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.
Spaceman
I started making hip-hop and R&B music when I was 13 in my bedroom in Lawrence, Kansas. A few years down the line, I decided to start leaning more into the hip-hop aspects of my music and rapping. Read more>>
Lisa Robinson
My journey into counseling was shaped by one of the most difficult experiences of my life…the unexpected loss of my husband. In the midst of grief, uncertainty, and rebuilding a future I never anticipated, I learned what it means to lean on God’s strength and trust His guidance one day at a time. Read more>>
Shaniqua Jackson
My journey into entrepreneurship really grew out of my experience in the hospitality and events industry. I’ve always enjoyed working with people, creating experiences, and being part of the behind-the-scenes work that makes an event successful. Over time, I realized that I wanted to take everything I had learned and build something of my own. That’s how Bars And More Hospitality Staffing began. Read more>>
Michelle Kloiber
My start goes back about 25 years ago. I remember not feeling right, like I was in a fog. I couldn’t remember things. I was constantly fatigued. I was moody and every little thing irritated me. I started having hot flashes at work. I went to the doctor, and they prescribed me progesterone. That was it. Read more>>
Alec West
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been a movie nerd. My earliest memories are staying up late and watching Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on VHS. I’ve had a few different YouTube channels over the years, my first was in 2007, which still has one video on it. Read more>>
FOE Vee
F.O.E VEE is an emerging hip-hop artist from Kansas City whose music reflects resilience, ambition, and the realities of overcoming adversity. Representing Forever Organic Entertainment (F.O.E.), he has built a reputation for delivering authentic records that combine street perspective, personal growth, and motivational themes with the unmistakable energy of the Midwest. Read more>>
Levi Sundquist
My love for music has always been there, I have always found myself attaching a lot of emotion and memories to music and certain songs from a very young age. I started becoming interested in music production and making my own music after discovering Skrillex, Flux Pavilion and other similar artists when I was 11. Read more>>
Travis Boggs
My story really begins with my dad, Bob Boggs, who founded Kenukan Academy in 1968. We’re the oldest martial arts school in Johnson County, Kansas, and I’m proud to carry that history forward. I grew up at Kenukan Academy in Olathe and started training under my father in 1986, when I was three years old. Read more>>
Katie Burgess
After having my first baby, I realized I had no idea how birth worked. Natural, physiological birth was a mystery to me, even though I had taken a hospital class and experienced a ‘successful’ induction. I hired a birth doula for my second and third births, and it absolutely changed my life. Read more>>
Daniela Babura
I spent the first eight years of my career in the corporate world, following a fairly traditional path, but travel was always a huge passion of mine. Eventually, I decided to step away from that life and spent several years travelling extensively abroad, including three years living in Australia. Read more>>
Michelle Gregor Mendiola
I’ve taken a somewhat unconventional path to where I am today, but looking back, there’s a very clear thread through all of it: I tend to see what a community needs, build something to meet that need, and then figure out how to make it sustainable beyond me. I’m a mother of three, a wife, an early childhood educator, and a longtime Leavenworth resident. Read more>>
Hope / Emily Davis / Ginavan
Our story began in 2017 when we met while coaching together at South KC Volleyball Club. At first, our friendship was built over a shared love of plants, dogs, and, of course, volleyball. Countless mornings were spent walking through the dog park, browsing local plant shops, and talking volleyball every step of the way. Then 2020 happened. Read more>>
Haley White
I had a summer where I had a lot of friends and family get married, and I kept seeing the same need: for a go-to person to help execute tasks and keep the timeline moving. Read more>>
Jason Fewin
I discovered picture framing while working for Hobby Lobby around 1990, when I was 17. I just fell in love with it. I had always enjoyed building things as a kid growing. Legos, model cars and airplanes, which led to comic books and art. As I became more interested in art is when I found framing and what you can accomplish with it. Read more>>
Hollyhood Molli
Hello, I’m Hollyhood Molli. I’m from Greensboro, NC. I started my career at the end of 2019 the start of 2020. Over the years I’ve grown immensely with streams, followers and subscribers. I hit a major milestone hitting over 33 million views on my viral song “hair done” on TikTok. Read more>>
Alexander Laughlin
Talking to spirits, offering psychic readings, and helping others heal wasn’t something I ever saw myself doing. In fact, I was freaked out by anything that had to do with spirits. Becoming a full-time actor was my dream, and in my high school and college days I was very passionate about making that happen. Read more>>
Kevin Hortizuela
Pro17 Barbershop was born during a season when I needed to rediscover myself and deepen my relationship with God. Shaped by my environment, I made choices that led to destructive habits and eventually prison. Read more>>
Rachel Rilinger
Nice to meet you! My name is Rachel and I am a board certified music therapist, accredited yoga instructor, Reiki master teacher, and a registered Yoga teacher. I played piano since I was a child and as I grew older began volunteering at various locations. I always had a love for helping people, and I built my career around just that. Read more>>
Todd Weiner
I started out in a 3rd generation family business living in the Philippines and Hong Kong learning about manufacturing. I became a buyer for seasonal decorations and managed a division of the company designing and marketing pre-lit artificial Christmas Trees. We had offices and showrooms in cities including Kansas City, Atlanta, Dallas,NYC, Minneapolis and China near Shenzhen. Read more>>
Cory Infinite
My name is Cory, and I am an artist from Kansas City, Missouri. I’ve always had a love for fashion and creating art. My mom kept a journal about me when I was a child, and on one of the pages she wrote that I was very particular about the clothes I wore and that I’d change my outfits multiple times a day. Read more>>
Olivia Jonah
Growing up, I loved reading. I spent my summer breaks in the library, and I still visit regularly. My mother often tells me that as a baby, nothing made me laugh more than hearing a ‘big word’ — especially a three‑syllable one. I have always loved stories, so somewhere in my heart I carried the quiet desire to write a book someday. Read more>>
Women in Film + Media Kansas City
This is the 4th generation of WIFM KC. It was originally founded in 2004, evolving through multiple iterations and names. Currently, this board primarily consists of actively working entertainment industry professionals, as well as related fields. Our aim is to not only support those in the beginning of their careers, but the middle and later stages too. Read more>>
Zainab Ezzeddene
My journey with Modern Oasis began in November 2024, when I made the decision to leave my corporate career and take a chance on something I had dreamed about for a long time: owning my own business. The idea for Modern Oasis came from something very personal. Read more>>
Chris Henrikson
I have been a professional photographer for over 20 years. I started in weddings, family, and model photography. Currently I am a dance photographer mainly and I have been doing dance photography for about 15 years. Read more>>
Phantom Pesos
This all started with a vision, it started in my brain, then I moved it to reality. I’ve made it this far based off of my hardwork & determination Read more>>
Illiyas Uthman Karabell
I started working in business at age eight and I have built a successful business career as a senior executive and shareholder of Karabell Industries (KBI). My focus is in wholesale and drop shipping along with energy, healthcare and technology. Read more>>
Grace Liu
Ten years ago, I came to Kansas City with almost nothing. Today, I have a business I am proud of, a family I am deeply grateful for, clients who believe in me, and a heart full of lessons that money could never buy. My story is not about how hard life was. It is about what happened because I refused to give up. Read more>>
Greazyfromthemo
I initially got introduced to music when I was about 2 years old , consistently patience and love for the game got me where I am today Read more>>
Sophia Tillman
I have had a very amazing life and my Faith in Jesus has carried me through everything. My dad, a successful real estate agent and Christian, man and my mother a faith filled woman, additionally, I have my older brother who has struggled with addiction issues Fast-forward to 2023 I got engaged to my now husband. Read more>>
Shelby White
I’ve been doing hair for over a decade, and honestly, my career has taken a few different turns to get me where I am today. Kansas City has always felt like home to me. Read more>>
Melissa Morris
My love for ballet started at a very young age. My mother Jeanette Pieknik was a ballet teacher and studio owner. I used to dance to ballet music as a toddler and started my 1st ballet class at age 3. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a ballet dancer. Read more>>
AnnaMarie Burkhart
My passion for holistic health really started through my own health journey. I experienced firsthand what it was like to know that something wasn’t quite right, but to be told that everything looked normal. Read more>>
Amanda Hughes
My name is Amanda, and I’m the owner and one of the bakers behind Dough’pamine Queens Bakery. The funny thing is, I never really set out with some big plan to own a bakery. Dough’pamine Queens was born during a time in my life when I was really just trying to figure out how to keep moving forward. In 2017, I was diagnosed with cancer. Read more>>
Ryan Lynch
I started playing in bands right out of high school. Originally, I focused on writing my own material and trying to cut it as a singer/songwriter. I had some minor success in the Kansas City area, but nothing that really felt sustainable. My dream early on was just to be able to be a full-time musician. Read more>>
Angie Foote
I began my career with My Gym Children’s Fitness Center as the Director of My Gym Huntington Beach, CA, a training center for new franchisees in 2001. I have been with My Gym for 26 years. Today, I own My Gym in Overland Park, KS and I am an Executive Vice President of both the Training and the Support Divisions of My Gym Enterprises. Read more>>
Lauren Bogner
I joined Keyhole Software in 2011 as the company’s 17th employee, shortly after graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in Journalism (Strategic Communication). Keyhole was still a small company then, and nearly everyone was a software developer working directly with clients. Read more>>
Michael Prideaux
I grew up in Liberty, and C.A.R.S. Inc. has been part of my life since my parents, Sean and Erin, started the business in 2007. I began by cleaning cars and the facilities, then gradually took on mechanical work and sales. Read more>>
Jason Phillip Scott Stalder
My father died of cancer in January of 2023. A few months before, I asked him if I could fly back to California to interview him – to make videos of him answering big questions about what he’d learned through fighting cancer, his life, what it meant. Everything. He told me he couldn’t be vulnerable like that. I’d tried writing fiction just out of college. Read more>>
Michelle Martin
Before I found spiritual work, I was desperately trying to figure out what I could offer the world and its many difficulties. I had become discouraged from spending time in environmental activism while the destruction of the natural world just seemed to increase. Read more>>
Russ McGuire
My career has been a wonderful mix of big corporate, small startup, and consulting gigs, with invigorating creative opportunities mixed in. I’ve been blessed to live and work through four major technology revolutions. When I was in college in the mid-1980s, when personal computers were still a new thing, all Engineering students at Virginia Tech were required to buy an IBM PC. Read more>>
Christina Oberle
Owner, Brenda Davis, always had a dream of owning a food truck. One year while sitting on vacation our phones started going off. Many of our friends that knew of this dream saw a food truck come up for sale locally and started tagging us in it. Read more>>
Aimee Bernstein
Looking back, my passions and careers have never really followed a straight line, but every chapter has been connected by the same purpose: helping people feel their best from the inside out. I’ve always loved fashion and design. Jewelry has fascinated me for as long as I can remember because I believe the right piece can completely transform how you feel. Read more>>
Samantha Oakes
I started Tattooing while I was working in a Pediatric Emergency Room in Tulsa, OK. I needed something to cop with the trauma I was enduring while working such a taxing job. I decide to move back to Kansas City in 2019 and continued to tattoo in my free time. Read more>>
Kami Satterlee
Steve and I always dreamed of buying a sailboat and traveling the world, but it was supposed to be our retirement plan. For 15 years, we saved, worked multiple jobs, and invested in real estate to make it happen. Then, around the time COVID hit, we thought, why wait? Read more>>
