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.

Sophia Castman

My creative journey was driven by a deep, physical pull—one that resonated through my bones, urging me to create and express the worlds I saw from both a distance and up close. At the heart of this drive was a deep desire to express love through art, blending personal experiences with inspiring ideas. I found beauty in fusing these worlds across multiple mediums, always asking, “what if.” Read More>>

Lauren Coulson

I’ve wanted to learn silversmithing for as long as I can remember and once I taught myself the basics, I created enough jewelry to start signing up for markets and events. I had creative freedom to design jewelry of my own and when I started up the business in 2022, it took off and turned into my full-time job since. I now travel for certain shows and am able to apply to national and international art residencies. I just came back from Iceland where I was an artist in residence for the month of February! Read More>>

Rachel Anderson

As a mom of three small children, I was drowning in housework. I never felt caught up or like our home was clean. In an effort to get on top of everything, I asked my housekeeper to help me deep clean the whole place. Sadly, she was in the process of changing careers and the one person in my corner was about to step away. Read More>>

Chris Blair

I have always been an entrepreneur at heart. I started my first lawn mowing business when I was very young. But the thought behind The Listening Room was really just after I started playing shows around town and felt like something was missing in the sound, the food and the atmosphere – so I wanted to create something that was different and special. Read More>>