Profiles

Rightfully Sewn founder stitches a vision for Kansas City’s fashion future

Poised, posh and purposeful, Jennifer Lapka Pfeifer sits straight as a board at Kaldi’s coffee shop with unwavering eye contact. Donning a contoured-floral blue and white dress, Lapka smiles as she poetically recalls painting in high school and learning to sew with her grandmother in rural Kansas. Those experiences fostered a love for fashion, art…

‘Do I have to introduce myself?’ Meet Startland News’ new managing editor

Allow me to introduce … myself. My name is Kat Hungerford, Startland News’ new managing editor. As I type this, I’m sitting at a trendy desk in Village Square Coworking Studio at the heart of the Kansas City Startup Village, and I’m still astonished that I somehow wandered into what I’m quickly discovering is that…

Kansas City’s ‘Bean Baron’ brews entrepreneur of the year award

Kansas City’s so-called “Bean Baron” was recently named a top entrepreneur in the region.  The University of Missouri-Kansas City Bloch School on Monday dubbed Roasterie founder Danny O’Neill as the Regional Entrepreneur of the Year. O’Neill, who launched the specialty coffee producer in 1993, accepted the award Monday evening as part of a Global Entrepreneurship Week…

KU football player’s tech startup scoring early success

Austin Barone didn’t begin playing football until his sophomore year after he transferred to St. Mary’s Colgan. He was disappointed to learn the school didn’t have a soccer team, so he turned to being the kicker for Panther football. A life-long athlete, he picked up the sport quickly and moved to the University of Kansas…

7 endearing facts about the founder of H&R Block

Update: Henry Bloch passed away April 23, 2019. Click here to read business leaders’ salutes to the Kansas City icon.  Henry Bloch, the co-founder and former CEO of tax prep giant H&R Block, recently spoke with a small group of Kansas City entrepreneurs during Startup Grind. The 93-year-old Kansas City legend shared an array of…