Tag: Hy-Vee

Ian Merzwinski, Hy-Vee commercial with Patrick Mahomes

Social Side Effect: Ex-KC influencer lands commercial with Patrick Mahomes (but building an Instagram brand isn’t magic) 

By Tommy Felts / September 13, 2019

Editor’s note: Social Side Effect is an ongoing profile series that identifies the intersection between social influencing and entrepreneurship   People follow Ian Merzwinski on Instagram because they like him, the social influencer said as he explained the importance of personal brand building.  “The best thing that you can do is just be consistent,” Merzwinski, founder…

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Austin Wilcox and Wondabeka Ashenafi, SERV Nutrition

Major Kansas City grocery chains stock SERV Nutrition less than a year into business

By Tommy Felts / July 25, 2019

Doing good is more than just a motto for SERV Nutrition — it’s the state of the startup’s operation seven months into business, Isaac Collins said as the company’s patented protein pods hit shelves at Price Chopper and Hen House stores across the metro.  “Online sales have been going well, but we saw a great…

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Lisa Bledsoe, Tea-Biotics Kombucha

Tea-Biotics bottles $1.2M in quick funding round; taps into thirsty new markets for kombucha

By Tommy Felts / July 22, 2019

From jar-lined countertops in her kitchen to a 13,000-square-foot facility brimming with brew tanks, Lisa Bledsoe’s mission to pour Kansas City a more refreshing bottle of “booch” is scaling fast, she explained over a freshly tapped glass of her “Beachlife”-flavored kombucha.  “I think it can be an inspiration for younger women or even other women…

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