Complex risks bring community kudos for creative entrepreneur honored by KC Chamber

Keisha Jordan didn’t know what saying “yes” to a job in Kansas City would unlock when she first relocated in 2020, she said, reflecting on a full-circle moment Tuesday after winning a top arts honor from the KC Chamber during its celebration of small business and entrepreneurs.

“I trusted God, trusted the universe, and it’s just kept getting better,” said Jordan, founder of Complex Flavors Home + Life.

She didn’t expect to hear her name called at Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Celebration Tuesday, even as the 2025 Luminary Arts & Creative Small Business Award was being announced from the stage, she said.

The award, presented this year by Dana Knapp, president and CEO of ArtsKC, recognizes artist-led businesses that combine creativity, originality, and community impact. Knapp’s intro teased the award-winner’s industry — catching Jordan’s attention.

“When she said ‘interior design,’ my heart stopped. Really, all of me stopped,” she said. “This has been such an amazing journey, from moving here and just trying to find community.”

Keisha Jordan, Complex Flavors, pitches in April 2024 during the Porter House KC’s Pitch Night event; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Jordan moved to Kansas City from Chicago with no friends or family nearby. But she arrived with a bold idea: to design spaces that tell stories of Black culture.

In 2019, she launched Complex Flavors Home + Life, a brand that blends interior design with heritage and identity to transform rooms into deeply personal environments. 

That vision — told through her ‘Afro-Futuristic Pop Art’ aesthetic — has led to standout projects for actress Issa Rae’s South LA home and hip-hop artist Big Boi’s Dungeon Family House. 

“I’m proud of saying ‘yes,’” she said. “Saying ‘yes’ can be scary, especially when you don’t know what’s on the other side. I literally started from zero. I had to rediscover who I was and what I was capable of. I had to convince myself that I was more than I thought I was, and I did.”

A celebration of creative entrepreneurship

Knapp described the Luminary Award as a tribute to bold, creative entrepreneurship in Kansas City.

“This award honors artist-founded and artist-run businesses that produce original work, maintain ownership of their own intellectual property, and enrich our community through creative expression,” the arts leader said.

Jordan stood out, Knapp added, for her “urban opulence with personal narrative,” a signature style that shines through Complex Flavors’ home décor, wallpaper collections, and interior transformations.

 

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Riley Brain, Wandering Bud, left, accepts the KC Chamber’s first-ever Luminary Art and Creative Small Business Award; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

The award itself is a custom sculpture, crafted by smokeware ceramicist Riley Brain, founder of Wandering Bud and recipient of the first Luminary Award in 2024. The piece symbolizes the intersection of art and business.

“Creating a tangible representation of the Luminary Arts Award presented a challenge that mirrors my ceramic work with Wandering Bud: seamlessly blending art and commerce,” Brain said.

From the archives: Smokeware ceramicist wins Chamber’s new arts award

Each feather of the sculpted trophy, inspired by the iconic shuttlecocks at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, was hand-painted in the Chamber’s brand colors. A woven pattern at the base includes the ‘caduceus’, the classical symbol of commerce, finished in gold and mother-of-pearl glaze.

The award was one of five speciality honors presented Tuesday alongside the coveted Small Business of the Year or “Mr. K Award”.

Click here to learn more about the other 2025 award winners.

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

Redefining what’s possible

In addition to running her business, Jordan serves on the Regional Lupus Council for the Heartland Chapter of The Lupus Foundation, a role that further reflects her dedication to making a difference as she uses her voice and artistry to support others living with chronic illness.

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Winning the Luminary Award, she said, reinforces her belief that reinvention has no age limit, and that Kansas City is the right place to make bold new beginnings.

“The biggest thing with this whole journey: I am in my 40s; you’re never too old to start a business,” said Jordan. “You’re never too old to rediscover yourself.” 

“With this win, I want to do more in Kansas City,” she continued. “This city is going through a kind of rebirth right now, and I want to be part of that and bring people along for the journey.”

Although she’s a Chicago native, Jordan now feels deeply connected to Kansas City, a place where she’s building something meaningful and lasting.

“I want to bring people along the journey with me. I’m from Chicago, but at the same time, I’m still a Midwest girl,” she emphasized. “I still have dreams and humbleness like everybody else.”