Minority-Led

Streetwear-infused runway show hits 10 year-mark, building fashion family along the way

By Tommy Felts / May 20, 2025

High fashion met heartfelt passion on the runway Sunday with the return of the The Kritiq Fashion Show — a celebration of creativity, entrepreneurship and community spirit that not even a global pandemic (or family pressures) could undress. “This is our 10th year,” said Mark Launiu, co-founder of The Kritiq, as well as the Kansas…

KC GIFT’s $100K grant — its largest-ever — aims to help boost Black-owned job creator

By Tommy Felts / May 20, 2025

A newly opened $100,000 grant represents a significant step in Kansas City GIFT’s mission to close the racial wealth gap — investing in Black-owned businesses that have the potential to become significant employers and economic drivers in their communities, said Brandon Calloway. “We exist to right the wrongs of the past and create the economic…

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

By Tommy Felts / May 16, 2025

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…

Grab your Zhoug sauce: Lawrence-built eatery launching brand across KC (starting with this famous food spot)

By Tommy Felts / May 14, 2025

Shuttered for three years, the former d’Bronx pizzeria space — the now-defunct hometown brand’s original location along 39th Street’s famed “Restaurant Row” — is reopening Wednesday with a fresh look and flavors from the other side of the globe (via a Kansas college town). Zhoug Mediterranean is expected to debut its fare at 3904 Bell…

Meet the Kansas City entrepreneurs picked for DoorDash’s first Midwest accelerator

By Tommy Felts / May 13, 2025

DoorDash delivers $50K bag to 10 KC small biz leaders hungry to learn DoorDash is dropping support on Kansas City’s doorstep through a new cohort of 10 small businesses selected for the company’s local restaurant accelerator, marking the first time the nationwide initiative has landed in the Midwest — with KC chosen as its launchpad.…