Every day we have a choice. We can support an up and coming podcaster, try a new family-run restaurant, join a boutique gym started by a local fitness champ or we could keep giving away our money to the handful of giants who already control so much of our commerce. Our daily decisions impact the kind world we live in; if we want a world where small businesses are growing and artists and creatives are thriving then we should support them with our time, money and attention. We’re proud to highlight inspiring creatives and entrepreneurs each week in Hidden Gems series. Check out some of our latest local gem features below.
Jeevan Dhaker
I was born and raised in a small town in Rajasthan, India. From a young age, I always felt that I wanted to do something different and meaningful with my life. When I was 12 years old, I left my family home to continue my education in another city. Read more>>
Christine Williams
Our story started 40 years ago. I was in school for Floral Design and management. I was loving working with flowers and wanted to look earn to grow flowers also to be able to use them in my design work for weddings. Before long I realized I needed to grow food as well to feed my kids daily, even a couple times a day. Read more>>
Skylar German
I started coaching junior athletes in beach volleyball in 2023 – I started with just 2 athletes that came to trainings consistently and it steadily grew year over year. We outgrew all of the beach volleyball facilities in our rural city of Manhattan, KS, and I had the dream to build an 8-court beach volleyball bar and grill. Read more>>
Caitlyn Stuck
I have been in the salon industry for over a decade at this point and it’s been such a journey. Read more>>
Hannah Noland
Hi! I’m Hannah Noland. I am a wife, mom, and content creator, and I have also begun pursuing acting. I have always had a deep love for movies and television and the impact that stories can have on people during different seasons of life. I’ve always been especially drawn to stories that make people feel something deeply, whether that’s joy, inspiration, connection, or even fear. Read more>>
Alexis Barclay
I moved to KC 30 years ago. Ikicked off your music career in 2000, and by 2007, I started working with Smiles Change Lives, helping kids get orthodontic care. And you’ve stuck with them for almost two decades now. Read more>>
Jennifer Yarbrough
I have always been an outside kind of girl. So, naturally having a career where I spend most of my time outside and meeting new people is highly enjoyable. My husband and I bought our first property in 2010 and built a home on it. Being a contractor’s daughter, this was a dream. Read more>>
Ayrcyia
I’ve always been creative. I like to tease that I was drawing pictures on the inside of my mother’s womb. It’s very natural for me to gravitate towards hobbies, spaces and people who also share interests in the arts. At the time when my interest first peaked around wearable art, the hobby, was mostly occupied by men, and the wearable art was called cosplay armor. Read more>>
Hayley Lewis
Sports have always been a part of who I am. I grew up in the Midwest as a coach’s kid, spending Friday nights on the sidelines watching my dad coach football and weekends cheering on my brother as he played. Some of my earliest memories are on football fields, in locker rooms, and around the incredible communities that sports create. Read more>>
Dyana Barnett
I was born and raised in Kansas, graduated high school early, and became a CNA. I have always had a passion for caring for others, and it started at a young age because my mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when I was in elementary school. Read more>>
Nona Yehia
I’m an architect by training, and for most of my life my worldview has been shaped by my brother Nabil, who was born with developmental disabilities. Growing up alongside him, I saw early how few real opportunities existed for people like him. It wasn’t a lack of ability, but a lack of open doors. That stayed with me. Read more>>
Barbara Wright
My journey has always been about helping people turn meaningful ideas into sustainable opportunities. Over the years, my work expanded far beyond traditional grant writing. Through Certified Dream Builder, Inc. and Certified Wealth Builder, LLC, I help nonprofits and social entrepreneurs build the capital, structure, and strategies they need to strengthen their organizations and create lasting change in their communities. Read more>>
Neri Centeno
My journey in the events industry began in 2011, when I attended a free balloon-decoration course. From that very first class, I felt a special connection—balloons and I simply clicked. I discovered not only a way to express my creativity, but also an opportunity to transform spaces, celebrate meaningful moments, and connect with people. Read more>>
Becca Ferguson
Where do you want me to start? I’ve lived many lives! I became a therapist because I understood what it felt like to need support, not because I had everything figured out. My path has been shaped by my own experiences with trauma, burnout, identity, ADHD, and trying to meet expectations that did not always leave much room for being human. Read more>>
Hunter Farrell
I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of design, business, and the way people experience the built environment. That curiosity led me to earn my Master of Architecture and has shaped every step of my career since. Today, I serve as a Project Manager, leading projects from early feasibility and entitlement through permitting and construction administration. Read more>>
Paul Kim
There was this kid in algebra class who always had a sketchbook on top of his textbook and was sketching clothes with colored pencils while the teacher was lecturing about the next formula. Read more>>
Krissy Frewin
I have owned a franchise – 2B Organized KC – for the last 8 years. It has been an amazing experience, but I was ready for a new challenge and the flexibility to create a business that feels unique to me and my team. I’m excited to introduce Coastless Living Co, where we provide for you an elevated and luxurious home experience, sans coast. Read more>>
Casey Snyder
I started my work with Zip KC as a Scare Actor for their haunted trail experience, Exiled: Trail of Terrors, during their 2020 haunt season. Read more>>
Chelan David
As a child, I loved to read. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother reading aloud to me and of summer afternoons spent wandering the aisles of the library, searching the shelves for treasures. Books about sports were always my favorite but I devoured nearly everything. That early love of stories eventually led me to major in journalism at the University of Kansas. Read more>>
Chrishawn Hollis
I’ve always been interested in content creation\. When I was around 11 or 12, I would come home from school and stream video games on a streaming site named Mixer because I grew up watching YouTubers and thought what they did was cool\. Read more>>
Haley Burke
My name is Haley Burke. I’m a guitarist, singer, and songwriter from Kansas City, and while my music is rooted in the blues, I pull a lot from rock, country, Americana, and really anything that inspires me. I actually didn’t start playing guitar until 2021. Read more>>
Brooke Revuelta
If someone had told me a few years ago that pickleball would become my career, I probably would’ve laughed. I grew up playing tennis from the age of four and spent over 13 years competing as a junior, eventually becoming captain of my high school varsity team and winning state championships. Read more>>
Courtney Thuston
My martial arts journey began when I was 9 years old. Like many kids, I walked into my first class without realizing it would completely shape the course of my life. What started as an after-school activity quickly became a passion, and over the years I learned that martial arts is about so much more than punches and kicks. Read more>>
Nettie Zan
There’s a million diversions along the path I walked to this day: casino pit boss, peanut butter factory worker, touring poet, performance art venue boss applesauce, best mathematician of my graduating college class, teaching physics labs at KU … so many stories to tell. Read more>>
Christin Young
My path wasn’t a straight line. When I reached a point in my life when my children were in middle and high school, I knew it was time to figure out what going back to work would look like. I wanted to do something that was meaningful, but I also needed the flexibility to be available for my family. Read more>>
Etienne Warnery
I am French, born and raised, and for a long time photography was not the plan professionally, just a nice hobby I started back in 2006. I trained as a mechanical engineer and spent years designing mountain bikes for Lapierre, GT, Cannondale, Specialized. The GT Fury 2013 downhill bike is still the project I am proudest of. I loved that work. Read more>>
Sonya Weisshappel
In 1999, Sonya Weisshappel founded Seriatim, a relocation and transition management company that helps families and institutions navigate complex moves with empathy and precision. Dedicated to calming the chaos of Collecting, Harmonizing, Appraising assets, Organizing, and Securing what families and individuals value most, both financially and emotionally, Sonya developed Seriatim’s proprietary inventory process to help clients minimize risk and maintain control during major transitions. Read more>>
Stephen Caruso
We are a brother-sister duo whose interest in food and cooking started at a young age. We spent many weekends in the kitchen with our parents, rolling meatballs and dipping way too much bread in the sugo. Growing up, our family was small, but we saw many pictures and heard stories of our grandparents hosting big Sunday dinners, the St. Read more>>
Marsha Whitford
My story begins with growing up in poverty and dysfunction. There was a lot of chaos and confusion in my childhood, and because of that, I’ve always had a heart for people who are struggling. I know what it feels like. In my mid-to-late twenties, I was a single mom with three little ones at home. Read more>>
Felicity Hendricks
My journey with Modern Colonics really started with my own health struggles. I was dealing with a lot of health issues and realized I wanted to take my healing into my own hands. That led me to enroll at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a certified health coach. Read more>>
Keith Mays
A few years back, right before I turned 60, I found myself at a crossroads. I’d just lost a job at a local mission-based non-profit, a place I’d worked for more than 20 years. I could find a new job and put my skills to use for another organization. Or, I could put them to use for myself. Read more>>
Nikki Moreno-Whipple
I began my career in photography in 2006 and ran a business called Vixen Pin-Up Photography for nearly 15 years. During the pandemic, I experienced a profound period of loss and transition—I lost my mother and faced my own health challenges, which ultimately led me to close my studio. Read more>>
Becky Gripp
Eleven years ago a priest was seeking employment opportunities for the women in his parish who had several barriers to employment. I agreed to work with them and landed on the art of tamale making. We decided to focus on one product and do it well. We make handmade authentic tamales tamales year round, sharing the tradition and bridging a cultural divide. Read more>>
Chloe Parrish
My story with music goes way back. From what my mother says. I’ve been singing since 4 years old. I believe my love of Disney movies helped with that! Around age 9 or 10, I ran into Alicia Keys and it was over from there. Besides music being the love of my life, I really started focusing on singing more after finding her. Read more>>
Benjamin Dutill
In February of 2022, I decided to create a YouTube channel for reviewing horror movies, but I came up with the conclusion that was not good enough and that I should take it to a whole new level. I wanted to interview actors from each sub-genre of horror, but I did not even know where to start. Read more>>
