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.
Ginette Damou
I’m Jnet, a professional makeup artist and the founder of JnetBeautyArtist. I’ve loved beauty since I was young and always enjoyed helping people feel beautiful. After working seven years in finance, I moved to the U.S. and decided to follow my passion by attending professional makeup school. Today, I use makeup to enhance confidence and create meaningful experiences for my clients. Read more>>
Ashley Ducote
Always had a dream of starting a Bar and grill, it’s all the family talked about. After the second round of Covid hit, my employer was unable to keep staff working. Being an acting manager, I had many rolls to fulfill, including duties that I had to carry out from missing Employees due to illness. Read more>>
Jennie TRAN
I bought the salon right after COVID, in October 2020. At that time, many nail salons had gone out of business, and the previous owner of my salon was in the same situation. He couldn’t handle the business anymore. He didn’t have customers, and the salon had become very quiet. I decided to take over the salon and build it from zero. Read more>>
Michael Gillespie
My journey began in 2001 when I graduated from Arizona Automotive Institute in Phoenix Arizona. I began to understand the fundamentals of mechanics in the automotive industry. What I didn’t realize is that I was building a foundation of knowledge that was going to help serve me and my future patients. I found parallels between how cars work and how humans work. Read more>>
Arti Bhakta
My journey has always been rooted in connection, creativity, and community. On a personal level, I was raised in a family where hospitality, celebration, and bringing people together were part of everyday life. I grew up watching how meaningful moments — birthdays, weddings, holidays, community gatherings — had the power to create belonging and joy. Read more>>
Lindsie Davis
Growing up I always knew that I wanted to design homes. After completing my degree in Architecture at Tulane University I began my career in Colorado, eventually designing and building custom homes in the Vail area. Read more>>
Tim Cuppett
I decided in the third grade I wanted to be an Architect after walking through the coolest house I’d ever seen; design has been my passion every since. After a few years gaining experience in a large commercial firm, I decided I only want to make houses. Since 2000 I and my team have designed only ‘single-family’ homes for home-owners. Read more>>
Jennifer Eyre
I am a curly hair specialist of 10+ years, that works exclusively with wavy, curly & coily hair. I discovered that you could specialize in curly hair while attending Cosmetology school in Austin, TX. This was a pivotal moment. Read more>>
Lori Garza
Hi, my name is Lori Garza, and I’m the owner and founder of The Beauty Room & Co, located in Round Rock. We have been serving the community for five years. I started my career in the beauty industry with a goal to help women feel confident in their natural beauty. Read more>>
MacKenzie Dowse
I’m Jessica MacKenzie Dowse, but please call me MacK! I’m the owner and lead creative designer behind Jessica MacK Designs, where I create bespoke holiday displays that bring warmth, wonder, and a touch of magic to homes and businesses. My love for holiday design began early, inspired by my mom and both of my grandmothers. Read more>>
aaliyah colmenero
Ever since starting esthetician school in 2017, I always knew that my goal was to run my own business. After years of working in the service industry and then entering the beauty industry after becoming a licensed esthetician, that opportunity came. Read more>>
Alaria Godwin
I was ‘downsized’ from my corporate job in the late 90s and decided to pursue a career I enjoyed. Massage therapy won, hands down. After massage school graduation, I worked in an integrative clinic while building my private practice. Read more>>
Jessica Smith
I began my career as a massage therapist in 2003 with a simple intention: to help people feel better in their bodies and improve their quality of life. What started as a profession quickly became a calling. Read more>>
SHEIKH AFZAL
I’ve always been fascinated with art, and that curiosity first led me to music and photography in middle school, eventually continuing throughout medical school and my career as a practicing physician. Along the way, I formally attended music school to learn Raags and classical music, which deepened my understanding of melodic structure and expressive performance techniques rooted in the melodic frameworks of classical tradition. Read more>>
Jennifer Coleman
Word girl, here! Mom was a college librarian and a regular library patron herself, reading a stack of novels a week. Books and reading were a natural part of life while growing up! Also, I truly loved my elementary school years, where key experiences helped determine my path, believe it or not. In second grade I won a grade level writing contest. Read more>>
Jason McVearry
It’s kind of a wild story. Our poke journey started in Hawaii. In 2005ish I was living on Oahu in Kaimuki, a little neighborhood next to Waikiki behind Diamond Head. I was surfing, eating poke and drinking beers: living the island life to the max. Read more>>
Karen Habib
I have been in private practice as a psychologist for 30 years seeing clients in individual, group, and couples psychotherapy. This year I’m starting a new endeavor to add to my therapy practice. You can learn more at syngergygroupworks.com. Synergy GroupWorks brings leaders or team members together in guided, insight-driven conversations that strengthen trust, communication, and collaboration. Read more>>
Jason Faludi
I was a real estate attorney in Louisiana and changed careers to real estate brokerage in 2004 when I moved to Austin. In 2007 when AQUILA Commercial was formed, I was asked to come over to run our retail platform, I became a partner not long thereafter and have been here ever since. Read more>>
Alexandra Vaughn
I grew up in pink tights and ballet slippers. As I continued to dance throughout the years, it remained a passion but never a profession. The Millennial in me felt drawn to corporate life after college, and I created a successful career in branding and marketing. Read more>>
Aleksandra Terry
I was nail tech for 13 years before that. Then one day I met a girl , she had beautiful eyelash extensions and I was impressed of quality of work and I wanted to learn how to do the same job. After that I started learning: I went to one beauty class for beginners for classic set. Read more>>
Danna Flores
I started my business, Handlevat, when I was 12 years old. I’ve always loved being creative, especially working with my hands, and jewelry became a meaningful way for me to express that creativity. Read more>>
Timothy Ferch
Retired from the Army and my wife ending her job on Ft Hood, we talked one night and decided to look into selling Thai food. Further discussion revealed running a food truck would be fun so in the same conversation we started to look for a suitable truck. Read more>>
Darrin Hammons
Over the years I’ve dabbled with making flower arrangements, for our kids weddings, flowers in the individual rooms of our hosted bed & breakfast, intimate weddings we’ve hosted here… Nearly four years ago, I stopped in to goodbye to the local florist, who was moving outside of Houston to be closer to family. Read more>>
Taylor Bradberry
Chapter & Charm started in a really ordinary, quiet way, out of my love for books and a season of life where I personally needed them more than ever. I’ve always been a reader. Books have been my comfort, my escape, and sometimes my reset when life felt overwhelming. Read more>>
chelsea marquez
Chelsea Marquez, MS, RD, LD, is a Registered Dietitian whose passion for wellness was shaped long before she ever stepped into a classroom. With both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in nutrition from Texas Woman’s University, she has spent more than a decade transforming lives through evidence-based nutrition and compassionate care. Read more>>
Eric Wences
I was born and raised in Dove Springs, Austin, but the Marine Corps took me away from home for more than ten years. When I finally moved back, I was excited to be home but I was surprised by how hard it was to find clear, reliable resources for veterans. Read more>>
Erland Schulze
Hope House began 60 years ago when our founder, Rose, opened her home to children with profound intellectual and developmental disabilities in an Austin garage apartment. These were profoundly disabled children who had nowhere else to go or who had parents who could no longer care for their child. Read more>>
Clifford Woods
To achieve these outcomes, Clifford integrates a range of proven frameworks and tools, including the Hubbard Management System (HMS). HMS provides structured administrative frameworks that complement Skin In The Game Coaches’ analytics-driven, performance-based approach, helping clients establish disciplined, repeatable management practices that reduce chaos and increase accountability. Read more>>
Amber Wilhelm
I started reaching out to staging companies in Los Angeles to see what experience I needed, and one company happened to be hiring an assistant. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. The owners of the company always hyped me up, and were so confident in my abilities to lead & create that I began to believe it too. I worked there for a few years, and ultimately ended up moving away, leaving my dream job. This also meant stepping away from design for a number of years. Read more>>
Rachael Landers // Growing Heart
After a year (2023) of so much bad news in my personal life between 2 major surgeries, losing an ovary, receiving an endometriosis diagnosis, being in a car wreck with injuries shattering my dominant foot, then being laid off, I started 2024 feeling like I had no purpose. Read more>>
Mikaela Lindsey
Upon graduating high school with my degree I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I started working out when I was 13 and did my first bodybuilding show at age 16. My early teen years were plagued by an eating disorder. I did classical ballet at the time and my naturally muscular frame wasn’t the stereotypical ballerina shape. Read more>>
