Starting and growing a business is hard, but often deciding to start the business in the first place is even harder. We asked some successful entrepreneurs from around the community to open up to us about how they thought about starting a business.

Sunjai Williams

I’ve known since my teenage years that entrepreneurship was my path. The idea of owning multiple businesses always excited me, and I was determined to make that vision a reality. My entry into real estate came from the help of my father, who encouraged me to explore the field. Read More>>

Alaina Miller

It wasn’t always the plan to become a professional photographer, let alone run my own business. The path to where I am currently kind of fell in front of me about three years ago. I have always been one to have a digital camera (ever since I was 13) and was always interested in the creation of imagery, though originally, it was motion imagery. I graduated from college in 2021 with a Film degree and began working on TV and commercial sets, working as a Camera Assistant. During these few years I worked on set, I had past co-workers and family members ask me to take photos for them. I realized I loved the creative control I had working more closely with my clients that I ever had before on film sets. Read More>>

Jason Weesies

I wanted to start my own business because I wanted to be more self sufficient and be able to provide for my family while being able to control my own hours so I could still have family time. Read More>>

Kiran Javed

I think I’ve always had it in me. Even as a child, I found ways to turn creativity into opportunity. One of my earliest ventures was taking my mom’s unused kitchen tea towels and napkins, adding embroidery to them, and selling them around the neighborhood. That was my very first business adventure, and it really sparked something in me. Read More>>

CandiCoatedInk

Creating CandiCoatedInk LLC was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I grew up in an environment where we were taught to work a job. Entrepreneurship was always an interest for me because I wanted to create something that reflects me. See, with a job you can always be replaced but with a business that’s created and reflects you, your history will live on forever. Read More>>

Lucas Hale

I’ve always dreamed of entrepreneurship, though the vision has evolved over time. I launched The Warrior Monk Method because I recognized Battle Creek and surrounding areas needed recovery-rooted wellness practices, in reality it isn’t a focus in many areas I have lived or in other wellness businesses—I believe deeply in the art of recovery. Read More>>

Terri Bailey

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and have developed and renovated property since I was in my twenties. When I was approached to manage a project for a homeowner, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring what I had been doing for myself to the marketplace. So, starting Kendall Design Build was more of a happy accident, then a concerted plan. Read More>>