Our city is home to so many incredible businesses and so we asked the founders how they came up with the ideas for their businesses and have shared their responses below.

B. Bradley Leland

I started my Real Estate Photography business at the very outset of COVID. I was still going to work my full-time job as a police officer daily, sometimes pulling weeks of shifts in a row to cover for officers who were out of work due to COVID exposure. The world felt like it was a bit out of control and I was seeking a way to control my own life and destiny a bit, so I started researching things that I could learn and challenge myself to start a business – photography piqued my interest. Read More>>

Nia Moore

Table For One is not just the name of my brand, it’s my way of life. As a private jet flight attendant of 8 years, I had to learn to find power in solitude being that there is only one flight attendant per jet. U sound most of my time in foreign lands and unfamiliar cities all alone. I learned to romanticize my life by going out to dinner and on adventures by myself–and still having an amazing time!  Read More>>

Le’Shawn Taylor

LouT is something that was always meant to happen, I just didn’t know when or how. Growing up i’ve always been into self care and self help – just overall the betterment of ones self in general no matter how you get it, just as long as it’s in a healthy way and “self” does not mean it has to be done completely by yourself in anyway. Self to me is making the decision that you deserve better and want better because it all starts with ones self.  Read More>>

Weston Wong

I came up with the idea for the business since it was always a part of my life. I’ve been collecting toys and trading since I was a kid. My dad would collect model trains and take us to toy shows. Later, I worked at a local comic shop for a few years, and I really enjoyed it and being with like-minded customers. After a few years, I left that job and tried to work a regular 9 – 5 job, but I found that I really liked being in retail with customers instead.  Read More>>

Pauline Nordin

Simplicity is a necessity for healthy, happy life.

That’s why K.I.S.S is a must.

Keep. It. Super. Simple.

Make your own home cooked meals, be independent, empowered, in charge of your own health.

Healthy eating must be so basic, so simple, even my cat could cook it. Read More>>

Marshall & Haley Roemen

The idea essentially landed in our lap in 2014. Marshall had an “ah-ha” moment while ideating some toy concepts, and a prototype was built within a week. Soon after, we discovered a business name that surprisingly wasn’t trademarked: Mister Alphabet™. Haley had an immediate vision for a world built around this character, and we found ourselves at Toy Fair New York in early 2015. Read More>>

Diane Lekven

My new career as an Author for children’s books came very organically. I have always had a very vivid imagination, seeing humor in everyday activities and turning them into a joke or funny story. The first book that I wrote actually started as a funny story ten years ago when my youngest son was in middle school. He had to take a language at school, and I suggested he take Spanish so he could get an easy “A” since I am Hispanic.  Read More>>

David Chiorini

It all happened very organically. I was the orchestra teacher at a school in the Bay Area and I quickly became aware of the school’s robust after school program. Vendors were doing so many amazingly creative things in that space! I knew that I wanted to give my students opportunities to be involved in music as early as possible so that they would be rock stars when I got them in 4th grade. I also saw an opportunity to launch music programming in the after school space. No other vendors in my area were offering it at the time. Read More>>