Our community is comprised of some absolutely brilliant entrepreneurs and so we asked a few of them to tell us the story of how they came up with the ideas for their business.

Enrico Bachmann | Founder of hundeo

The idea originated from our own need. In 2016, my girlfriend and I had made the decision to get a dog. It was our first dog and we chose a pug. We thought that pugs are sweet and calm dogs and perfect for first-time dog owners. But when our puppy moved in with us, we realized how much energy he had and how much responsibility a dog owner has. We had read through a few books and blogs on dogs, but they rarely had any real step-by-step instructions on how to raise a healthy and happy puppy. I was dissatisfied with the solutions that were available and decided to create something on my own. I was convinced that the best solution for a young dog owner would be an app that you can always have with you, get advice at any time, and the tips would also be prepared with step-by-step video instructions. Read more>>

Ricardo Baptista | Musician, Collaborative Projects

It wasn’t a planned thing. I come from an Education Sciences background, I was a music teacher for a long time and got very involved with my schools’ communities, doing a lot of immersive work, devising art projects with very diverse groups. Gradually, the education system in Portugal started to make processes and accessibility difficult, the bureaucracy started to seem too heavy, and at that time I was already being invited to conceive and coordinate projects outside the school… so I realized that I could do what I really loved to do in other contexts. I met my wife then, going through a similar phase, coming from the cultural management area. Read more>>

Sarah Bulstrode | Co-Owner of Wildflower Honey Coffee

Renea and I have worked with each-other for 15 years in the service industry, so starting our own cafe was one thing we always wanted. As Covid hit and things took a turn in the industry, we thought “what better time then now?” So with her background in baking and mine in coffee, we agreed to take the leap and start Wildflower Honey Coffee. Read more>>

Alyssia Janae | Holistic Wellness Coach

I started my business in the midst of the Pandemic. I had to switch to working virtually for my part-time and noticed I had a lot of time on my hands. Naturally, because of COVID, I made the conscious decision of living a more holistic life; watching my eating habits, finding myself in meditation and practicing yoga and supplying my own everyday supplies so that I wouldn’t have to keep going back outside for essentials. I begin creating natural, organic skin care products such as Face wash, sugar scrubs and deodorant. I then furthered my research and expanded my creative efforts in creating my own supply of sea moss and natural detoxes for the body to achieve optimal health. Read more>>

Karo Kangas | Make-Up Artist, Jewelry Designer, & Owner of Karo Koru

It was purely coincidental. As the lockdown hit and the novelty of staying at home wore off, I knew I needed to stay busy and keep my creativity going when the pandemic took away my ability to express myself artistically through my work as a make-up artist. I discovered pottery, that led to arts and crafts projects with my son and that, that ultimately led to jewelry making. It was a revelation as the idea slowly unfolded with each piece I made. I was able to reconnect with my artistic past while being able to express my environmental philosophy through crafting pieces with up-cycled and vintage materials. Once I launched the business proper and shared it, I was happily surprised by the response. Read more>>

Britainn Aldridge | Owner

It has always been a dream of mine to open up a bakery/cafe with my mother. When the pandemic hit, I lost my job and felt this was the perfect opportunity to start! I figured bundt cakes would make the most sense for my situation. This way the cake is the star and in my opinion has the best cake to icing ratio. After the theme was set, I needed a name, thus Bundtiful Cakes was born! I wanted to play with Bundt cakes and felt Bundtiful sounded the best! Read more>>

Michael Norr | Elementary School Teacher and Entrepreneur

Sweetzer Gourmet Popcorn is a passion project that’s the product of the pandemic and wanting to continue to get together with best friends. For years, my family had a standing pizza and game night with our closest friends at our home on, yes, Sweetzer Avenue. Due to the pandemic, the gathering relocated outdoors and became pizza and movie night. Since one of the things I love about going to the movies is filling up a giant tub of popcorn, we would stop our movie at the halfway point in order to microwave a few bags and grab some candy. Read more>>

Malia Walker | SewCuteXO Owner & Designer

Honestly I started sewing as a hobby. As a young mom, I started making things that I needed/wanted for my son. Any easy tutorial I could find on YouTube, I tried. As I grew creatively so did my family and I really narrowed in on what was serving my family and I in our everyday lives. Read more>>

Samantha Dowell | Cosmetologist

The way that I came up with my business name Element_Stylez LLC because I have no preference when it comes to hair. There are multiple elements and avenues you can take with hair. You can be the hairstylist or business owner it’s not one set lane I am versatile so I made sure my business will represent that as well. I work with all backgrounds, cultures, hair textures and more. I feel as though we all want to be clean cut and look presentable and feel beautiful inside and out. Being a hairstylist within my business I love to help others and make them feel beautiful. Read more>>

Teena Ho | Small Business Owner & Artist

During the pandemic, it was hard to meet up with my best friend in person so we started exchanging gifts with each other and this soon became something we’d do every other month. We have similar interests in art and Asian-inspired goods, so I’d usually get my gifts from small businesses on Etsy or stores like Daiso. When our packages arrived, we’d do an unboxing together and it always made my heart feel warm to see that my friend loved her gifts. Read more>>

Emily Fisher | photographer

Since I was a child, I’d always been interested in art and was even an art major in college. However, after college I began working with other people’s art, rather than creating my own. I worked in art museums, galleries and auction houses. I went back to school to get my master’s in Arts Administration at NYU while I worked fulltime at Christie’s Auction House. I felt fulfilled working around art and loved my time at Christie’s. Read more>>

Arturo Saucedo III | CEO

Destroy A Drum was created from a sense of loss and emptiness. Playing drums took me out of this deep void and lingering pain but I wanted to create something tangible to represent the depth of these emotions that so many related to. Letting these feelings out while performing live was a sense of relief due to playing to the point of no return but there was something deeper to be shown through a physical idea, product, and solution. Coming up with the idea for Destroy A Drum came from representing the pain, anger, hate, frustration, and never ending disappointment in myself all those years ago when it first started through apparel that had crazy designs and clean cut styles. Read more>>

Amy and Stefanie Dials and LeJeunesse | Podcasters

You know how they say “necessity is the mother of invention?” Well, we were each diagnosed with breast cancer at 39, and we craved smart, relatable, comforting conversation about this terrifying, life changing experience. Unfortunately, cancer conversations on the whole tend to be saccharine and unhelpful or dry and sciencey. When a mutual friend introduced us, we realized we’d both been searching for the same resource, but had struck out. It took us about 24 hours of constant texting—that amazing new friend energy—to start talking about creating something together, and it was only natural for a writer and a former radio DJ to settle on a podcast. We each had all the equipment we needed, and we started immediately. Our first episode was the first time we’d heard each other’s voices! Read more>>