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.
Isis Bryant
I started my fitness journey about four years ago and a lot of people were inspired. Read more>>
Mark Boriskin
I moved to Texas from California 20 years ago. I always loved cooking, especially Italian food since my wife’s family is Italian, but about 5 years after moving here, I told myself I had to figure out this smoking thing! Read more>>
Jenn Aguilar
I was born and raised in Texas before spending my high school and college years in Mississippi, where I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Mississippi State University. I eventually returned to Texas and continued my education while working full-time, earning my Master of Accountancy from UTSA. Read more>>
Penny Stone
I’m Penny The Animal Whisperer, and my work with animals has been a lifelong journey rooted in care, curiosity, and deep respect. I became the family pet caretaker at around six years old, and that early bond with animals naturally led to my first professional role as a veterinary assistant in 1969. From there, my path continued entirely within animal-centered work. Read more>>
Sam O’Brien
I didn’t discover design until after college. At the time, a friend and I had started a bottled water company after taking an entrepreneurship course together, and for a couple of years we were out selling water all over Austin. Through that experience, we were exposed to the creative side of building a business—developing a brand identity, designing packaging, and creating marketing materials. Read more>>
Jackie Newman
I was born in Colombia and raised on the Caribbean coast, where food was never just food—it was celebration, family, music, culture, and connection. Some of my earliest memories are of gathering around the table, enjoying fresh seafood, tropical fruits, and home-cooked meals while surrounded by laughter and rhythm. Looking back, those experiences planted the seed for what would eventually become my career and passion. Read more>>
Katie Walker
I grew up in Dripping Springs, went to college at UT Austin, and moved back in2015 with my husband to raise our two girls here. I worked for 16 years as a commercial interior designer in Austin. Read more>>
Maringelly Montanez
My entrepreneurial journey is deeply rooted in family, faith, culture, and the belief that food is one of the most meaningful ways to show love and care for others. Growing up in Puerto Rico, I was inspired by my great-grandmother, Celestina. She had a beautiful way of expressing love through food and hospitality. Read more>>
Chalimar Chieza
I grew up in Austin back when it still felt like a big small town, and while the city has changed dramatically over the years, my connection to it never has. After leaving Austin to attend university in Fort Worth, I eventually found my way back home, where I built a career in education and spent years teaching in both public and private schools. Read more>>
Leslie Kell
I’ve always been drawn to creating. My formal training is in illustration and painting, but my career took several turns before leading me to the work I do today. Early on, I worked in galleries, sign shops, and magazine production, taking every opportunity I could to learn. Much of my design education happened outside the classroom. Read more>>
Rita Bliss
I grew up around a lot of music, and started playing guitar as a kid. I think I wrote my first song in 3rd or 4th grade. Music has just always been a part of my life, and I’ve picked up different instruments along the way, including and especially and most importantly, the banjo. Read more>>
Luanna Cole
In 1994, we purchased what is now the Plantation House Boutique Inn. At the time, it was simply a home with a little land where our kids could play and explore freely. The house itself has a unique antebellum architectural style, and we instantly fell in love with its charm. Read more>>
Austin Electronic
It started when two longtime friends, Will and Jacob W, (Dane and Wheat respectively) who grew up as guitar players started to learn how to DJ. Will, bought DJ decks after going to a tunnel rave and wanted to showcase different genres to Austin’s burgeoning EDM/Electronic music scene. Eventually their friend Christian (Siege) decided to join the crew .Meanwhile lifelong producer/Guitar player, Jacob E. Read more>>
Matty Owens
I grew up dancing and playing musical instruments. Tap was always my favorite, I loved how it perfectly encapsulated dance and music into one vehicle. I did dance competitions and an occasional community theater musical performance. I went to college in Denton as a dance performance major and was also in a professional tap dance company in Dallas during that time. Read more>>
Kyra Hong
Music was one of my very first loves since as long as I can remember, yet even as the sounds of Beethoven’s piano solos lulled me to sleep every night, my path with it has never been linear. One of my colleagues recently said that a musician’s career is never a straight line, and I resonated so very much with that. Read more>>
Brooke Dukes
I grew up in Michigan as an only child. My biological father was abusive, and I watched my mother stay in that situation for ten years because she did not have the financial independence to leave. That shaped everything. I made a decision early that I would never depend on anyone. I would outwork everyone. Read more>>
Lord Benjamin Redic II
I got started in film by a friend named Matt Lester. He acted in high school and needed a PA for a Home and Garden shoot with David Browderman. I accepted, needing the work. It introduced me to world of film and reality tv. So yeah, I guess I started in reality tv. Read more>>
Dr. Cass Naumann
Dr. Cass Naumann, DACM, LAc is a Doctor of Chinese and Integrative Medicine, contemplative medicine scholar, and the creator of Contemplative Medicine™. A 23rd generation Daoist priestess of the Longmen Dragon Gate lineage. A wisdom keeper of traditions East and West. A doctoral faculty member, international retreat leader, and author. Read more>>
Pete Legasey
I’m from Salem, MA and played in a few bands around there before I moved to Austin in fall of 2011. But aside from a couple of brief stints in small cover groups, I wasn’t really making any music for my first 10 years here. That changed in late 2021 when I joined Beatnik Bandits by a sheer stroke of dumb luck. Read more>>
Suzanne Pressman
I was lucky enough to have access to a darkroom in middle school, and I’ve had a camera by my side ever since. At 13 years old, growing up in Florida, I’d spend weekends wandering the boardwalk with my 35mm camera, unknowingly practicing what I now recognize as street photography. Read more>>
Cindy Luongo Cassidy
I started with a desire to influence something that would improve the world for my grandchildren. I wanted it to be something that I could be enthusiastic about. Then, I spent time learning about outdoor lighting and the work to have better lighting that would reduce light pollution. That led to my being part of the Texas members of DarkSky International . Read more>>
Yossef Al-Mashouq
Like most parent coaches, I got started by helping out my son’s rec team during the spring of 2015. His coach at the time was busy with work and couldn’t be available during the week. After a year of coaching rec myself and the then head coach decided our boys would tryout for select thinking we were both done coaching. Read more>>
Jackson Britton
I knew what I wanted to do as soon as I could watch movies. Once I saw the Iron Giant and Atlantis the Lost Empire I knew this was for me. Then not too long after I proceeded to burn my prized Iron Giant action figure that’s worth its price in gold now with axe body spray and a lighter. Read more>>
Sonja Corbin King
Honestly? I became Austin’s children’s hair lady by accident. I’ve been doing hair in Central Texas for over twenty years — up and down 35 — and the kids’ chair was the chair nobody fought over. A curly-headed four-year-old would walk in with her mom, and suddenly every other stylist remembered they had to restock something in the back. So I’d take the appointment. Read more>>
Paige Weissman GAINES
My career in television started in the late ‘90s when I interned for The Jenny Jones Show during college. What began as a random internship quickly turned into full-blown interest in production and eventually my first real industry job as the show’s Audience Producer during its final three seasons. Read more>>
Brett Hayes
I’m a musician (Reas) who has been making underground rap music since 2015. I am part of music collective ‘Punko,’ that I started in 2024 with my brother, Dirty Dev (musician/graphic/clothing). The group also consists of KILLTOMBSTONE (musician) and Rali (producer/engineer/graphic). Read more>>
Michelle Sackson
All my life, I have been fascinated with the unseen, the unknown, and the fantastical. As a child, I was obsessed with Uri Geller and his spoon-bending, ghost stories, the extraordinary feats found in the Guinness Book of World Records, and all things supernatural. I felt more connected to the world of myth and magic than I did to my own everyday life. Read more>>
Sandrine Chebou-Webb
After receiving six (6) blood transfusions for internal bleeding in one year, the year 2022 completely and forever changed me. While doctors pondered how I was still breathing with a hemoglobin (red blood cell count) of 3.9; what they didn’t realize was that I actually…finally did die. I had to. Read more>>
Elsa Milani CPCP, CPTP, LC
I began my journey in beauty in hi9hschool. I earned my Cosmetologist license in NY in high school. I knew I would need a way to make money to get myself throughout college. It was sink or swim. Read more>>
Alexis Tijerina
I’m Alexis Tijerina, the owner and creative heart behind Graze by Lex. Born and raised in Austin, TX. I started this journey in 2022 after spending time hosting friends and family at home, creating charcuterie boards that quickly became more than just a hobby, they became a passion. I’m a full-time mama to my three greatest blessings, 2 boys and one daughter. Read more>>
Bianca Sprague
My story is one that has so many pivots and landed in a totally different place than I originally intended when I started almost 20 years ago. Honestly, when I look back over the last almost 20 years of my business, I cannot believe the distance I have traveled. Read more>>
Syd and Gabi Mcgregor and Padilla
(Syd) Fitness has always been a huge element in my life as I grew up playing a great amount of sports from basketball and baseball to gymnastics and skateboarding. However, I slowly stopped playing so many sports as I entered my teen years and began experiencing extreme shifts in my mood, going from depression to happiness every few months like clockwork. Read more>>
Lisa Allen
Well…I’m originally from Kansas and have always loved DIY. I started my career as a hair stylist, which is where I first learned to really see people. I loved getting to know my clients and learning what they wanted, creating a vision into something tangible, and the satisfaction of a complete transformation. That creative instinct eventually led me to painting murals, and something just clicked. Read more>>
TJ Abeita
My name is TJ Abeita, and I’m a Class of 2031 student-athlete from Texas. I currently play Running Back and Linebacker and also compete in Track & Field. My journey started at a young age with a love for sports and a desire to compete. Read more>>
Alexandra Gallion
Honestly, I don’t make art to be recognized or admired. Art is my respite from inner and outer chaos. When I first started screenprinting, I wanted to make posters like the ones I had seen from old movies. I was drawn to their color schemes, motifs, and ability to translate complex ideas into singular images. Read more>>
Mildred Anaele
I’m a Houstonian by way of Nigeria, deeply proud of my heritage and the role it has played in shaping who I am. By trade, I’m an attorney, but at heart I’m a foodie and explorer. I love discovering new places and cuisines and sharing those experiences with anyone who will listen. Read more>>
Victoria Allen
Hi, my name is Victoria and I am an Austin, Texas based photographer. I own and operate Like Magic Photography, an independent photography and editing business I decided to pursue after working at Disney for 2.5 years. That’s where the ‘magic’ within Like Magic Photography originated from. To understand where my true passion for the art began, we would have to rewind. Read more>>
Kendra Cofer
After graduating high school, my twin sister and I shared an apartment and quickly learned what it meant to support ourselves. We both worked multiple jobs, and while it was a little scary at times, it was also incredibly exciting. I loved the independence, the responsibility, and the opportunity to build my own path. Read more>>
Emperor Dragon
It all started the summer of 2018. I was 16, working part time at a summer camp, and on my days off, I would play Fortnite. One day, a random teammate told me to follow him on Twitch. Not knowing what Twitch was, I asked him about it, and he told me it’s a platform where you get paid to play video games. Read more>>
Sinethemba Otusanya
I grew up in South Africa surrounded by diversity in beauty, texture, color, culture, and experiences that shaped the way I see the world today. From a young age, I was fascinated by cameras and storytelling. I remember watching movies where children had digital cameras or old video cameras, and I wanted one so badly for myself. Read more>>
Jenny Carson
I’m originally from Groves, TX. I typically tell people ‘I am from the Beaumont/Port Arthur area (as far east as you can go on I-10 before hitting Louisiana),’ should anyone ask… but Groves, home of the Texas Pecan Festival, is the truth. I was adopted by my grandparents, Weyman and Josie, as a wee babe alongside my sister, Vicki. I hated school. Read more>>
Constance Roberts
I was a ‘latchkey’ kid who grew up on the streets of Northeast El Paso, Texas in the mid. Read more>>
Ade Thomas
I’ve always understood life through movement before language. As a kid, films like Step Up and Black Swan showed me that movement could mean both freedom and escape. I’m Ade Thomas (pronounced Ah-day), also known in creative and nightlife spaces as Adonis. I’m an artist, curator, and performer based in Austin, originally from Houston. My journey started in photography and sociology. Read more>>
Mazzy Ardigo
Verdant Holistics began from our own personal journey. My partner Hunter and I have always shared a connection through creativity, wellness, nature, and conscious living. Over time we realized many of the products we used every day didn’t align with the lifestyle or values we believed in. Read more>>
Sally Iwanski
In 2006, two friends, my husband Gil and I decided to bring our miniature horses boarded in Lockhart to Austin and start our own miniature horse therapy organization. We were all helping a similar non-profit in Lockhart, but she did her visits on weekdays, and I worked full time. I was helping her with her website, email, fundraising, volunteers, sounding board. Read more>>
