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.

Jonah Mitchell | Lifestyle Nutrition Coach

I worked for a couple different big box gyms before I started my own business. It’s very difficult getting started in those gyms when you’re still learning the knowledge of helping someone get to their dream results. While at the same time, trying to understand how to build your own business in those environments as well. Read more>>

Lisa Jayne Porter | Artist, Singer, Dancer, Actor, Writer

I never actually started with the intention of creating a business. I got my paints out during the pandemic whilst I was in quarantine and picked up a canvas that I had previously played with and thought that it would be fun to finish it. I’m a professional musician and performer and with live performance shut down, I just really needed a creative outlet and something that could feed my soul. I would say that I was fortunate enough that my business found me. After I finished the piece – ‘Overthinker’ – I put it up on my social media and I had people interested and someone wanted to buy it straight away. Read more>>

Laurie Brander | Equine Assisted Coach, Wellness Advocate and Paralegal

One word. Freedom. I was always an independent thinker. I remember my mom telling me that my first words were “I’ll do it myself!” I learned in school and while working for years in law firms that I simply didn’t like to be told what to do and when to do it. Read more>>

Mo Lawani | RN / Aesthetic Nurse

After working as a floor nurse for almost 10years, the last two with covid about broke me as I know it did a lot of other people. So, when I decided to start my business, I had one goal in mind other than making money, it was and still is to help people see how valuable they are. We wake up daily to take care of others & make things happen for our various dependents; but we forget to take care of ourselves first, so that we are equipped to take care of others. Read more>>

Micaela Machado | Landscape Designer- General Contractor- Hemp Building Consultant

The thought process behind starting this business was creating a healthier planet for my children. And my children’s children and your children’s children. I truly feel blessed that this incredible knowledge of Hemp Building was bestowed upon me and I am compelled to share my experience and knowledge wherever I can. I had a calling to build to build healthier homes and I’m following it. It’s where I feel I can make the most impact in this industry and on this planet. Read more>>

A.J. Howse | Landscaper & merchandise retailer

I really enjoy cool designs, and why not slap one or two on a comfy *ss shirt? Haha I never really got into it that much until I started following crooks and castles merch line. The designs, the clothes, the brand name. Everything about it got me hooked and I wanted to start doing that so I did! Read more>>

Isabelle Rakestraw | Co-founder and President of GCU’s Women in Business Club | GCU Junior Majoring in Business Management

*Disclaimer, I am going to answer this question as it pertains to starting a club, not a business!* Before coming to Grand Canyon University, I deeply desired female community within the Colangelo College of Business to do life with, to learn with, and to figure out the business world with. But, I realized that the college did not have any sort of Women in Business or Women in Leadership group/organization/club. Read more>>

Ethan Riley | Producer & Musician

The thought process really came about through wanting to do everything myself. Wanting to be a musician and wanting to have a career in music guided me through all of the steps along the path to ultimately becoming what i want to become. Some of those steps being attending shows, hosting shows, learning to mix/master/engineer. Those are what created “Fluorescent Records” and my personal band “Psycho”. Read more>>

Krystal Davis | Travel Consultant, Travel Nurse, Retreat Host and Nurse coach

I always knew that I was meant to heal, educate and help others in a special way. As an ICU nurse of almost 7 years I see a lot of critically ill patients with chronic illnesses that are poorly managed and I started to feel burnt out in my profession. I wanted to offer people an alternative way of managing their health. So, my goal was to create a brand that focuses on holistic health, women’s empowerment and travel, which is one of my greatest hobbies. I became the woman I am today due to my solo travel adventures, so I wanted to embrace that and offer that to other women who may be on a similar journey or curious. Read more>>

Colin Easom and Roy Allen | Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educators, hosts of a plant-based bed and breakfast

Colin: I became a vegetarian in the 1990s on ethical grounds. Then, after seeing what goes on behind the scenes in slaughterhouses and farms, I decided to go fully vegan in 2010. I didn’t want to be part of a food system that deliberately causes abuse and suffering purely so I could put meat on my plate. It was a very ethical based decision in those days. Read more>>

Michael Klotz | Bird Watcher and E-preneur

I have always wanted to travel the world chasing and photographing birds. To do that, I knew I had to have a business that allowed that to happen. Opening a blog and a bird watching site is the way to have an income plus a passive income that will allow that to happen. The goal is always the same, but the path to get there changes occasionally. Read more>>

Jenn Morales | Transformation and Liberation Facilitator

Starting my own business was actually a continuation of my own personal healing and growth journey. I had been studying human behavior, psychology, trauma, quantum physics and a number of other areas in that realm since I was 13 years old. It was my protection mechanism of sorts I developed from my own trauma as a child. If I can understand human behavior, I can predict when I am not safe and protect myself from that. Read more>>

Larry Wiley | Managing Partner | Corporate Administrative Officer

I knew I did not want to spend the rest of my life working for someone else; I wanted to have my own business, be my own boss and be in control of my own future. I had dabbled in many different types of work and would excel in all I did, so I knew I had it in me and I knew I could be successful if I only
pushed myself to my greatest potential. I have worked for companies that I loved working for, each time I worked my way up in the company, gave more of myself each time. Read more>>