Thinking through whether to start a business – whether to take the risk, whether to go out on your own – isn’t easy. So we asked some entrepreneurs we admire to tell us about how they thought through the process of starting a business.

Alba Rojas-Sukkar | Owner/Principal ARS Consulting Services LLC

I’ve been working in the non-profit sector for over 30 years. When I decided to transition to consulting, I knew the time was right. I wanted more time with my family and was ready to leave the world of working 50+ hours a week and pivot to a more balanced workload. I also knew I was ready to make a difference and help many non-profits instead of focusing all my time and energy on one. Read more>>

Kelsey Aanerud | Professional Makeup Artist

I’m going to be completely honest with all these questions especially with this one. My thought process was obvious to love what I do and make a good income doing it. I didn’t have a set idea of what that all entailed but simply just wanted to be creative and bad ass in every opportunity thrown at me. I started with hair coloring, what’s what my education thrived on, but in the long run, my passion really transformed into makeup. SFX, full glam, theatrical, the weird..the unusual..and I achieved it. I am now one of the go to makeup artists in the FM area that creates the most unique, amazing makeup looks for photo shoots, galas, Halloween, you name it, I created it. And it just keeps getting better and better. Read more>>

Ernesto Burbank | Tattoo artist, artist, and apparel creator

I wanted to create a way to have more time with my family and use my natural gifts given by creation to provide for my family and secure future financial stability for my children. Tattooing, painting and creating apparel were all important to me to give a message from my heart and tell the stories of my grandmothers teachings, my apparel and artwork, consists of honoring your everyday walk of life with the acknowledgment of self appreciation to empowering the community and the people around you. This is the thoughts process behind starting my journey into my business Read more>>

Rye Whalen | Data Architect and Photographer

If your life is a disaster, trying to make up your mind to turn over a new leaf and fix everything at once will NOT work. You’ll get overwhelmed and give up in a matter of days.
Pick ONE thing.

So I picked one thing and that thing was to start working for myself to directly impact my community. Read more>>

Dr. Brendan McCarthy | Naturopathic Doctor, Podcaster

This is such a personal and intimate question. The answer is strongly tied to my family and what I would not do to keep them safe and healthy. In the third year of medical school, my son was born with a very rare kidney disorder that required my wife to quit working and my son to receive around the clock medical care. Read more>>

Jessica Lorance | Owner and Designer Desert Bloom Hats

I wanted to give you some background to the journey that led me to where I am today. I have lived all over the United States and abroad. I have my Masters in Business. I am grateful for my degree as it has helped me logically decide if starting my own business was feasible. Read more>>

Alexis Fisher | Epoxy Creations & Jiu Jitsu Practitioner

When starting my own business, I wanted more than anything, freedom. There has been a generational shift, where people my age aren’t willing to work for the weekend their whole life. I wanted to be able to prioritize the important things in my life and priorities in my life change through the years so having the flexibility to make that shift was very valuable to me. Read more>>

Aisha Formanski | Jeweler & Owner of Everthine Jewelry

In 2013 I moved back to Minnesota after a few years in California. I was restarting my life, and I decided to lean into my jewelry making. I got a tiny 10×14 square foot studio in the Northeast Arts District and started making pieces that made me proud to wear. Read more>>

Dwayne Garrett | Owner/ Head Swim & Dock Diving Instructor

I was involved in Dock Diving and working events in the Pacific NW from 2012-2017. After the 2017 season was completed I was ready to move from the PNW to the Southwest United States and start my own dock diving facility. My first choice was my home town of Las Vegas, NV. My intent was to open my own Dock Diving facility. Due to the regulations in NV, Las Vegas was impossible. I bought property in Tonopah, AZ. in 2018. The first paying client of Tonopaws K9 Swim Center & Dock Diving Facility was on March 16, 2019. I have just started my 5th year in business and could not be happier. Tonopaws was needed in this part of the country and I have put smiles on many faces over the last 4 years. This is my passion. Read more>>

Erica Diloreto | Master Lash + PMU Artist

My thought process behind starting my own business… Working for myself has always been something that sparked my attention! Well, growing up my aunt had her own beauty salon, she was a hairdresser and I just remember watching how well she did and how successful she was. She was able to make her own schedule, do her own thing and to be honest as a single mom she lived a pretty nice lifestyle. I enjoy being a business owner, I like doing things in my own way. Read more>>

Chanda McConnell | Owner + Maker

In 2018, I was planning my wedding and wanted to create a handmade favor for our guests. I thought “I’ll make candles, that seems simple enough”… oh, was I wrong. I purchased a candle making kit from a craft store and struggled to get the candles to smell strong. I was running out of time and had to choose a different favor for our guests, and put the candle making aside. Read more>>

Khanh Tran | Art Gallery owner and Picture framer

I grew up with parents who were self employed small business owners. Have always enjoyed art and framing. Read more>>

Marissa Chong | Owner & Founder of Permanent Change Coaching

I was an in-person trainer that was frustrated by the fact that ALL the time in our session was taken up by talking about the exercises we were doing, and catching up on life but managing nutrition and the other 23 hours of the day was HARD to do in that one-hour session! Read more>>

Radmila Stojanovic Kiriluk | Director of Piano Studies at Mesa Community College

It is a common practice for professional musicians to teach lessons in addition to performing. I started teaching my first private piano lessons after completing a specialized Music High School in the city of Nis, in my native country Serbia, and continued doing that during my undergraduate and graduate studies in piano performance. Throughout my career, teaching helped me observe music from a different point of view than performing, while providing important insight into how the composition is created, how the emotional connection between a piece of music and a performer is achieved, and how to utilize piano technique in the best possible way. Read more>>