Note: This article is part of a series. Check out the full series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13.

Launching a new business is not easy, never mind bringing to market an entirely new product or service.

In this series of articles, we gathered 100+ successful female entrepreneurs to share their stories and tips on building a business from scratch.

Nancey Flowers-Harris & Tracy Green

Founders - Vontelle

Q: What inspired you to found Vontelle and what were the main challenges you faced?

My partner Tracy lost her designer glasses she purchased a few months earlier. She called me to lament and I told her that I actually lost my glasses during an overseas trip around the same time. When we both began to look for replacements we wanted glasses that were stylish and had a cultural flair. We also wanted to support a black owned business. We started looking and were not happy with the selections. Nothing quite stood out and there were not as many black owned eyewear brands.

Tracy has been wearing stylish glasses since she was a teenager, so her eyeglass-wardrobe ran the gamut. I started buying and collecting as well, but also wanted something ethnic and fun.

Tracy had the bright idea to start an eyewear business. The entrepreneurial spirit that lives in me (Nancey) replied "We should do it", and I immediately put the wheels in motion. One month after Tracy birthed the idea, I booked tickets for Paris to Fashion week and we attended an Expo. I hired a designer to create our logo, begin drafting designs and here we are today.

The hardest part of this journey has been finding the right manufacturer who could produce quality handcrafted eyewear.  Also, since our glasses have such intricate African and Latin prints it took a lot of going back to the drawing board to get it right. We had several prototypes made to meet our standards before we placed the Vontélle stamp of approval on the glasses.

Q: Did you start the venture alone?

No. This partnership is between two best friends (Tracy & Nancey) who share a 20+ year friendship. We met in college at the illustrious, Morgan State University.

Q: What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

We are 100% e-commerce and retail online. We are growing through social media, publicity, media placements, word of mouth and advertising.

JinJa Birkenbeuel

CEO of Birk Creative‍

Q: What inspired you to found Birk Creative and what were the main challenges you faced?

I opened my agency because I couldn't see a path up to get to the end client working in corporate. I always felt that the answers I needed were diluted by someone who felt they were smarter than me because I was young and Black and a woman. I always felt more capable than the leading men I worked with. I asked different questions, and never took a path of least resistance in my work to solve problems and create. But they would never let me through to the clients. I gave up and walked away because I knew I could and would do way better. I opened my business during a transformative time. My challenges at the time were few. There was money flying everywhere, people were not afraid to spend money and take chances, and I was not a mother yet. I faced challenges after I started having children. I will never forget the time I was trying to grow the business, and I was asked to meet with a leader that needed to reach more customers to grow their membership base at their theater. I was six months pregnant at the time I walked into the meeting. She, yes, a woman, looked at me and said "Wow, you are really with child." I knew right then, I was being discriminated against. I was not invited back and did not earn the work. I was irritated, but not for long. I had that baby, and that kid was on my lap and I kept working and plowing ahead. I will never forget that moment. I realized that you can't depend on anyone, and no one has empathy or cares about collaboration or anything. I decided I would never be that person. That I would always give and share no matter what.

Q: Did you start the venture alone?

No. I am the founder and the CEO, but I am married. My partner holds the fort on health insurance. There is a false narrative in the nation where they say, anyone can start a business, and pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The prospect of not having health insurance scares brilliant people away from leaving their jobs and pursuing their dreams of ownership and becoming an entrepreneur. Can you imaging now, in the pandemic, starting your own business, without some kind of health insurance? My husband had a steady job, which allowed me a certain level of confidence to jump out of the corporate window and start my own small business. And he believed in me and didn't stop me. And he was patient about having children. I was 11 years married before my first son.

Q: What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

Always be learning! I am insatiably curious. I read everything, especially if the content includes technology, creativity and business. I take chances. I used to say yes a lot. Now I say no almost all the time. And especially now, during the pandemic. My business and family goals have crystalized. My primary growth driver is that all the moves I make outside my family life are business related. I can no longer take much time for anything else. I've sacrificed a lot of normal friendships with other women. I did not develop a women friend tribe like my other friends have over the years. I see women traveling, hanging out. With my three rapidly growing sons, and a married life, I have a hard time now leaving them

Tiasia O'Brien

Founder/Head of Strategy - Seam Social Labs‍

Q: What inspired you to found Seam Social Labs and what were the main challenges you faced?

I grew up in Bushwick, Brooklyn — a neighborhood that has changed drastically over the past 20 years. I watched as some of my beloved community members were displaced and felt I had such a little role or say in these changes.  As I started my professional career, I learned about policy and corporate affairs and was determined to ensure that people, regardless of their social or economic background, can have their voices lifted up. I knew data would be so relevant in this so I focused on an idea "data by the people, for the people" and let that guide our current vision. The biggest challenge in this is getting governments and companies to move beyond quantitative bias and see the role and importance of qualitative data and how adding context to your insights can make a world of difference in decision making processes.

Q: Did you start the venture alone?

I found this business in June 2018 with the mission of empowering communities. I was focused on consulting as a solution but then met my co-founder, Michelle Brown, at Afrotech in late 2018 and we developed the idea for co:census together after a brainstorming session.

Q: What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

co:census has a cloud-based subscription where our business and government accounts pay for unlimited surveys, survey responses, and sentiments analysis. Our Enterprise accounts are for larger scale surveys (city or county wide) and include one page reports summarizing deep insights from large sets of qualitative data. We have been able to grow our revenue through referrals --a lot of the cities we work with post about us on Twitter resulting in other government agencies to reach out.

Carol Thomas

Founder - St. Charles

Q: What inspired you to found St. Charles and what were the main challenges you faced?

My inspiration to create St. Charles came from the need to provide a simple hair product line for my clients who during consultation were so frustrated in finding a haircare routine that would nourish and moisturize their hair all the time on wash day. For some reason other hair product companies where sending their products to me for testing, and I would review and recommend suggestions to improve their line.  I was doing this for years, so without a doubt I knew I would be able to develop my very own line of products. The main challenge I faced was after I decided how many products that would be in the line and the product names. The challenge was refining the products, balancing the oils and the natural ingredients, and perfecting my shampoo. I was also a bit fearful of giving the line the same name as the salon, Just Because…. fearing my clients would not value the products and purchase them.

Q: Did you start the venture alone?

I started the venture all alone, it so happened that during that time, after a hair color gone bad on my hair I was the testing board for the products. I volunteered to be a model for a hair color class and I am not too sure what happened but my hair was just coming out I had lots of breakage and had to cut my relaxer off to my natural hair. It happened to be at a perfect time when I decided to develop  St. Charles I saw what it was doing to my own hair and I knew it was ready to be introduced to the salon.

Q: What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

Here at St. Charles our business model is, because of our love for hair and for natural hair, I wanted to create a product to nurture natural hair. The products are not mass produced but are made in small batches to make sure you are getting the best quality ingredients to keep the hair nourished. I retail the products in the salon. At first,  this was my only intention. Once I was happy with the feedback and saw how my clients were picking up the products off the shelf, I started a Instagram page and started promoting the products, built a website for e-commerce, and started late night virtual consultations. I found that some natural hair girls are scared to come in to the salon because some are experiencing hair thinning, dryness, and some severe hair damage. They just need some one to talk to.  Many don’t want to leave their hairstylist, but they just need hair products that work on their hair. And, this is how I have been growing my revenue along with hiring a publicist.

Neely Tamminga

CEO & Co-Founder - DISTILL

Q: What inspired you to found DISTILL and what were the main challenges you faced?

As longtime Wall Street analysts, we saw a need to help CEOs and boards more expertly navigate the consumer economy.  Short of hiring on-staff economists, retailers and their boards are relegated to reading news headlines for insights about the economic realities and life stage priorities factored into consumer spending behaviors.  Said simply, we took our skills in how we were serving institutional money managers and decided to serve directly the c-suites who were actually employing the American worker.  There’s more meaning, more purpose in serving those who employ thousands than what we had been doing in our Wall Street world.

Our challenge is we are a very specialized consultancy with little competition; so we are sometimes viewed as a “nice to have,” not a “need to have.”  That said, over time, we’ve found that folks will reach out to us when they are as stumped by the consumer economy as they are curious about what’s ahead.  So even as a “nice to have,” it’s gratifying to know that we are the first call on questions about the consumer economy and consumer spending behaviors.

Q: Did you start the venture alone?

Not alone!  DISTILL was co-founded by Neely (me) and Kayla Wesser.  We worked together at our prior firm and wanted to build something together.  Towards the end of our tenure at our prior firm, we were increasingly invited into boardrooms to share research and insights.  Having experienced that together was a pivot point in our mutual awareness of the need for experts in the boardroom.  Too, we’re blessed in having worked together because the trust factor is on solid footing.  We’ve seen each other on our best and worst days and we know what conviction looks like in one another when it comes to decision-making.

Q: What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

Our business is largely a retainer-based consultancy.  Unlike most consultancies, we’re relational, not so much transactional.  Data is transactional; truly helpful insights are not—they are derived from engaging in a relationship with the client.  We’ve created proprietary data sets for clients simply by listening to their needs.  Also unlike most consultancies, we dedicate substantial non-billable hours of our time to first-hand research—so that we are pushing insights as much as we’re pulled into projects.  That’s why retainers make more sense for our clients.  Essentially, we reserve mind space for them in our firm-wide research.  We’ve found our engagements tend to begin with an invitation to share research insights in the boardroom, which then evolves into a project or two and eventually morphs into an ongoing retainer—building relationship along the way.

We’ve grown revenues through word-of-mouth more than any other means.  By engaging with both the c-suite and the board of directors, we find most of our business is sourced through folks who have seen our research and relational approach in action.

Lauren Weiniger

Co-founder and CEO - Safely

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Q: What inspired you to found Safely and what were the main challenges you faced?

When I was young, my cousin died of HIV. It was a painful, but eye-opening time that showed me, from an early age, the importance of sexual health. As I went through my adult life, I began to see how inaccessible sexual healthcare was for the people. This is what fueled Safely. It should be easy, affordable, and accessible to all to get tested and share verified results, which is exactly what we do. Founding a company as a woman is definitely challenging, especially in sextech. Talking about sex, STDs, and sexual health to investors was difficult at first, and I found myself facing a lot of stigma around being a female founder as well as around STDs. However, I discovered that educating people on the issue at hand brought me more confidence to my mission. This, coupled with the growing population of a new, health-conscious generation, the numbers often spoke for themselves.

Q: Did you start the venture alone?

No, I started the venture with co-founders. However, I am now the sole founder surrounded by an incredible team.

Q: What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

The beauty of our model is it's the cheapest for consumers, but we make high profits from insurance payments. Everyone wins. Thanks to the great partnerships we have with the labs, we are the cheapest option for STD testing on the market, which has helped us grow even more quickly. The most important facet of Safely’s business model is that it remains affordable and accessible for users. We offer key features on the app for free, including downloading the app and importing records– so there is never an excuse to not have verifiable results available to show a potential partner.

Tamara C. Williams

Founder & President - Music Beyond Measure

Q: What inspired you to found Music Beyond Measure and what were the main challenges you faced?

My primary inspiration for founding Music Beyond Measure was because of a very personal healing process that I experienced while attending graduate school. While pursuing my Masters in Jazz Studies at Michigan State University, I experienced a mental and emotional breakdown directly related to my history of trauma. Between ages 5 and 26, I experienced several instances of domestic violence and sexual assault and for the first time, I started a completed a counseling program. As you probably know, studying any art form challenges you to use all of your experiences, good or bad, to develop your own unique style. As a direct result of my counseling, I ended up dealing with the "emotional remnants" through music, composition, and performance, which allowed me to grow into a brand new person. The only thing missing for me were other groups of survivors, so I searched for group-based songwriting programs made specifically for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. When I couldn't find any in my area, I created my own, which brought about Music Beyond Measure.

The challenges I faced had to do with my own learning curve of running a nonprofit such as gaining funding, connecting with my intended audience, as well as convincing direct service organizations that my curriculum actually worked. Many were very hesitant to take a chance on trying something such as this. They had never held a group songwriting project for survivors that resulted in a private concert, performing the songs they created with professional musicians. As risky as it was, I was given a chance by stakeholders in the South Bronx through NeON Arts.  

2. Did you start the venture alone?

I started this venture very much alone and not knowing what to do. All I had was my mission statement, my story, and my passion for the curriculum. Even though I started alone, I knew that this could potentially change the game for survivors everywhere. Now, I'm so happy with our teaching artists and the board members who help make everything possible.

Q: What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

We have grown revenue through a combination of earned income contracts, individual donations, fundraising, and grant funding. We're a small organization, but we've done some very big things. Music Beyond Measure has had some very proud moments, but one includes starting the Montclair Community Chorus, which learned and performed music written by survivors through our programs as a means of sparking community discussions about domestic violence and sexual assault. By using the arts to talk about trauma, we create opportunities to educate and entertain at the same time.

Forbes Riley

Founder - Spingym

Q: What inspired you to found Spingym and what were the main challenges you faced?

Prior to owning my own company (note SpinGym is Capital S cap G)

I had been a spokesperson for many fitness products and even help launch the FIT TV network with Body by Jake.  For 5 years I wrote and pitched over 1500 fitness and wellness products, then launched on Home Shopping (both QVC and HSN)

I had been looking for a product to put my name on for years and after I had a resistance band slip off my foot and shatter my nose -- I found SpinGym in London, it was being used as an office detresser but I convinced the owner (it was a different name) that it was a great fitness product.  They offered to give me the company if I could sell 25,000 in the first year -- to date I have sold 2.2 million units.

After 6 months of developing all the exercises and protocols I connected with the team of PitchMen on Discovery and launched on their series.  We bombed.

I restrategized - shot videos and launched on HSN and sold 5500 in 32 minutes on day 1, our biggest day was 64,000 units in 24 hours - grossing $1.4 million in a day. shot an infomercial and did what I do best - PITCH.

Q: Did you start the venture alone?

I did -- it was my idea, my money, my everything - I eventually enrolled my now ex-husband and mortgaged my house and my kids education to raise the first $700,000.

3. What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

So our model is home shopping around the world - we have sold in UK, Canada, France, Spain. We shot and ran an infomercial in the UK only.

We have a Brand Ambassador Training program with coaches. We have an ecommerce store.

Shelby Smith

Owner - Gym-N-Eat Crickets

Q: What inspired you to found Gym-N-Eat Crickets and what were the main challenges you faced?

Believe it or not, I didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a cricket farmer. I was raised in central Iowa on our conventional family farm before going off to college to play basketball in Philadelphia. After graduating with a finance degree, I headed overseas to Ireland to continue my playing career and my education. While in Ireland, I earned a Master’s Degree at Trinity College in Dublin, then worked as an equity derivatives trader for a Canadian bank. After a few years, I found myself very unsatisfied with the finance industry and made the decision to return home to the family farm in Iowa. I moved back just in time for harvest in October 2017.
Post-harvest, my dad and I had many conversations about future plans and my future in farming. He encouraged me to consider niche agriculture, citing less competition and higher margins than common commodity crops. On January 1, 2018, I sent my parents an article about raising crickets for human consumption. Ten days later, I bought my first 10,000 two-week old crickets and the rest is history!

There have been enumerable challenges with starting this business. Prior to January of 2018, I had zero experience raising crickets. Nor did I have any experience cooking with them. The last 2.5 years have been a series of experiments. Some of them have gone great, others have failed miserably. Additionally, I am attempting to feed Americans something that we have been conditioned to consider filth for most of our lives. Despite the fact that eating insects (entomophagy) is commonly practiced in 80% of the world's countries, it's still a very foreign concept for most Westerners.

Q: Did you start the venture alone?

I am a solo-founder, but I have been blessed with a fantastic support system. My parents have been a huge catalyst for the business. My dad loaned me the space to start raising crickets and my mom allowed me to prepare them in her kitchen. Without their support, none of this would have been possible.

Q: What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

What began as a simple farmers' market stand and small cricket farm has now grown into a network of 5 cricket farms around the state of Iowa, a licensed food processing facility, shelf-space on nearly 20 stores around the Midwest, and shipments to 45 states.

I spent the first two summers of the business (2018 & 2019) as the sole producer of the crickets that went into my products and selling those products exclusively at farmers' markets. In the summer of 2019, I purchased a building on Main Street in a tiny Iowa town and turned it into my licensed processing facility. With the license, I was finally able to sell my products online and in retailers. Later that year, I brought on my first contract growers to help expand my cricket supply. While 2020 has not been what any of us expected, I have still continued to grow the company. We successfully doubled 2019 sales in 3 quarters and are expecting a strong 4th quarter. We've increased our retail footprint from zero store to nearly 20 around the Midwest. We've shipped crickets to 45 states.

Angela Hill

Founder - INCITRIO

Q: What inspired you to found INCITRIO and what were the main challenges you faced?

As a working Mom of two kids under 2, I knew that I could not sustain an 8am-10pm M-Fri + some weekends work schedule. I had to make a decision. I could either let my husband raise the kids or I could start my own company to get work/life balance. I decided to start my business the year my 2nd child was born...when he was 3 months old! Having two kids in diapers and working in the living room was really hard, but each month got better and I became more successful over time which enabled me to get an office, hire employees, and finally gain the work/life balance that I was looking for.

Q: Did you start the venture alone?

I started completely alone with zero clue regarding how to start up a business. I reached back into my memories of all the agencies where I had worked before and made a list of “what not to do” so I didn’t make the same mistakes they did. Then, I hired a business and sales coach who taught me how to run my business and how to sell in a non pushy way. Here I am now, 16+ years later and still going strong!

Q: What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

My business model is 50% project based and 50% retainer based. The retainer revenue covers the expenses like payroll, office rent, insurance, software, office supplies, etc. The project revenue is almost pure profit and I can flex up or flex down based on my team’s capacity. I track utilization (billable hours) per employee and apply that percentage to my COGS. It’s made a huge difference for both my team and I to be focused on utilization because we know what numbers we need to hit to pay the bills, to ensure an even workflow, to take care of clients, when we need to staff up, and for them to ask for a raise!

Note: This article is part of a series. Check out the full series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13.