Are you thinking about starting a business? If so, we think you’ll enjoy reading about how these seasoned entrepreneurs thought about the question when they were in your shoes.

Nina Morano | Speech-Language Pathologist & Business Owner

I wanted to offer myofunctional therapy, a service that was missing in many speech therapy clinics. I wanted to offer a more comprehensive experience by targeting issues that contribute to many speech sound errors and swallowing disorders. Speech sound production errors can be an indicator of abnormal oral function, such as impaired breathing and tongue resting posture. I have worked with children and the elderly and it is evident that if left untreated, these impairments in childhood become exacerbated throughout the lifetime and can affect quality of life. Read more>>

Desirae Barkan | Business Owner & Graphic Designer

I have worked for other people in multiple environments under management and marketing; from start-ups to corporate, with clients world wide. After a little while it became clear that Graphic Design was my passion. I started working on projects as a side hustle while employed full time. After about a year it was clear I could do this full time for myself. In college I graduated with a major in Marketing/Management and minor in Entrepreneurship. Starting my own business was the easy part. Keeping it alive and well has been the harder part. However; I truly enjoy what I do so even that is not really hard. Designing packaging, marketing materials, brands, and so much more gave me a sense being present in the world. Read more>>

Dr. Amy Gulledge | Physical Therapist & Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

I graduated with my Doctorate degree and I was passionate to help people. I quickly learned that healthcare can be more focused on business and money than the people we are suppose to help. I didn’t care as much about money as I did about using the tools I had learned and feeling like I was making a huge difference for people. I became disheartened and bored over the years — feeling like I could do so much better if I had more time with my patients, feeling like the companies I worked for took me for granted as I built their brand, feeling like I wanted to do more than just work on a single joint on someone day in and day out. I missed personal training. But I also loved the science behind what I did as a Physical Therapist. Although I loved most all of my patients, I was tired of feeling the monotonous strain of my work and felt like I could do and be more. Read more>>

Lara White | Chemist, Baker & Jam Maker

Baking for me started as just a way to relax and take my mind off school, and as a way to share tasty treats with friends throughout college and grad school. All along I’d get people asking if I sold these baked goods I was making, and telling me I should start a business. I honestly resisted turning my stress relieving past-time into a potential stress-inducing business for years. I didn’t want to loose the magic and fun of baking and creating by putting obligation and a price tag on things I made. Though in the last year or so I’d been warming up to the idea of taking orders and testing the waters to see if I could maintain the joy I find in baking. For the last 4 years I’ve been baking desserts and donating them every week for the More Than a Meal program at The Joy Bus, with very few missed weeks. That really allowed me to expand and play more creatively with what I bake and allowed an outlet for all the desserts! Read more>>

Jason Adkins | Artist

My main goal to starting my own business was to be able to paint everyday. Within that artistic process came other variables such as decision making/ conflict, experimentation, networking, and building ideas that bounce off one another. It was more about freedom more than anything else. Read more>>

Carmen Mejia | Calligrapher

Initially I did not think I could make a living or make any profit out of the calligraphy, but my family and friends believed in me and pushed me to start doing more of this art. When I started, I just did it for fun and as a way of therapy, to relax and take my mind off the day to day stress. People started asking if I sold the things I did or if I could make something specific to which I went for it. People started to reach out for more things and I started from acrylic paintings with calligraphy to envelope calligraphy, wall paintings, wedding signs and wood work. I bought an iPad to pursue in the digital business, creating logos and making the design process a bit easier and little by little have been investing to make the business grow. Read more>>

Fina Haler | Dulce Vida Coffee Owner

We’ve always had a passion for coffee and community.. We were ready to do our own thing so we decided to start a mobile coffee shop business to share our passion for coffee, interact with our community and show people ways to help our environment. We took business classes and reached out to the coffee community to learn as much as possible before starting our business. Our goal was always to have a brick and mortar but we knew we had to start small and work our way up so we started with a coffee truck and have now added a small brick and mortar. Read more>>

Christina Laufer | Silversmith

When I first started making jewelry I was in college and taking a 3D art class. Once I got into making pieces I wanted to wear, others started expressing liking it and wanting pieces for themselves. This happened often enough and I enjoyed making these early pieces, that I decided to expand my knowledge of jewelry making techniques. If I could successfully make profit while keeping the love of creating intact, creating a business seemed like the next level to accomplish. The love of making jewelry and seeing the enjoyment of my customers fuels my desire to keep my business going. Read more>>

Ruth Urban | President &

It was January 2004, I found myself facing a failed business and two teenagers to raise as a single mom. I needed income, and fast. Not only was I low on money, but low in confidence as well. I thought hard about what I had done well in the prior few years and realized that I had been a pretty darn good networker. I created a flyer in Word that listed a variety of business and personal services that I could offer to clients, based on the skills I had developed over the years. Then I mailed (USPS – it was 2004) the flyers to 50 of my best contacts that had been developed through that networking. At the time I mailed the flyers, I had no intention of creating a business. My vision was that I could find a client who would be bowled over with my abilities and want to hire me for full-time work. Until that happened, I would at least be bringing in some money to pay my bills. Read more>>

Katherine Perez | Dog Walker

I made it my life mission to help busy pet parents create the best life for their four-legged friends. I pride myself on finding joy in enriching pups lives through daily walks, companionship, and care so that the people who love them can have peace of mind while they work. I fully understand how important pets are to their humans and the bond they share, It’s why I created Golden Tails Dog Walking. My mission is to provide a service to the hardworking, 9-5 dog owners of Miami, and help them create the best life for their dogs. Read more>>

Jaimee Reyna | Baker & Medical Sales Account Manager

Coming from a background working in the medical field I never envisioned myself being a baker, let alone starting my own baking business. For me, baking has been a stress outlet and a fun (and delicious) way for me to express my creativity. When I had a job change back almost four years ago I decided it would be fun to go to school for baking and pastry making, just so I could learn more about baking. That is when I was able to hone in on my skills and really develop my passion for baking. During school I would share my baked goods with my coworkers, give it to my friends, and bring it to my offices to get feedback on the recipes, what they liked and didnt, and just to share the sweetness in general! Then people started to ask if I was able to bake for them, if they could pay me to make a cake for a birthday or a pie for a holiday. That’s when the seed first got planted in my mind that I could actually turn this passion of mine into a business. Read more>>

Jessica Clark and Jessie Michaels | Co-Founders & Creative Directors

As I think most inspiring entrepreneurs can agree the autonomy, independence and freedom of owning your own business is a major key driver for many. Jessie and I initially connected over the fact we had always had multiple side jobs in addition to our 9-5. We both had worked in social media management, photography, marketing consulting and more, and we wondered how we could unite those skills with our passions for the travel industry. Read more>>

Megan Good | Website Designer

I have always loved small businesses, jumping in, getting to work and making something out of nothing. I’ve worked in real estate, event planning and management, and marketing. Helping other small businesses gave me the tools and experience to go out on my own and specialize in something I love while helping LOTS of businesses with what I feel I excel at which is website design and online marketing. I knew I needed a change in 2014 but it took me a few years to plan my exit strategy. I was heavily involved in management and wore a lot of hats that caused a lot of mental stress. No one wants to dream and think about work all the time and that’s what I was doing! After I had a car crash while thinking about work I knew now was the time to get serious and change from being employed to self employed again and take more control over factors I could change and let go of those I could not. Read more>>