We reached out to some of our favorite entrepreneurs and asked them to think back and tell us about how they decided to start a business. Check out their responses below.

laura currens | pelvic floor physical therapist

I started Dynamic Flow Physical Therapy to offer high quality care to those struggling with birth injuries, pelvic health concerns, and pelvic pain. I wanted to create a calm environment where we can truly treat holistically, from head to toe, and address all factors involved to get true long lasting results and achieve goals. After having a hard recovery with the birth of my first daughter 6 years ago I was on a mission to fix myself and get back to all my activities without annoying symptoms like stress incontinence and tailbone pain. Read more>>

Aline Tran | Nonprofit Founder

When I started my nonprofit, I had no clue of what it would become. “Send A Miracle” began as an idea to make a positive impact on an impoverished community in Guatemala. Initially, it was a passion project. About a year ago, I didn’t even have a name for this project; it was simply an idea. However, I knew that I did not want this idea to go to waste, so I started talking about it to everyone willing to listen. Read more>>

Alexander Savitskiy | Executive producer at T-VFX

I believe that every successful business is just the result of a combination of circumstances. When we met with my business partner Dmitry Venikov 21 years ago, I thought that was a good opportunity to build up a real business with a group of 12 artists. Now we have an international company with more than 120 people working in different countries. But, honestly, it all happened in a spontaneous way, when you just follow your destiny while trying not to get drawn. Read more>>

Alfredo Castro | Entrepreneur & Dance Choreographer

I’ve always had a passion for dance. Growing up, I’d love to watch Dance Moms in hopes to someday be competing on a stage showcasing my talents. When I turned 14, I got the amazing opportunity to start training for a dance studio in my hometown; however, money was an issue. Only working person in my family was my dad at this time and he couldn’t cover my dance expenses plus take care of our family. Read more>>

Helen Vonghack | Los Angeles Event Planner

I remember there were many times while working at corporate where we had to host these holidays, quarterly and launch events. Being the planner for those events showed me what I was truly passionate about. I always looked forward to the creative ways we put it together. I couldn’t wait until our teams came to the event to enjoy the full experience. That’s when I realized I had a different feeling, I was doing something I truly loved and cared about. Seeing the look on everyone’s face gave me a fulfilling feeling. Read more>>

Jay Turner | Fashion Designer & Entrepreneur

The first thought I had when starting my business was what am I getting myself into?! Lol, yes I had to ask myself this question because I wasn’t sure what to expect, where to start, or even how to begin my clothing brand. However, I was adamant about figuring it out and seeing if I was capable of doing something that I wasn’t familiar with. At first, I was thinking that this was a lot of work and time spent trying to run a business. Read more>>

Lori Bradford | Photographer

Starting your own business is intimidating, overwhelming, and can often more times than not make you feel like you are way in over your head. In the beginning, the investment of starting your own business can have more risk than reward. During those beginning phases it is so easy to be discouraged or consumed with fear, but you have to have trust within yourself, starve those fears and self doubt and be confident that what you offer to your community is unique and ensure that the demand is there. Read more>>

Jimmy Tram Clarence Yeung | Realtors & Co-Branch Managers

We started our own business with the goal to have an opportunity to make a comfortable living while having the ability to control our own time. As we grew older, our priorities shifted from making money to spending more time with our families. Jimmy and Clarence have known each other for over 20 years. We went to high school together and played on the same basketball team. The teamwork and friendship has always been there. Read more>>

Nicolas Ambrosio | Jewelry Designer. Entrepreneur. Creative director

When I finish my career, economic science, I knew clearly that I was not built to follow orders. Since then I decided I was going to build my own business and decided to live life according to those rules of self sufficiency. 9 to 5 wasn’t inspired me so I decide to travel the world. Didn’t know at all what was going to be my business the feeling of being free of the classic working force was very strong one me. Read more>>

Lee Narby | Gaffer/Cinematographer, Husband, Father, I.A.T.S.E. Local 728 Member and owner of Light Ninjas Lighting and Grip Rentals

When starting my own business, my thought process was aimed at creating more revenue and also building an infrastructure that cinematographers, producers and directors could rely on to help their creative visions get executed. My lighting career was growing, and I saw a consistent struggle when dealing with budgets and how they correlated to rental requests. Read more>>

Jordan Brady | Father. Filmmaker. Founder.

I’ll start by saying being of service to others is it’s own reward. I’m lucky to have founded two companies for the exact same reason: to help others realize their vision. My production company, True Gent, focuses exclusively on making commercials for advertising agencies, so our function is to turn their script into a spot (we’re screen-agnostic, by the way.) Our filmmakers collaborate directly with the agency copywriter art director that ideated the spot and their producer. Read more>>

Nika (Monika Anna) Langner | Writer.-Performer. Actres. Karateka.

To be honest I did not want to start my own business but there was a deep-grounded desire in my heart to share my 3 big passions with a world-wide community and make people smile or even laugh and feel better during a day. At the beginning of my worklife I experienced much financial instability and uncertantinity so I had enough time to work out a solution how to combaine financial grounding and living a multi-artist’s life! I work as a headsecretary for a company to finance my life as a  writer-actress-performer- karateka all in one. Read more>>

Ivory Howard | Yoga and Pilates Instructor

Recently one of my students shared the reason she traveled from Alexandria, VA to Washington, DC for a class with me was because she didn’t think she, as a person of color, fit in at yoga studios in her area. It breaks my heart to hear this because yoga is practiced by many different people with different body types and that diversity should be welcomed, visible and celebrated so that everyone feels welcome in this community. Read more>>

Nisa Shepard-Carter | Cookie Extraordinaire

I wanted something of my own. Something that was mine. Something that I had complete create control to advertise and build my brand as I saw fit. I wanted to build my brand according to my personality and what is important to me. It was always important for me to pursue my interests, and if possible, share that talent with the world. Read more>>

Christina Rodehau | Founder & CEO

Growing up in New York, I have always been torn between the seduction of big business and my deep-rooted love for music. I got into management consulting/advisory services at the beginning of my career and have been in that space for a while. My background is working from a commercial perspective with F500 enterprises in Tech, CPG, Telecommunications, and Financial Services. Read more>>

Philesha Alise Stern | Salon Owner

My journey was a little different than most. After working in the hair industry for nearly 10 years, the salon o built my core clientele with announced their closure. Giving only two weeks notice!!! I was pregnant with my second child at the time & knew I needed the flexibility to be a wife, mother and to keep my clients. They trusted me for all those years and I wanted to keep that! Read more>>

Danica Kalemdaroglu | Pilates Practitioner and Movement Educator

I was teaching as a contractor for multiple studios after having my first child and I was miserable. I was hustling back and forth across town while trying how figure out the hardest job all, parenting. I needed to make a change that was sustainable for my new life as a mom, while fueling my love of teaching Pilates. It also didn’t help that I was significantly undervalued. Read more>>

Stefano Riva | DJ and head of Ragazza Milano

Honestly, music has always been an important issue for me. I can’t remember a single day in my life where music was not played in my room or my head. So, when I was 22 years old, I decided to start djing and organizing events/partys because I felt there was not a real spot for my vision in what the milanese clubbing scene was offering at the time. Read more>>

Samia Ansari | Wedding & Events Planner

Growing up, I always knew I didn’t want to take the traditional path of becoming a lawyer, doctor, and/or engineer. I grew up as the daughter of a single mother, with a lot of dreams in my heart and ambition in my veins. I had always pictured myself hosting events and bringing groups of people together. As a girl who is deeply rooted in her desi culture, I also knew I wanted these events to showcase people who look like me in a way that’s meaningful, enjoyable, and memorable. Read more>>

Michele Sobel | Founder and Bespoke Artist, Michele Sobel Fine Art LLC

I started selling my art back in 2010, when art was just a passion, and a side hustle. Michele Sobel Fine Art  has evolved quite a bit over the years, and by 2020, I was working full-time to create original wearable artwork on my clients designer bags and luxury goods. Michele Sobel Fine Art revives their “old,” vintage leather goods and designer bags and breathes new life into them with original art. Read more>>

Charlie J. Meyers | Contemporary Fine Artist & Private Mentor

I graduated with my MFA in painting in 2014. From 2014 to 2020, I worked various jobs throughout the art world and sold my work in galleries and to online collectors. Before the pandemic, I was working in haute couture fashion, as the leading clutch artisan and fashion production manager for designer Jeffrey Levinson. The pandemic caused the fashion world to come to a halt and I decided it was time to return to art full-time. Read more>>

Raelynne Rose | Hair & Makeup Artist

I started doing makeup during high school on friends for school dances and such. The funny thing is, I never saw it as me starting a business. My parents just didn’t want to fund my makeup obsession anymore and told me I needed to find a way to buy my own makeup. Instead of getting a job like any regular person, I would ask my friends or “clients” at the time to buy their own foundation and I would do their makeup for free, but I would keep it. Read more>>

Marta Meyerhans | Fashion curator and collector, lecturer in fashion and art

When I launched Muse Archives, my main goal was to offer a platform for exploring new, alternative perspectives in art and fashion, two of the most dynamic fields of cultural exchange. I remember having amazing discussions with my students in the classroom, and having this utopia of bringing these dialogues to a community outside the classroom as well. Looking back at my years as an art history student, I am so thankful for the professors who taught me to love what they loved. Read more>>

Britta + Carli Garsow | Founders of Dyad Candle + Clean Coats

We had always wanted to start a business together, so as soon as we could we started setting money aside for our future endeavors. Growing up we were obsessed with candles and would often go to the Yankee Candle store at the mall (options were limited in the Midwest) and smell each and every candle- just for fun. So starting a fragrance brand seemed like the perfect fit for us. We’ve always loved the idea that memories are tied to smell and you can be immediately transported to a time or place with one sniff. Read more>>

Sydney Distelhurst | Botanical Designer

For a long time I thought the concept of starting my own business was something unattainable and unrealistic. I was working as a plant care technician for another large company for a few years when one day someone I met who saw me watering plants asked if I could do the same for the plants in their small business. The company I worked for at the time only worked with large scale clients and charged a lot of money for these big accounts, and I knew this person wouldn’t be able to afford what they would ask for so I offered to do it myself. Read more>>