Thinking through whether to start a business – whether to take the risk, whether to go out on your own – isn’t easy. So we asked some entrepreneurs we admire to tell us about how they thought through the process of starting a business.

LaKisha Harris | Chef & Philanthropist

I began my own business because I knew I had something to share with the world. I wanted to do it on my own terms in my own way. I wanted to follow my own rules, live without remorse and use my creativity to build my reality. Read more>>

Arielle Laws | Integrative Nutritionist: Fertility, Pregnancy, Postpartum

I was a luxury fashion executive in my last life. After nearly 15 years in New York City, her emotional and physical health was drained. That manifested as chronic migraines, fatigue & brain fog, irritability, gut dysfunction, making it challenging to function optimally during the day, and difficult to fall (and stay) asleep at night. Read more>>

Pete Atkinson | Vocals for Hard Luck Pete & The Wrong Way Streets

I’ve always had a knack for writing music and my friend and former member Sam Van Wagoner encouraged me as far back as high school to pursue the music and in 2008 him and I started writing tunes together and our music has progressively grown into what it is today! Read more>>

Stephen Hollowell | REALTOR® | Associate Broker

I have always been fiercely independent, and an entrepreneur. When I was around 10 years old, we lived in a neighborhood with a golf course, and I would go out, find all the lost golf balls, clean them up, and sell them for a quarter apiece. I made a few hundred bucks this way, and I remember the excitement I felt being able to make something out of nothing. What starts with an idea can evolve into a highly successful business, if you put in the time, effort, and determination to make it happen. I have tried holding a “desk job,” and I have also been on a real estate team. Neither one was for me. I like being a solo agent, and having control over where I want my business to go. Read more>>

Roderick Wright | Massage Therapist & Body Conturing

I wanted to start my own professional massage services to become my own business and help out other therapist to grow their own business to build a network of massage therapist to offer massages, just not in Detroit buy in other cities. Read more>>

Monica Mona Lizza” Hamlett | Event Promotions Planner and Destination Travel Specialist”

My journey into owning an entertainment business started with my love of singing and performing. I wanted to be more hands on with the decision-making process for the great events I was a part of and wanted to create. Read more>>

David Day | CEO/Founder/Dishwash

I was an overweight truck driver and before that I was a Cajun Chef at my father’s restaurant. I didn’t know how to eat healthy on account of that, I only knew how to eat “good.” We made fried chicken, catfish, burgers, etouffee; you name it, we served it and served it well. After a little bit of time working with family, I realized why it was advised against, and went out on my own and got my CDL. Started driving the roadways of America. I was eating everything that caught my attentions; I caught rolls in my mouth and ate at the Heart Attack Grill, on top of gas station pizza for breakfast. Needless to say, it got away from me, one day I was driving down I80 in Wyoming and felt a pang in my arm/chest area. Read more>>

Scott Brigham | Pitmaster

I wanted to do something meaningful. I’ve cooked most of my life. When I developed the skills to smoke meat, I realized I had acquired a talent that not many possessed. It was then that I began to review established barbecue businesses. I really believed that I had a superior product to the restaurants I visited. I was also cooking for friends, and receiving praise from them. I began thinking I could create a business from these skills. Friends motivated me to go for it, so I contacted the local health department to get licensing started. Read more>>

Kristina Kaylen | Wedding Photographer & Videographer

I started photographing on the side when I was 18 years old to help pay my way through college. Turns out after school and a decade later this is now my full-time career with 5 team members! I graduated with my Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from Thomas Edison State University with a focus in professional photography. The more I looked into the corporate world the more I realized I just wanted to be a small business owner. I love being on the ground level talking with my clients and helping them in any way I can. What started out as a simple hobby of taking headshots and family photos has now turned into a full time career supporting multiple team members and my own growing family. We are excited to announce that we are expecting our first little one this year! Read more>>

Tracy Hazel | 517 Safety Guru

I wanted to work less and make more money as a single mother starting out my business. I had been working in the safety business since 1996 until 2007. I realized that I had the skills and knowledge to offer safety training and consulting to a wide variety of clients. I was able to manage my schedule easier owning my own business and that was the main thought process when I started my business in the beginning. Read more>>

Novalí Centellas | Photographer & Printmaker

The idea behind my business started simply as a press name that I chose for a bookmaking class in college. Then, when trying to imagine what I wanted my life to look like in a few years, I I decided I wanted to start a small online store to sell my art and eventually expand that into a physical store that sells art from several local artists. I also aim to have a small gallery space that low fees for exhibition applications, as I know how difficult it can be to apply to expensive exhibitions with no guarantee of being accepted. After graduating college I was worried that if I took a break from my creative process that I would have a hard time ever picking it back up again, so I felt I needed some way to continue creating. What better way to do that then to hit the ground running and start building the business I dreamed of? Read more>>

Breanna Sylvia | Collage Artist & Poet

I wanted and want to inspire others to create and hopefully to inspire with my art as a whole. I have already inspired some of my friends and followers to create collages and paintings. I’ve also inspired people to pick up art again and that is one of my greatest accomplishments. Nothing makes me feel better about my art than inspiring others and staying true to myself. Creating my own brand and business helps me to believe in myself as well. Promoting my art and knowing others are enjoying what I enjoy is motivating. Read more>>

Lindsay Bowman | Furniture Refinisher

My thought process had everything to do with being able to have freedom from a 8:30-5p job and work solely for myself. Having the ability to make my own schedule, be there for my kids when they need me without fear of consequences. How can I make this dream come to fruition and then making it happen took time and patience but I made it! Read more>>

Shayla Unik, SHRM-CP | Certified HR Consultant, Speaker, Author and Entrepreneur

When I created Unik I Am, I created the brand because I wanted to share my story with other young ladies and women. I wanted them to know that our bad decisions and mistakes do not have to define who we are nor confine us to a place we do not desire to stay. I wasn’t really seeking to start a traditional “business”, I simply wanted to empower others to know that if I can go from being homeless (with a child) to becoming an award winning Director of Human Resources, they too can start from a dark place and still shine bright. Eventually, I wanted to develop and create meaningful products that would remind them that they are Unik, no matter how bad things may seem. This is where the journals, coffee mugs and purse line derived. The journals are the biggest sellers and most meaningful product. It was through writing my thoughts and manifesting my dreams I began to shift my mindset. Whenever a person purchase an item from Unik I Am, or receive service support, I want them to always remember it’s “Because…everyone has a story, but your story is what makes you Unik”! Read more>>

AMI- LA | Gospel Artist/ Entrepreneur

Being a person who wants to succeed in life provides a true sense of accomplishment when it’s done independently. My thought process behind starting my own business was out of faith and pure determination, and from that point forward, I never looked back. Read more>>

Vaughn Hartley | Etsy Shop Owner – Squeeze & Thank You

My thought process behind starting my own business started when I was job searching after COVID left me unemployed. I was looking but knew I wasn’t interested in something part time as I had just graduated college with a degree in photo. I needed something I cared about but that could support me full time. Etsy was always a dream, but seemed too far fetch. Bored and missing getting to spend time with family I started making my own holiday decorations. Not having much else to do and stressed from job hunting I decided I would use some of my photo skills to list some of the decorations I had made on Etsy. Before I knew it, they were selling like crazy! I was overjoyed and soon found myself making trips to the crafts store almost every day for supplies and new items. What I had always dreamed of had came true, I was getting to make things I cared about, support myself, and be my own boss. Read more>>

Dr. Garen Wolff, MD | Chief Physician of Wolff Allergy and Asthma in Detroit

Wolff Allergy and Asthma in Detroit was started because of the severe need of Allergist-Immunologist in the city of Detroit. The burden of asthma and allergies falls disproportionately on people living in Detroit. The decision between opening my own business versus being employed was an easy one. I enjoy the autonomy and the ability to practice evidenced based medicine on my own terms. Additionally, I have been able to design unique programs like WolffWeightLoss, which is a holistic weight loss program; and Breathe, a program that incorporates allergy shots for the treatment of seasonal allergies. Entrepreneurship is not foreign to me. It has been integral throughout my life. My father owned his own Internal Medicine practice for 38 years, while my mother owned a Kumon Franchise for more than fifteen years! In high school, I started my own non-profit organization, CityPrep Mentoring program. My non-profit was in existence for 10 years! Opening Wolff Allergy and Asthma in Detroit was a natural transition for me. Read more>>

Preston Sain | Founder of Black Wallstreet USA Ambassadors

The year 2020 was a pivotal moment in national History between the pandemic,quarantine shutdowns combined with the George Floyd & Breonna Taylor tragedies that sparked national protests for justice. Read more>>