Profiles

TRNDSTTRS

Teens’ marketing startup TRNDSTTRS aims to amplify its own business influence

By Tommy Felts / July 27, 2018

Staying young and hungry is everything, said the teenage entrepreneurs at TRNDSTTRS Media. With a team of ten 18- to 19-year-old go-getters, the tech-based firm focuses on providing affordable, in-depth marketing service to small and mid-sized companies. They use their age as an advantage rather than seeing it as an obstacle, said Jake Bjorseth, founder…

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Play It Forward

Former high school rivals from MADE, Local Legends ‘Play It Forward’ in bid to revive South KC

By Tommy Felts / July 26, 2018

Organizers of the Aug. 12 Play It Forward charity basketball game traded playful taunts as they approached the doors of the former Hickman Mills High School gymnasium. “They painted over your cougar,” said AbdulRasheed Yahaya, a Ruskin High School graduate, referencing the giant eagle logo affixed to the former Hickman facility that now is part…

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Rif Raf Giraffe plays matchmaker for buildings, money and artists in Crossroads

By Tommy Felts / July 18, 2018

Jason Harrington sees opportunity in places often overlooked – alleys, elevator shafts and the sides of brick buildings. For the artist better known as Rif Raf Giraffe, they’re vast canvasses, waiting to be filled with gallons and gallons of paint and passion. Harrington recently traversed the East Crossroads Arts District in search of more real…

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Hecho KC, Luis Garcia

HechoKC cast in hand-made image of Chicano artist’s culture, family, community

By Tommy Felts / July 17, 2018

Witnessing — and participating in — Kansas City’s renaissance has been amazing, said Luis Garcia, the longtime artist behind HechoKC. The Crossroads used to be a ghost town, said Garcia, who has been part of the KC scene since his years at the Kansas City Art Institute. He developed SPYN Studio, a branding and design…

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Tim Donnelly, SoftVu

Four key moments led to SoftVu’s exit (three missteps kept it from happening sooner)

By Tommy Felts / July 13, 2018

Deals like the acquisition of KC-based SoftVu by an Alabama private equity firm don’t happen overnight. And founder Tim Donnelly gives near-equal weight to the trials and triumphs that led the marketing platform to its big exit. “We’ve done as much as we possibly can based on the mistakes we’ve made, the lessons that have…

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