Every day we have a choice. We can support an up and coming podcaster, try a new family-run restaurant, join a boutique gym started by a local fitness champ or we could keep giving away our money to the handful of giants who already control so much of our commerce. Our daily decisions impact the kind world we live in; if we want a world where small businesses are growing and artists and creatives are thriving then we should support them with our time, money and attention. We’re proud to highlight inspiring creatives and entrepreneurs each week in Hidden Gems series. Check out some of our latest local gem features below.
Cassidy Leggett
My passion for working with children began early on, which led me to earn my degree in Family and Child Development from Texas State University. After working closely with families, I realized that sleep—something so foundational and vital for a child’s development and a parent’s mental health—was often the area they struggled with most. Read more>>
Yvonne Espinoza
As a child growing up in Southwest Austin, I never dreamed of one day becoming a college counselor or a business owner. Upon graduating from Boston University and spending my senior year in Madrid, Spain, I received my college degree feeling the way many recent graduates do: without a particular ‘passion’ and unsure of what my future held. Read more>>
Becca Bauerkemper
Of course! I actually started college as an advertising major—I loved the creative side of it and thought writing jingles would be a dream job, but pretty quickly I realized it wasn’t the right fit for me. Around the same time, I took an introductory psychology class and immediately fell in love with understanding human behavior, emotion, and what helps people change and heal. Read more>>
Leah Keese
I began my journey by joining the Navy straight out of high school in the early 1990s, an experience that shaped my discipline, resilience, and commitment to service. After two marriages and a period of personal growth, I continued my military career by joining the Army, where I served during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Read more>>
Jenny Tran
I started opening my After school tutoring center after having about five years of experience working in this field. When I moved to Austin in 2022, I noticed that many parents — especially those working in the nail industry — really needed someone to pick up their children while they were at work. Read more>>
Makenna Ochsner
With a degree and background in interior design, I’ve always been drawn to the details that make a space feel elevated and unforgettable. My years living in Charleston, South Carolina, deeply influenced my aesthetic where timeless Southern charm, layered textures, and artful details sparked a passion for creating beauty with intention. Read more>>
Michael Cox
I am the second child of four, I have an older brother (passed away in 2022) and two younger sisters. My brother was about 4 years older than myself and my sisters are 2 and three years younger than me. Although my dad had a well above average income, the longest we lived in one house as a kid was 3 years. Read more>>
Eric Heideman
I started playing guitar when I was six in Salt Lake City, Utah, after my parents convinced me to channel my Guitar Hero obsession into the real thing. I switched from piano to guitar, and got my first blue Squier Strat. Read more>>
Jackie Ruesink
I grew up in a family of foodies and started baking very early on in my life and it’s just always been a part of my life in some way. Read more>>
Jessica Murray
I studied photography and graphic design at BYU-Idaho for my bachelors degree. It wasn’t until after I had my first baby in 2018 that I focused on photography as a way to help me be creative, help others and maintain my need for social interaction with the people around me. Read more>>
Dhanyasree M
Of course, I’m happy to share my journey that’s taken me across countries and through the many evolutions of media itself. I began my career in India as a content writer with Oneindia.in, one of the country’s earliest online media platforms, before moving to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and later to the Kingdom of Bahrain. Read more>>
Lara Burns Boyda
I came to Austin to attend UT and, like many good Austin stories, mine starts with taking a chance on something scrappy, passionate, and full of potential. Urbanspace was in its infancy when I joined—truly a “whatever needs doing, do it” kind of operation—and I was immediately hooked. Read more>>
Tanya Martinez-Cardenas
As the founder of Intuitive Counseling, Tanya maintains a specialized practice as an Executive Recovery and Performance Coach serving CEOs, executives, and high-performers. With 14 years of sobriety and a career spanning from FOX News anchor to award-winning counselor, she brings unparalleled expertise to both her executive clients and the practice she leads. Read more>>
Rachel Moheban
We are a group therapy practice specializing in couples and marriage counseling. Our team is composed of seasoned, highly skilled clinicians with decades of combined experience. As our practice has grown, we are proud to now offer in-person locations in both Manhattan and Long Island, providing accessible, high-quality relationship care to individuals and couples across the region. Read more>>
Paul Arcediano
The Story of How I Created AMP BJJ — A Family Training Center In 2004, when I was 25 years old, I started a party bus company in Austin. What began as a fun idea quickly grew into something much bigger. Read more>>
Shanda Scott
My story began as a young girl loving to style my dolls hair with dreams of having my own salon one day. I taught myself how to braid and to detangle hair. At age 6, my mother started telling me “your gift is in your hands”. Read more>>
Nicole Laird, PT, DPT
Hays County Physical Therapy and Wellness was started to support women on their journey through all of life’s changes to feel strong, confident, and in control of their bodies. I had my oldest son in 2016 and realized that the ‘ease back into it’ mentality of movement and fitness was not going to cut it. Read more>>
Irina Cortinas
I have been a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant for 25 years. Graduate of Washburn University’s PTA program in 2000. I moved to Texas in 2010 and began working as a prn (as needed) PTA for Elgin Physical Therapy Clinic through a staffing agency and eventually came on as a full-time clinician. Read more>>
Christen Killebrew
Christen Killebrew (Mermaid Pearl) discovered the world of Mermaiding in 2021 when she was doing research on ways to improve her own physical and mental wellness. Read more>>
Stephanie Joos
When my children were preparing to graduate high school and step into their own lives, I realized a 20-plus-year chapter of my own was coming to a close. I had spent my early career in corporate America, then shifted happily into two wonderful decades focused on raising my family and serving as a dedicated volunteer. Read more>>
L. Todd Kelly
The firm was founded in 2006 by Todd Kelly and achieved some notoriety representing sexual assault victims against military contractors. During that time, Robbye, then ‘Bryan,’ began work at the firm as an intern. Todd and Robbye began dating during the latter days of this first iteration of the firm. Read more>>
Roxane Witte
The ZX really began with a spark from a podcast. Read more>>
Tracy Long
There’s a story behind everything I’ve built, every decision I’ve made, and every step I’ve taken to get here. It’s a complicated story—one of privilege but also trauma, of silence but eventually healing, of breaking generational cycles while honoring where I come from. My parents immigrated from Jamaica before I was born. Read more>>
Lindsey Smith
Ever since I was a flower girl in a wedding, at 6 maybe,I’ve loved weddings! Always dreamed of owning one. Fast forward 30+ years and my husband and I owned a horse boarding facility in Manor.A highschool was built backing up to our land and soon the developers came knocking with offers. Read more>>
Sean Krenek
Hi! My name is Sean Krenek and I started Austin Event Lighting in 2012 after trying to manage a band and pushing to get into the entertainment industry. I grew up in Austin and attended St. Edward’s University for undergraduate and graduate. I wanted to work in live music since the first Austin City Limits Festival downtown. Read more>>
Mel Lau
Small nod design began as a personal practice before it became a studio, during a season when nearly everything in my life was shifting—identity, relationships, and what “success” even meant to me. At the time, I was working in a traditional corporate role and could feel that the way I wanted to create and collaborate didn’t quite have room to exist there. Read more>>
Jon Abundez
Prior moving to Austin I would frequently visit here for concerts and slowly discovered the Austin food scene. One of my first foodie experience was when Ramen Tatsuya first opened and I came up to try it out. I remember posting a photo of my ramen it noticed it got more likes and comments than other IG posts but didn’t think much of it. Read more>>
Michelle Nemirovsky
My husband, Fede, and I got married in December 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was a destination wedding for most of our guests, and because everyone was flying in from different places, there were so many moving parts. Like most couples, we built a wedding website, but very quickly we realized it wasn’t solving the problem we actually had, which was communication. Read more>>
Hector Ruiz
Twin Wolves MMA opened up September 17, 2007 in a small building with no A/C. Now we have a 15,000 squre feet building with two mat areas, full gym with cardio equipment, locker rooms and sauna. Twin Wolves MMA just won the IBJJF Waco Open (First Place Team Tropy) December 7, 2025. Read more>>
Scott Dubois
My career has had many twists and turns, following my interests. I’ve worked in everything from nonprofits and political campaigns to elementary schools. However, for the past 12 years, I’ve been in the travel industry. That started as a design job at Andrew Harper Travel, which grew into a Creative Director and travel writing role. Read more>>
Cameron Price
he was exploring the arts that he could find while learning jiu-jitsu from a book. After class he would show us a couple moves he learned and then introduced “rolling” to us, which is what we call sparring (resistance training) in jiu-jitsu, something that was lacking in the traditional art I was in. It was quickly apparent this was the most effective martial art and I was immediately hooked! Read more>>
karnik Shah
I was born and raised in Mumbai, India. Since a young age, I was always interested in reading texts on biology. While my friends and cousins spent their entire holiday season on the playground, I would atleast dedicate an hour or two on reading encyclopedias and thats where the love affair started with human biology. Read more>>
