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.
Venus Works
Founder and Lead Therapist Venus L. Works, MA, LPC, is a native Detroiter whose clinical journey began with a deep commitment to the city’s youth. After earning her Master’s degree in School and Community Counseling from Wayne State University, Venus spent years serving as the Director of College & Career Development for University Prep Schools in Detroit. Read more>>
Kelony Eaton
I’ve always been someone who found joy in creating beautiful experiences. Whether it was baking cookies, celebrating life’s milestones, or bringing people together, I loved making people feel seen and appreciated. Over time, I realized that many adults, especially women, often stop celebrating themselves outside of the big milestones. That realization inspired me to create The Aesthetic Brand. Read more>>
Kay Rodgers
Not at all. I think one of the biggest misconceptions people have is that if you’re talented, opportunities will just come. The reality is that building a name as a DJ takes a lot of consistency, patience, and resilience. Read more>>
Brianna Moore
My story is a long one. But I’ll start with the most recent parts. From 2018-2021 I was in a very abusive, narcissistic relationship. By the grace of God I got out and quickly began to recover. Read more>>
Juliette Cayao
I’m Juliette Cayao (she/her), a 26-year-old Filipina transgender hospitality leader, model, and advocate based in Lansing, Michigan. Growing up, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where I belonged and how I could exist authentically in the spaces I entered. Read more>>
Gretka Domer
The way I arrived in Grand Rapids was not by choice, but it has turned out to be a wonderful place to live and grow. My story started with my parents. They were both creatives in art, music and literature. They made sure I had the tools and time to experiment as a very young child. Read more>>
Catherine Zardus
In 1991 I was asked to put a show together for the Michigan Reading Association Conference at the Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island. When 500 teachers saw the show and wanted it for their school, I had a new career! Read more>>
Motorcity ERA
What up doe! I am Motorcity ERA! The name represents both my hometown and the different eras of my life that continue to shape my music. Detroit has produced some of the greatest artists in the world, and growing up surrounded by that legacy inspired me to create something honest that could carry the city’s spirit forward in my own way. Read more>>
Kaela Kelly
I started my business when I was at home. I asked God to reveal to me what my gifts are and he told me “nature and natural”. I then went into my kitchen and started looking up things in my cabinet and came up with a facial soap off my kitchen cabinet ingredients. Read more>>
Ava Strainovici
I love this question! (sorry for the long response, I know it says brief). My story started back in 2017 when I graduated high school. I graduated as a 3 sport athlete (soccer, basketball and I actually kicked for the football team!), and set off on my way to Central Michigan University for college. I was craving the independence and freedom. Read more>>
Elizabeth Kuyt
When I try to determine the start of my creative career, it’s hard to pinpoint an exact beginning. It is evident that I have consistently found ways to connect with my surroundings creatively since early childhood, and have engaged with many different mediums throughout my life, mostly focused on watercolor and drawing. Read more>>
DMyron Guidry
My journey for filmmaking and storytelling started in 2014 after experiencing a music video shoot to a song my dad and his music group made. Over a course of 2 weeks, I practiced a dance routine choreographed by Ardale Clark at the Boys & Girls Club of SWMI. Read more>>
Saige Mosingo
When I was 13 years old I was diagnosed with a very rare form of breast cancer, and at 13 years old I underwent a Mastectomy a month after my diagnosis. To this day doctors don’t know how or why I got a Malignant Phyllodes tumor of the breast. Read more>>
Samuel Dixon
I’ve grown up in the Seventh-day Adventist faith, and was encouraged to study and serve in SDA organizations. After college, I found myself more curious about who Jesus is at the heart, and I wanted my undiscovered career to be in harmony with the person of Jesus Christ. But I found it difficult to do it within the confines of Seventh-day Adventist organizations. Read more>>
Nadia Elmagrabi
The work I do in the world never came from a plan, but came to life as I followed the breadcrumbs one step at a time. I grew up between worlds. Born outside London to an Egyptian father and a Welsh mother, I was raised in Michigan and shaped by a childhood moving between countries and cultures. Read more>>
Sherry Washington
Sherry Washington is the founder of Sherry Arts LLC (SARTS) and has over thirty-three (37) years of experience in providing museum-quality artwork and educational art/cultural services for educational institutions, private collectors, and corporations. We began as Sherry Washington Gallery and transformed to SARTS, which is built on the passion of presenting quality art to the community. Read more>>
Vanessa Pinto
JV Country Creations started in 2015 from what was supposed to be a one-time project. My parents handcrafted birch wood candle holders as centerpieces for my bridal shower and wedding, and they received so much attention that people encouraged us to sell them with their own personalization. Read more>>
Emma Graham
Growing up, my grandfather, Don Graham, always had a camera on him, documenting our family. I was always so fascinated by a camera and began to teach myself how to use one in early middle school. My sister Leslie was my go-to model/subject for the first few years, and by 8th grade I knew photography was somehow my calling. Read more>>
Cassie Hughes
Inner Artist Studio was born out of my love for creativity and my desire to create a place where people could slow down, connect, and simply enjoy making something with their own hands. After losing my husband, I realized how important it is to find moments of joy, healing, and connection. Creativity became one of those outlets for me. Read more>>
Brandon Boucher
My dream was to be a Navy SEAL ever since I was a kid and heard about them from my ‘Uncle Dave.’ He wasn’t my real uncle, just someone we rented a place from. He was a SEAL in Vietnam. Anyway, when I got my chance, I ended up rupturing my ACL and tearing my MCL and my menisci in my right knee…that was it. Read more>>
Michael Wright
BIO: Michael Wright Growing up in Detroit shaped who I am. This city has a spirit unlike anywhere else in the world! There is a resilience, grit, and spirit here that simply cannot be replicated. Detroit shaped me but exposure saved my life. Read more>>
Selina Máté
We started Peculiar Coffee Co. in May 2025. I knew that I wanted to open a coffee shop after falling in love with coffee on a trip to Guatemala at 15. Every year that passed, I would day dream and journal about my future shop. Read more>>
Annie Zielinski Christian Bowden
Our business is a labor of love. Greenhaus Deco was founded by Annie Zielinski and Christian Bowden. If you’d told us we would be doing this back when we first met in our college’s art school bookshop, we would have said that’s crazy. Read more>>
Marlon Barnett Jr
Raised around music since a child, my father made music and produced beats as well as other family and friends that do the same. I became in love with making music around 2022-2023 buying all my own studio equipment and everything that comes along with that. Read more>>
Sunsae’ Davis
I am a proud Flint, Michigan native, University of Michigan alumna, entrepreneur, recruiter, creative, and coach who is passionate about helping people build successful and fulfilling lives. At 28 years old, I wear many hats. I work full-time as a Recruiting Specialist, serve as an Executive Assistant for TaiLour Made Enterprise, and own Success with Sun LLC. Read more>>
Jacob Lewis
My story really begins with my Great Great Grandfather, George Bergtold who was one of the first Agricultural Farmers in Midland, MI at the beginning of the 1900s. He sold his farm to Herbert Dow and the land is still used for agriculture studies by Dow Chemical and the original barn still stands. Read more>>
Elisheva Johnson
I am from a small rural town in Michigan, not far from Lake Michigan, where poverty was normal and survival was not a theory, it was a daily practice. We grew up seeing things a child should never have to see — domestic violence, alcohol abuse, instability, fear — the kind of environment that teaches you too early how fragile life can be. Read more>>
Jessica Bobonis
I’ve loved creating for as long as I can remember. Drawing was always how I made sense of the world, and over time that curiosity grew into a passion for illustration and visual storytelling. I went on to earn my BFA in Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design, where I also studied animation, character design, and drawing. Read more>>
Redemption Foundation
The Redemption Foundation is a 501(c)(3) focused exclusively on addressing the ongoing social and economic harms caused by cannabis prohibition. Through family stabilization, reentry support, economic opportunity, and advocacy, we serve individuals and families affected by nonviolent cannabis incarceration. As a teenager, our founder, Ryan Basore, was injured in an accident and was prescribed opioid pain medication to manage his recovery. Read more>>
Bianca Cristea
Riviera Creative Studios was born from my love of timeless European beauty and thoughtful design. Inspired by the charm, elegance, and effortless lifestyle of the French Riviera, I wanted to bring a small piece of that experience to America through home fragrance. Read more>>
Macey Scott
Growing up in rural St. Charles, Michigan taught me that consistency, integrity, and hard work aren’t optional. They’re the baseline. Around here we say it simply: results matter. I played softball in high school, and that’s where teamwork stopped being a word on a poster and became something real. My teammates covered the places I was weak. Read more>>
Jasmine Norris
When I started Jasmine Norris Photography, I was a junior at Purdue University, and I’m not sure I could have imagined that 20 years later I would still be here, still growing and doing the work that I love. I actually began as a concert photographer and over time my path evolved into weddings and corporate events. Read more>>
Liz Brown
Opening L Brown Educational Consulting was a huge leap of faith! It all started with an idea I had in the Fall of 2023. I had just written and published my first children’s book, The ABCs of Adoption, and I was on Cloud Nine, but I knew there was more I was called to do. Read more>>
Cindy Piper
I am Cindy Piper. I was a homemaker for 20 years. During the pandemic as did everyone’s life did my life changed drastically. I love being a mom. Before the pandemic I was at the kid’s schools on at least a weekly basis. Then the schools became much more strict about volunteers and teachers learned how to manage without parent volunteers. Read more>>
Maria DeRubeis
I decided to become a social worker back in high school. My childhood home was down the street from the Windsor Essex Children’s Aid Society, and I’d watch the social workers walk by on their way to the office. Read more>>
Maurizio Dominguez
I grew up fascinated by film. Back in Mexico, I remember going to see movies like Jurassic Park, E.T., and Independence Day with my parents and my sister, enthralled by the way stories could be told through film. Read more>>
Phern Cain
I was very lucky and found photography at the age of 15. It started with the iconic website, PicMonkey/PicNic. I obsessed over editing photos, often asking friends on Facebook if I could edit one for their profile photo. Read more>>
Farida Hosaini
The biggest risk I ever took wasn’t starting a business—it was choosing to stop living according to other people’s expectations. For years, I believed success meant following the path that looked right on paper. Read more>>
Trey Burton
I’ve always been drawn to creating, but I didn’t start taking content creation seriously until I decided to bet on myself. What started as making videos around fitness, fashion, and lifestyle eventually became documenting my journey of building a new life and pursuing something bigger. Read more>>
Nigel Clouse
Art has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I began studying at the Historic Arts Depot in Union City, Indiana when I was eight years old and continued developing my skills throughout high school. My interest in art eventually led me to study digital design and spend about a decade working professionally in commercial art. Read more>>
Alex Kessler
I started wanting to be a filmmaker at the end of my high school years. I attended Oakland Community College for their cinematic arts program. Having to work to work full time as well as attend school took a long time to finish. The next summer I began my search for work as a filmmaker. Read more>>
