Our community is comprised of some absolutely brilliant entrepreneurs and so we asked a few of them to tell us the story of how they came up with the ideas for their business.

Lorraine Barker | Fashion and Costume Designer

RAINE did not just start out as a clothing brand I wanted to create, market, and sell because I wanted to be a designer for the sake of it. RAINE is a culmination of my own passions and background bundled into an edgy up-and-coming clothing brand. Read more>>

Alex Terranova | Co-Founder of The Alchemy of Men

It’s actually a funny story. The inception of The Alchemy of Men came from a place of frustration. As a professional business and leadership coach for almost a decade, I largely ignored men’s work until 2022. I found it either overly aggressive, showcasing extreme masculinity, or excessively emotional, leaning towards a wacky version of extreme femininity. None of it felt like authentic masculine or feminine empowerment to me. Read more>>

Dana Maciag | Founder, AZ Sleepy Teepee

It was my daughters 10th birthday in 2018 and I was always the over the top party mom. I knew we were having her first sleepover party and wanted something different than the sleepover bags on the floor. I had googled some ideas and found the teepee setups from a company in Australia. I searched in AZ and there was nothing like it. At the time I was a soloprenuer painting murals all over the valley and thought the idea was perfect as a fun side hustle. So I go to work on creating a couple different themes and we hosted my daughters party as the first sleepover and the rest is history. Read more>>