Entrepreneur flexes her creative strengths into visibility for Kansas City’s lupus warriors

Keisha Jordan refuses to be a wallflower in the fight against lupus, she said. The founder of Kansas City-based creative home design brand Complex Flavors, Jordan is working to raise awareness this month with her own story as an entrepreneur-turned-lupus warrior. 

“We just want everybody to know that Kansas City has not forgotten about the lupus community,” she said, noting she sees her role as both a resource and a rallying voice for others navigating the chronic autoimmune disease. “We hear you, we see you. We want you to feel seen.”

As the first local representative on the Regional Lupus Council of the Heartland Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America, Jordan is combining her artistry and advocacy to uplift a community that has often felt unseen.

“This community is so vast and vague,” Jordan said. “I think the biggest thing is to let them know that we care and we’re here to support and provide them with whatever resources and information we can, so we’re all one family.”

Click here to learn more about lupus and its impacts. May is Lupus Awareness Month.

Christy Fath, Heartland Chapter, Lupus Foundation of America

Though the Heartland Chapter has long served the Kansas City area, it lacked a strong local leadership presence, until Jordan stepped in. Christy Fath, the chapter’s regional director and lupus warrior, emphasized how impactful that shift has been.

“We have Keisha as our first person from Kansas City, representing the Kansas City community,” Fath said. “She did a fantastic presentation at the last (support group) meeting around a documentary that she created about living with lupus, so the community has really been engaged in that way.”

In 2022, Jordan created a documentary “The Wolves + the Butterflies: Lupus Diaries” to explore the emotional realities of living with lupus, for both patients and their support networks, aiming to give voice and visibility to those who have been impacted and educate others who have not.

Visibility through art

Through her business, Complex Flavors, Jordan creates deeply personal art that reflects the lupus journey. One standout piece, The Epic Tale of the Ultra-Violet Warrior, was featured in the citywide Parade of Hearts public art project in 2024 and resonated deeply with viewers, she said, including a man who purchased it as a tribute to his wife, a lupus patient.

“People who don’t have lupus or didn’t know anything about lupus, they saw the heart and were just completely moved by it,” Jordan said. “One half of it was the wolf and the other side of it, you see the beautiful warrior — she’s overcome the ravaging of this disease.”

Jordan’s artwork has also made an impact at the Lupus Foundation’s gala last year, where she donated a piece that ignited a bidding war and became one of the night’s highest-grossing auction items.

“It visually represents what people feel but can’t always express,” said Fath. “You do feel so invisible at times. Her creativity speaks so much to people living with the disease, and we’re so lucky that she shares that with us.”

Filling the education gap, one story at a time

Lupus is a complex autoimmune disease that often takes years to diagnose and affects every patient differently. Because of this, Jordan sees education, particularly in underserved communities, as a top priority for the council.

Jordan highlighted the emotional and systemic barriers many face, especially in the Black community.

“There’s a systemic disconnect where people of color don’t feel like they have the right resources or doctors, or they feel dismissed when first diagnosed, which can take almost 11 years,” she said.

Fath echoed those concerns, noting how isolating the disease can be.

“There is no known cause or cure for lupus, and everybody has a different experience,” she said. “It can make people feel unseen and unheard.”

Despite the challenges, Fath sees progress in treatment and awareness.

“Up until 2011, there were no drugs specifically to treat lupus,” she said. “Now, we have 141 projects in the pipeline. I feel more hopeful than I have in a really long time.”

Keisha Jordan, Complex Flavors; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News

Purple rules in KC

The Foundation’s largest Kansas City event, the Walk to End Lupus Now in September, is more than just a fundraiser. It’s a space where hundreds of people, from patients to caregivers, come together, said Aly Goforth, director of development for the organization.

Aly Goforth, Heartland Chapter, Lupus Foundation of America

“It’s just a great event where people feel empowered, they come together, they walk,” Goforth said. “Every individual that comes out is not only receiving support, but giving it to someone else.”

This year’s walk aims to raise $50,000, with Children’s Mercy Hospital serving as the headline sponsor thanks to its leading pediatric rheumatology program. But Jordan hopes the awareness stretches beyond walk day.

“We just don’t want people to feel like it’s just a pop-up every time we do our walk,” she said. “We want to make that deep connection to the community. Even if it’s just putting on purple for Lupus Awareness Month, that makes a huge impact.”

With KC-based vendors participating, Jordan and the Heartland Chapter envision future partnerships that strengthen community ties.

“We’re trying to build that community aspect, and to bring more awareness to lupus,” Jordan said. “Purple rules in Kansas City.”