Woman-led

Sarah-Allen Preston, afloat

2022 Startups to Watch: afloat makes same-day gifting from local stores easy with soon-to-launch app

By Tommy Felts / December 15, 2021

Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list, now in its seventh year recognizing founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2022’s companies. Click here to view the full…

Read More >
Annie Austen; photos courtesy of Annie Austen

Annie Austen reinvents herself as a KC jewelry maker without tarnishing her influencer brand

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2021

To reshape her 2020 “blahs and feelings,” social media lifestyle influencer Annie Austen picked up a pair of pliers. She’d been collecting jewelry-making kits for years — but never committed to putting the jump rings, clasps, charms, and other pieces together. An Etsy shop launched with her younger brother, Matthew, changed everything, as the two…

Read More >
Close-up of the Kansas City illustrated map by Mario Zucco, Kansas City Puzzle Company

Their KC company didn’t sell a single puzzle during the pandemic; today the best-sellers need restocked ASAP

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2021

The puzzle finally fits together this holiday season for Tim and Stefanie Ekeren as the couple discovers the missing pieces that kept Kansas City Puzzle Company boxed on the shelf for more than a year. The small business, based in Mission, Kansas, offers a line of 10 puzzles, most featuring Kansas City-area landmarks or illustrations…

Read More >
Amy Goldman, The Brewkery, Lucky Elixir kombucha

This KC kombucha brewer brought back North America’s most mysterious tropical fruit; the time to taste it is ripe now

By Tommy Felts / December 11, 2021

When the forest starts to smell like bananas, it means the pawpaws are ready for harvesting, Amy Goldman shared.  “I’d never heard of pawpaws until last year when one of our farmer friends brought us a bunch of them. We tried them in our kombucha, and it sold out so fast. It was incredible. But…

Read More >
Pastor Adrian and Vicky Roberson, KC United

New nonprofit surprises first-ever $20K ‘changemaker’ grant winner; he already knows how he’ll invest it 

By Tommy Felts / December 10, 2021

Pastor Adrian Roberson was initially too stunned to speak Thursday when he was awarded a $20,000 grant for KC United — a youth sports initiative he co-founded in 2009 with his wife Vicky. But the duo already have plans for the money: spreading blessings. “I want to say, ‘Glory to God,’” Adrian Roberson shared moments after…

Read More >