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.
Sam Hendel
GOOD GRiEF was born from my own experience with loss. After losing my mom to cancer, running became one of the only places where I felt like I could process what I was going through. I realized grief can be incredibly isolating, but movement has a way of bringing people together without requiring them to have the right words. Read more>>
Renee Lacey
I can start this story a few different ways, but to keep it brief, it all began with one simple realization: I didn’t need anyone’s permission to build something. If I had an idea, I could start a business from complete scratch and see where it could go. Read more>>
MoscatoJ
It started in 2020, when I dropped my first single, called PYT (Pretty Young Thang). Being that was my first song ever released I didn’t know if it was going flop or be a hit. As the weeks and months went by it did ok in numbers. I wasn’t taking the music thing too seriously at that time. Read more>>
Gloria Vera-Bedolla
If you had asked me years ago where my life was headed, I never would have imagined I’d end up in public education. My path has been anything but traditional, but looking back, I can see how every chapter prepared me for the work I do today. Read more>>
DJ Blurray
I guess it all started in 1998- I went to my buddy’s apartment for a party, and his roommate who was a DJ was there spinning some house/ techno kind of stuff. Even though that’s not my favorite genre of music, watching him work the tables & mixer was one of those ‘I want to learn’ moments. Read more>>
Olivia Hockaday
I started teaching Pilates full time about 10 years ago, in Raleigh NC after graduating from the design school at NC State. I had a background in dance and always knew I’d return to the movement world eventually. I moved to Austin in 2020 and taught at multiple studios before finally deciding to branch out on my own. Read more>>
Paloma Garcia
If you had told me years ago that a passion for makeup would become my career and allow me to be part of some of the most meaningful moments in people’s lives, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. I’m a proud Latina entrepreneur and the owner of Paloma Garcia Makeup Studio. Read more>>
Kaya Shellhammer
I started as a dancer at the age of 4! It was my whole life growing up. I started theatre in high school as a dancer but was to scared to speak on stage. Finally, in my senior year, I spoke up, and it went so well that I decided to go to college for it. Read more>>
Steven Vogel
Photography has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My dad is a photographer, so I grew up around cameras and was always drawn to the artistic side of capturing moments. That passion continued through high school, where I took photography classes and realized how much I truly loved the craft. Read more>>
Leah Riggs
I’ve always been drawn to anything creative. Growing up, I loved illustration and playing the piano, and in high school I took a photojournalism class. Looking back, it’s actually kind of surprising I didn’t find my way into photography sooner. Life took me in a different direction for a while. Read more>>
Xavier Schipani
Visual Artist and Trans-Activist Xavier Schipani explores themes of Queer Identity, the trans masculine body, sexuality, memory and language. His work is centered around questions that contemplate gender identity, proof of existence, the transformative power of representation, and the emotional resonance of his experience as a transman. Read more>>
Regina Maldonado
It started with a camera in my hands and no idea where it would lead. Late 1990s, film still king, and me just a girl who loved the way a single frame could hold onto a moment that would otherwise slip by. I wasn’t chasing a career. I was chasing a feeling. Looking back, I think I was always going to end up here. Read more>>
Melissa Siebert
From an early age, I was fascinated by human behavior. I tended to observe before I spoke, driven by an insatiable curiosity about what motivates people. That curiosity was shaped not only by the world around me but also by my own family. I often found myself wondering how people who shared the same DNA could experience and interpret life so differently. Read more>>
Kryste Armijo
My mom had taken some painting classes, I think before I was born and she was always intersted in artsy stuff, so when I was little, we would watch this program on TV, I have no idea what it was, but it was an art class on Saturday mornings. My brother, Mom and I would get our drawing pads and go along with the class. Read more>>
Debbie Juhlke
Embrace Life Initiative was born from a calling to serve families who are too often overlooked or underserved. Throughout my journey, I saw that many women and families from ethnically diverse and underrepresented communities were facing unplanned pregnancies with limited access to resources, support, and life-affirming options. Too often, they felt alone and unaware that compassionate help was available. Read more>>
Danny Gallucci
I started creating art for survival, as an odd, lonely kid. I would sculpt surreal little monsters out of model magic, scribble on every surface. When I discovered video games, it was over – I knew I had to be a part of the art world. I followed that passion to St. Read more>>
Julie Burke
I love this question because I never know exactly where (or how) to start. So, I’m listening to the Hamilton soundtrack for inspiration…is my life ANYTHING like Hamilton’s? Absolutely not. Do I sometimes listen to this for inspiration? Yes. Do with that what you will. Anyway…how I got started and were I am today. Read more>>
Christina Diya-Bernhard
I grew up in a small Texas town surrounded by a lot of people who were into a simple rural life. I always dreamed of the city and doing big things. It was in me for as long as I can remember. My parents were an exception to the slow rural life as they were extremely hard workers. Read more>>
Nina Miller
When my son was born almost 20 years ago I had just recovered from two cancer surgeries and moved from New York City to Austin. I had grown up under the food ideology of a mother who read Prevention magazine in the 1970s. There was no iceberg lettuce in the house, only romaine; no Wonder Bread, only pumpernickel. No fried food was allowed. Read more>>
Fronrich Puno
Before I knew how to play an instrument, learned music theory, or even took a music class, I was annoying every adult around me with unsolicited humming, tapping, and various other modes of making noise. Read more>>
Ethan Braekevelt
I was born in Belgium and moved to Oregon when I was eight years old with my mom, who then married my stepdad. Overnight, I went from being an only child raised primarily by my mother to becoming part of a family with four older stepbrothers in a completely different culture. Read more>>
Mark Bowers
My path to photography wasn’t a straight line. I spent over a decade in corporate finance and accounting — companies like International Paper, Transocean, and Bazaarvoice, plus a stint at UT Austin, where I’d earned my finance degree from McCombs. The work was stable, but the creative side of my brain kept pulling at me. Read more>>
Bode Robinson
I’ve always been drawn to creativity, but my path has never been a straight line. I started my career as a graphic designer, eventually founding Goodtype, an online typography community that grew into one of the largest design platforms in the world, and ultimately to authoring Goodtype: The Art of Lettering which was published by Rizzoli in 2018. Read more>>
Brandi Sims
My journey into PR started long before I ever called it that. I grew up an Army brat — both of my parents served — and by the time I was eight, I’d lived in five states. That constant movement taught me how to adapt, connect, and communicate across cultures, which turned out to be the perfect training ground for a career in strategic communications. Read more>>
Malina Cipleu
I grew up in Transylvania, Romania, where I studied psychology before moving to the United States. Although I came to art as an adult, looking back, those two disciplines don’t feel as different as they once did. My way of seeing began much earlier than I realized. Read more>>
Dominique D’Vita
I spent over 35 years as a Registered Nurse before Tantra ever entered the picture. Cardiac care, the cath lab, open heart and neurosurgery as a first assistant. I have literally seen the human experience from the inside out, and for most of my career, that’s just what I thought ‘opening hearts’ meant. Then in my mid-40s, everything cracked open. Read more>>
Sarah Thornell
Thanks to a full dance class at Dripping Springs High School, I got placed in my alternative creative elective: Theater. My second choice changed everything for me. Six plays and two musicals later, I graduated high school with a whole new plan – to be a professional artist. I withdrew all of my pre-med college applications and began reapplying to film schools. Read more>>
Kelley Laws
My love for photography began at a young age when I got my first film camera in fourth grade. I quickly fell in love with capturing emotion and memories in pictures, and by middle school I was helping with yearbook before moving into sports photography in high school. During my senior year, I photographed my first wedding, and I was completely hooked. Read more>>
Stacey Kaleh
From an early age, my parents instilled in me the importance of serving others. They modeled this by working in nonprofit leadership and actively volunteering in the community. My idea of work has always been as a pathway toward making a positive difference in the world. That perspective has really shaped my education and career decisions. Read more>>
Keke Powell
Ms. Powell teaches started in 2020. I used it as a platform to help get resources for my classroom. As teachers, we spend a lot of our own money for our students and I wanted a creative way to help with costs. I never thought social media would have taken me where it is today. Read more>>
Craig Miller
Craig Miller, CEO of Mill-King Market and Creamery is a third generation dairy farmer, born and raised in McGregor, Texas outside of Waco. The youngest of three children, Craig remembers dairying as a way of life from his earliest memories. Read more>>
Andrew Hernandez
Our Story Good Dogs Bakehouse started with three dogs who changed the way we thought about nutrition: Bandit, Lupe, and Pancho. Like many pet parents, we realized that finding treats made with simple, recognizable ingredients wasn’t as easy as it should be. Too many products were filled with preservatives, fillers, and ingredients we wouldn’t eat ourselves. So we decided to make our own. Read more>>
Gustman Paolo
My name is Paolo Gustman, and I am originally from Cameroon. I grew up in a family where creativity and presentation were always appreciated. My father was an engineer, and my mother was a businesswoman. Although they came from different professional backgrounds, they both shared a genuine passion for fashion, and that passion naturally became part of my upbringing. Read more>>
amandine Elina
For over ten years, I’ve worked as a fashion model, which gave me the opportunity to travel extensively and discover some of the world’s most beautiful hotels and destinations. Along the way, I developed a real passion for visual storytelling—not just being in front of the camera, but creating the images myself. Read more>>
Ron Anderson
We have been in the entertainment industry for nearly 40 years. We developed an inventory of extremely high-end mobile estates that were built for the wealthiest and most famous people in the world. When COVID came along, the entire entertainment industry shut down. Having read the famous book “Who Moved My Cheese” years ago, we realized we needed to move the cheese. Read more>>
Lee Caldwell
I was born and raised in Austin, Texas. Throughout my career, I’ve been drawn to work that helps people grow and move forward. Over the years, I’ve owned businesses in different industries, and each experience has taught me valuable lessons about entrepreneurship, resilience, and relationships. What I’ve learned is that success isn’t just about what you know. Read more>>
Dr Lana Bach-Morrow PhD
As a functional medicine neuroscientist and award winning inventor (at think interfaces.com) – and a creator of THINK system for focus, memory and peak performance, I dedicated my life to helping humanity raise their consciousness, with particular focus on interconnectivity between the brain, mind, body and spiritual aspects. Read more>>
