Woman-led

Sa’mya Lewis and Amari Lewis, A Higher Promise

Start with heart: Sisters’ yard signs offer a ‘stepping stone’ to support Black lives

By Tommy Felts / July 20, 2020

Amari and Sa’mya Lewis’ young entrepreneurial venture — a yard sign featuring a simple black heart — first spread in a predominantly white Johnson County neighborhood, the teenage sisters said. Amid ongoing national discourse over the “Black Lives Matter” movement, in which the meaning of those three words often is debated, the sign makers have…

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More than statues: 3D printer on the Plaza showcases Urban TEC opportunity amid BLM movement

By Tommy Felts / July 17, 2020

Just a couple blocks west of Mill Creek Park — the center of recent Black Lives Matter protests near the Country Club Plaza — 3DHQ hopes youth tech outreach now can build a more inclusive future for creative problem solvers in Kansas City’s Black and urban communities, said Fabian Conde. “We want to be more intentional…

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Lisa Ragan family, Safely Delicious

OP-baked Safely Delicious takes big bites of allergy-free snack market amid pandemic

By Tommy Felts / July 17, 2020

Some of the most unconventional entrepreneur stories offer the sweetest flavors, said Lisa Ragan, detailing how diet restrictions and divorce combined to drive her deliciously disruptive Overland Park-based company forward. “You can’t have one foot in, one foot out,” Ragan, founder of Safely Delicious, said of what it’s taken to scale the allergy-friendly snack line…

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Soulcentricitea on Troost

Tea shop on Troost finds its flavor at the intersection of herbal serenity, cultural activism

By Tommy Felts / July 15, 2020

Kansas City’s air is thick with revolution and restoration, contemplated Nika Cotton.  “In the social and cultural climate, it’s really a time that people are rising up. The systems are changing. We’re talking about the abolition of police departments, the abolition of the industrial prison system — really exciting things,” Cotton said amid a flurry of…

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Mom’s Insta-Meal secret sauce for work-life balance: Put dinner in a pot and walk away

By Tommy Felts / July 14, 2020

Having a family and a thriving startup don’t have to be mutually exclusive experiences, said Robyn Wagner, sharing her journey to build a food brand that lives up to legacy-rich Kansas City standards — with a twist all its own.  “If you really have an idea and you want to go for it, there’s somebody out…

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