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.
Elizabeth Minger
Growing up, I always knew I wanted to help others. As I got older, I explored different helping professions, unsure of exactly where my future would lead. Then, during an adolescent psychology class, I was introduced to counseling, play therapy, and expressive arts, and I was hooked! I was thrilled to discover a career that combined so many of the things I loved. Read more>>
Christopher Barboza (Call me Justice)
Hello, I am Justice, a drag queen here in Austin, Texas. I’ve been doing drag now for about 8 + years. When I first started: I moved here in 2017 to attend UT Austin in pursuit of a journalism degree. While attending, a friend named Luca brought me to my first ever drag show hosted by Kelly Kline at Oilcan Harry’s on 4th Street. Read more>>
Ihor Stepanov
I would start this story not with how I got my visa and moved to the U.S., but with the day I flew to Austin to choose land. By then, the decision had already been made: we were going to build homes in Texas. That day, a realtor met me, and we immediately began looking at lots. Read more>>
Jess Helios
In 2018 I graduated from Hastings College in Nebraska with a degree in Saxophone Performance. I then moved to Austin, TX for music and better weather. Upon arriving I got sucked up into the Austin tech world and lost myself for around four years, but in 2022 I realized I needed to make the jump. Read more>>
Alex Malone
I’ve been photographing live music for about eight years, and what started as something I simply loved doing gradually turned into a career I never really expected. I’ve always been drawn to the energy of live performances and the challenge of capturing the perfect moment. Read more>>
Kristina S
Music has always been a huge part of my life ever since I was a little girl about seven years ago. I decided I wanted to become a DJ four years ago. I wanted to become a producer today. Read more>>
Carolina Castanos
My story starts with two worlds. I’m an immigrant, Latina, and bilingual, and for most of my life I’ve had to move between different cultures, different languages, different ways of belonging. What I learned from that experience was what it feels like to feel alone, to not quite fit anywhere, to be in a room and still feel like you’re on the outside of it. Read more>>
Alena Bystritskiy
I was born in Russia into a family of musicians, so music naturally became part of my life from a very young age. Music and art were always an important part of my everyday life. In the 1990s, I moved to Germany, where I continued my education at music schools and Gymnasium. At that time, I studied both harp and piano. Read more>>
Neetu Rishi
The Success Equations: From Starting Over to Standing Out I was born and raised in India and built a successful corporate career there. But about ten years ago, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life—I moved to the United States. In the process, I left behind the security of a steady paycheck, my professional network, and everything that felt familiar. Read more>>
Anna Westbrook
I am an interdisciplinary artist (music educator, composer, playwright, music director, and performer) working in the Greater Austin area. I launched my creative practice from 2013 – 2016 with a B.A. in Music Composition from Connecticut College (where I also studied playwriting). In 2016, I moved to Austin, Texas for the creative community. Read more>>
Manny Adame
2Burrachos started from a simple idea: we wanted to bring something unique, fun, and authentically Texas to weddings and special events. What began with our Beer Burros quickly turned into something much bigger than we expected. We saw how much joy the donkeys brought to guests—not only serving drinks, but creating an experience, photo opportunity, and memory that people talked about long after the event. Read more>>
Daniel Baugh
Austin native, Odom Elementary Golden Eagle, Covington Middle School Colt, Crockett Cougar. Left to be an SFASU Lumberjack in 2009 and came back to town with a heaping Art Degree in Art Metals and Printmaking. I hit the ground running. I was travelling building skateparks, building neon and braille signs and custom furniture. Read more>>
Marlene Jorge
My story has never followed a conventional path. I am a self taught, neurodivergent Dominican contemporary artist, and much of my creative education came through observation, research, experimentation, and an almost obsessive curiosity about people, symbolism, mythology, identity, and the inner life. I did not begin with permission from the art world or with a perfectly mapped career. Read more>>
Monica Herrera
Honestly, I just wanted to create cool videos. This all started as a hobby in effort to develop my skills as a videographer within the world of music and live entertainment. With limited experience I knew I couldn’t do this alone – I had the creative vision but didn’t know how to bring it to life. Read more>>
Ashley Davis
I have always kept a journal of my thoughts and feelings about various things in my life. During the pandemic, I decided to put my thoughts and feelings into a book. I wrote my first 30 day devotional Bent But Not Broken. I also established a tshirt line as well to go along with my brand. They both were successful and sold well. Read more>>
Ocian Olaudah
As a young child I actually was never into beauty. I played lots of sports and was always hanging out with my brother and his friends. I dont think it was until I realized I was actually good at it, that I grew a strong passion for it. Read more>>
Ashley Gutierrez
I became a cosmetologist to support myself and my son as a single mom in 2010. I continued to work as a stylist, while going to school to get my undergraduate degree in American Sign Language interpreting and psychology. During COVID I began working for a deaf owned company who asked me to be a copywriter for their marketing department. Read more>>
Vinitha Subramanian
For more than 40 years, Natyalaya has been a premier bharathanatyam institution in Central Texas. Founded by Director Vinitha Subramanian, Natyalaya is known for its rigorous training, performance opportunities, and original, professional-level productions. Each year, Natyalaya showcases several arangetrams, or solo debut performances for accomplished students. Natyalaya students perform all over Texas, often winning awards at competitions. Read more>>
Deborah Cole
For 36 years, I built and grew a multi-million-dollar commercial landscape service business with 10 offices spread throughout Texas. Being an entrepreneur was a huge part of my life and taught me to take risks, solve problems, trust my instincts and, perhaps most importantly, not wait for someone else to give me permission to try something. Read more>>
Kohanna McCrary
I’m an Arizona-born artist, and I grew up between Virginia and Baltimore. I started playing music at 14, and my first live performance was at Cat’s Eye Pub, a small pub in Baltimore, MD. Read more>>
Var Don
I’ve been creating music for a long time, and honestly, my story has been more of a journey than a straight line. I started out simply because I loved hip-hop and wanted to make records. Over the years that grew into songwriting, recording, performing, and really learning the business side of being an independent artist. There have definitely been different chapters along the way. Read more>>
Ladibug Brookshire
Hi My Name is DJ Ladibug. I am originally from Louisiana. I currently reside in Corpus Christi Texas. I started out djing in Central Texas. Weddings, night clubs, retirement parties, etc. Although I would have to admit, weddings and karaoke are my favorite events to DJ. I currently am retired from Djing for 3 years. I also have done radio podcasts, and won many awards. Read more>>
Talib Abdullahi
My path to Black History Bike Ride wasn’t really a straight line. It started with cycling being something personal to me, and it grew out of a moment in 2020 that a lot of us shared. Read more>>
Pedro DJ Mendez
So music has been part of my life from before i was even conceived. Both grandparents on my mothers side have musical talent. So from learning to play various musical instruments to breaking both wrists we went from having musical ease to not even understanding what to do next. Eventually a friend asked me to DJ their wedding as their DJ had last minute canceled. Read more>>
Sebo Hernandez
As a kid, I grew up watching YouTube and seeing how much fun creators had making videos. YouTube became a getaway for me, and it gave my friends and I fun activities to do together. We were just kids making dumb videos, having fun, and recreating videos from our favorite creators, like David Dobrik. Read more>>
Amos Schwartzfarb
Music was a major part of my early life. While neither of my parents played any instruments, music was always on in my house. My father was huge into Motown and funk and both my parents grew up in the 60’s and 70’s so bands like The Rolling Stones, Bob Dillon, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon were always playing in my apartment. Read more>>
Chris Smartt
I have been blessed to have lived a life with many chapters. I graduated college and went to Prague right as the Eastern Block countries liberated from the USSR. I taught English, was a cook at a Czech-Mex pub, and eventually landed a job in marketing for the Coca-Cola Company. I worked with Coca-Cola throughout central Europe and then back in the states. Read more>>
Paige Charlebois
Before founding The GoodDog, I spent about 15 years building and leading sales organizations. I helped grow one company from essentially zero to approximately $20 million in revenue and a team of nearly 120 people, and I worked with venture-backed companies through rapid growth, fundraising, and acquisition. I knew how to bring something to market. Read more>>
Delphine Breyne
I was born in France with naturally very sparse eyebrows, so from a young age I understood how something so subtle could influence the way we see ourselves and how confident we feel. I began my career as an international model, traveling the world and experiencing beauty through many different cultures. My own experience with sparse brows eventually became a passion and then a calling. Read more>>
Stephen Mery
I was born and raised in San Antonio, and I picked up a guitar for the first time when I was eleven years old. I have been obsessed with music ever since. After high school, I attended Texas A&M University, where I studied Construction Science. When it came time to choose where to build my career, Austin was an easy decision. Read more>>
Steven Dutton
Being the child of a career musician the desire for music had always been there. Sadly I didn’t inherit my father’s guitar skills or carry a tune too well. However I did notice I was good with words so I began writing poetry. Read more>>
Yiesenia Barrientos
My name is Yiesenia Barrientos. I’m 25 year old !! I started creating content in 2022, but I was very shy about making videos for social media. Because of that, I stopped creating content for a little while .In 2023, I decided to give content creation another chance. I started posting more, but I still wasn’t sure if it was something I truly enjoyed. Read more>>
Shourya Vishwakarma
Your Story My journey has always been connected to creativity. I grew up in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, and from an early age I was drawn to things that allowed me to express myself—especially movies, storytelling, drawing, and visual creativity. I started exploring video editing on my own and gradually turned it into a serious skill. Read more>>
Ethan Stafford
I was born in 2000, which is still a weird thing for me to really process because when I look back at the world I grew up in, it feels like a completely different country, almost a different planet. I was born during the George W. Read more>>
C.S. Jennings
Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like. “When did you first know you were an artist?” I really had to think the first time I was asked this question. What an odd concept, I thought. Read more>>
DJ Ferno
Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Philadelphia, I was surrounded by a city with a deep musical identity, and DJing became a way for me to connect with people before I fully understood how important that connection would become. Read more>>
Megan Knight
I took kind of a meandering path into fitness. I was living in New York City, working in the fashion industry, and it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t like my job, and while I was there, OG SoulCycle was really taking off. Read more>>
Christina Cole
Art and creativity is central to my story. I am currently studying Art History on a pre-law track at the University of Texas at Austin, with two minors in Business and Public Policy and African and African Diaspora Studies. Prior to pursuing college, however, I was a professional ballet dancer. Read more>>
Dashawn Dekle
I am a self taught designer that taught myself how to sew at around the age of 14 years old. I started out with just altering pants because I was a tall but skinny child. Throughout my childhood, my family put an emphasis on fashion with how to coordinate outfits to what shoes go best with a shirt. Read more>>
Justin Bratton
My path into entertainment was pretty unconventional. I was born in Brownsville, Texas, and grew up mostly in Dallas–Fort Worth and Austin. After graduating from the University of Texas, I spent some time living and working in Monterrey, Mexico. Read more>>
Tony Mac
It all started with a simple belief: that music is the heartbeat of a community. For me, Tony Mac, the journey to becoming ‘The People’s DJ’ wasn’t just about playing tracks; it was about curating moments that bring people together. My passion for music began in a makeshift home studio, where Ive obsessed over the craft andmastering the perfect vibe. Read more>>
John F. Jusuf
I started my professional career working in banking, but I always had a strong interest in art and creativity. Eventually, I began exploring tattooing, and what started as a passion gradually became a serious career. I made the decision to leave banking and pursue tattooing full-time. I eventually established 7 Fukujin Tattoo in Jakarta and have continued developing my craft through years of experience. Read more>>
