Built in Boise launched in 2014 with the hope of telling the stories behind Boise businesses and startups — and more so, profiling the people who started them. We promised to avoid covering trendy office spaces and technical startup jargon. Instead, the stories would focus on the challenges, failures and successes of being an entrepreneur in Boise.

Necessity, the cliche goes, is the mother of invention. For Bella Modi founder Kim Mitchell-Catlett, necessity hit the day the strap broke on favorite pair of shoes.

Karie Boesiger bakes a mean cookie. As a child, she spent summer days with her grandmother learning to bake. Those summers stuck with her. “To this day, I just love to make people happy through baking,” Karie says. So in 2005, she decided to make a job of it with business partner (and mother-in-law) Kris Boesiger, whom she had previously worked with on a line of locally made mustards, called Mom’s Mustard. This time though, they went after something a little bit sweeter.

After more than 20 years in financial services, Brian Wiley knew something had to change. What he didn’t realize — at least initially — is that it was him.

While most of his classmates were frantically applying for jobs before graduation, polishing resumes and editing cover letters, Zach Voss was starting his own business. “I formed the [limited liability corporation] with the state of Idaho the last semester of school,” Zach says, “I transitioned from being a student to a small business owner.”

We’ve all seen it: an athlete twists an ankle, and then TV announcers use instant replay to analyze what could have happened. Over. And over. And over again. Like most of us, Chris Dean quickly grew tired of watching such replays. But one day, while watching an NBA game at his brother’s house in San Jose, Calif., he started seeing the replay of one player’s ankle roll differently.

Lawyers are expensive. Gary Allen, who has been a practicing attorney for over 30 years and partner at Boise law firm Givens Pursley, understands why.

By the time Rocky Detwiler hit his 30s, he was already a millionaire. Then the phone rang…

For Annalisa DeMarta and Ken Johnson, family camping trips have transformed into a family business: LoneCone.com, an e-tailer focused on outdoor gear for the whole family. The company, which sells through Amazon, it’s own website and — beginning in May — a retail showroom in Boise, is now a profitable, growing and well-respected retailer. But it wasn’t always this way...

There is a saying that the best day in a boat owner’s life is the day they buy it. The next best is the day they sell it. Kyle Sales says he has a new “best day” for owners of boats, jet skis and recreational vehicles: The day they find Outdoor Toy Share.

On the fourth floor of Boise State University’s College of Engineering building is an organization that doesn’t go by any one name. It all depends on who you ask.

Four years. That’s how long Roger Hancock went without a paycheck. Not just an employer’s paycheck, any paycheck.