News Stories

Elaina Brownlee, Plexpod

KCultivator Q&A: Elaina Brownlee finds supporting KC as easy as riding a bike (just don’t ask her to get behind the handlebars)

Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by Plexpod, a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes. Big-time investors don’t beat the collective “cheering squad” behind Kansas City’s entrepreneurial…

Kritiq spring show

‘Starting to bloom’: Kritiq spring show debuts Sunday highlighting KC fashion scene by design

Jo Hartley might be different from the typical designer featured this weekend at The Kritiq Fashion Show. She’s also the type of creator who organizers of the Kansas City runway experience want to brag about — the type they credit with helping grow the fashion show that’s been organized each fall the past four years….

Jay Walder, Virgin Hyperloop One

How could high-speed, cross-state travel boost Missouri? Hyperloop CEO has three words for KC

Hyperloop One could be gliding down its interchangeable tracks within the next decade, CEO Jay Walder estimated. But is the mystical mass transit system any closer to finding its home, questioned an audience gathered Wednesday for the KC Tech Council CEO speaker series sponsored by RSM and hosted by WeWork.  “What if I told you…

The Kyle and Heather Steppe family, KC Hemp Co.

CBD modern family: Today’s mom-and-pop shop is selling hemp from a downtown OP storefront

With it’s storefront nestled in a mature, but re-emergent Overland Park neighborhood, walking through the door of 8124 Floyd St. shatters the misconceptions of curious customers, said Heather Steppe. “Its not [shady] … it doesn’t feel like a head shop,” Steppe, co-owner of KC Hemp Co., said of the almost bohemian vibe that radiates from…

Will CBD get me high? Plus three more burning FAQs about the cannabis cousins

Selling CBD is about more than the bottom line, said Heather Steppe, co-owner of KC Hemp Co. “Ninety-percent of what we do is educate. We have people come in here and ask questions and they go home and think about it,” she said from her business’ Downtown Overland Park storefront, noting that the general public…