school. so when life hit hard, i had to hustle harder. Read more>>

Kenisha Lee | CEO, Haus of Ka’el. Community advocate, photographer, creative.

At the time of me starting my company, I saw so many young families not able to have the same quality of photos and events because of the astronomical pricing provided by other providers. I wanted to create space where artists were able to give back to the community by doing exactly what they love doing. Read more>>

Cecily Baring-Gould | Actress

There wasn’t so much of an active thought process, but more of an intense feeling of resistance toward continuing to work in my previous career. I worked in public relations in the fashion industry for over 10 years, overseeing strategic communications for a diverse portfolio of luxury and contemporary fashion designer and department store clients in New York, London and Paris. Read more>> 

Anjali Bhimani | Actor, Author, Producer, Owner of Road to Ithaka Press and Bad Auntie Entertainment

At first I thought each of my business ventures were things I started to provide myself with more agency over my creative life as an actor, producer, and writer, but it wasn’t long before I realized that the real driving force was to remove that same pain point for the incredible artists I know, both through work and our personal lives. Read more>>

JaiNishia Njie Savage | Founder of Love and Happiness Sanctuary and Savage Finery

When I launched my business, I relocated from New Jersey to Los Angeles and began watching YouTube videos of other creators who had moved to LA to begin a brand. These videos highlighted the importance of the fashion district and the Jury district in providing access to valuable resources. Read more>>

Michelle Desouza Desouza | Founder & Holistic Wealth Curator

In a society that often gauges our value by the accolades we achieve, I dreamed of creating a sanctuary for women, particularly women of color, to honor their “non-achievements”—the unspoken, the overlooked, the ordinary, and the real. These are the moments that might never grace a resume yet they are vital in the fabric of our lives. Read more>>

Aj Dia | Local Maker and Shaker

I was burnt out working for companies, so I got the courage up to build a brand around the town I grew up in, the South Bay. The pandemic hits, zoom calls become the norm and I said ‘no thank you’ and went and bought a van. I worked for Nike and even Teva, and they both started their business out of a van. Read more>>

Jessy Grossman | Founder, Women in Influencer Marketing

I just wanted to help people. My whole career had been very money focused and while that can certainly help people, I wanted to do more. When I launched WIIM back in 2017 it was a total passion project. Today it’s become a full-on community that connect women with a passion for the influencer marketing industry where we all want to support each other. Read more>>

Wendy Kram | Producer, Script and Entertainment Career Consultant

As a native New Yorker who loves the city she grew up in, I was contemplating moving back to Manhattan and looking for work as an executive for a production company. I was having a drink with an industry friend in Manhattan who said to me “Why don’t you start a consulting company? Read more>>

Thomas Freeman Jr | Writer/Producer/Director

My thought behind starting my own business was that if I can’t get hired in Hollywood, I need to create my own lane to produce films. Read more>>

Joshua Bolen | Founder and Executive Director

My journey from overcoming learning disabilities, ADHD, and a speech impediment to pursuing a successful modeling career has been transformative. Modeling not only boosted my confidence and helped me connect with others, but it also pushed me out of my comfort zone, creating personal growth. Read more>>

Tong Wang | Artist

My creative journey stems from my childhood experiences, as I’ve always been a sensitive individual. I’ve harbored a deep curiosity for the divine and supernatural phenomena in my surroundings. Read more>>

Mert Ozcan | Music Producer, Engineer, Mixer

Music was always a big passion for me. I came to the United States to study music and pursue it as a career. In the beginning I worked at a couple incredible recording studios like House of Rock and Interscope Records but eventually wanted to have more control over the type of projects I’d work on and the freedom to create my own schedule so I decided to start my own music and sound studio. Read more>>

Robin Cembalest | Founder, Robin Cembalest Editorial Strategies

It was 2014, and I had left my job as longtime editor of ARTnews. My prospects in art journalism, my chosen career, were slim. Luckily, I had prepared for this moment. An avid blogger and Tweeter, I saw the revolution in digital content on the horizon, and how many people in the art industry were struggling to adapt. Read more>>

Chiany Dri | Founder, The Inclusion School

After working in the nonprofit sector for over ten years, and in diversity and inclusion work for many of those years, at the end of 2023 I told myself I needed to make a change. I wanted more time at home with my kids, more flexibility, and as a single parent I knew those were priorities for me. Read more>>

Sheila DeMoura | Artist Management & Label Consulting

It honestly just happened on accident! Artists started approaching me asking me to manage them once I started working my first music job at a label in NYC, prior to that I had interned at WMG, Preach Mgmt, and 95.5 WBRU.  Read more>>

Elinor Keyes | Filmmaker, Company Owner, and Multidisciplinary Artist

Throughout the course of my career in the arts, I’ve continually seen myself and my friends and colleagues forced to contend with elusive, arbitrary criteria in order to be given the chance to do the work that they love. Read more>> 

Alexandria Alex” Lopez | Baker “

My thought process behind starting the Cookie Nook I love to bake. It is my stress relief. My happy place and I like coming up with different flavors so why not create a space for myself to do what I love. Read more>>

Abi | Owner of Bibipins

I started my business because I wanted to make things to help others. I wanted to create things that made people smile and feel better. I wanted to be creative and create things that felt authentic to me. I was encouraged by a close friend to start a business.  Read more>>

Sabrielle Augustin | Composer + Educator + Founder Of Asmeriecharm Studio LLC

Starting my own studio was deeply influenced by my upbringing and personal experiences. Since I was young, I’ve always been inspired by my father, who runs his own company, and one of my mentors who also founded her own production company. Read more>>

Obaid Mohammadi | Youth Soccer Program Administrator

At 51 years old, I’ve realized I’ve likely lived more days than I have left. However, I’m in good health and shape, with a lifelong passion for soccer. For the past decade, I’ve volunteered at Walnut Creek Soccer Club, a SURF affiliate in my city, Walnut Creek, CA. As a single parent, I shared my sons’ excitement for soccer, coaching them both. Read more>>

Hedvig Bourbon | Founder & Owner

The idea to start a crispbread bakery came to me one summer in Norway. I have 3 kids, enjoyed being a stay at home mom for several years, and was playing with the idea of going back to the workforce. My aunt Liv was baking Knekkebrød, as we call it in Norway. Read more>>