Starting a business can be terrifying. Weighing the pros and cons, the risks, and other considerations can be so overwhelming that often promising entrepreneurs stop before they even start. We asked some phenomenal entrepreneurs about their thought process behind starting their own businesses. Our hope is that by making the thought-process less intimidating we can help more folks think through whether they should take an entrepreneurial leap.

Larissa May | Founder

The root of innovation is problem-solving. I set out to start #HalfTheStory after experiencing my own mental health and social media struggle. I recognized that the screen played a role in my wellness so I made it my mission to empower digital wellness for the next generation and build a solution for the future from the ground up. Read more>>

Jeff Ferguson | Co-Owner, Run Out Groove Records

My parter, Ellen, worked managing some of the best restaurants in Los Angeles for decades, and for the past 30 years, I’ve worked in digital marketing and advertising for Fortune 500 companies and beyond. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ellen found herself treated like a frontline emergency worker and I really started to wonder, “If we survive this, are we really doing everything we want with our lives?” Read more>>

Lindsay Colker | Communications Executive & Strategist, Founder of Elevate Communications

I started Elevate Communications because I realized after spending nearly two decades working in Corporate America, that I had everything I needed to be successful on my own and still elevate brands and personalities to new heights. Read more>>

Michelangelo Glionna | Founder and Executive Chef of LA LA Lasagna

The founding of LA LA Lasagna was driven by two fundamental factors: my passion for authentic Italian cuisine, fueled by my experience as a professional chef, and the desire to bring an authentic Italian culinary experience to the streets of Los Angeles. Read more>>

Jess Rosenbluth | Co-founder of el3ment

The thought process behind starting my own business was recognizing an unknown and unmet need and having the courage and network around me to pursue creating it. Read more>>

Tahmineh Javanbakht | Artist, Art director

When I graduated from Art Center college of design in Pasadena, I started working with top fashion houses like Versace, Maxfields and others . I liked the freedom that consulting offered me and wanted to start my own firm. Read more>>

Natalie Wong | n/a

I wanted to start my own business because I really enjoy baking, and I wanted to share it with the community. It is definitely a lot of work, but it’s so rewarding since my customers are happy to come here, and we also get to take part in special celebrations like birthdays, weddings, and graduations. Read more>>

Rafael Quiroz | entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and financial literacy coach.

So while I was incarcerated I would hear people talk about wanting to be truck drivers when they got out pf prison and then I heard how drivers were always on the road away from their family. So I wanted to know how I could help out there and I discovered the role of a freight broker. Read more>>

Caroline Kovac | Owner/Principal Design

Having worked with the largest multi family developers, investors and operators for 20+ years, I had great insight into how design outliers outperformed every asset in the market. The bigger the design, the better the performance. Read more>>

Ronzi Lei | The Toes Shop Founder & Creative Direct

My thought process behind starting “The Toes Shop”, a business selling slippers with a pineapple bread shape, began with a unique blend of cultural inspiration and market opportunity. Read more>>

Aaron Brenner | Producer & President of Treefort Entertainment

I started my career as an editor turned producer. Over the years, I’d be involved with custom camera rigs and tools that would always get built for specific shoots. After each job, I found myself more and more fascinated with specialty equipment. Read more>>

Lindsey Hufnagel | Costume Designer, Entrepreneur

Having my own business has always been a huge part of my life. I first started my own handbag company in NYC back in the early 2000’s and grew it to successful company over a period of 12 years. Read more>>

Leigh-Anne LoPinto | Breathwork Facilitator + Psychologist

It wasn’t a thought process at all, it was a calling that was unexpected. I had planned on working in the school system as a psychologist as a life long career, but the universe had other plans. Read more>>

Daria Buriakova | Professional Photographer and co-founder of COSMIC EYE Iris Photo

It all started with a simple curiosity and a passion for photography. Anna Chernegova, one of our co-founders, was intrigued by the question of her true eye color. This curiosity led her to experiment with photography, capturing different aspects of her appearance. Read more>>

Symone Ranaye | Your Fav Beeauty Babe

Journee Beeauty was designed for all beauty lovers to feel beautiful and use their imagination to express themselves. I decided to create a brand that would represent me and attract new faces. Read more>>

Kevin Stenersen Grant | Online Marketing Content Creator & Real Estate Professional

This is a great question because I’ve always wanted to learn new skills, and develop myself so that I could better serve others, but the meaningful work and meaningful relationships I’ve built along the way are now my #1 driving force for choosing everyday to joyfully serve others. Read more>>

Nina Blythe | Hair stylist

I think the prospect of being my own boss was very intriguing to me. It’s so rewarding to be able to wake up everyday and use my creativity, passion, and skill to bring other people joy; the best feeling is watching my clients leave my chair more confident than when they came in! Read more>>

Stevie Fury | Co-creator

At the time we started Fury Bros. back in 2015, my brother, Jeremy, and I were touring with our band, Jeremy and The Harlequins. In the cities we played we would often stop into small boutiques and shops, picking up candles, soaps, etc., along the way. Read more>>

Joy Pate, LCSW | Therapist and Owner of Therapy With Joy

I had a specific vision to create a mental health practice that provided therapy and wellness services to Millennial BIPOC women where they could feel safe, seen and validated as they journey toward healing. Read more>>

Ariana Air Gradow | Movement Guru, Creative Director and Founder of Circus Collective and Art of Air

My art deserves to be a part of this world! I was an aerialist first and I knew that my body couldn’t do that forever. So I decided to start my own gym. I also was offered to buy the studio that I worked at and decided to start my own instead. But honestly I just felt inspired and I followed it. Read more>>

JoWanda Dziesinski | owner of Green Goddess Pedicabs

I’ve lived in Santa Monica 13 years, and mostly use a bicycle to get around, I loved the idea of having a bicycle-oriented business such as pedicabs, that fits so perfectly into the beach and eco-friendly lifestyle. Read more>>

Caroline Efstathion | Entomologist and Conservation Scientist

Starting my own non-profit organization was never anything I thought I would do. After I graduated with my PhD, I started a full-time teaching job at a college that did not have a research component. I had worked hard over the last 10 years to establish relationships and collaborations with many scientists in several countries. Read more>>

Maze Road | Animation & Post-Production Company

As a couple of motion designers with different aesthetics, it was a no brainer to join forces to create an animation and post-production company. Working together prior to starting a business, we knew that our new company, Maze Road, would be able to deliver satisfying visuals to other businesses in need. Read more>>

Desiree Dupuis | Founder & CEO

I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and I had been running my own insurance businesses for 10 years before Voes & Co was created as a solution to a problem I had been personally facing as a vegan woman. When I first had the idea to create a global fashion brand in 2016, two things had been culminating in my mind. Read more>>

Adrianne Ferree | Founder & Executive Director of The Makers Hub

I grew up in Torrance, California, less than a thirty minute drive from Compton, from the age of three. Although we were virtually neighbors, Compton was unknown to me. Through my work with people incarcerated, I saw the immense potential many inmates possessed in trades like woodworking, welding and sign-making. Read more>>

Rodrigo Vargas | Founder, American Vinegar Works

I thought vinegar was strangely neglected in the US. From coffee to beer to yogurts just about every product in the grocery store has become better– better ingredients, better flavor, better packaging. But American vinegars are largely still acid bombs that double as cleaning products. Read more>>

Gianpiero Gaglione | Founder, GGID – Interior Design Studio

Well, it was never my intention to start out on my own, it happened quite organically. I have been quite fortunate in my career having worked with some incredible talents, including Kelly Wearstler & Martin Brudnizki, but at the start of 2020 I seemingly had a few leads asking me work directly with them so I took the leap of faith and branched out on my own. Read more>>

Tonanzint Cristobal | CPR Instructor & Nurse

This business idea was birthed during a time of prayer between my husband and I. The Holy Spirit put it in both of our hearts to put my nursing skills into practice by creating this CPR business – Legacy Life Skills. Our goal is that we will use this business to help fund local and international mission trips, help expand the vision of Brian Bolt World Evangelism and Hope & Promises. Read more>>