Woman-led Stories
Advocate envisions Plexpod ‘art village’ rebuilding KC culture at the intersection of art, business
An arts advocate in Kansas City hopes to partner with one of the metro’s leading community coworking spaces to create a haven for nearly 1,300 art entrepreneurs. GUILDit announced Thursday plans to develop an art village within Plexpod Westport Commons — featuring coworking, studios, a theater, and gallery — with a goal to rebuild art…
Legacy-filled eclair shop launches with crowds, pastry case lined with custom, unexpected treats
Chef Erin Luttrell recalls tales of lines out the door and around the block at her great-grandparents’ bakery in the 1920s — the inspiration behind her newly opened sweets shop on the historic Independence Square. “During the grain strike, people couldn’t get flour or bread or products to bake at home for their families, so they…
BLK + BRWN debuts KC’s first smart bookstore with a twist: ‘I wanted to be as Black as possible’
Kansas City’s newest Black woman-owned, brick-and-mortar bookstore in Midtown has opened its doors, but customers shouldn’t judge the operation by its cover, owner Cori Smith said, revealing an additional first for the metro that has heads and pages turning. “There’s a technological aspect paired with each book,” explained Smith, owner of BLK + BRWN — Kansas…
Why KCRise Fund chose a Lee’s Summit-built criminal justice smartphone app for its first lead investment
A Kansas City startup’s smartphone-enabled alternative to ankle monitors taps into a huge courts and corrections market — with the potential for tremendous cost savings and societal impact, said Darcy Howe. And that docket of benefits presents a unique opportunity for KCRise Fund, which this week announced its lead investment in Lee’s Summit-based eHawk, added…
Let’s Talk Black Business: You don’t need to be ‘the next Lebron’ — just succeed where others fell short
Editor’s note: The following story — spotlighting an Aug. 25 virtual event about challenges facing Black business owners — is sponsored by Let’s Talk Black Business and SCORE Community Strategic Alliance. Black entrepreneurship isn’t a one-size-fits-all experience, said Dom Green. “It is not cookie cutter, and it is so important to showcase the differences of the…