The Early Days: why did you start a business

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.

Erick Morina | Music Producer & Mix Engineer

My thought process behind my business started when I recognized that whenever I heard music play on the radio, the mixes sounded incredible. Around that realization, I was just starting out recording small projects before knowing it would turn into something bigger. I wanted to achieve that sound I was hearing and eventually help other artist have that professional sound. Read more>>

Josh Makes | Custom fabricator/ Designer

I sort of stumbled into my line of business. About five years ago I decided to rent a corner of a friends shop. I thought I could just make little stuff and maybe paint there. Something to do as a hobby. Before I knew it, I was making all sorts of stuff full time. Im not a huge future planner, I just try to do good work, and deliver on time – that’s basically it. The business just continues to come in. Read more>>

Fresh C | Musician | Entrepreneur | Producer | Podcaster

Starting your own business being an independent artist means more than bearing the burden of building your career from the ground up. Further developing a personal blueprint for success and investing in an aspirational vision, making the decision to dedicate all of my energy into achieving a dream demands a willingness to challenge tradition and establish new rules that can be adopted by those looking to follow in my footsteps. Understanding the pursuit of independence through this lens, the metrics for determining a win shift from how closely my career aligns with the current roster of superstars standing on top of the game. Instead, being victorious is measured by being able to introduce disruptive trends, smarter business models, and a formula for climbing the ranks that isn’t reliant upon dated prerequisites. Read more>>

Meg Stapp | Graphic Designer, Lettering Artist, Illustrator, Muralist & Creative Consultant

After falling in love with the grahic arts and design industry, It became clear to me that I always wanted to be creating and that I could create for others for a living. I started sharpening some unique and specialized skills to set myself apart and began helping others and business’s who value an artful approach to their brand and atmosphere. After a few months of taking on side clients, I started Meghowart studio because I knew there was a niche for local bars, restaurants and brand’s who were looking for someone with my particular hybrid art and design skills. I felt that in a world that is becoming increasingly more visual, having unique brand atmospheres and beautiful design is no longer an option, it is an absolute necessity. I decided to fill that need- It was a leap of faith in myself, and one that I am forever grateful for taking. Read more>>

Jordan Trask | President of PreFocus Solutions

I always knew I would eventually launch an idea I had since high school – but the fear of failure and success as an employee kind of kept my aspirations at bay. Once I was let go with a handful of people from a start up in 2016, a fire kind of ignited beneath me. I was tired of living by the gut of others. No matter how much effort I put forth, I was always usable and expendable. Besides, I had just had shoulder surgery and was pretty much unhirable without a set of 4 wheels.. In other words I was handicap with a Harley and a fresh baby girl (#4 at the time) at home. At first, I simply had to do something to make ends meet. For about a year, I did odd-jobs in the marketing spectrum while building the concept of “PreFocus.” But I quickly found that most of my clients didn’t value the idea of “thinking things through.” They wanted a marketing arm or digital contractor to do as they say. Read more>>

Sarah Tan | Freelance Artist Educator and Performer

Well, my current business if freelancing as a performer, teaching artist, and Digital Communications Specialist with Grey Box Collective so, really, it’s a little bit of everything. I just graduated from ASU with my MFA in Theatre for Youth and was inspired to apply all the knowledge that I learned in the last three years. I’m someone who believes strongly in adapting and pivoting when necessary, so when Covid-19 hit, I told myself that I needed to gather all the knowledge and skills I knew to make sure I thrived and found meaning during this difficult time. That was my launching pad toward feeling more confident in my skills set and stepping forward to promote my own talents as a personal business. Read more>>

Michael Ciprari | Custom Drum Manufacturer

There wasn’t a lot of thought that went into it. My brother and I started building drums at such a young age when we had so many other things going on in our lives, it just kind of morphed into a business from a hobby. As my brother graduated college we were getting more and more requests for us to build custom kits so he just went all in, and so did I. I left the band I was playing in and we both committed 100% to making drums. We had a lot of years under our belt of not running it like a business so it was easier to transition into it actually being a business, it didn’t seem like such a big undertaking. Read more>>