Many books on startups and business talk about how there are right and wrong reasons for starting a business. So, we asked a handful of successful founders about their reasons and the thought-process behind starting their business.

Megan Garza | Lifestyle Photographer & Graphic Designer

I believe when it comes to starting your own business the hardest part is acting starting it and doing the darn thing. Just like with everything when you first start something new and challenging being intimidated can steer you off track and be discouraging. I think it’s important to have the mindset of channeling those nerves and use them to proceed in your business. Read more>> 

Dawn Krachey | Massage Therapist & Singer/Songwriter

Several factors contributed to starting my own business. I think first and foremost was my desire to be in complete control of my own schedule. At the time that I graduated from massage school I had recently become a single parent and still had kiddos at home. Read more>>

Ginger Scott | Bestselling Author

I have wanted to be an author since I was a young girl hooked on Judy Blume books like Forever and Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret. I studied journalism at ASU and spent years working in Arizona media and in marketing, but the call to write fiction was always there. Read more>>

Greg Booth | CEO

We really wanted to make the best energy drink on the market. Improving the quality of the drinks inspires others in the industry to improve as well. We can now make healthy drinks that taste great. Why not make the healthiest and best tasting drinks possible? Read more>>

Brittany Gudino | Home Baker

After much encouragement from my coworker and friend John Viray, owner of Johnny’s Philippine Grill, I started my business. He encouraged me to sell my Ube Crinkle Cookies, but I was very apprehensive. I never imagined that I could create a business from 1 cookie recipe. I just finished an accounting class for my Master’s degree and didn’t feel prepared to take the next course. Read more>>

Michael Eakin | Small Business Owner

I had a few thoughts and reasons to start my own business. The first was that I saw a need for someone to fill a vacancy in my area for the goods and services I provide with my store. The second was that like many business owners, I was tired of working for someone else. Read more>>

Lindsey Karlsrud | Photographer & Special Education Teacher

I decided to start my photography business because I wanted to be able to share my art and capture more of life’s special moments. I am a special education teacher who enjoyed taking pictures on friends and family on the weekends. I have been photographing whoever and whatever I could since I was in junior high school. Read more>>

Yung Phoenix | Independent Artist

Back when I originally started creating music I didn’t see it as a brand a business or anything but music to be honest. At first it was something I did to escape and put my emotions to use. While I still continue for the same reasons, I realized it could be more. Read more>>

Bonni Sue Schopp | Kambô | Reiki | Yoga | Sacred Tool Maker | Healing Space Holder

The birth of my business happened unexpectedly and seems to be ever-evolving, yet my “why” always remained the same. My goal is to help empower others to heal themselves every place I go around the world. Read more>>

Alexandra Cook | Face painter

The thought process behind starting my own business was really necessity, mixed with art and joy. I sort of fell into facepainting because I have a background in painting and drawing with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art, and worked in the cosmetics industry for the past 15 years. Read more>>

Lanchen Mihalic | Cosmic Artist

To be totally honest I didn’t know it would even turn into a business, I was just doing it because it was something I enjoyed and was lucky enough the right people found my work. Read more>>

Amanda Paul | Co-founder

Scotch and barbecuing over mesquite when my Mom asked, “What if you smoked malt over mesquite instead of peat?” My Dad and now co-founder, Stephen Paul, became obsessed with the idea. He began learning everything he could about distilling single malts. Read more>>

Monica Violet Joy | Award-winning Showrunner / Writer / Exec / Creator / Director / Producer

After over a decade in the animation industry working for big name networks and studios, and spending years independently creating, writing, directing, and producing my own animated series and children’s books, it became critically important to me to give all of my passion projects and skill sets a credible, Read more>>

Christopher Alagna | Founder and Programs Director

We live in a society where we are almost always working beneath somebody. It’s someone else’s venture, ideas, authority, money. Even when we choose an artistic career, our paths are often largely determined by the desires of people who we need to support our work. Read more>>

Seema Jot Kaur | Community Builder: Aquarian Age Thought-Leader, Yogi, Birth Doula, Death Doula, Oracle Card Reader

The thought process behind starting my own businesses, Blue Iris Joy and Saguaro Institute Tucson, came from a combination of timing and circumstance. I had just retired from my corporate career and my study of yoga and wellness began taking up a majority of my time and energy. Read more>>

Dr. Andrea Gould-Marks Barbara Peters | Authors & media creators

About 7 years ago, before most people knew what a podcast was, we had a vision to create meaningful media and make it available on a wide basis. We began by recording a radio program but soon found that it was too noisy with ads that we didn’t particularly endorse. Read more>>

Nadia Risk | Stay-at-home-mom and animal enthusiast

I have always loved and had great passion for animals. I knew I wanted to start a business working with animals as well as giving the great experiences animals can give. A mobile petting zoo was the perfect way to share and give people a life changing experience. Read more>>

Johnny Arson | CEO, Producer, Engineer, Musician, Graphic Artist, and Influencer

I wanted to start Crystal Mountain Records because when I started creating music it was a difficult process. Back then we didn’t have social media platforms like Tik-Tok, Instagram, or other promotional outlets like Distrokid and Tunecore to aid in promotion. Read more>>  

Ashley Barrow | A mom on a mission to grow and help other people grow their businesses.

COVID is the short and sweet answer. When the world was shutting down due to the pandemic, I was just getting started. It started out with me making masks for free for all of our medical staff after being furloughed from my regular job. Then went to me wanting to set up a booth at an artisan market with all of my handmade items. Read more>>

Ana Tevšić Nauković | Industrial Designer

At the time, I didn’t really have a clear plan. I had the courage and naiveness of being so young that I believed it would all somehow work out. The circumstances in my life kind of steered the way into continuing and adapting my business, so I just learned to quickly pick up assignments and handle them the best way I knew how. Read more>>