Profiles

April Boyd-Noronha

KCultivator Q&A: April Boyd-Noronha opens up on access to technology, authentic change

By Tommy Felts / November 30, 2018

Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by WeWork Corrigan Station, a modern twist on Kansas City office space.Awakening education and business potential while in your pajamas is an unexpected side effect of rapid technological advancement, said April…

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AbdulRasheed Yahaya, Local Legends Gaming

VIDEO: Local Legends makes brick-and-mortar play with new Westport gaming center

By Tommy Felts / November 26, 2018

A popular E-Sports startup plans to level up sooner than its founder ever envisioned — putting Local Legends Gaming on Main Street. But this time, it’s wheels up, said AbdulRasheed Yahaya. “We really want to introduce Kansas City to the big, E-Sports brand and how social [gaming] really is,” Yahaya said of his new brick-and-mortar…

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Bo Nelson, Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters

Startup connector Thou Mayest closing Crossroads coffee shop, hints at new flagship

By Tommy Felts / November 20, 2018

Thou Mayest plans to shutter its Crossroads coffee shop — a popular collision point for startup leaders and community members — on Christmas Eve, founder Bo Nelson said this week, teasing a pivot to an enhanced wholesale operation and search for a new retail home. “This has been an amazing year of change for Thou…

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Photo courtesy of Epic Aloha

Epic Aloha: KC startup opens interactive, photo-ready experience in Hawaii’s biggest hotel

By Tommy Felts / November 20, 2018

Surrounded by lush Hawaiian scenery, Epic Aloha waves to vacationers with an unexpected ask: Trade the Waikiki sunshine for another kind of island escape. “It’s a really hard concept to talk about. It’s such a visual thing,” said Matt Baysinger, searching for words to describe the 6,000-square-foot Epic Aloha experience space. “Is it a selfie…

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Ann O’Meara, Fantastic 55, seniorpreneurs

‘Don’t shut yourself off’: Seniorpreneurs reveal power in age, experience, savings

By Tommy Felts / November 17, 2018

Figure out what you love to do and monetize it, Ann O’Meara told a room of entrepreneurs looking for advice on starting their second act after retirement. Seniorpreneurs — entrepreneurs over the age of 50 — are working to turn their lifelong hobbies into cash flow, O’Meara, CEO of Fantastic 55, revealed during a Global…

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