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.

Noelle Ann Photography | Portrait + Commercial Photographer

Photography had been a hobby and a passion of mine throughout high school. In my early college years I took a couple film classes that really solidified my love of taking photos. I started getting asked by friends and acquaintances to do family photos and weddings. I thought, ok, let me try this and see if I can make a career out of it. One thing led to another and photography became not only my passion but my line of work. Read more>>

Morgan McGoff | Artist, Jeweler & Business Owner

Skinny Dip came about fairly accidentally. I started SDJ while I was co-running a flower cart business with a friend, doing social media consulting, and helping another friend get a business up and running. During this time I knew I wanted something that was all my own but I didn’t know what yet. Read more>>

Porsha Renae Hall | Natural Hairstylist, Model, National Ms. Captivating 2024

I wanted African American women to feel just as confident as I do within my natural protective styles. Read more>>

Jack Stevenson | Live Music Promoter

When I started the “2 Man Happy Hour” site my goal was to fill a void in our community after the pandemic. More specifically the local paper stopped posting where all the live music was in town. Read more>>

Jhede Hampton | Author & Surgery Center Front Office Administrator

My thought process behind starting my own business in the beginning was more so of the “I hate working a 9-5” kind of mindset. However, my mindset since the first thought of wanting to start my own business has since changed. Now, it’s more about wanting to help people. Not necessarily in the physical form only, but more so mentally. I am writing a book, an autobiography because I truly feel that I have a great story to share with the world and I’ve overcome a lot of obstacles that I know can help the next person or group of people that may be going through some of the same things that I have. My mentality has always been, “if I can help someone, I will” and if I can help people and love what I do all at once, that’s all the more reason to start my own business. Read more>>

Amanda Avink | Photographer

I have always enjoyed photography. From the first camera I got as a child to having my own children and wanting to capture every moment, much to their dismay most of the time! Once my four children became active in sports and activities I started capturing the games and events and sharing them with the teams. That led to photographing the Marysville High School Marching Band in 2015 and starting an Instagram account so that students as well as parents who may not have been able to make it to performance could still see their child. I was asked to do Senior pics for a few band students, which was so exciting getting to see these young adults and their passions and personality shine in photos. Even with all of this I still wasn’t a business, I was a mom with a camera and a “regular” 8-5 job. When the decision was made for me to leave my soul crushing job in taxes (that’s only slightly dramatic haha) it seemed like the perfect opportunity to start considering photography more than a hobby. I don’t follow what some would consider the typical business model. I don’t believe that photography and quality photos should be a luxury item. I don’t believe that parents should have to come up with $800-$1,000 for their child to have quality senior photos. I wanted to be able to offer services on an affordable level for parents, while still providing the same level of quality and care. Senior year is stressful enough for both parents and their child! Read more>>

Robyn White | Pet Photographer

I started learning photography as part of a PhD in sociology that I was working on around 2013. I found the concept of visual sociology really interesting and was working on a project about clowns and thought adding a visual component would be an interesting way to explore the topic. Because I was teaching at a community college, I was able to take photography classes for a significantly reduced rate and ended up falling in love with the art. I kept taking classes and had people ask me to do photos for them and eventually I decided to start charging for my services. I officially became a business in 2016 and the business has grown from doing family and senior photos into primarily pet photography these days. I got started in pet photography from volunteering at a local animal shelter. I started getting recognition through my work at that shelter and started having people asking me to take photos of their personal pets as well. At this stage, I have a studio where I do most of my photography, though I also love taking images in nature. Read more>>

Nina Evans | Owner/Operator

Starting my own business stemmed from various motivations. My top motivation I would have to say would be freedom and financial Independence. The freedom and independence of being my own boss while building building a brand from the ground up. This allowed me to challenge myself and grow as an individual and step outside of the box. Also, having the flexibility to work in my own style compared to the traditional employment style of other businesses. Read more>>

Seth Vaill | Co Owner of The Rialto Theatre and Musician.

Nate (my brother and co owner of The Rialto Theatre) and I began performing music in 2004. We came out with a few albums played numerous shows and travelled quite a bit. We started recording and mixing our owns songs. Throughout those years we wanted to create an avenue for our band and other bands to be able to record and release their music. We found a building in Akron OH where we could offer Artists and Bands a opportunity to Record, Mix, Master, and Release their project in one location, which would help with costs. Once we started gaining momentum with the Studios we were able to create a live music venue, The Rialto Theatre, which now holds both. We have a program now where Artists and Bands are able to record their music and use the proceeds from the release show to pay for Studio Time. Now that The Rialto Theatre has been around since 2015, we have ventured into holding multiples shows each week whether it be Music, Theatre productions, Comedy, Poetry and Arts Shows. Read more>>