Profiles

April Boyd-Noronha

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

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…

AbdulRasheed Yahaya, Local Legends Gaming

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

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…

Bo Nelson, Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters

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

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…

Photo courtesy of Epic Aloha

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

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…

Ann O’Meara, Fantastic 55, seniorpreneurs

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

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…