Readers often email us asking us for advice about new businesses they are thinking about starting and we often find that many of them don’t have a framework for thinking about a more fundamental question: why should or shouldn’t you start a business?

Julius Schlosburg | Photographer

I have enjoyed photography, along with other forms of expression such as music and paper folding, since I was a kid. In my 20’s I managed the networks and computer security for an East-coast company – as interest and fulfillment in that field waned I began bringing a camera with me to local shows in which I was either performing or just attending. I also began to bring it with me on hikes, and happened to be dating someone who had a great deal of knowledge about photography which they generously shared with me. Eventually, musicians and a few local nonprofits began asking if I could document their shows and events. The thought of starting my own business had crossed my mind and I quickly dismissed it, but at the prompting of several friends, I eventually made the decision to abandon my career and start my little photo business. Read more>>

Laura Segall | Photographer

As a photographer starting out I began my career working as a staff photographer for different newspapers around the country. After years of working for other people, I went into business for myself and never looked back. I knew I wanted to be in control of my own destiny and set my own schedule. Read more>>

Jim Louvau | Musician/Photographer/Director

I actually never really thought about “starting my own “business” when I dipped my toes into the water as a photographer at 18-years old. At that point I was basically a high school senior at Ironwood High School that was really into music and I knew that if I developed a skill as a music photographer that I could get closer to my passion. Over time I kept shooting and shooting and eventually had to entertain the idea of making things official and starting a business. Most of everything that I’ve done as an artist I was told early on that it was impossible and that a career as a musician or photographer was impossible and was a pipe dream. Read more>>

Patrick O’Brien | Electrical Artist

I had just been let go from a job I spent a lot of time, effort and money to get and I really wasn’t sure what my next move was at that point. But I had to do something quick so I didn’t lose everything and end up on the streets and homeless. Photography has been a great passion and hobby of mine since my first 35 mm class as a freshman in high school. I’ve always loved and enjoy everything about taking photos and creating beautiful photos. So thru the years of owning and collecting different cameras, I had a few antique cameras on display in my living room. One morning I had a bright idea to make a Lamps out of an Old Kodak Camera I had on display. Being an Electrician by trade and having a love for creating it all come very natural to me, so Reilluminated was developed. Read more>>

Kayley Lazar | Hand Drawn Portraits

I’ve always wanted to start my own business, ever since I was young. From doing lemonade stands to whenever school had business opportunities I would always jump on the opportunity. But I always wanted to sell something of my own, something I created, not someone else’s product. Read more>>

Trell Hayes | Photographer & Influencer

I don’t want to wake up each & every day working for someone else… I want to be my own boss! I’ve always said since a kid that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. At the time, I didn’t fully know what it really meant but I knew it was a person who work for self and that’s all I needed to know. That’s what I wanted to be!!! Now, I’m here today running a growing photography brand. Read more>>

Andrea Montgomery | Collaborator

I’m a young brand owner of a media company called AttackStallion. People ask me what kind of company I own, and for now, the most straightforward way to describe it is “I brand energy.” I’m in the early development stages of this company and everything is unfolding as we speak. Let me explain: As a young girl, I have always been able to see music: textures and colors through deep meditation. I wanted to give AttackStallion something special, so I built my company off sounds that communicate with voltage. I want people to feel their way through life and remember what it’s like to be embodied through an experience. Inspiration: I was initially inspired by MESMERICA, a unique visual journey designed to stimulate the mind and senses. I have always been fascinated with sound healing, crystal bowls, and native flute. Read more>>

Jessica Gladhart | Photographer

I really wanted to have a platform on social media for people to be able to reach out to me to take photos. I hadn’t put much thought into it as a “business” until it started to take off and people I didn’t even know were reaching out to me! Starting a business when I did was really out of the ordinary so it seemed scary and unheard of. But I am so glad that I did. I love my job and I love being able to meet new people and create some amazing memories. Read more>>

Young Vinci | Fine Painter & Visual Artist

Ever since I was a baby, I had my head stuck in a coloring book. Raised in Colorado, I was heavily influenced by all the beautiful landscapes nearby. The winters were long and cold so I found an escape when creating art. It became my creative outlet, a little world I could simply disappear into. The simple intricacies of the world around me leave me deeply and curiously fascinated. I’m not sure why but I am magnetized towards art. After coming across Walter Isaacson’s biography on Leonardo da Vinci. I had an epiphany about man’s place in the universe. The Universal man, ‘Uomo universale’, an ideal that developed in Renaissance Italy by one of Leonardo da Vinci’s teachers, Leon Battista Alberti, he expressed that “a man can do all things if he will.” Leonardo da Vinci embodied this idea. Read more>>

Michelle Griffith | Interior Designer

Well, my husband and I wanted to expand our family, therefore I needed flexibility in my schedule. Working at firm I simply couldn’t have that and still be able to do all the “mom” things. I didn’t want to just give up my career either. To some degree I felt starting my owning interior design studio was my only option if I wanted to continue to work in my industry. I am not upset by that, I love working and love growing this small studio into whatever it suppose to be. Read more>>