Startups Stories
People aren’t disposable batteries: Josh Levin expands Empowered brand to show entrepreneurs they’re worthy of success
Josh Levin wasn’t born a success but a statistic, the Empowered Electric founder said, describing a childhood of severe poverty and a rough past. That history of hardship led him to a revelation — and a mantra. “All of our employees and customers know that the concept behind Empowered Electric is ‘People Over Profit,’” Levin…
Fund Me, KC: Tohi Ventures pours pandemic lemons into healthy drink donation effort
Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs — like Shari Coulter Ford’s campaign to donate healthy drinks to food banks — to share their crowdfunding stories to gain a little help…
Look to your father, not the coach: Why one fit entrepreneur hopes to redefine ‘dad bod’
Fatherhood — like athletics — is a physical and mental challenge with lifelong impacts, said Isaac Thibault, detailing the parallels at the core of his pandemic-pivoted career turn as a personal trainer. Launched this summer, Thibault’s PushIT Fitness targets married men with children — a demographic that allows the 25-year-old Overland Park entrepreneur an opportunity to…
TrackMy Vaccines allows patients to record COVID-19 vaccine reactions; use real-time data to ID trends
With millions of Americans set to be inoculated with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine this year, Kansas City startup TrackMy Solutions transformed its technology into a web app with which patients can track their vaccine reactions, Jeremy Elias said. “There’s a system known as VAERS, or Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, that exists today for any…
How challenging norms could be Black founders’ key to overcoming lingering funding gap
When authenticity and startup culture collide, Black founders and entrepreneurs of color often don’t see the same opportunities as their white counterparts, said Daniel Smith, contributing to a gap in funding that splits along racial lines. “I talk a certain way; I have different mannerisms; I like to dress a certain kind of way —…
