Ideas aren’t everything, execution matters greatly, but starting often requires an idea and so we asked folks to think back and tell us the story of how they came up with the idea for their businesses. We’ve highlighted some of our favorite stories below.

Brice Sokolowski | President of Vaucluse – Sweat less. Explore more.

I enjoy walking and hiking; however, I don’t like sweating, especially when wearing a backpack. Also, backpacks with some airflow are usually incredibly expensive and specific for larger packs. I wanted to make a solution for the everyday backpacker, regardless of their activity. If you are an everyday commuter, traveler, or outdoorsman, I want to help you sweat less. Read more>>

Jennifer Otero | Business Podcaster

First of all, I want to thank you for having me! I appreciate you guys sharing the stories of the community. So, after graduating, I got my first 9-5 job and then covid hit. I could only go to work and stay at home, so I had a lot of free time on my hands. I became obsessed with podcasts! Like true crime, comedy, business and one day it just hit me. I decided to create my own. I always had the idea of starting a business. That’s why I studied Business Entrepreneurship at ASU so I thought maybe if I interviewed entrepreneurs and other local business owners, I could get inspired to start my own business. Read more>>

Bill and DeAnna Edmister | of Living the Silver Life

For us, when we retired, we wanted something to do that revolved around full time traveling. At first, we considered work camping, but realized very quickly that we wanted to spend more time actually traveling verses sitting in one location for an entire season. Which led us to start, Living the Silver Life, our YouTube channel, Instagram and Facebook basing it on our travels. We didn’t really believe it would become a money making proposition. Read more>>

Ashley Feagins | Cannabis Consultant

When the universe brings together two people with the same passion and dream to help others have a better quality of life, magical things happen. My co-founder Josh and I were working in the cannabis space together where we saw the lack of knowledge and training in the industry as a whole on cannabis and how it can interact with your body in a therapeutic medicinal capacity. As we obtained certifications in cannabis medicinal applications we were able to work with people in a more one on one and individualized manner, assisting them with their cannabis journey in a way that dispensaries were not. Read more>>