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.
Francesca Lubega
I fell in love with photography when I was 16, I used to always get my friends to come over and shoot concepts on my phone at the time and edit on Picsart. I got my first camera when I was 17, and since then I’ve been shooting. Read more>>
Ivy Roots
I started performing and making music as an outlet. I studied music production and voice in college. As I developed my skills I noticed how uplifting and healing it was for people to see my journey, hear my songs, or seeing me perform at a concert for the first time. I became a muse and people could see themselves through me. Read more>>
Chelsea Manasseri
I come from a theatre family, and I don’t mean a family who happens to appreciate theatre. I come from a family of actors and singers with decades of experience on stage and screen. As a kid I was surrounded with cast albums, playbills, promotional materials, and golden age movie musicals on VHS. Read more>>
Daniel Durham
DD bio Native Austinite Daniel Durham has been performing on stage for 25 years. At a very young age it was clear that he had the ear to be a musician. As a young teenager, Daniel was performing with some of Austin’s top jazz musicians. Read more>>
Yeonjae Park
I started my journey as a dancer in Korea, where I trained and worked in the dance scene. After some time, I felt physically and mentally exhausted, so I decided to come to New York for a fresh start and to recharge. But when I experienced the dance scene here, it completely reignited my passion for dance. Read more>>
Ayla Erdener
I’ve been making art my whole life, and eventually went on to study Studio Art at UT Austin, where I earned my B.F.A. I experimented with a wide range of mediums and disciplines, including short experimental films, black and white photography, serigraphy, sculpture, and painting. Read more>>
Kathy Johnson
Basketball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up playing competitively, and the game gave me experiences that shaped who I am today. Beyond the competition, basketball taught me discipline, resilience, teamwork, and confidence. It also showed me how much the right coaching environment can influence a child’s confidence and love for the game. Read more>>
Toria & Brigitte
Creative Collective was founded by Brigitte Donovan and Toria Bonanni with a shared belief that the right room can change the trajectory of a founder. As entrepreneurs themselves, they experienced firsthand how powerful it can be to build alongside ambitious women—to have people to brainstorm with, learn from, collaborate with, celebrate with, and turn to when you’re figuring out what’s next. Read more>>
Quin Whiddon
Sydney’s Sanctuary began with a lifelong love for animals and a heart for rescuing those in need. For 28 years, I worked as a flight attendant, and while I loved my career and the opportunity it gave me to travel the world, I often missed the companionship of a furry friend while I was away. Read more>>
Ashley Edwards
While my work as a photographer began when I just wanted better photos of my first-born (over ten years ago), my work as a creative began far before that. I found a passion for writing and journalism in high school, where I realized the storytelling of everyday humans was fascinating and worth telling. Read more>>
Sarah Lamb
Hi my name is Sarah Lamb, I’m 36 year old Texan native, single mom to two children Olivia (10) and Legacy (2.5). I have been doing hair and make up professionally at Salon Mink for over 13 years. Read more>>
Joanette A
Hi, I’m Joanette! I am a Jamaican born jewelry designer living in Austin, TX. I first developed my love for rocks from my dad, who is a geologist and would always take me around the quarry as a child. Later on, I developed a love for colored gemstones, such as turquoise, amethyst, opal, agate and citrine. Read more>>
Kelly Schafer
Hi, I’m Kelly and I’m a visual artist and educator. I grew up in south Louisiana, went to college in Alabama, and have lived and worked in the Austin area for the past 26 years. All of these places, along with places I’ve been lucky to travel to, have helped shape my identity and practice in important ways. Read more>>
Nicole Richard
I landed in Austin after graduating from the University of Colorado with a degree in electrical and computer engineering and started my career at NI. Somewhere along the way, my engineering career took an unexpected turn, and I found myself building robots for kids. Read more>>
Tess Tarses
I apparently have always had an opinion on where things should go with the nature of set design. I was told recently that, as a kid, I used to rearrange all my stuffed animals in different configurations, like a stage audience. I was four. Read more>>
Aaron Jacobs
Love is Human began in California. Our founders came from the Samala Chumash tribe and created Love is Human originally as an entertainment production company in 2020. We created multiple event opportunities to help performers in Ventura and Santa Barbara County endure the results of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our situation eventually changed once we came to Austin, TX. Read more>>
Katherine Freeman
I’ve always been a creative growing up and in 2019 I started to crochet for myself and my friends. If I wanted a beanie or coasters I would just make it for myself. Then when my friends and I would go out someone would always lose their vape and that’s when I created the vape case for us. Read more>>
Jade Phillips
Practice, passion, and consistency. Creating is not something that comes naturally to me. I became obsessed with the principles of art and design at a very young age. At 18, with around 4 years of practicing drawing/painting, I went on to receive my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (2016) and my Master of Arts degree (2018). Read more>>
Kimberly Frantz
Get in! We are going down memory lane.! As a little Black girl growing up in Mississippi with dreams bigger than her eyes, the big apple was the only place on my radar. Did it make it to the big Apple you ask, I guess you will have to keep reading to see. Read more>>
Anna Hsu
My path into coaching actually started with my own struggle with confidence and self-worth. For a long time, I was someone who looked like I had it together on the outside, but internally I was constantly second-guessing myself. I thought I needed to achieve more, be better, or finally “figure myself out” before I could feel confident and at peace. Read more>>
Caroline Keating
We renovated our house in 2019 and I was looking for beautiful mid century modern furniture pieces to put into my home. I would find a great piece, and as I kept looking I would find another one I liked better, and then sell the old piece. Read more>>
Jenn Williams
I began my professional journey in kidney health in May 2011 at Satellite Healthcare, where I first saw how much clarity and communication were missing for patients trying to understand their own kidney health. Read more>>
Leslie Kennedy
I have always loved dogs since a neighbor of mine had a little rat terrier while was in the first grade. Read more>>
Esperanza Flores
Growing up in the early 2000s I had many things to draw inspiration from. I would spend my early childhood parading around envisioning what life would be like if I could somehow put out things I created and be recognized for doing so just like the people I looked up too had done. Read more>>
Evelyn Reategui Zirena
I started my art business in 2016 by painting flowers on canvas using oil and acrylic paints. From there, I began experimenting with other handmade products, including earrings made from wine corks that I painted and transformed into wearable art. One of the best decisions I made was transitioning from creating products alone to working as an entertainment artist. Read more>>
Aquita Gaddis
My story is really a story of purpose, perseverance, and becoming. I am a Louisiana raised woman who found a new beginning in Texas, and much of my journey has been shaped by being a single mother, an entrepreneur, a woman of faith, and a leader in my community. Read more>>
Shawn Bostic
My journey into financial services began in 1991, but financial services was never part of my original plan. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics because I wanted to become an engineer for a major defense contractor and aerospace firm specializing in electronic warfare and intelligence systems. I imagined applying mathematics to complex technical problems in a world of engineering, defense, and advanced technology. Read more>>
Lindsay Kana
I’m a sixth-generation Bastropian, so this community has always been a huge part of who I am. My career path hasn’t exactly been a straight line, but looking back, every chapter has really centered around people, relationships and connection. I spent six years as an elementary school teacher before eventually stepping into entrepreneurship. Read more>>
Amethia Johnson
In 2019 I retired from the military and to mark it, I planned a trip to Hawaii. While getting ready for that trip, I did what everyone does: shopped the sites that were hot at the time to get the outfits prepared and the photos ready. The orders came in. Read more>>
Geri DiVita
I am what I would say is your average person. I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon. in fact I was married at age 15 and had a child. I worked hard, stayed focused and worked my way up through the business world by always looking forward. Read more>>
Elizabeth Gelinas
I have always loved working with young children. There was never any question that whatever career path I took, it would involve working with kids in some capacity. I had a lot of experience working in preschools in my college years and as my first job upon graduation. Read more>>
Teouna Thomas
I did not start in design school. I started in life, watching spaces transform people, watching a room that felt chaotic become one that felt like an exhale. I always had the eye. I just had to find the courage to build the business around it. For years I balanced a full-time corporate career while quietly building Stellar Interiors on the side. Read more>>
Mitzi Birdsong
I always knew I wanted a career in fashion, and earning my degree in Fashion Merchandising was the first step toward that goal. I began my career with Joske’s, a Texas department store, and later worked for several other retailers before joining the J.C. Penney home office in Plano, Texas. Read more>>
corey mercke
Military veteran from Louisiana, family of entrepreneurs in the printing world. Met my wife in karate class and moved to Austin on a whim of meeting her here post college, just in time for covid to happen. By then I had build from scratch a luxury publication and part-owned an apothacary in Cedar Park, selling both during covid and getting into solar. Read more>>
Ravi Pothukuchy
Looking back at my life, I realize that my journey has never followed a straight line. At several points, I stood at crossroads where the conventional choice seemed obvious—and yet I chose a different road. My first major detour came during my PhD in Biochemistry in India. At the time, choosing a subject such as Biotechnology would have been the natural choice. Read more>>
Gary Coffman
Gary earned his BS in Zoology from the University of Texas at Austin and became one of Austin’s pioneers in the retail pet business. Any central Texas retailer worth his salt has dealt with Gary at one point or another. The Aqua-Dome is the culmination of his many successful business ventures. Read more>>
Harmony Grogan
I founded Pluck Architecture in 2019 after gaining invaluable experience at other design studios in Austin. In doing so, I wanted to stake a claim as a firm leader in what is still a male dominated field. As the firm’s name suggests, taking that leap after working happily at other firms for several years was both daunting and exhilarating. Read more>>
TJ Brogan
I’ve spent the last eight years running small businesses in Austin, and by mid-2025 I found myself stepping back into more of a part-time role — which meant it was time to start thinking about what was next. Growing up in Michigan, golf simulators were just part of winter life. Read more>>
Trina Dorrah, MD
I’ve been a physician for many years, so I am very familiar with burnout among physicians. Many physicians leave medicine not because they no longer love taking care of patients, but because they are burned out. I knew I wanted to help. My initial desire to help others with burnout in part came from the fact that I used to be burned out myself. Read more>>
Angelina Mortarotti
I’ve always had an interest in energy and the things we can’t necessarily see. I actually wrote a report on auras when I was 13 years old, so in some ways this has been a thread throughout my life. Read more>>
Konami Code
We started the band seven years ago with one thing in mind: play the best dang 90s/2000s pop-rock Halloween house show this city has ever seen. It was going to be the first show for Konami Code, so the excitement was off the charts. Our venue was a friend’s old house in the north campus neighborhood. Read more>>
Bridgette Ojo
My story has never followed a straight line, and I think that is one of the things I appreciate most about it. I started my professional career in education, spending several years as a high school science teacher. I loved teaching, but I always knew there was more I wanted to build, experience, and contribute. Read more>>
Kelly Friedman
Nito’s Nibbles began with Benito. During the height of covid, when the illness was spreading rapidly and the hope of returning back to normal life felt very far away, I was lonely and wanted a companion. My sister had recently adopted two dogs, and it made me realize I could do the same. Read more>>
Buck Williams
Central Texas Junk Pros started with a simple lesson about hard work. My son, Bowen, wanted to upgrade his baseball equipment, including getting a new bat, so instead of simply buying it for him, I encouraged him to find a way to earn the money. Read more>>
Jason Richard
I began music at age 12 when my father undenounced to me mailed me a guitar. I played in bands, got signed recorded toured etc., In 2012 I joined Roky Erickson’s band and toured the much of the world with that project. In 1996 I began dabbling with recording, which turned into an obsession. Read more>>
Carlos Maldonado
Our mariachi group, Mariachi Suroeste, was born out of the Texas State University Mariachi Program pre name-change in 1998. Southwest translates to Suroeste. The complete story starts a few years before then when myself and a few other students started gathering every Friday to play mariachi music we had learned in our respective high school mariachi programs. Read more>>
Michael Gilchrist
As a JR in HS I joined the Army and in October of 94 I almost died twice. First becoming type 1 diabetic and Second going through my windshield and getting hit by another car on my way to my unit. Read more>>
Christian Olivarez
Born in Waco, Texas, and now based out of Austin, Cio Made The Track has been passionate about music for as long as he can remember. Around the age of 15, that passion became something more serious when he picked up his first music production program and started experimenting with producing beats and recording vocals. Read more>>
Ty McLeod
Chris Tucker inspired me to become an actor – when I was in 4th grade. His energy was electric on camera and I wanted to make audiences feel what he made me feel. When I was in sixth grade, my mom uprooted me from my family and home to follow my step-dad to Ft. Leonardwood, MO. He was a soldier and he had his orders. Read more>>
Jason Rudd
For 27 years, I’ve worked my way up in the production music and sync licensing industry. My journey began as a Mastering Engineer at FirstCom Music in Dallas—a company that evolved through ownership by Zomba and BMG before becoming a flagship half of Universal Production Music. Mentorship from industry pioneers shaped my early years, paving the way for my transition to Producer. Read more>>
Ardif
I studied architecture and started my career as an architect 15 years ago. But during my studies, I became interested in street art because, for me, it was a link between architecture and artistic intervention. I started looking at the art in the streets of Paris and thinking that I would like to begin my own journey in this urban landscape. Read more>>
Samm LLanos
I am the founder of Events on Purpose ATX, a community-based event company dedicated to bringing together nonprofits, small businesses, artists, and musicians through collaborative efforts that create meaningful community impact. Read more>>
