Woman-led Stories

TJ Roberts, Kinship Cafe

Chamber’s new ‘Superstars’ roster brings exposure to 2,000+ KC small businesses 

Editor’s note: The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is a non-financial partner of Startland News, which serves as the media partner for the Small Business Superstars program. An excited TJ Roberts took a quick break from shoveling snow Friday in the parking lot of his Kansas City, Kansas, coffee shop to post his elation…

Shonta Dabney, CoffeeFreshAF

‘My soul is being fed’: Shonta Dabney sips the small wins in her round-the-clock quest to bring Black-roasted coffee home

While most kids were drinking milk, juice, or plain old water — Shonta Dabney held a warm mug in her hands, sipping coffee at the kitchen table with her grandparents, she recalled.  “I have to be one of the very few Americans whose grandparents gave her coffee as a toddler,” Dabney laughed, looking back on where…

Just funded: First wave of Alchemy Sandbox grants aim for ‘snowball effect’ in KC

A new grant program has selected its first five awardees — with 15 more to come in 2022 — aiming to create rolling momentum for Kansas City’s main street businesses, said Miranda Schultz. The Alchemy Sandbox Program on Friday announced its first quarter grantees with entrepreneurs selected to receive as much as $5,000 for their…

Neelima Parasker, SnapIT Solutions

SnapIT scores lucrative government contract with $50B ceiling in emerging tech space

An Overland Park IT firm’s selection to deliver technology solutions to federal agencies is the latest evolution of the Johnson County business, which has seen rapid growth over the past three years as it expanded its focus. SnapIT Solutions, a high-tech services and tech training firm headquartered in Johnson County, was tapped for the second…

Paradise EDU at Paradise Garden Club

Just another day in Paradise (EDU): Urban nursery turns soil to nurture STEAM students

When learners dig into the Paradise Garden Club STEAM program, they unearth non-traditional learning opportunities in a classroom cased in chlorophyll.  “It starts on a very base level — using your hands to work with raw soil,” said Jessica Teliczan, owner and operator of Crossroads-planted Paradise Garden Club, teasing the newly launched effort — formally branded…