Startups

Shea Geist, SharkOFF; Neelima Parasker, SnapIT Solutions; and Lisa Tamayo, Scollar

KC’s woman-led startups selected for global summit; founders credit hustle, persistence

By Tommy Felts / May 29, 2019

What started as an opportunity to meet interesting people and showcase innovative ideas to investors has turned into a once-in-a-lifetime shot at elevating five of Kansas City’s women-led startups on an international stage, said Shea Geist, beaming. “My husband made the application and I was like … ‘Whatever, it’s a million to one chance,’ so…

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Big Fly Gear family

Big Fly Gear takes the field with vintage feel, historic ties to Kansas City baseball

By Tommy Felts / May 28, 2019

Signing off his live broadcast, Los Angeles Angels broadcaster Victor Rojas receives a phone call. A fresh order of prints — featuring Hank Aaron’s “755” — have just shipped. The Overland Park native’s apparel startup, Big Fly Gear, has been growing steadily since its launch in February, Rojas said. The clothing line, fittingly, celebrates historical…

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Jennifer Lapka, Rightfully Sewn

Rightfully Sewn fashion event designed for female empowerment fit, Carbon38 founder

By Tommy Felts / May 28, 2019

Kansas City can step onto the runway as a fashion-forward city with the right education and attention, said Jennifer Lapka. Rightfully Sewn’s third annual fashion designer professional development seminar returns Saturday. With its attendance growing exponentially from year to year, the event underscores the development of Kansas City’s fashion scene, said Lapka, the founder of…

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Carolyne Gakuria, ScheduleMe

Tired of waiting at the barber shop? An AI-infused platform grown at UMKC could trim time

By Tommy Felts / May 28, 2019

Born in the barber’s chair, Kansas City-based ScheduleMe could take more than a little off the top for service-based retailers. The startup plans to use artificial intelligence to groom the haphazard scheduling process entirely, its co-founders said. “We discovered that [our barbershop] was having issues with scheduling. What we wanted to do was try to…

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Peter, Audrey and Donna Yadrich, 2010

AudreySpirit fashions clothing to help chronically ill child patients feel like themselves again

By Tommy Felts / May 28, 2019

AudreySpirit is designed to bring dignity to chronically sick children, said Donna Yadrich, detailing a specially created clothing line that doesn’t sacrifice practicality. “When my daughter Audrey was in the [Intensive Care Unit] the last time, I was looking at her arms and she just had so many wires and everything coming out of her…

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