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People aren’t disposable batteries: Josh Levin expands Empowered brand to show entrepreneurs they’re worthy of success

Josh Levin, Empowered Electric

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…

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Fund Me, KC: Tohi Ventures pours pandemic lemons into healthy drink donation effort

Shari Coulter Ford, Tohi Ventures

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…

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How Travis Kelce, Operation Breakthrough plan to turn this old muffler shop into a coworking space, lab for teens

Operation Breakthrough's future Ignition Lab

As organizers look to re-open the doors to Walt Disney’s historic Laugh-O-gram Studios, they’re introducing Kansas Citians to a new era along Troost — in-part ushered in by a Kansas City Chiefs star and one of the city’s highest impact non-profit organizations. Plans for Operation Breakthrough’s Ignition Lab were on full display Thursday night, as Thank…

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‘Business is pointless unless you’re helping others’: Makerspace connects community through woodworking

Deborah Giudicessi, DIY Woodshop

Building and creating with one’s own hands is an experience unlike any other, said Deborah Giudicessi.  “There’s that sense of accomplishment and pride that comes with building something,” said Giudicessi, founder of The DIY Woodshop in Olathe. “And learning how to create, it triggers this thought process that teaches you how to analyze and how…

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Look to your father, not the coach: Why one fit entrepreneur hopes to redefine ‘dad bod’

Isaac Thibault, PushIT Fitness

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…

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