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.

Daisy Turnmire | Singer/Song writer/Producer/Music Artist (golden ghoul)

Over the years, I would record bits and pieces of songs that I would hallucinate while living my daily life. I thought well when I die, these songs would live forever out in the ether, so I started releasing my own music by myself. I use pictures of my pets or life on the covers of my songs to also immortalize that time in my life. While music doesn’t pay the bills it is a nice release for me to see all that I have accomplished through out the years. Read more>>

Shelly Calvert | Founder/director of We Love Birthday Parties

Our nonprofit was started by a group of teens who wanted to make an impact on their community. They heard about a church that celebrated a nine-year-old boy who had never had a birthday party before. The teens wanted to make sure no child in our community felt unseen or left out on their birthday, so we began exploring how to reach children in need. Read more>>

Liz Detrow | Founder of clothing brand ilysmkinda

Starting my own business was driven by a desire for a fun and creative outlet. I was 19 when I launched ilysmkinda, and now, four years later, it’s amazing to see how far it has come! Time has flown, and the journey has been a tremendous learning experience. I’m really excited to be putting out new pieces this fall, and I’m eager to continue growing ilysmkinda with all the knowledge I’ve gained from both successes and failures. Read more>>