Somerville Hotel groundbreaking, 1928
Getting Started
Getting Started
Taking a Leap of Faith into Entrepreneurship
Taking a Leap of Faith into Entrepreneurship
In these clips, business owners share their leap into entrepreneurship. For some, entrepreneurship began with continuing a family business they had been involved in since childhood. For others, business ownership meant taking a leap of faith and carving out a new life. For all, owning a business meant crafting an economic pathway and future. In the full interviews on the UCLA Library Center for Oral History Research website, business owners share not only how they took a leap of faith into entrepreneurship but also how they decided on the names and locations of their businesses, how they acquired startup money, and how they staffed and promoted their early businesses.
Bowers_Getting_Started.mp3Vivian Bowers, owner of Bowers and Sons Cleaners, on committing to a family business.
Brown_Getting_Started.mp3Jeanette Brown, owner of J'nette Quality Cleaners, on quitting the best job she ever had to become a business owner.
Coleman_Getting_Started.mp3Sharon Coleman, owner of Coleman Construction, Inc. and Coleman Equipment Rental, Inc., on the shock of realizing she was licensed to open a business.
Dulan_Getting_Started.mp3Gregory Dulan, owner of Dulan's on Crenshaw, on leaving a corporate career.
Galloway_Getting_Started.mp3William Galloway, owner (along with his wife, Brenda) of Summit Enterprises, on the anxieties of starting up a business.
Jeter_Getting_Started.mp3Lynn Allen Jeter, owner of Lynn Allen Jeter & Associates, on leaving Motown to go into business for herself.
Shay_Getting_Started.mp3Lonzia Shay, owner of Little Red Hen Coffee Shop, on the journey of taking over a business.