Starting a business is a commitment and requires dedication, resources and sacrifice. We asked some of the rising stars in our community how they thought through the idea of starting their own businesses.

Jerry Mitchell Jr. The Jet King” | Private Jet Broker “

I noticed that African Americans are underrepresented in the private jet industry, and my goal is to create more opportunities for African Americans and people of color. Whether it be pilots, mechanics, engineers, flight attendants, sales people, or executives. Read more>>

Duke Vang | Owner of Team Vanguard

Starting a business is always the scariest thing to do, especially if you’re new to being an entrepreneur. The reason is because you’re not sure how it’ll turn out. Whether you will succeed or fail. All you have is just yourself and your mindset telling you, what if? And if things don’t work out, I have to do this and that etc. These were some of the things that were going thru my mind when I was starting my own business. Though a really small part of my mind was telling me, what if it does turn out well? What if you make this into a living. What if you become financially free? Read more>>

Lesline Pittman | Registered Nurse & Yoga Coach & Speaker

My thought process behind starting my business was that I wanted to help other moms like me. That was the reason I became a Registered Nurse, I wanted to help people. And then after having my own children and having symptoms of postpartum depression (I didn’t check all of the boxes to be diagnosed with postpartum depression) that I came back to my yoga practice and was then granted a yoga teacher scholarship. Read more>>

Ashley Merisier | Creative Director & Founder

I remember when I was getting married and typing into google “luxury wedding inspiration” and clicking through page after page before seeing a face that looked like mine. It bothered me that there was minmal representation in this category for people of color unless you were a celebrity. I started my business to change this and bring luxury services to all demographics. I knew how to give people the experience I had on my day – valued it and marketed it. It was a huge risk but I fully believed in myself and had so much support from my friends and family. Read more>>

Jason Kramer | Personal Trainer and Coach

I worked as a personal trainer for a big box commercial gym for a few years, and absolutely loathed the way I was required to conduct my business, and I never really felt like I was able to be myself while working there. The managers spent more time teaching us how to sell than they did at helping us become good trainers. Everything was about making the sale, and they would often push us to hard sell. We were only ever commended for how much we sold that month, never for how well our clients were doing. So this created and environment that valued money over quality of service. Read more>>

Jill Elaine Collins | Artistic/Managing Director Sahlala Dancers

I had been dancing and touring professionally for over a decade and teaching for even longer. I wanted to use the skills and experience I gained to start my own business. JCoDance LLC was created to encompass my different passions: performing, directing, producing, choreographing, and teaching. The founder of Sahlala Dancers, the company I danced in for many years, was ready to pass on the company and felt I was a good fit as the new director. The timing was just right. Read more>>

Brian Monarch | Stand Up Comedian, Show Producer and Deepfaker

I really enjoy my independence. I would rather my work go towards something I am building, not someone else’s business. It’s much more satisfying and rewarding. When you can do something you enjoy it makes life a lot less stressful and more enjoyable. Not to mention, I’ve always been the type of person that doesn’t like being told what to do. Read more>>

Taylor Walston Dewey | Photographer & Content Creator

I had a passion that I wanted to make a career out of but I also wanted to be able to own my own time and wanted to live a slower life than what the work life in America breeds. Read more>>

Karen Wilson | Pediatric Neuropsychologist and Founder of ChildNEXUS

As a pediatric neuropsychologist, I have worked with hundreds of families whose kids struggle with learning or mental health challenges. I have seen the frustration, I’ve seen the tears from parents and children, and I have also seen the relief and joy that comes from understanding a child’s struggles and knowing how to help them. Approximately 26 million children and adolescents in the US have some learning disorder or mental health problem that keeps them from reaching their full potential. And, when a child is experiencing difficulties, parents have to search multiple websites to find the information they need and qualified professionals who can help. Read more>>

Jenny Griffo | Co-CEO

Mike and I had full careers before transitioning into opening up Griffo Distillery. He was a physicist working in next generation solar technologies and I was working in international education development throughout SE Asia, S Asia and Africa. We were doing what we loved, but were miserable. We were apart from each other too much. Our community was spread throughout the world. And starting a family with that work situation really didn’t seem doable. Read more>>

Damian Martorana | Film and Video Editor and Producer

Gratefully, I come from a family of artists and entrepreneurs, so it seemed an obvious path for me. In a way, we are all individually, our own business. Read more>>

Natalia Lazarus | Actress, Writer, Director, Producer

I came to this country as an international student with my dreams of being an artist. Through education, I was able to learn my craft and cross over into a Hollywood career. It seemed natural to me to create a home for artists – where they can be embraced, nurtured, and start off their careers. In addition to having the educational wing of the Los Angeles Performing Arts Conservatory, it seemed logical to add to our business plan a theatre, a sound stage and a production company. Read more>>

Kaylee S | Small Business Owner & Student

I have always loved art of all kinds such as drawing, painting, and calligraphy. When I made my first sticker out of parchment paper, tape, and scissors during the COVID-19 lockdown, I knew it was something I enjoyed. I loved the thought of having my own designs on my own things like my laptop, and thought maybe others would too. Read more>>

Jon Krop | Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Visual Arts

My grandparents owned a hotel and restaurant in the Czech Republic. My parents immigrated to the US in the 1960’s, and after working and saving money my mom was co-owner of a restaurant in San Francisco, and then owned a small retirement home in Sonoma. In that way, I saw the possibilities of starting a business first hand while growing up/ Going to Santa Rosa Jr. College, taking art, music, psychology and philosophy classes. I started reading HOW magazine, and used to day dream about having my own design business. After getting my first Mac in the early 1990’s, I started moonlighting and trying to build a portfolio. Read more>>

Andrew Burton | Actor, Writer, Producer, Director

I started Burton Pictures in order to make the movies and content which I want to make. I’m very keen on all aspects of making a movie, including writing the script, arranging the necessary logistics to get the script onto the screen, directing the film, and then shepherding the movie through post and into the marketing phase of its life. My movies are all made with love and I love doing all I can to maximise a movie’s impact. Indeed, movies have very long lives, and I look forward to giving my movies the best lives I can give them. Read more>>

Abbey Moore | Wedding Photographer

The best part about my business is that it really just happened incredibly organic and naturally. I had gone to school to pursue a job in photo journalism, but after interning at a news corporation and working a job as a graphic designer I found myself photographing my friends and family every chance that I got outside of work. When a friend’s wedding photographer fell through last minute I offered to step in and shoot the wedding the best that I could. That was in 2012, and since then I’ve photographed over 300 weddings. Read more>>

Sumayyah Franklin | Traditional Midwife and Mentor

I wasn’t aware that I was starting a business as it was happening. I know you are probable reading this like “how is that even possible?’. Well I will tell you exactly how. What called me was a passion, it was an undeniable gravitational pull that kept sucking me in like an under current in the ocean. I was extremely happy to support folks in any capacity they saw fit and this is what determined my relationships that I was building at the time. They weren’t my clients, I didn’t charge anything, I didn’t have a tile or a name for my business. Read more>>

Pedro Miguel Arteaga | Head Coach at Weil Tennis Academy & Cook for ARROZ

it was more like a consequence from cooking for my friends. I have never seen it as a business until this past year where everything started picking up Read more>>

Joslyn Sandifer | Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Attorney

I am the owner of a Black-owned law firm. When we first started I just wanted to provide quality legal representation for people who look like me. When people are charged with a crime and/or are injured in some way they are usually afraid of what the outcome might be. My hope was to assist people in making sound choices and decisions while also empathizing with their plight. So often this profession can be cold and confusing. I felt like it was important to bring understanding and compassion to those that need help. It was my firm belief that starting a law firm would give me the opportunity to ensure that my people had at least one great option. Read more>>

Lili Eve Kaytmaz | I.A.T.S.E. Local 706 Beauty & FX Makeup Artist

There was a part of me that always knew I’d be an entrepreneur! When I was 11, I decided I would be a makeup artist and create a cosmetic line. Even though as I got older and my dreams shifted to no longer included a cosmetic line, I never wavered from pursuing my dreams as a freelance makeup artist! It just felt very natural that I’d be a business owner. I couldn’t be more thrilled where my business and career has taken me! Read more>>

Liza Boubari | Clinical Hypnotherapist/Stress Management Consultant and Action Coach

In the last twenty-five years, there has been a growing interest in the connection of the mind and body and its relationship to stress and disease. My knowledge of the corporate world is due to years of experience in law offices as a paralegal and legal assistant. It was my own powerful healing experience through hypnotherapy that led me to this science. Changing course, I chose this path to help others heal within. So many forget that they matter as much as their loved ones. Read more>>

Drorit Pobuta | Yoga Studio Owner & Instructor

Finding yoga and practicing was one of the best gifts I gave myself, and was something that benefited my life in so many ways and on so many layers. Back about 15 years ago when I started the business, which was by the way many years after having become an instructor myself, they were not many yoga studios in the area. I was contemplating either giving my time and committing myself to charity work or opening up a yoga studio and sharing the benefits of this ancient practice that had become such a wonderful part of my life. I finally realized that sharing my love of yoga and watching it enhance the lives of so many would be just as important of work as the other option I was considering. Read more>>

Simon Craze | Magic designer and inventor

I originally trained as an SFX modelmaker and worked in industry for several years before embarking on a career in Teaching. During my time in education I found I was still working on personal projects in the negative space between lessons and this eventually formed part of my teaching practice. I was teaching Technology, Product Design and Graphic design and a lot of the things I was making displayed real-time the processes and disciplines I was teaching in class. When I left teaching I built my own workshop and purchased the same model of laser cutter that I had been using at the school. Read more>>

Brittney Briggs | Film Director & Producer

For me, I don’t think it was my initial thought to be a business owner. It was kind of a snowball ball effect that happened on my career journey. But when I did get to a point where I was “Okay – I need a team. Lets do it” I figured the best possible way for this company to be successful was enjoy to the process and doing these project with my peers/friends. I knew I wanted something small, familiar and with a people around me that could always get it done. Read more>>

Elizabeth (Lisa) Liang | Intercultural Storytelling Expert & Actress/Writer/Producer/Speaker

I had never seen a story like mine told, so as a professional actress and published writer, I took it upon myself to write, produce, and perform a one-woman show about my life, Alien Citizen. It had a successful run in Hollywood and ended up touring internationally from 2013 to 2019. Since it did so well, I believed I could help other people tell their intercultural stories, so I began leading workshops on creating a solo show or memoir at colleges, universities, summer schools, and conferences in the US. I also began leading private sessions online with participants all over the world. Read more>>

Andrew Cloutier | PharmD/Owner

Freedom to improve people’s lives. Owning an independent pharmacy gives a pharmacist the chance to work at the top of their license without having to satisfy corporate interests. And that means better care to the community. An independent pharmacy can pivot immediately when the community needs it. No going through a chain of command when you have a new idea that would better patients’ health, just to be denied. In today’s world, pharmacists yearn to take more time out of their day to apply their knowledge and personalize the care they can give. Independent pharmacies make that a priority. Read more>>

Nikki McLelland | Producer, Activist and Entrepreneur

I have been working in the film and television industry for several years now and no matter how much time went by I could never get over or accept the amount of waste we produce during production. In fact, it became a really big question in my career. I adore this industry but how can I continue working within it when it puts the health of our planet at risk? I had already been taking many steps to eliminate waste in my personal life and when I began to bring some of those tactics onto sets with me, I was often met with support and curiosity. Read more>>

Raymond James Irwin | Chief Champagne Officer – Founder of Fizz Champagne Bars & Club

I wanted to bring something that I loved. Something that had never been brought to the community and what I loved happened to be champagne! Read more>>

Lauren St. Clair | CEO & Founder of SAINT CLAIR

I decided to start my own business because i knew i wanted to challenge myself artistically and follow my dreams of becoming something/someone big. I had no clue on how i was going to start but then something in my mind just clicked. I had never even used a sewing machine before let alone run a business, but i knew i had to get started. Read more>>

Monica Flores | Phyto’s Vegan Eats Co-Owner

We wanted to start a business that aligned with our moral standing but also with our current careers. My husband has been a chef for 10 years while I have experience in customer service, and both my husband and I are vegan and animal/climate activists. Because of this we thought that creating an all vegan food pop-up would be our way of contributing towards our goal for compassion and climate awareness for the planet. We started our business in early summer of 2018 and had our first pop-up at Las Vegas VegFest in September of 2018. Read more>>

D Dix | Creative

I started Smooth Dynamic Productions LLC because I wanted a place where creatives can come together and create magic together. I always have loved working with other creatives on projects and just seeing how we can combine our minds and talents together and make such beautiful art. I want my business to help allow people to see that art has many different faces and that so many people don’t even know that deep down they are a creative themselves. Read more>>

chris Sattler | Pilot and Angel Investor

For Auckland Seaplanes, an award winning and New Zealand’s first carbon-zero airline, I saw a gap in the market for a airline operating from downtown Auckland and wondered why nobody was doing that. After some research, I found that a competitor had created so many obstancales for others with similar ideas that they gave up in their attempts to create a new venture. So we worked on a long-term strategy to work around those obstacles and put enough funding aside to allow us to stay course to a successful launch. Read more>>

Nicole Wzorek | Fashion Designer, Founder of Nicole Wzorek Designs

Growing up, I watched my father earn a living and enjoy his life from owning his own business. My mother also owned a business when she was young. I could tell she very much enjoyed working for herself and pursuing her dream through the stories she has told. I always wanted to enjoy life to the fullest and enjoy what I did for work each day. I was always creative growing up and looked for different ways to be an artist. In college, my love for the arts turned into a love for fashion design. Designing and making a dress from scratch was similar to sculpture and painting for me. I found that I enjoyed sewing and wanted to pursue fashion as a career. Read more>>

Eddy Rimada | Yoga and meditation instructor

I wanted to share the benefits of yoga and meditation with as many people as possible. Read more>>

Dominic Rowden | Owner and Founder of Rise and Shine Lifestyle LLC, YouTuber, Rehab Specialist

I started Rise and Shine Lifestyle in memory of my lost loved ones. Before the age of 21 my biological mother and father, as well as grandmother who raised me, had all passed away. My dad and I we were working on his album “Rise and Shine” before he passed but unfortunately cancer took over his body. So to sum it all up, Rise and Shine is my way of finishing the legacy and mission my father embodied while he was alive and I’m just doing it in my own way. In hopes, that I can inspire one person to not let their circumstances define them and that they can overcome anything in this lifetime. Read more>>

Carlee Nussbaum | Certified Nutrition Health Coach

I started Clarify Wellness with Carlee after becoming a Certified Nutrition Health Coach. You may wonder…why did you become a Certified Nutrition Health Coach? There are a few reasons for that. The first being, I ALWAYS wanted to help others. I never understood in what aspect I wanted to make a difference but I knew I wanted to support others in some way shape or form. It wasn’t until I went through my own health journey that I realized that this is what I was meant to be doing. All my life I struggled with weight struggles, anxieties/depression, skin struggles, disordered eating and much more. Read more>>

Sarah Nelson | Phoenix Shop Owner

During the early days of the pandemic, my job at the time required a lot of operations to keep things going. Although I love and thrive through chaos, the creative side of me was being completed neglected. I’ve always had a love for fashion and merchandising, and saw such a need for affordable, good quality clothing for women my age. With my experience in wholesale buying, I decided to head to market to see if what I was looking for existed, and it totally did! I took a chance, purchased my launch collection, and the rest is history. Read more>>

Prince Jacobs | Photographer and Personal Trainer

The thought process to starting my own business is all based around being my own boss, having the financial freedom to spend my time as I would like. Read more>>

Sandra Granados | Creative Director, Mansion De Perle

We wanted to introduce to the market a jewelry line catered to everybody, showcasing sustainably cultivated pearls and bringing elegance into the image of any person who wants to wear them. Redefining gender norms and creating something that sees no barriers. That’s the key to the success of our brand and a core value for me as an artist and a brand. Read more>>

Jennifer Pasquale | Founder & Director of Programming, Pride & Grit

My business didn’t begin as a business at all. It began as a passion project, designed to create space and conversation for those in my community struggling to find their own voice. Pride & Grit was first a storytelling mission, sharing the written and visual stories of military spouses. We saw that seasoned (aka experienced/older) military spouses struggled to give a voice to their experience. They’d shouldered decades of war, years of career pivots, months of solo parenting, and ultimately a disconnection with their own identity and dreams. Read more>>

Anna Ayvazian | Licensed Clinical Psychologist

I started thinking about venturing out on my own in 2020, during the pandemic. It was a scary time for us all and I saw a need. I didn’t think of it as a business venture, per se. I saw it as doing something I love for the people in need. The initial drive was to help others in the way I wanted to, without any reservations or restrictions, and to help in any way that I could. It started very small, but quickly began to grow, as the need for mental health treatment began to rise. Starting anything new is really nerve wrecking and scary. But it was really exciting at the same time. Read more>>

Emin Gharibian, Psy.D. | Forensic Psychologist and Neuropsychologist

Starting my business was the next step after finishing my doctorate in psychology and getting licensed as a psychologist. My passions in graduate school were in the fields of neuropsychology and forensic psychology. Given my background and training, I started my business to be able to practice and work in these two areas. The work I do is mostly forensic in nature, meaning that I primarily conduct evaluations for legal cases and testify in court as an expert witness. Read more>>

Clark Olson | Hot Sauce Maker & Enthusiast

I started making hot sauce at home, with no intention of actually starting a business. I was getting really into spicy food at the time and I realized that some of the mainstream hot sauce would overpower my food, or that it just wasn’t very good. I just wanted to make my own sauces that were all natural and without any preservatives to share with friends and family. At the same time, I stated cooking multiple times a day and really enjoyed trying new recipes. Read more>>

Frances D’Quebec | Chef & Food Consultant

First thought: who is going to be my bread and butter? This applies to most businesses, not just the restaurant business. I’ve seen many businesses fail because they fundamentally don’t know who they’re targeting. The first thing I asked myself was, who is going to walk in? Who is going to order, call, visit our location? 1. If you’re close to the airport, are you targeting travelers. I did. 2. If you’re close a school, are you targeting teachers, parents, students, etc.? I did. 3. If your close to a hospital, do you target the staff? I did. You need to know who is going to buy your product. Read more>>