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.

Simone Koger

For my field as a therapist, in Washington state we are lucky enough to be able to start a private practice as an Associate Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist. Not all states allow associates to run their own business. So having this opportunity of even being able to take that chance was great. Read more>>

Rahul Nath

I wanted to be in control in the kind of work that I wanted to do and I did not want to be halted in terms of my creativity. A lot of my ideas are non conventional and I like that, however its hard to sell that to someone who does not understand where you are coming from. So to speed up the fruition of my creative ideas, I went ahead and created my own company – NIK/NAK Productions and today we are creating content on all platforms and also branching out to all formats that include feature movies, web episodes and a variety of other shows such as travel shows and talk shows. Read more>>

Jennifer (Jenn) Wolff

My ambition and drive to create something of my own propelled me to start my own business. I’m not one for taking orders and being micromanaged, so the idea of having my own business was a no-brainer for me. I’m an artist at heart and I wanted to be able to create and express myself in ways that suited me best. I was determined to prove that I could make it on my own and I’m so grateful that I was brave enough to follow my own path. It has led me to a place of immense joy and fulfillment. Read more>>

Esmeralda Murga

The idea of starting my business came from a desire to see myself represented in the field of mental health, specifically in private practice. During my masters program private practice was almost never mentioned and practically all of the internships offered were at nonprofit and community mental health clinics so naturally when graduating many therapists go directly into the nonprofit sector. Although working in community mental health is a great way to learn skills quickly, I feel that there is a need to see more Latinas in private practice and as business owners. Read more>>

Justin and Johanna Snyder

The thought process behind “Baby’s Marché” was to not only bring a touch of European culture and cuisine to the Coachella Valley, but to re-instate values within the restaurant industry. Since we are a Husband and Wife team we wanted to reinvent the stigma of what a restaurant should be. Chef Justin Snyder spent 10 years of his career working in some of the most demanding restaurant imaginable, while sacrificing holidays, weekends, family time, special events etc… Read more>>

Haley // Evan Castro // Ho

There was a point at which we had produced too many kinds of things; this required a kind of container, a mechanism to categorize and sort through our various activities and ambitions. Spanning from audio and visual works to performances and architectures, Corner Condition emerged as a confluence of interdisciplinary behavior. As such, the name Corner Condition functions eponymously, referring to a plurality of media, intersections, and overlappings. Read more>>

Brittany Daniels

The thought process behind starting TheRareOproject was to create a safe space for young mothers to be supported. With my past and present experiences as a former teen mom, I feel inspired to share my story and be a role model of hope for others. Read more>>

Shannon Leigh

I worked in Corporate America for 13 years and when I left that world, I knew that I would ever work for anyone again. I was a few years into my comedy career, and I felt how hard it was to separate those 2 worlds. When you work for someone else, they expect you to be the “brand” of their company. Not in all cases, but in some and it was that way it was for me. At times, they felt I was not a representation of them. And I wasn’t. I had begun creating the brand of Shannon Leigh, the comedian aka who I really am. Read more>>

Curtis Thurston

My initial thought process was to build a multimedia company that specializes in freelance photography and cinematography for hire and a small record label all under one roof. I hired a few photographers based in NYC, Chicago, and the DMV area remotely and the record label branch of the company was a few of my friends who were doing music Read more>>

Zoë Council

I got sick of trying to convince people that I’m worth more than just my physical appearance so I decided to embrace and capitalize on objectivity. Once I started modeling, I figured I’d have access to professionals via agency and those credentials would allow me to network more efficiently. Plus, I’m the type of person that goes left if someone tells me go right. No one knows what the hell they’re doing or talking about so I figured if I fail, it might as well be on my own terms. Read more>>

Dr. Nikki Starr

I wanted more freedom in all ways and more enjoyment of life to travel and live anywhere. I also had quite a unique skill set to share with the world and the only way to fully express myself and do it in a way that was for the highest good was to create my own business. I also realized that I can work less hours in places I love and still make even more money. When anyone has their own business the sky is the limit! There is no cap on what we can do, be and have. I share more about this in episode 10 of my podcast. Read more>>

Jess Sprague

When I started my business I was just a crafter making items based off books. I started showing off these items on Instagram and slowly authors started taking notice. I had been asked to make items for authors PR boxes a few times. After doing this I started to realize I wanted to help more authors stories get noticed. The inception of my bookish-based business stemmed from a profound passion for literature and creativity, and honestly not being able to find merch for these books. Read more>>

Ashley Graham

My thought process and the decision to start my own business stemmed from my belief in shaping a life that reflects my unique vision. Life is too short to spend on pursuits that lack love and joy. In March 2016, as I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey, I discovered a profound passion for entrepreneurship and a vision for the enjoyment I was searching for. Read more>>

Monika Reti

Hi, I’m Monika Reti, owner, and founder of Hipcooks. Hipcooks Cooking Schools are known for measurement-free cooking, delighting in the process, and inventing along the way. Every class (be it a public class with drop-in students or a private class for a group or team-building) ends with a dinner party, sipping wine, and making new friends around a large communal dining table. Read more>>

Joya Ma

I always wanted to do fashion and wanted to start my own brand because I think it is a great platform to build to express my message about women empowerment. Joya Ma fashions are designed for strong, independent women who have a powerful sense of self expression. Blending luxury with surrealist art, her garments embrace female empowerment through unlikely combinations of classic influence and exposed silhouettes with dynamic curves and sharp edges. Read more>>

Mary Komick

I had worked as a a freelance stylist and in-house photoshoot stylist throughout the beginning of my career, but creating campaigns and working on photoshoots wasn’t as fulfilling as helping friends and family go through their own style transformation using the clothes in their closets. That’s where the heart of my current business lies, and what inspired me to leave my 9-5 and start my business at just 25 years old. Read more>>

Sianna Renee

The inception of SINNR Inc. was born out of a desire to create my own brand, a venture that has evolved into something incredibly thrilling and close to my heart – creative directing and producing photo shoots. It all started when I began my journey as a model at the age of 18. Little did I know that while in front of the camera, I was already coming up with concepts and organizing the essential elements for successful shoots. Read more>>

Joy Karakas

My intention is to always follow my heart. I love myself enough to allow myself to express my creativity through art. I truly enjoy the process of creating art. From my close friends and family’s support, I decided to take a leap and begin selling my handmade goods at popups and local maker’s markets. What I didn’t know was how much I actually enjoyed doing the markets. I love seeing people interact with the products that I make. I enjoy connecting with my community through my handmade goods. Read more>>

Camila Gutierrez

I wanted to be able to be my own boss. I didn’t want to depend on other company’s to get work or live based on what there pay is. I wanted to do work that I love!! I want to be able to say I’m my own boss I have my own business and I can live off of what I can make . Read more>>

Nikolina Page

I want to take the privilege out of accent acquisition. You know how UK/Australian actors have flawless American accents on the screen? That didn’t happen overnight. They’ve had years of conservatory or private coaching to get to that level. Read more>>

Raye Montgomery

I have always had problems with my skin, eczema and dry patches are the death of me and every time I would ask my doctor for steroid free lotions they were always so thick and sticky. Eventually I had enough of the thick sticky second skin I was wearing every day and decided to make my own lotion that was more natural and still got the job done …. Without being a sticky mess. The candle addition to my buisness came later as a suggestion by a friend. Now I have perfected both and refer to myself as a more natural and wholistic bath and body works. Read more>>

Giovanna Ficara

For as long as I can remember, makeup was always one of my biggest passions. I always loved experimenting and playing with new looks as I learned various skills. Eventually, after years of doing makeup on friends and family, I decided to take the plunge and turn it into a business. While I was doing makeup for a content shoot, I was customizing a pair of false lashes and the model suggested I start making them as part of my business with Good Lookz which I felt was a fun aspect to offer. Read more>>

Ken Pierce

I am a longtime fan of Heavy Metal music and Pop Culture things like comic books, action figures and the films that feature these properties. I had been an independent contributor to a few online websites before deciding the launch the PiercingMetal.com website and back in 2005 this was daunting since a web-based publication was not taken as seriously as a regular monthly print magazine. The thought process was that the voice I had been building as a contributor might serve a hopeful audience better by being in one single place under my own control. Read more>>

Christopher Yerikian

One of the things my girlfriend and I bonded over early on was our love for coffee. On one of our first dates we shared with each other some of our goals and a coffee shop was on each of our lists. Fast forward a few years and we “randomly” decided to start a coffee company together. A lot of what we envisioned for a business started with us looking at our own likes and experiances. I guess you could say we were our own first customers. So everything we did in starting the business really came from things we love and enjoy. That’s where the process starts. If it’s something we like, we enjoy, we ourselves would pay and want to experience then that’s direction we went in. Read more>>

Danielle Velasquez

I have had an interest in entrepreneurial and creative pursuits since childhood. This was further solidified through my studies and in particular, during my time studying internal and external business communication and development at USC. During that time, I was working at a Wealth Management firm and attained first hand experience in growing the business from the ground up- brick by brick. As time went on, and I moved on to other sectors in my career, the itch to start something that was 100% mine remained. Read more>>

Claudia Garcia

The original idea was to start a business with just false lashes with the name ASHNIC Lashes. The name ASHNIC was thought of by my mom, a combination of my sister’s first name (Ashley) and my middle name (Nicole). This business idea was something myself, my sister and my mom could work on together. The idea started to take form when my sister and I started to wear makeup and get familiar with the beauty/makeup industry. Read more>>

Richard Wagner

I can identify five primary reasons I always wanted to start and have my own business as follows:1. I thrive on responsibility and making decisions, therefore I want to be in charge. 2. I like and want to be the leader. 3. I want to control my own life and future. 4. Having others directly affecting my career path was always an issue. 5. Accomplishing my own goals was always important to me. Read more>>

Isaac Chaco” Ruelas

This is interesting because it took me a while to figure this out and there are some key factors that I hold on to in my process. First is make a decision and stick to it. As a creative person I can feel overwhelmed by the amount of ideas and curiosities that I can have in a single day. The thought of choosing something was really difficult. So I gave myself time to explore and reflect. In reflecting I am able to see patterns and consciously make a decisions about where I want to invest my time and money. That happened for me at about the age of 30. Read more>>

Phoenix Phillips

To be very honest when I set out to be a freelance videographer/content creator. I put absolute zero thought into the fact that I was starting a business. My mindset at the time was to make videos and get paid to do it. That was the dream. I soon reached my dream and realized there was far more that comes with the lifestyle of being a freelancer than just providing a service. Accounting,Marketing, Networking, Anxiety and Stress etc. Read more>>

Sam Ramirez

After working as a carpenter for many years and taking directions from my foreman/boss I started to notice that my opinions were not being taken seriously even though it made complete sense. After doing humane pest control after work and on the weekends I wanted to take that chance to see what I was capable of on my own. Many years later, here I am with a very successful company that serves two purposes. Me being able to use my carpentry skills to do repairs, as well as helping these animals find their way out of the home in a safe manner. Read more>>