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.

Angel Riveros | Designer

I had two goals in mind since I discovered my drive and passion for design. One I wanted to create financial stability not just for my self, but for many friends and family that just like me, struggle going through life working as hard as possible but no getting any further in life. Read more>>

Joseph Pillado | Photographer

Starting my own business has been a dream of mine for many years, and I always think of ways to turn ideas into business ventures. When it came to photography, this was no different. However, I had stipulations as I pursued photography academically and professionally. 1. I needed to have a photography business running before graduating college because I wanted to be ready to take on opportunities in the field as soon as possible and hit the ground running. Read more>>

Mike Swain | Photographer & Videographer

My entire working career was spent working for others. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, I just knew that I didn’t want to do it forever. School was never really my greatest ally, I wasn’t a bad student by any means, but I wasn’t a great one, either. I knew pretty early on that whatever I chose to do, wasn’t going to come from the classroom. I knew that my path wasn’t going to be traditional, which was scary but also, always left a lingering feeling of excitement! Read more>>

Jenna Knapp | Owner of Jenna’s Kitchen Creations

I actually began my journey of starting my own business immediately after the covid lock down. Myself as well as many others were left without a stream of income during that time and it was a very scary experience. I had always meal prepped for my family or friends as a hobby. because, I loved cooking and seeing people actually excited to eat food that tasted good and was actually healthy. Read more>>

Sara Rivera | Mom, Wife, Advocate, Teacher, President of Dysart Special Education PTSA

I moved to Surprise, AZ with my family back in the summer of 2021. We didn’t know anyone in the entire state when we moved. School started the week after we moved and we jumped right away into the school routine and trying to get settled into our new life here. After a few months I started look for ways that I could get involved like I had been in Missouri where we’d lived previously. Read more>>

Tüzin Tiryaki | Marbling Artist

I started the art of marbling in 1994 with the idea of having a hobby. When I realized that every time I sat on the tray, I experienced a different feeling that would make me forget the time, the place and the whole world, I decided to live my whole life by working only on marbling. I have served in the healthcare industry for many years. Read more>>

Sue Plumb Takamoto | Nozomi Project, Founder/Director

Our family (my husband and four smaller children) had been living in western Japan as global workers. After the 2011 horrific triple disaster that hit the eastern seaboard of Japan, we knew we wanted to be a part of the relief and recovery that would be necessary. As Christians, we prayed and really felt it was a great investment for our family to move to this region. It was a great decision! One day we were cleaning out a park that was filled with tons of rubbish. Read more>>

Theresa Frazao | Owner, Rath Art Supplies

The opportunity to buy Rath Art Supplies came across my path a bit surprisingly. I’d actually never set out to own an art supply store or really a business of any kind. I’d been working in the nonprofit field for 25 years working in fundraising and event planning and I was an artist in my spare time and it was something that I was trying to fire up in my life a little bit more regularly and so I visited Rath Art Supplies on a Saturday afternoon while Stan was here alone stretching canvases, and we stuck up a conversation. Read more>>

Michelle XENA” Vestal | Retired Fighter Pilot & YouTube Creator”

I was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force for 20 years. For almost all of that time I was the only female pilot in my unit. There just were so few of us that we didn’t overlap. Since I was a trailblazer in my primary career, people have been telling me for decades that I should write a book. The truth is that I am a very multi-faceted person and I have so many stories to tell and so much information to share. Read more>>

Rachel Dowd | Photographer

The freedom of being in charge of your life was very appealing. Being able to provide for my family, and feed my creative mind at the same time felt like a win-win. I was working in an office at the time that was draining on my mental health, I was fortunate enough to sell my house and was able to Jumpstart my business that way. Read more>>

Timothy Ciurdas | Custom Cabinetry and Furniture maker

I knew that I needed to do something soon after my last evaluation at the cabinet company I was working at didn’t go as I had planned. I was a newly wed man making $14/hr while my wife was still in school. Something had to change so I figured I would take a chance and all the knowledge I learned over the years I could incorporate into a business. Read more>>

Cierra Sutherland | Accounts payable/nail technician

To make women feel beautiful. When you walk into a salon and you ask for a specific design sometimes they can’t do it. I love seeing my clients faces when they see the final design. I love what I do and how nails can affect and make someone day. Read more>>

Irene & Cassara | Owners & Creators of Wild Grit Apparel

We both share a love for adventure, desert culture, and fashion. With Candace’s artistic flare and my business mind we thought we could transform our loves into a product that would allow us to share this side of us. Read more>>

Octavio Peru | Owner

My partner and I both come from very retail-heavy backgrounds and were tired of working for massive corporations that didn’t really care about us, selling products we didn’t care about ourselves. I’ve been a self-proclaimed “denim nerd” for a hot minute now, and I’ve always wanted to open up a shop with that in mind. Read more>>