Channa Steinmetz

Recent Articles by Channa Steinmetz

Toby Rush and Carl Wasinger, Smart Warehousing

Veteran founder unboxes startup smarts as new CEO, eyeing logistics company as KC’s next billion-dollar biz

Toby Rush enjoys disrupting the status quo, he said, questioning market strategies with the startup sensibilities that made him one of the region’s most successful entrepreneurs. As the new CEO of Smart Warehousing — an established, Kansas City-based logistics and supply chain company — the veteran startup founder plans to apply the same innovation-focused lens to…

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Tealbottom shoes by Tealhouse

Tealbottom heels might just save the planet, says tech founder-turned-luxury shoemaker

Globetrotter Jaqui McCarthy always travels in style, the serial entrepreneur-influencer said, detailing a journey that led her to develop a distinctive, fashion-forward shoe line made from eco-friendly bio materials. It begins with an unwanted fellow passenger: metal in the heels of her high-heeled pumps. “As an avid traveler with TSA precheck, I should be able…

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Photo by Tiffany Tertipes Curbside Notary

Voting by mail? Curbside Notary bringing ballot service to coffee shops, restaurants

Everyone deserves the right to vote safely, said Danielle Lehman, steering her innovative mind toward Curbside Notary — an effort to connect Missouri mail-in voters with notaries at easy-to-access locations like coffee shops and restaurants. “I started thinking about, ‘Where are people visiting every day?’ A lot of people go get their coffee in the…

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Kathryn Golden, Pitch Perfect, Enterprise Center in Johnson County

Pitching your startup to investors is about more than selling an idea, says Pitch Perfect leader

Perfecting a startup pitch depends on a founder’s ability to move beyond mere product knowledge and talk the investors’ language, said Kathryn Golden. “The reality is investors aren’t buying your product; they’re not customers,” explained Golden, programs director at the Enterprise Center in Johnson County. “Investors are looking at the company and asking, ‘Is this…

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Danny Caine, Raven Book Store

Bookstore owner saved by USPS during COVID: Cuts to post office are an attack on small business

COVID-19 could’ve closed the book on Danny Caine’s entrepreneurial journey, the literature lover said, but while the pandemic rages, the U.S. Postal Service is keeping him moving to the next chapter. As a small business owner, his story is like many across the country, said Caine, owner and operator of Raven Book Store in Lawrence….

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ORBI Prime 360-degree, video-recording eyewear

West Coast video-recording eyewear startup catches 5G wave of inspiration via KC accelerator

COVID-19 kept members of this summer’s T-Mobile Accelerator cohort from experiencing Kansas City in person, said Iskander Rakhman, but the virtual format didn’t prevent startups from gaining lasting insight into 5G capabilities that could push the next wave of wearable tech. “The consumer angle to 5G hasn’t been fully explored just yet,” said Rakhman, CEO…

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Justin and Melody Woo, Popculture Gourmet Popcorn and Ice Cream

No sugarcoating it: Popculture pops amid sputtering KC snack scene with ‘say yes’ mentality

Tucked away in the basement of their new Overland Park gourmet popcorn and ice cream shop, Justin and Melody Woo are already tasting the bold flavors of resiliency — and success — amid an ongoing pandemic that has ravaged small businesses. “I don’t want to sugarcoat it; it’s been rough,” said Melody, reflecting on the tumultuous…

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Isaac Collins, Yogurtini Overland Park

Entrepreneur opening third store: Don’t let ‘buy local’ be a fad; we’re investing it all in our businesses

Conversations and social media advocacy pivot quickly, acknowledged Isaac Collins, but “shop local” should be more than just the flavor of the week as COVID-19 serves a full menu of challenges for small business owners. “The Amazons, the Walmarts, the Targets of the world, they are going to be OK,” said Collins, a serial entrepreneur…

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Sa’mya Lewis and Amari Lewis, A Higher Promise

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

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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Connecting for Good; photos courtesy of Tom Esselman

PCs for People: Connecting for Good upgrades amid ‘full-blown explosion of tech need’

A Kansas City-built nonprofit hoping to refurbish the metro’s perception of digital inclusivity is now an affiliate of PCs for People — a nationwide network with a shared goal. “Digital inclusion is ensuring that everybody — regardless of their income or where they live — has access to at least three things: affordable internet, affordable…

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