Minority-Led

Esports group acquires Local Legends, signaling gaming growth in flyover country

By Tommy Felts / June 18, 2020

A pipeline for Plains states gamers has been opened with the acquisition of Local Legends Gaming by the Unified Esports Association (UEA).  “We’ve been working Esports together for about a year and a half and kind of just realized that we have the exact same goals,” AbdulRasheed Yahaya, founder of Local Legends, said of the…

MADE to order: How KC’s top streetwear brand plans to fund therapy sessions for ‘our brothers and sisters’

By Tommy Felts / June 18, 2020

No health, no hustle, said Vu Radley, detailing MADE MOBB’s recently launched effort to fund free therapy sessions for members of the Black community. “Mental health isn’t something that’s talked about a lot within minority groups. For me, growing up, it wasn’t,” said Radley, co-founder of MADE, emphasizing newly heightened stress and super-charged anxiety for…

Westport facing dwindling foot traffic: Online sales will only get us so far, resilient entrepreneur says

By Tommy Felts / June 13, 2020

Matt Bramlette is stretched thin, bouncing between his two retail shops as Westport storefronts struggle to reopen after a pandemic-induced shutdown, protests that disrupted business and other unexpected challenges. “We rely on tourists and foot traffic — two things that are few and far between right now,” said Bramlette, owner of brick-and-mortar Mid Coast Modern and…

Pandemic pauses genre-bending band’s tour, but amplifies message of music as a business, form of activism

By Tommy Felts / June 12, 2020

In a world where empathy can be in short supply, the brothers behind Kansas City Latinx rock band Making Movies see music and songwriting as a way young people growing up in a divided country can level the playing field. The key is exposing them to mentors who can illustrate what’s possible, said Enrique Chi,…

Neelima Parasker planned for snow days — COVID came instead; How SnapIT is weathering the pandemic in a new space

By Tommy Felts / June 5, 2020

More than 20,000 square feet of silence greeted Neelima Parasker as she returned to work this week after Stay at Home orders lifted.  “Monday we opened up, but really, to very few people,” Parasker, CEO of SnapIT Solutions, said of the startup’s reentry to the traditional workforce — this time, inside a new office space…