Rimgaile Aciene
Honestly, I’ve never planned to own a fashion boutique and especially in America as I was born and raised in Lithuania. But life is full of unexpectedness! I moved to the States eight years ago with my husband and a one-year-old son when my mother-in-law got us GC. We were excited and full of plans! However, there is one good adage – You may plan but God decides 🙂 And even though nothing came out as we expected, we can’t complain either. I graduated with MS in Psychology in 2013 while working in logistics company. I had some huge plans for my career but as a rule – those plans were adjusted. Read more>>
Mansoor Anjarwala and Adnan Adamji
I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur and had envisioned of building my own company. With my experience in Technology and Marketing while working at enterprise corporations as well as Management Consulting and digital agencies, I wanted to bring similar value and experience at much lower cost to some of the mid to small sized organizations who can’t afford companies like Accenture and Digitas of the world. In 2014, I finally took the plunge and started Xcelacore as a marketing agency focused on delivering analytics based solutions. I soon discovered that being a one person company and trying to open doors into larger organization is extremely difficult. Read more>>
Marci Myers
I started my framing business in 1986 when I was in college. My parents owned a needlework store and wanted to add a framing department. I participated in seminars and taught myself the art of framing, later opening a framing department within their store. It was a perfect fit for me because I have an art degree and I enjoy expressing design through framing. Along with spending time with family and traveling, framing is one of my biggest passions in life. I have been in the framing business for over 30 years, and I recently rebranded my business last year as MM Frame Co. Read more>>
Michael Eichenberg
I began training in martial arts 40 years ago. I spent most of my martial arts training in Ninjutsu. My former teacher Stephen K. Hayes is a Black Hall of Fame Member and viewed by many as the Western world’s foremost authority on the ninja. I joined the USMC after high school and served as a Security Forces Team Leader. Upon getting out of the service, I attended and graduated from ESI, Executive Security International and later became an executive protection agent for a multi-billionaire and his family. I also spent time on an armed response team at a nuclear facility in MI. Read more>>
Eric Rieger
WEBIT was born in June of 1996 under the name Titanic Enterprises. We oddly enough began as a sports apparel company that a close friend of mine and I started. It never really took off but as my career in the software field was evolving, I started having more “IT Consulting” work coming through the business. It wasn’t long before I had to choose a path and decided to make the business a full time IT Solutions provider. We changed the name officially to WEBIT Services (Titanic wasn’t a name that instills confidence in anyone) and back in 2005 began offering full Managed Technology Solutions to the Chicagoland area. Read more>>
Colleen Scheive
In second grade Dr. Scheive was doing an anatomy class at the local community college when she dissected a pig and thought it was the COOLEST experience, that is what got her into the medical field! She has worked in nursing homes, hospitals, and even her dad’s office! Dentistry runs in the Scheive family and has been a passion of hers since she was in high school and first worked as an assistant in her father’s oral surgery office. Dr. Scheive loves her job, strives to give clear, candid consultations, and aims to put her patients at ease. Dr. Colleen Scheive received her degree in dental medicine from Temple University in Philadelphia. Read more>>
Kelly Taylor
My path to becoming a massage therapist is a long and winding one. Growing up, my dad had Type I (juvenile) diabetes and many of the complications associated with that. This experience gave me an interest in health care, but I didn’t feel nursing or becoming a doctor were the right fit for me. Instead, I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations. During my college years, I came to realize that as much as I love politics, I’m not the right temperament to work in the political field. Being a quick learner, I easily entered the IT field (this was in 1998). For the next 15 years, I worked in various capacities in IT – help desk to network administration. Read more>>
Jeff Kauck
I started my artistic career as a watercolorist, which sparked my fascination with simulating daylight and my sense of composition. Fast forward many years, I started my photography business with my wife and Producer/Stylist, Sue, decided to specialize in food photography because food is most similar to the subjects that I loved painting and years later, here we are! It wouldn’t be a 30+ year old business without a few challenges along the way, but all in all, it has been a wonderful ride. All challenges, like Sue and I using our “wedding funds” to buy studio lights, are now just laughs and nostalgic memories. Read more>>
Anu Mahajan
TinkRworks was actually formed as a result of a discussion I had with my younger son, Ravi, who was 8 years old at the time (he is now 11). Amazing how an 8-year old can inspire the creation of a company! Back in 2014, I vividly remember driving on a rainy day with both of my boys in the car. I was driving Rohan, my older boy (now 13 years old, but back then, 10 years old) to a laser-tag birthday party. After dropping him off, the rain began to come down harder and I told Ravi that rather drive in the pouring rain, that we were going to go grab lunch somewhere while the rain subsided. Read more>>
Rhonda Sisson
I found Music Together classes as a mom of two in 2005. I took my little ones to classes with the beloved teacher/founder of Wee Heart Music and knew right away (I had tried several other music classes in the area) that Music Together was perfect for our family. We attended classes through the pregnancy and birth of our third baby and really appreciated the free-sibling-under-9-months deal! Even after my daughter started preschool, she loved listening to the music at home with her brothers and seeing what stamp they had on their hands on our highly anticipated “music class days.” Read more>>
Barbara Keenan Loster
It’s been a long journey finding my passion for acupuncture and developing my gift of intuition. After spending many years in the hospitality industry and suffering health issues, failures, and my fair share of life lessons, I decided to go back for my Masters in my 50’s. On my first day in school I was smiling within and without like a Cheshire cat because I knew I found my life path and haven’t looked back since! Definitely has not been a smooth road owning my own business. When I first opened, I had no business experience or a planned budget. I had start-ed up with slim seed money. But being the optimistic idealist, I thought “I can do this”. Read more>>
Thor Conner
I have always been drawn to be a healer. From a young age, I learned the healing power of touch and that I had a knack for comforting people who were suffering. I started formalizing my learning with an apprenticeship in Reiki, then massage school. Massage school sparked my interest in natural medicine, which I explored while working at a health food store and running the supplement department. Eventually, my interest led me to become a naturopathic doctor, which I have found to be a good fit for my many eclectic skills. I have continued my education with a certification as a Nutrition Specialist. Read more>>
Brook Jay
My business partner, Sarah, and I were working at an event company that was hired to produce all the events inside the Athletes Village for the ‘96 Olympic Games in Atlanta Georgia. Day in and day out we would walk into the Athlete’s Village with VIPs and production people and be bombarded by brand messaging from the sponsors of the games that was all “shouting” and one-way conversations. The only messaging to break this mold ended up being right outside our production trailer. It was a 20×20 ft. wall with cubbyholes and each cubbyhole had a flag of a country that was participating in the Olympics and t-shirts stuffed inside. Read more>>
Jason Tipner
I was running the creative department for an agency that specialized in new home builders. In 2008, we were forced to close because of the housing market crash. JET started small working with a few of the clients that were non home builders. 9 years later our staff has grown and we still have three of our original team members -our lead developer, lead designer and book keeper. I know this is because of the quality of the environment at JET. I believe the key to our success has been our high level of integrity. Everyone wants to work with a professional that can be trusted. This is true for mechanics, doctors, lawyers and marketing firms. Read more>>
Dr. Bong Phetchamphone
I have always been interest in helping people. I know that I work better w/ people in an individual base. I also knew that I work better by myself so I became a business owner. I went to a lot of schooling to do w/ I’m currently still learning everyday. I guess that is why they call it “practice”. When I came out of schools, I had many student loans and trying to start a new business. With some help from my mother and uncle, I was able to open my door to start seeing patients. Read more>>
Gus Fernandes
I grew up in Brazil as a top national junior player in the country and a top 10 junior player in the world participating in the US Open, French Open and Wimbledon. Then I was recruited to play college for LSU where I was ranked top 5 NCAA player. I also played in the pro tour before graduating from college in 1997 and moving to Chicago where I worked in corporate America for near 10 years. In my years working in corporate America I groomed my business skills and quickly identified a huge demand for an all integrated tennis program for players wanting to play college and professional. Read more>>
