Kansas City has a legacy of artistic and entrepreneurial innovation spanning more than 125 years. It is a mashup of new ideas and American creativity — an intersection of arts, culture, innovation and imagination. Welcome to Kansas City: America’s Creative Crossroads. Named the No. 1 place to be in America by the Huffington Post and a top city for creatives according to SmartAsset, Kansas City is home to some of the nation’s most thriving people, places and companies.
Beth Nybeck Metal Sculpture Artist
Visionary, artist and sculptor are just a few ways to describe Beth Nybeck, the talented metal sculptor artist creating incredible metal pieces for both public and private sectors around the nation. Graduating from the University of Northern Iowa in 2010, Beth has stayed busy creating her metal masterpieces for places like the John Wayne International Airport in Orange County, California.
Davyeon Ross Entrepreneur
A native of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, Davyeon Ross founded Digital Sports Ventures, an interactive technology company. A subsequent product, ShotTracker is an affordable, wearable tech device for basketball players. ShotTracker recently verified a multi-year partnership with Spaulding to expand into team products.
Sara & Davide Rossi Co-Founders of FitBark
Siblings and co-founders Sara and Davide Rossi started FitBark to lead the charge in changing the way humans and dogs stay active and healthy together. After working for a few years as a psychologist, Sara moved into marketing, launching and managing brands such as Hawaiian Tropic and Schick in Italy. Sara has two dogs: “Freud” - the Italian inspiration for FitBark - and “B” - the stray KC startup dog (pictured here). In a previous life, Davide designed Ferrari engines, co-founded BRM Model Cars, and was an Oil & Gas project and sales manager for Socotherm in Asia and the Middle East. More recently, Davide was as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank in New York, where he advised FinTech clients on capital raises and M&A.
Hayley Besheer
Founder & CEO, MADI Apparel
Hayley is the founder and CEO of MADI Apparel Make a Difference Intimate Apparel, a women’s underwear line that donates a pair of undies to a woman in need for every pair sold. Hayley founded the company based on a single statistic: underwear is the most needed and underdonated item of clothing in the U.S.
Howard Hana
Chef/Owner, The Rieger & Ça Va
Howard began working in restaurants while in high school in Manhattan, Kansas. He has worked and studied around the world in places such as France, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Samoa, New Zealand, California and New York. In December of 2010 Howard finally achieved his dream of opening his own restaurant, The Rieger Hotel Grill and Exchange in Kansas City. In 2014 Howard was named a James Beard Semi Finalist for Best Chef Midwest, and opened Ça Va, a Champagne bar in Kansas City’s renaissance Westport area.
Bob Berkebile
Architect & Principal, BNIM
Any list of accomplished, influential environmentalists and preservationists includes Bob Berkebile. Highly regarded by fellow professionals, Bob focuses on improving the quality of life in our society with the integrity and spirit of his firm’s work. Bob has been the recipient of the Heinz Award from the Heinz Family Foundation and is listed among the Top 5 U.S. Individual Role Models for green and sustainable design.
Neal Sharma
CEO & Principal, DEG
As DEG’s strategic leader, Neal is focused on enabling businesses and organizations to identify smart, objective-led approaches and leverage the power of technology to actualize them. He has been recognized as one of Kansas City’s most accomplished business leaders under the age of 40, by Ingram’s Magazine as one of its “50 Kansans You Should Know,” and by The Kansas City Star as one of the 50 most influential people in technology.
Ian Byrne
Musician & Woodworker
Ian Byrne is the lead singer of The Elders. He was born in County Wicklow, Ireland. Apprenticed as a woodworker, he joined various bands at a young age, learning to play a wide variety of instruments. In 1987, Ian immigrated to the United States, marrying his Kansas City girlfriend, and Fox 4 reporter Kathy Quinn. He started his own woodworking business a few years later, and joined the Elders in 1998. Over the last decade, the Elders have become an international success, touring the world, playing to sold-out crowds. Ian and his wife have one son, Kian, and two daughters, Andreina and Kaitlin.
Kevin McGinnis
Vice President, Development & Operations - Pinsight Media+, Sprint
Kevin McGinnis is vice president of Product Development and Technology for Pinsight Media+, a division of Sprint. In his 20-year career at Sprint, Kevin has performed in a multitude of functions and various stages of new and emerging businesses. This range of experience has established Kevin as a thought leader in the wireless industry.
Danny O’Neill
Founder & Bean Baron, The Roasterie
Danny O’Neill is the “Bean Baron” of The Roasterie, Inc., a specialty coffee roaster that services espresso bars and coffee houses, fine restaurants, high-end grocers and coffee-lovers all around the world. He started roasting coffee in the basement of his Brookside home in 1993. He founded The Roasterie on three basic premises: to find the best coffees in the world, to roast them the best way known to man and to get them to his customers as fast as humanly possible.
Michael Ong Multimedia Art Director, Hallmark
Originally a native Malaysian, Michael Ong began his career as a motion designer, and eventually became the Creative Director at T2 (now hint). In the 16 years with the company, he worked on numerous award-winning motion graphics, digital special effects and finishing of national and regional commercials, feature films/documentaries and experience design projects. In 2010, Michael took the role of Associate Studio Manager of the Multimedia Studio at Hallmark, leading the team that delivers technologically-driven digital content beyond the traditional ink-on-paper greeting.
Whitney Manney Fashion Designer
A Kansas City native, Whitney graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2012 with a BFA in Fibers. With a desire to create art in a wearable format, Whitney creates garments and textile designs under her emerging label WHITNEYMANNEY. Her work has been featured in numerous national art/ fashion blogs, as well as having a prolific regional following. Creating a narrative between color and pattern is a signature of Whitney’s work, “My job isn’t done until everybody in the world believes fashion is art.”
Chase McAnulty
Clothing Designer & Entrepreneur
Chase is the founder and CEO of the Kansas Citybased vintage T-shirt brand Charlie Hustle. The company focuses on vintage sports T-shirts, but often alludes to Chase’s childhood, mixing elements of design and KC hometown culture. The brand gained local prominence from its topselling T-shirt, the KC Heart design.
Nicole Emanuel
Founder & CEO, InterUrban ArtHouse
A painter, mother of two, writer and ”creative placemaker,” Nicole Emanuel began her career in public art and Urban Cultural Planning for Artists’ Live/ Work spaces. Her first Bachelor of Arts, in Design & Industry from San Francisco State University in 1985, was followed by a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1995, where she was KCAI valedictorian. Nicole’s paintings and drawings are in numerous corporate and private collections in New York, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas and Missouri.
Laura Jones Wallner
Principal Dancer, Quixotic Fusion
Laura started dancing at the age of six. She trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts and has danced with the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Missouri Contemporary Ballet. In 2008, Laura moved to Kansas City and started working with Quixotic. Laura now dances for Quixotic full time and enjoys choreographing pieces that involve dancers interacting with visual projections.
Tyrone Aiken
Chief Artistic Officer, KC Friends of Alvin Ailey
Established in 1984, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey is the official second home of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, based in New York City. Tyrone Aiken is KCFAA’s executive director, a role he has played since 2005. He began as an instructor during the company’s AileyCamp in 1991, and graduated to artistic coordinator in 1995.
Victor & Penny Antique Pop Duo
Victor & Penny hail from Kansas City, Missouri, America’s roaring 1920s “Paris of the Plains.” With tight vocal harmonies, a fiery ukulele and a red-hot jazz guitar, Victor & Penny bring a modern voice to prohibition era jazz and clever original tunes. Victor & Penny are Jeff Freling (Blue Man Group, Chicago) and Erin McGrane (George Clooney’s, “Up in the Air” and cabaret troupe Alacartoona).
Jeff Harshbarger
Musician & Composer
Jeff Harshbarger is a fulltime jazz musician and prolific composer who has recorded and performed across the globe with artists like Bobby Watson, Allison Miller and Curtis Fuller. Jeff is currently touring with the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey with upcoming shows at The Abby Pub in Chicago, The Blue Note in New York City and the Rochester International Jazz Festival in Rochester, New York.
Butch Rigby
Owner, Screenland Theatres
Butch Rigby is the founder and owner of the Screenland Theatres circuit of movie theatres in Kansas City. He has developed historic buildings in and around Kansas City, Missouri. From the historic Granada Theatre in downtown Kansas City, Kansas to the restoration of the century old Mid Broadway Building, better known to many as the former “Kenny’s News Room.” Butch is the founder and chairman of Thank You Walt Disney, Inc., dedicated to the preservation of Walt Disney’s first cartoon studio, “Laugh-O-Gram Studio,” located in Kansas City, Missouri.
Shane Evans Artist
Shane W. Evans, the 2012 Coretta Scott King Winner and 2011 NAACP Image Award winning artist, has lent his talents to close to 30 children’s books. His work has brought him recognition from the White House, The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Late Show with David Letterman. His work in children’s book has been vast, ranging from the widely popular Shanna Show series that is now a Disney animated short along with the spinoff Shane’s Kindergarten Countdown to the successful trilogy of African American history Nobody Gonna Turn me round, nominated for an NAACP image award.
Radkey
Punk/Garage Rock Band
Radkey is a punk band from St. Joseph, Missouri that is made up of three brothers: Dee as lead guitarist and vocalist, Isaiah on bass, and Solomon on drums. Since then Radkey has had a full schedule of national and international performances, including festivals like South by Southwest, Riot Fest, Afropunk and Download Festival (in the U.K.).
Brooke Salvaggio
Farmer & Co-Founder, URBAVORE
Brooke Salvaggio is an organic farmer and food activist in Kansas City, Missouri. She is the cofounder of URBAVORE Urban Farm - a thriving organic farmstead in the midst of a city neighborhood that produces gourmet vegetables, specialty fruits and free-range eggs. It is Brooke’s passion to feed people in a righteous and ethical manner while setting a precedent for urban sustainability.
Christopher Elbow Chocolatier & Pastry Chef
Christopher Elbow’s Artisan Chocolates have been featured across the nation, from magazines like Oprah, Food & Wine, Fine Cooking and InStyle to syndicated TV programs like Food Network’s What Hot, What’s Cool. His confectionery creations are available online and at discriminating retailers like CocoaBella Chocolates in San Francisco, Biagio Fine Chocolates in Washington D.C. and Trotters To Go In Chicago.
Celina Tio
Chef/Owner of Julian, Collection & The Belfry
Chef Celina Tio has proudly called KC her home since joining The American Restaurant in 2001. Since then, Celina has been collecting accolades and making waves for KC throughout the national culinary scene. After being named Chef of the Year by Chef magazine in 2005 and James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Midwest in 2007, she made national television appearances on both “The Next Iron Chef” and “Top Chef Masters.” In 2009, Celina started her first proprietary restaurant, JULIAN, located in the historic Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri.
Ryan Maybee
Restaurateur & Bartender
Ryan Maybee is a restaurateur with expertise in the fields of wine, spirits and mixology. His creative libations have received national acclaim being featured in top-tier publications including Wine Enthusiast, Food and Wine, The New Yorker, Vogue, GQ, Esquire, Vanity Fair and Bartender Magazine. In 2009, Ryan opened Manifesto, a small, speakeasy-like bar focusing on classically inspired cocktails using all fresh and homemade ingredients. In 2011, Ryan partnered with Chef Howard Hanna to open a restaurant, The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange, named one of Zagat’s Top Restaurants of 2012.
Sean Malto
Professional Skateboarder
Kansas City native Sean Malto is a world class professional skateboarder. At the age of 20, Sean won his first international title as Transworld Rookie of the Year. Two short years later he was named Street League Champion, and in 2013 Sean won the silver medal at the X Games in Brazil.
Hermon Mehari
Trumpeter & Composer
Hermon received his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from the University of MissouriKansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance in 2010. He freelances in and out of Kansas City with all types of groups varying in styles. In addition to performing, Hermon dedicates himself to being a serious educator. He has participated in clinics and panels around the country and regularly teaches at music camps during the summers. As a founding member of Diverse, whose eponymous debut album on Seattlebased Origin Records reached the Top 40 on the Jazzweek Radio Charts, Hermon has performed professionally with many notable musicians.
Jim Leedy
Artist & Visionary
Jim Leedy has been a dynamic force in the international art world and a catalyst for community development in Kansas City for more than four decades. As a Kansas City Arts Institute professor, he spent more than 40 years encouraging students to push boundaries. The accomplishments of the 81-year-old artist have both anticipated and responded to contemporary trends. Jim is considered the “Godfather of the Crossroads� and was a catalyst for the development of the art district. Jim’s work lives on today as a Kansas City legacy of uncompromising vision and remarkable tenacity.
Esther Honig
Radio Journalist
After a stint with KCUR, Kansas City Public Media, Esther, a bilingual radio journalist, joined the NPR team. She has also been recognized for her “Before & After� photo project which went viral on June 24, 2014 and was featured on Buzzfeed, TIME, The Atlantic and more.
Rachel Hack Merlo
Google Community Manager
Rachel Hack Merlo serves as a liaison between the many organizations and leaders in Kansas City with an interest in the ultra high-speed Google Fiber project and the rest of the Google Fiber team. She also oversees community affairs efforts in the community for Google.
Bill Zahner
CEO/President of A. Zahner Company
L. William Zahner (Bill) and his firm have received numerous honors and awards for their extensive design build work around the world. He is a worldrenowned lecturer on the design and use of architectural metal through digital definition and aerospace engineering means and methods.
Michael Smith Chef
Michael Smith’s degree from the University of Southern Colorado may have been in psychology, but the culinary arts are where he is most adept. Following college, Smith went to work at Chateau Pyranees in Denver, where he studied and worked under Chef Jean-Pierre Lelievre and, later, Chef George Mavrothalassitis. Moving on to Kansas City, he took over The American Restaurant and while there, Smith won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Midwest, 1999. His newest venture is a duo of restaurants under one roof at 1900 Main Street in Kansas City’s Crossroads Art District.
Ron Megee
Playwright/Producer/ Director/Actor
Ron Megee is a playwright, actor, director and theatrical visionary. He has been a forerunner of Kansas City theatre and served as a provocative pied piper, drawing artists and audiences to the community, and his latenight performances.
Ron LeMay
CEO of FarmLink, & Managing Director & Co-Founder, Open Air Equity Partners
Ron LeMay serves as managing director and co-founder of OpenAir Equity Partners, as well as chief executive officer of its portfolio company, FarmLink. OpenAir Equity Partners concentrates on Internet of Things investments with portfolio companies that focus on connected car, home, aircraft and agricultural machinery businesses.
Alicia Solombrino
Lead Singer, Beautiful Bodies
Alicia Solombrino is the singer of local dance punk band Beautiful Bodies. Known for her energetic, in-your-face stage presence, she and her band mates have had a big year. They recently beat 32,000 bands to win Ernie Ball’s battle of the bands, the largest of its kind in the world. When Solombrino is not touring the world or recording with her band, she directs music videos, travels to remote countries like Burma and Bolivia, and spends an unhealthy amount of time with her cat Bashful.
Jay Tomlinson
Principal, Helix Architecture + Design, Inc
Jay is a founder of Kansas City-based Helix Architecture + Design. His work with visionary clients who, like him, are committed to the continued vitality of the urban core has contributed to the recent $5 billion revitalization of downtown Kansas City, where he has led more than 40 renovation projects, several of them combining LEED-certification criteria with both federal and state historic tax credits. Jay’s design work has been published nationally and recognized with local and regional design awards.
Peregrine Honig
Artist & Owner of Birdies
Peregrine Honig found her way to Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of 17 to attend the Kansas City Art Institute. Her career in art quickly gained speed and landed her the youngest artist to have work in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of Art. Peregrine’s unique combination of sexuality and popculture makes her artwork distinctive and provocative.
Nathan Granner Operatic Tenor
Operatic Tenor, Nathan Granner is recognized throughout the world as a generative, solo and collaborative artist. His voice fits that rare timbre of heroic, vulnerable, refined quality that defines the classic lyric tenor. As a producing artist, Granner is co-founder of new operatic tenor duo Gulley Granner, which is just beginning to tour nationally. He was the first artistic director of Musical Theater Heritage. He artistic directed the first national PBS taping at The Kauffman Center of the Performing Arts which led him to co-found the unique production company, The Monocle.
Patrick Ryan
Chef & Owner, Port Fonda
As executive chef/owner of Port Fonda, Patrick Ryan is at the forefront of the culinary revolution in Kansas City, Missouri. He takes a simple, ingredient-focused approach to Mexican street food, melding authentic flavors with a farm-driven Midwestern sensibility. Ryan earned a Bachelor’s degree from the Western State College of Colorado, followed by a culinary degree at Le Cordon Bleu’s Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. He was nominated for a Food & Wine The People’s Best New Chef award in 2013.
Teri Rogers
Entrepreneur & Owner Hint Studios
Teri Rogers is the owner and CEO of Hint, formerly T2 Studios, a nationally recognized digital design and production center located in the heart of the Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City, Missouri. Teri is the driving force behind Hint’s myriad of creative services, providing inspiration and insight to her team of world-class digital storytellers.
E. Spencer Schubert Sculptor
E. Spencer Schubert is sculptor who lives in Kansas City, Missouri and works in a studio in the Crossroads Arts and Design District. Schubert has studied and sculpted the figure across the entirety of his art career. His work uses the figure to explore the strengths, weaknesses, tragedies, successes and idiosyncrasies of people.
Hampton Stevens Writer
Hampton Stevens is a freelance writer. His work has appeared in a range of national and international publications; including The Atlantic and ESPN the Magazine, and has been excerpted in TIME, Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal. A fifth generation Kansas Citian, he lives in midtown with his rednose pitbull, Ginger.
Mark Westervelt Painter
Mark Westervelt is a painter and native of Kansas City, Missouri. He specializes in large canvas pieces as well as small, intricate designs assembled using dried paint chips. As co-founder of The Left Bank, an alternative art gallery established in 1987, Westervelt helped put the Crossroads Arts District on the map as a destination for all things arts and culture.
Mike Farmer
Entrepreneur & Founder/CEO, Leap.it
Mike is the co-founder and CEO of Leap.it, a mobile application development company that is revolutionizing mobile search. Leap.it is the first application to combine search directly with the web and social media. Throughout his entrepreneurial career, Mike has co-founded four new ventures, raised more than $7 million of early-stage capital and authored or coauthored 10 patents.
Paula Bowers Author
Paula Bowers is a life-long Kansas Citian and published author whose love of writing began at a very young age. Since the moment she learned to write, Paula has been creating poetry, short stories and letters. Paula began her career as an educator and after six years of teaching, she devoted her time to staying home with her three children. When she is not writing, reading, spending time outdoors, she continues her work volunteering with youth.
STRETCH
Artist & Entrepreneur
STRETCH is a sculptor, artist, visionary, restaurateur, entrepreneur and television personality. His works have been on display in private and corporate collections throughout the world. His restaurants Grinders and Grinders West are complemented by a live music venue known as CrossroadsKC at Grinders. STRETCH has participated and appeared in a variety of cable and network television programs including ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” and “Guy’s Big Bite.” Most recently, he filmed a pilot for “Hungry Men at Work,” on the SPIKE channel, and traveled with the Guy Fieri Food Roadshow.
Tracy Panko
Entrepreneur & CEO, Spiral16
As CEO of both established companies and start-up operations, Tracy Panko has a proven track record of success taking multiple companies through periods of growth and acquisition, and launching over $50 million in new products. She is a popular speaker on the subjects of business innovation, social media and technology.
Zhou Long
Pulitzer Prize Winning Music Composer
Dr. Zhou is a Pulitzer Prize winning composer, internationally recognized for creating a unique body of music that brings together the aesthetic and musical elements of East and West. Deeply grounded in the entire spectrum of his Chinese heritage, he is a pioneer in transferring the idiomatic sounds and techniques of ancient Chinese musical traditions to modern Western instruments and ensembles. Dr. Zhou is currently Visiting Professor of Composition at the University of MissouriKansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.
Sporting KC
Sporting KC Athletes
Graham Zusi, Aurelien Collin and Matt Besler are three of Sporting Kansas City’s most recognized players. Each has a unique story as to how they excel in their competitive careers, and why they choose KC.
Augie Grasis
Entrepreneur & Founder, Handmark
Named the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award winner in the Central Midwest Technology category, Augie Grasis is an established entrepreneur known for his savvy business approach and industry-changing ideas. Since founding Handmark in 2000, Augie has played an important role in defining the mobile content industry and changing the way people use their mobile phones. Today, Handmark is a leading developer and distributor of mobile applications and services.
Debbie Gold Chef
As a James Beard Award winning chef and an active member of the culinary community, Chef Gold regularly brings national attention to Kansas City. Her menu for the Crayola Cafe, a well-known children’s restaurant, was named the #1 Kids’ Menu in America by Restaurant Hospitality. Esquire named Debbie a “Chef to Watch” in 1997, and she received the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef: Midwest” in 1999. She has appeared on several national broadcast networks including PBS, Food Network and Bravo.
Laura Wells McKnight Author & Entrepreneur
Laura is an author and co-founder of Mulberry South, a media and education company focused on philanthropy and social responsibility as opportunities for business and personal growth. Mulberry South’s work is based on the industry’s best practices and the work of philanthropy’s most forward-thinking leaders.
Reilly Hoffman Sculptor
Reilly Hoffman is a sculptor and graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute. Reilly’s work has been described as “painting with fire.” He explains, “I mold it, carve it, shape it, and take it from its extruded identity to a point where it is almost unrecognizable…” In addition to his own art practice, Reilly is the artist in residence at A. Zahner Company, an internationally recognized architectural metal company.
Eric Rosen
Theatre Producer
Eric Rosen is a nationally recognized playwright, director and producer of the 49-year-old Kansas City Repertory Theatre. His KC Rep credits include the world premiere of “Venice,� named Best Musical of the Year in TIME magazine, and made its New York premiere in 2012.
Maiko Kuzunishi Owner, Decoylab
Maiko is a mompreneur, balancing the role of mom and the role of owning her business named Decoylab, a design studio focusing on creating ecofriendly whimsical clocks, home dĂŠcor and accessories since 2007. All products are designed and hand crafted by Maiko with the help of her husband in the studio located inside the Bauer building main floor in the Crossroads Arts District. Products are available internationally through various online retails, the Land of Nod and wholesale distributions in Japan and Hong Kong. Their products have been featured in Country Living, Elle, Lucky, Midwest Living, Parent, Real Simple magazines and more.
Chet Duvenci
Tattoo Artist, Mercy Seat Tattoo
Chet Duvenci is a tattoo artist and owner of The Mercy Seat, a tattoo shop located in the Crossroads Arts and Design District. Often referred to as a “dermagraphic illustrator,� rather than just another run-of-the-mill tattooist, Chet specializes in large and extremely detailed pieces.
Tom Corbin Sculptor
Tom Corbin’s sculpture work appears in 22 showrooms and galleries internationally. Individual collectors include Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Danielle Steel and the late Frank Sinatra. Public installation sites include the United Nations, The Kauffman Foundation, the Firefighter’s Memorial, the Children’s Fountain, University of Oregon and Florida State University. In addition to important public and private collections, his work has found its way onto the sets of some major motion pictures, among them True Lies, A Perfect Murder, It’s Complicated and Transformers.
Shaul Jolles
Entrepreneur & Real Estate Developer, OfficePort KC
With a personal desire and eye for design and innovation, Shaul has focused his entrepreneurial energy into the emerging technology industry by founding various innovative startups and startup incubators around the U.S. Initiating efforts include being co-founder of OfficePort, a co-working business center with two locations in Kansas City and one in Chicago. His efforts of championing entrepreneurship are covered in various national media outlets and he has received national awards for his unique concepts. He holds a Masters degree in Finance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Arlen Wickstrum Stylist
Arlen Wickstrum is owner and creative director of Flock. He has been a Kansas City resident since 1993.
Matt & Emily Baldwin
Owners/Designers, Baldwin Denim & Standard Style
Matt and Emily Baldwin are co-founders, owners and designers of Baldwin Denim and Standard Style boutiques. This power couple put Kansas City on the national fashion radar with coverage in Vogue, WWD, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg Businessweek, Men’s Journal, InStyle, Men’s Health and more.
Leroy Shatto
Owner, Shatto Milk Company
Shatto Milk Company’s farm has been in operation since the late 1800’s when Minnie and George Winstead purchased and began farming the land. In 1972, the Winstead’s granddaughter Barbara Cox married Leroy Shatto. Within two years of their marriage, Leroy partnered with Barbara’s father in the dairy farm business on that same land. In 2003 the Shatto’s dream of perpetual sustainability for the farm by providing fresh milk in glass bottles to local markets came true. Now, Shatto Milk Company is an award winning small business accredited with product innovations, extraordinary environmental stewardship and sincere community service.
Anthony Magliano
Musician, Composer & Designer
As a musician, composer and an acclaimed graphic and motion designer, Anthony has been dreaming up innovative ideas ever since he was young. One of those ideas, Quixotic Fusion, turned out to be one of the most exhilarating stage shows Kansas City—and the world—has ever seen. Founded by Magliano in 2005, Quixotic is a multidimensional entertainment company, fusing elements from aerial acrobatics, dance, fashion, film, music and visual effects to create a unique performance that is impossible to forget.
Peggy Noland Fashion Designer
Peggy Noland is a fashion designer based out of Kansas City. Peggy is not afraid to use bright colors, wild textures and hardto-miss patterns. She is best known for her bold styles, designing pieces for entertainers performing all over the world. In addition to designing, Peggy has given lectures on fashion and runs her own store in Kansas City.
Shena Wolf
Acquisitions Editor, Universal Uclick
Shena was born in Michigan, but has lived many places across the U.S. She originally went to the University of Kansas for chemical engineering, but switched to English and graduated in 2003. As an acquisition’s editor, Shena primarily works with artists on a quest for new content. Her work develops comics from concept to publication in newspapers and other platforms. On this content quest, Shena attends multiple conventions including Comic-con International: San Diego, NYC, SPX in Bethesda and CXC in Columbus.
Photography by Cameron Gee camerongee.com