The first step to starting a business is deciding to start a business. They say the first step is the hardest and in our experience this is especially true when it comes to starting a business. Getting over the mental roadblocks can be tough, often harder to overcome than the challenges you’ll face once you actually start the business. Fellow entrepreneurs share their thoughts below.

Justin Smith | Owner of Brew Avenue Coffee, Arizona Army National Guard Soldier, and Proud Husband and Father

I knew I loved coffee and the entire experience that goes along with drinking coffee at a beautiful cafe, but I wanted to do something niche. I wanted to start with something manageable but it still had to be something that really stood out. I began to explore other avenues (pun definitely intended) of experiencing delicious, high-quality coffee. I particularly became interested in mobile coffee options, allowing me to start my coffee journey on a smaller more manageable scale but still provide the same delicious coffee that I love ordering from local cafes. Read more>>

Ashley Murray | S|W Inspo & Design, Owner & Creator

All of my professional career, I’ve always held a position in the medical industry. Near the end of the year last year, something was stirring inside me to step out of my comfort zone. At that time, I didn’t know what direction I was headed, but felt determined enough to pursue something on my own – something that would give me family flexibility and career fulfillment. I ordered a candle making kit – for fun, for my kids and I to make over the holiday break & we ALL enjoyed the process! Read more>>

Bill Briggs | Leathercrafter / Entrepreneur

I am an independent minded person. Even though I am able to work well in a group environment, I was raised to be given heavy responsibility and was expected to deliver without the help or guidance of others. Therefore, I thrive working alone. At the time I started our business, I was working four part time jobs in Wyoming and still struggling to pay the bills. I did not like the fact that four separate entities were controlling every aspect of our family life. Read more>>

Jason Mayer | Owner/Future Concepts

I was working a job that I didn’t really enjoy anymore. I was traveling the country for work, and wasn’t really in a single place long enough to make and keep relationships. I met some really great people, but would wnd up having to leave for another project shortly after befriending people or the like. It was frustrating. So, when my employment at the time brought me back out to Arizona in January of 2000, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and Calculated Kinetics was born. Read more>>

Ashlye Justus | Licensed Cosmetologist & Cosmetology Educator

I wanted to control my own life, I love what I do and I have such a passion for the cosmetology industry that I decide to become a Licensed Cosmetology Instructor to help other young woman find their path in life and build a career. Read more>>

Felisa Benton | Designer/Builder

I started my professional career in franchise marketing. Spending time with my father in his woodworking shop when visiting him, I developed the desire to work more with my hands. I started purchasing tools and dumpster diving in the neighborhood of my new home to create my first handcrafted projects. From there, I received requests from neighbors and friends and started creating custom projects. A few years later, I opened up my own custom furniture company and started creating homes full of custom furniture using exotic and domestic woods and other products. Read more>>

Erin Taliaferro, M.Ed | Founder of LittlesLoveLearning.com

I’m a certified elementary school teacher with a master’s degree in early childhood education, and I taught 1st and 2nd grade for six years. I absolutely loved my job! But when I had my own kids, I knew I wanted to stay home with them, especially when they were little. I had to think outside the box in terms of how I could stay home while also staying connected to the world of education. Read more>>

Zach Pfundstein | Craftsman, Maker

I actually haven’t always wanted to start my own business but the idea of doing something creative with my hands and being able to support my family through that endeavor was always at the back of my mind. At the time of starting my own business, I was working at a really challenging job and an opportunity came up to work somewhere else that would allow me enough free time to start my own business on the side. I decided to take that job and that is how my business, Iron Elephant Design, came about. Read more>>

Sterling McQueen | Visual Artist & Tattooist

Growing up, my family owned a barbershop. I got my hair cut there, I hung out there, I watched my late grandfather run it, pass it down to my dad, I helped him run it since I was a kid and he passed it down to me at age 23. I guess it was kind of engrained in my fiber how to run a business, just a matter of me deciding exactly what industry I wanted to be in. I’ve always been into art, all of my life, I started drawing in the 2nd grade and took art classes from then on through highs school. Read more>>

Matt Lehman | Owner

At the age of 40, I was tired of working for other people and making them money. I had worked in the restaurant industry and as apartment managers for most of my life and there is a reason you don’t see a lot of servers or Bartenders over the age of 40. It’s hard work and takes a toll on your knees and mental state. I had always held small odd jobs or had weird hobbies that padded my income on the side as well, I had started selling on ebay in 1998 and it was always a way to make some extra cash if I found something ‘in the wild’ as the pickers call it, be it a vintage hawaiian shirt or action figure. Read more>>

Brian Trujillo | Entrepreneur & Audio Visual Production Company Owner

This would be officially business #4 for me. I’ve never liked guaranteeing that I will show up at the same place . I started small with no resources, just working in a field I enjoyed. From there I set goals to achieve each year, including never to back track. Eventually I knew year after year these yearly achievements would snowball into a business eventually. Read more>>

David Escalante | Dog Sunglass designer

I am a first generation college graduate. Born in San Jose,CA. I quickly noticed that most of the people that lived a life similar to the one I’d like to have were business owners or entrepreneurs. On top of that the majority of them would write books about how they succeeded in freeing themselves from a traditional 9-5..So I felt like there wasn’t a real secret. These were real Americans like me that abide by the same rules. They just all created a product or service and dedicated all their spare time to making it work. That’s where my desire to create a product and start a business came from. Read more>>

Loren R | Small time artist & beginner photographer

I make a fair amount of art in different mediums, and most of that is of animals. The thought that I might be able to make a small amount of cash doing something that I love is what made me want to start this business. Even if I’m not making money, I still have the ability to publish my favorite pieces for others to see and be inspired by. Alongside making myself happy, that is what matters. Read more>>

Lindsey Young | Creator/Founder of OM in the Hills, Yoga Instructor, and Sound Healer

When creating OM in the Hills I had just recently finished my yoga teacher training, and my mind was absolutely flooded with different ways that I could share yoga with my community. I quickly gained additional certifications in sound healing and SUP Yoga, and was inspired to host outdoor events and experiences. I definitely needed a business to do all of this creating under, and that became OM in the Hills. I knew that this business would grow into something larger than I could imagine at the time. Read more>>

Kevin McGuire | Children’s Magician

It started out with me seeing a children’s magician perform for a group of friends that we knew. After seeing his show I knew I could do his show better and bring a lot of entertainment to people. My thought process was to do what he did but do it better. I was raised with thr mind set that you can doing anything you put your mind too. If, you are truly hungry enough you will achieve that very thing. And I made a lot of mistakes starting. Read more>>

Baby Zilla | Musical Artist

In our society, there’s always a conflict between those who seem to have and those who seem to have not. That conflict is constant. In all of our lives we’re told that you want to be the person who has, and the safe play to get to the point of having is to join an institution. Institutions like, universities, colleges, police force, military, or work for somebody else dream to become realized. I decided at a young age that I wanted to be everything for myself, take ownership for myself, and build an economic portal around me and not live through fear. Read more>>