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.

 Melissa Pennington | Founder and Passionate People Advocate

When I decided to start my own business, my driving force was a clear need I identified during my 20-plus years in the HR field. Throughout my career, I observed that many small businesses and nonprofits struggled with the high costs of essential services such as DEI consulting and HR functions. Often, these organizations simply could not afford these services, yet not having them could lead to significant liabilities—both financially and in terms of organizational health. Read more>>

Halle Tischler | Licensed Landscape Architect

Thinking about starting a business can be daunting, especially starting one on your own without business partners! COVID actually gave me the kick in the pants to go out on my own and start building my own business after I was bumped down to a per diem landscape designer at the company I had worked at for 6 years in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We were also building a house in the Raleigh, North Carolina area and were planning an impending move which, amongst the chaos of COVID and moving to a different state, turned out to be the perfect time to start a new business venture on my own. Read more>>

MyAngel Mitchell | Dance Instructor , Tumbling Coach , Mentor

I started my business in 2017. But since I finished my Honors Classes Early My Last Semester of High School in 2015 I was able to finish early but I took 1 class instead Honors Dance after class was over I would get dress and ride the city bus to my job Wendy’s were I was training to be a manager . Once I graduated I got a scholarship to Wilmington school of Ballet . I went there and also picked up a second job. For two years I kept working two jobs I ended up at Wendy’s and Walmart . I was a overnight stocker at Walmart and I was exhausted one night while stocking I was thinking of ways I could make my own money and make it fun, I was tired of working for people and wanted to work for myself . I realized it was two things I enjoyed the most and that was dance and kids . So I thought “ hmmmmm how about I teach kids to do what I love to do “ When I was younger I had anger issues , I had ADHD I was full of energy and needed a great release . Once I began dancing I no longer had uncontrollable anger issues or ADHD . So I just knew this would be great for the younger generation so I got to it . I found a building and started as a small group organization at first. I’m from Wilmington NC where I started so it was no problem finding some kids that need a positive extracurricular activity. My first class was February 1st 2017 and today is April 4th 2024 I still continue With My LLC ( MY ANGELS DANCE COMPANY LLC ) Read more>>