Woman-led

Jy Maze, Maze Freight Solutions

Q&A: Founder Jy Maze on the industry that runs the world (and delivers the toilet paper)

Everything has to ship, said Jy Maze. From the microphone in her hand to the stool where she sat to the shoes on the Maze Freight Solutions founder’s feet, it all comes with mileage and a cost, she said. Her woman-owned, Overland Park-based, third-party freight logistics startup itself was packed in 2017 when Maze decided…

Claudia and Carolina Recchi, EdSights

Why are college students dropping out? EdSights targets higher ed retention rates

Only 56 percent of students who began college in 2012 actually graduated within the next six years, said startup founders Claudia Recchi and Carolina Recchi. The sisters’ own struggles as first-generation U.S. college students reinforced the challenge posed by such statistics, they said, prompting them to found EdSights, a startup using artificial intelligence to collect…

Ire Cherry, Very Cherry Bakery

Cherry on top: 9-year-old baking entrepreneur cuts check to pay off KC students’ negative lunch balances

Baking is the perfect recipe for spreading joy — owning a small business should be too, said 9-year-old Ire Cherry, recalling the moment she stood before administrators at University Academy in Kansas City, holding a check wider than she is tall. “My mom and her sister were talking about people in Virginia who couldn’t pay their…

Erin Jenkins, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Kauffman Foundation’s Erin Jenkins bounces between contrasting cultures, startup life

Editor’s note: This content was sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation but independently produced by Startland News. Curiosity took Erin Jenkins to Japan. Curiosity brought her home. In between, she embedded herself in the worlds of intercultural entrepreneurism and startup life — her journey aligning itself with an opportunity to serve as a program officer…

Councilwoman Jolie Justus, StartupKC Small Business and Entrepreneurship Mayoral Forum

Jolie Justus’ open letter to startups: In many ways, the city has failed you — let’s do better together

[Editor’s note: Startland News invited Kansas City mayoral candidates Jolie Justus and Quinton Lucas to compose open letters to address their potential constituents in KC’s entrepreneur community of startups, makers, creatives and risk-takers. Justus’ response is below. Lucas did not participate. The vote is set for Tuesday, June 18.] I trust this community to see…