Readers often email us asking us for advice about new businesses they are thinking about starting and we often find that many of them don’t have a framework for thinking about a more fundamental question: why should or shouldn’t you start a business?

Below, you’ll find how successful entrepreneurs from across the city thought about this very question when they were considering whether to start their businesses.

Alice Carbone Tench | Author & owner of The Italian Cookie

The Italian Cookie, my cookie mix company, was born on the tail end of my book tour for Eating Again, The Recipes that Healed Me (Heliotrope Books, 2021). I am a story teller, and as people kept asking to purchase the cookies I had talked about in my cookbook, I realized that I could keep telling my stories through actual food, not just through the recipes. Read more>>

Angela Dailey | CEO Women Investing in Security and Education WISE

Angela Dailey has been breaking glass ceilings her entire career and contributed to the advancement of inclusion and diversity by both example and actions through her business and community involvement. Early in her career Angela, was a Senior VP, heading up Global Communications at a powerful financial firm. The firm became the center of the biggest scandal to hit the financial world since the 1930s. For her contributions to the firm’s strategic crisis plan, she joined its board of directors, one of the first women to be named to the board of a major financial institution. On that board, she joined some of the most powerful names in finance at that time. In 1991, she founded DAI Partners to provide strategic communications to financial firms, serving as managing partner. DAI Partners, is a boutique communications company providing strategy communications to the most prestigious firms in finance. She has worked with a number of women CEOs to support initiatives in diversity and inclusion. In 2017, DAI launched its Tearing Down the Pink Wall initiative to highlight top women in finance and encourage young women to consider financial careers. The groundbreaking series has held 14 events with C-suite women, inspiring thousands of women of all ages at these events and many more via its press coverage. The series was extended into the Orange County Community in collaboration with WISE. In addition to her “day job”, Angela is the pro bono, Executive Director at Women Investing in Securities and Education, a dynamic Orange County non- profit whose mission is financial education and inspiration for females of all ages. She leads a board of directors who are very engaged in the mission. Without paid staff the organization makes substantial impact in the community. Angela Dailey has been breaking glass ceilings her entire career and contributed to the advancement of inclusion and diversity by both example and actions through her business and community involvement. Angela was named to Board of Directors of Drexel Burnham Lambert, one the most powerful financial firms in the 1980s. She led their global communications during a period of extreme stress. She left in 1990 and founded DAI Partners, a strategic communications firm offering services to C-suite executives at top tier financial firms, including many women CEOs, powerful forces for diversity and inclusion. Serving as managing and founding partner, she has provided the leadership for the firm to grow and prosper over the past 30 years, generating significant revenues for the partners. Read more>>

Britnie Mosby | Business Owner & Youth Advocate

I am a third generation entrepreneur, my grandparents were entrepreneurs and my mom is an entrepreneur and rightfully so I had the desire to follow in their footsteps. When I decided to start Melanated Girls it was important to me to pass on to my children the lessons that were passed on to me, the importance of being a business owner and working for yourself. It was also important to create a business that would serve and help build up my community. Read more>>

Nicolli Massachi | Entrepreneur & Innovator

The inspiration behind starting my own business stems from a lifelong passion for building and creating, coupled with a desire to provide meaningful solutions and empowerment. As a child, I always found joy in construction and creativity, whether it was with Legos, paper boats, or gaming. This foundation of creativity led me to seek a path where I could build and innovate. Read more>>

Wayne Christensen | Leather Craftsman and Instructor

The thought process in regard to the leathercraft supply store, was three of us opening a brick-and-mortar store in response to a major corporate leather supply company and going strictly online. Read more>>

ChiChi McDonald | Licensed Cosmetologist, Instructor, & Salon owner

I have never particularly liked anyone telling me what to do or having to deal with someone who had my livelihood in their hands and they weren’t the easiest to deal with. after seeing people I know, and Love get laid off I knew how disposable we were. I thought to myself, “ Why go to a job every day to fulfill someone else’s dream under stress? why not nurture your dreams and create a legacy?” I also thought about the freedom being an entrepreneur with bring. Read more>>

Shilo Warr | Hair Artist | Founder of Golden Luna Haircare

As a hairstylist of almost 10 years, I have worked in some of busiest salons. They were such a fun experience but after years of being in chaos, I wanted something more intimate and relaxing for my clients and I. In early 2020, I played with idea of opening a small salon and toured a couple buildings. The pandemic had hit and put a pause of the idea of opening a business. After multiple shut downs and limitations hairstylist had to work with, I thought “well what better time to take the plunge and open a small studio!” A building I had viewed earlier was still vacant so I applied. Within a a couple weeks I got approved and started renovations. In late September 2020, Styles Stayin’ Gold Hair Studio opened its doors! My clients and I have loved every minute of the intimate setting and being in a cute cozy space. After about a year being open, I thought to myself “there’s something missing from my craft”. As a lover of all things holistic and clean beauty, I’ve always had trouble finding plant based clean hair products that were still salon quality. I took matters into my own hands and after many trails with multiple labs, I found my lab and created Golden Luna Haircare. We are a 100% plant based hair care line that is salon quality. Golden Luna is a holistic and reiki infused with the crystals each product is named/inspired by. All our products are color and chemical treatment safe for clients to get good use of. We now have grown to be in a couple boutiques and a few salons! There is always a new product in the works & it keeps the excitement going! Read more>>

Gzus | Mobile DJ

My own business started when I attended a party and had the thought that I can do a much better job than the hired DJ. Hearing the DJ throughout the night and just thinking to myself “If he can get paid to do this, I can definitely get paid” was the thought that pretty much started it all for me as far as starting a DJing business. Read more>>

K3nn3di | Singer songwriter and entrepreneur

My thought process is really just “can I see it? Yes, then I can do it” . Then I’m starting to plan out my steps, what do I need and what do I have. And honestly always stay optimistic about my goals and my process. I think when you have real passion for something you can’t just stop. Read more>>

Ebenezer Eferobor | Composer & Sound Designer

I always enjoy creating opportunities, fulfilling a need, or developing assets that I can point to as the fruit of my work.That is what music and the arts have given me. A way to bring friends and colleagues together with the goal of birthing an idea and nurturing it to meet a need, or fill a void. Read more>>

Jonathan Fairchild | Artist, entrepreneur, Producer, LGBTQ activist

Well I start out with what am I doing, where, for who, and how can we generate income. Read more>>

Veronica Bell | Classical singer, recording artist, voice teacher

For better or worse, it wasn’t as much of a thought proccess as it was a necessity. In music, waiting to get discovered or auditioning only gets you that far. You have to take the initiative and do your own thing, and work at it day in and day out. I never found an agent or a manager who would support me as an artist that I am. Everybody was always telling me what I should be, and I tried to twist myself into a pretzel but could never succeed being what i was expected to be, whatever it was. I had to find my own path and keep reinventing it on every turn. Being on your own is hard, but at least you know that you owe your failures and your successes to yourself and no one else. Read more>>

Nenney Ochoa | Co-founder of nu studio

Since we’ve started working together back in college, I’ve felt that on all sorts of design projects we landed, we always seem to come up with a very interesting mix of results and ideas. And after exploring different professional avenues, Ubaldo Ortiz and myself decided to kickstart nu studio. Our focus is on concept-driven design projects, fully convinced that achieving a unique solution requires the freedom and open communication that can sometimes be challenging in a highly structured organization. But it is precisely pushing against this type of structure, and avoiding hierarchies what allows everyone in a team to contribute equally to the project at hand. We value transparency, we trust our creative instincts and let ourselves be guided by the process. Read more>>

Jamie Hurley | Partner and CEO, Lobeline Communications

I have always been somewhat of a serial entrepreneur, starting my first business on the side while working a full time job before the age of 20. It was a pickup and delivery dry-cleaning service for the busy executive. At that time, I knew very little about business… or anything for that matter, I was just starting my career and working multiple jobs trying to make a living. Growing up in a very poor family in Newfoundland, Canada, I always knew I wanted more and worked very hard to get to where I am today. Fast track 20+ years and I am now a partner/ CEO in my most recent venture, a nearly four decade Public Relations and full service Digital Agency. I always believe everything in life happens for a reason and no doubt is the reason I am here today living thousands of miles from where I was born in Los Angeles. Hard work and perseverance pays off. Read more>>

Alberto Ochoa | Entrepreneur

Ive always felt the need to be a big risk taker and to have freedom in decisions where I dont need to ask anyone for permissions, my though process was to always be my own person and take a leap of faith. Starting your own business is not of course about money at first, money is a by product of such in the long run, my thought process has always been so I can have that freedom to make decisions and most important to have freedom in general. Read more>>

Ekaterina Popova | Artist, Creative Entrepreneur and Coach

I have always been a creative person, but it was during high school that I realized there was nothing I wanted to pursue more than art. I considered various career paths and even contemplated going to graduate school for art therapy because of my love for helping others. However, this was around the time of the financial crisis, and I couldn’t afford it. Instead, I explored opportunities in galleries and museums, but I ended up working in various entry-level positions, including retail and even banking. None of these jobs brought me satisfaction, and after several years, I had an inner urge to create my own dream job because it simply didn’t exist. Read more>>

Monica Ramirez | Baker and paralegal

I have to admit, I initially did not have a thought process to starting my business. It was a serendipitous development in my life because I began baking during covid as a hobby and realized that I understood how to bake quite well. Thanks to my sister I took a chance on selling some of my first cakesicles and thank goodness they were a hit. After that me and her sat down, pondered and seriously considered making a business out of my newfound talent. As time went by – I tried other types of pastries, cookies and bakes and I realized that I could keep growing my business as I continued to grow my baking skills. Eventually, I figured why not just go for it. I love doing it and I love the joy my treats bring my clients. I turned my fear into a leap of faith and im happy I did. Read more>>

Zahra Zaidi | Entrepreneur

After graduating from Cal State Fullerton in 2015, I started working with my parents in our family business. At the time, we primarily manufactured custom rubber stamps, seals and signs for other companies using a laser engraver. Occasionally, we used the laser engraver to create other custom products like trophies, awards, and personalized gifts but the B2B market was almost non-existent for those products. Over the years, my dad and I created unique designs to present specially-made gifts to family and friends, which primarily categorized as religious home decor. Read more>>

Ashley Aleman | Entrepreneur

My own thought process behind starting my own business is i just really love makeup and I want to have my own brand to be able to create a legacy for myself and my family. I really want to inspire people all across the world to follow their passions, dreams and goals. I want to be an inspiration for people. I love doing what i love and I’m passionate about it (: Read more>>

Rhea Manjrekar | Non-Profit Founding Member & Software Implementation Consultant

Children’s Hope India 3 was an idea that was born out of the desire to actually make a difference in my local community as a child. This 501c3 non-profit was started in 2014 when I was just 15 years old, as a branch off of Children’s Hope India, an organization that aimed to increase access to education and eliminate food insecurity for young children in India. Children’s Hope India 3’s goal was to not only help children in India, but to also help children in America, specifically Long Island New York where I grew up. Poverty exists in underserved countries, but there is also poverty and homelessness in our own backyard; we often just don’t see it. It was so important to me to focus on making a local impact, and also encourage the youth in my community to be the ones making the impact. With our motto of “Children helping children,” we are able to instill volunteering in teens at a young age, and also help the underserved children of our community, as they are our future. Now, my role has transformed into a mentoring position, and I love being able to organize events for Children’s Hope and oversee the amazing teenagers who are as passionate as I am about this charity. Read more>>