Josie Diamandis is originally from Buenos Aires, where she learned to make empanadas at her mother’s side. When she moved to Connecticut in 1997, she brought that recipe with her, tweaking it to make it her own. Diamandis served her homemade and healthy empanadas to friends and family, who encouraged her to cook up a business. So she did some casual market research, a tasting at Brendan’s 101. When 1,200 orders came in the following week, her company, Josie’s Empanadas, was born. Sold frozen and offered in nine varieties, each with a delightfully light and flaky crust, this ultimate comfort food can be ordered for delivery or found in local shops such as Fishtales in New Canaan. josiesempanadas.com.
Sarina Galu’s business was also conceived in her home. When one of her young sons began having nightmares, Galu crafted a pillow with a pocket for a journal. Then she instituted a new bedtime routine: She and her son talked about the good things he wanted to dream about. She wrote his hopes in the journal and slipped it back into the pocket while whispering their new mantra, “positive thoughts, positive dreams.” Eventually the nightmares ceased, and she came away with a strategy for helping her child ease his fears. Galu turned her discovery into a business called Tuckadream Pillow. tuckadream.com