How This Woman Sourced Inspiration for Fabric From Her Father's Drawings Sometimes, the greatest business ideas are found at home.

Andra Eggleston was a trained textile designer but recent career moves took her far afield -- movie actress and user-interface designer. After a move to Nashville, she was wondering: What's next? For inspiration, and to pass the time, she started making weekly trips to Memphis to visit her dad, William Eggleston, the photographer widely credited with popularizing color photography as an art form.

William also did drawings, and Andra began scanning the pieces to preserve them. Then she started playing with them. She enlarged one image, adjusted the colors and turned it into a pattern. "I said, "Dad, look at this!'," she recalls. "And he said, "Goddamn it, that's beautiful. What is it?' I said, "That's your drawing.' And he was shocked."

She knew her next career move: Andra turned those designs into fabrics, which she had produced in the U.S. on Belgian linen, and in 2013 launched her textile business called Electra Eggleston. ("Electra" was the name her father wanted for his daughter. Mom vetoed it.) The work has attracted international press, and she's expanded her offerings every year since. She now has a showroom in Los Angeles, is looking to open one in New York and expects to become profitable this year.