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.
Nathan Ginsbach
My name is Nate Ginsbach. I’m a husband, father, entrepreneur, and the founder of Johnnie Ray, a Michigan-based men’s grooming company. At my core, I’m someone who loves building things, solving problems, and constantly finding ways to improve. Read more>>
Sabrina Waggoner
I grew up in Wyandotte, Michigan, and actually started dating my husband, Garrett, when we were in middle school. We graduated high school together in 2013, so in a lot of ways, we really grew up together. Right after graduation, Garrett joined the Navy, and life started moving pretty quickly from there. Read more>>
Magdalena Louise Hirt
Gravity has always pulled me to water. In the labyrinths of our oceans, I find peace and inspiration. My childhood was filled with water growing up in the double-lake West Michigan town of Holland. My parents used to throw me on my grandpa’s twenty-seven-foot Chris Craft sailboat, Havørn, as he slowly streamed by the small docks. Read more>>
Amanda Burman
Photography found me twice. I took it in high school and again in college, and then life happened. I became a high school language arts teacher, which felt like the right move at the time. What I didn’t realize is that teaching and photography aren’t separate paths for me—they’re interconnected. Read more>>
Kelli Evans
Greetings my name is Kelli Evans also formally known as Kae Marie. My journey was started before I was even aware of it. My grandfather opened a barbershop in the Flint area back in 1946, which stayed open until Covid took place throughout that time in the early 90s I used to go and visit my grandpa on the weekends me and my siblings. Read more>>
Corazon Szell
I started playing the guitar, singing, and getting into music back when I was 8 years old. My father signed me up for classical guitar lessons and I did that until my freshman year of high school at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. Read more>>
Mykaila Boyd
I transitioned into my culinary phase back in October 2020. I graduated culinary an March 2022 I went back for baking and pastry in October 2022 to complete baking and pastry in June 2023. I am the CEO and founder of SizzlinSaladz salad SizzlinSaladz specializes in handmade dressings and freshly made salad. Read more>>
Lindsey Naylor
My story starts with my days as a graphic design student at Western Michigan University. We were encouraged to do things analog – to paint, draw, and play with objects and photograph them and then bring them into our digital work. Read more>>
Lauren Perrin
Photography has been part of my life for much longer than it has been my career. What started as simply loving the feeling of documenting people and the moments happening around me eventually grew into something I never expected: a full-time business and a career I genuinely love. Read more>>
Peter Nielsen
From launching multimillion-dollar ventures and scaling fitness franchises to hosting the Emmy-winning *Peter’s Principles* and reaching over 120 million viewers, I’ve built my career on passion, impact, and performance — not only in the gym, but in the boardroom. As a lifelong advocate for health, resilience, and purpose, I’ve spent over three decades transforming lives and industries through wellness innovation, brand storytelling, and inspirational leadership. Read more>>
Bailey Robinson
My hairstyling journey started in high school. During my junior and senior years, I had the opportunity to attend cosmetology school while completing high school. The summer after I graduated in 2018, I took my state board written and practical exams, passed, and officially received my cosmetology license! Read more>>
Danitra Johnson
DJ SKIN STUDIO didn’t start with a big business plan, investors, or a perfect roadmap. It started with a woman who was ready for something different. Before I became an esthetician and business owner, I spent 12 years working in customer service. Read more>>
Maury Page
My story started with photography. Around 2010, I began experimenting with photography on my iPhone and quickly became interested in capturing moments and telling stories visually. That eventually led me to create a website for my photography, and while building it, I discovered that I really enjoyed web design too. What started as a creative hobby slowly turned into something much bigger. Read more>>
Tyler Wejrowski
About Wojo Co. Wojo Co. is a Michigan-based, vertically integrated cannabis company headquartered in Pinconning, Michigan, specializing in premium solventless cannabis products. What began as a medical cannabis caregiving operation has grown into one of Michigan’s better-known producers of live rosin, hash, flower, infused pre-rolls, vapes, edibles, and other solventless products. Read more>>
Angela Reily
I started working with dogs a little over a decade ago. At the time, I was in school working toward a degree in horticulture and thought that would be my career path. I saw an ad for a job that sounded so it interesting and applied right away. I ended up loving it so much I changed career paths! Read more>>
Shanel Satchel
Charm Skin + Beauty really started from my love for the beauty industry and making people feel good about themselves. I started as a makeup artist in 2015, and that eventually sparked my interest in skincare. I went to esthetics school in 2018, became a licensed esthetician, and opened Charm Skin + Beauty in 2021. Read more>>
Robin Chodak
My journey into grief work began through my own experiences with loss. I learned firsthand that grief is not something we simply “get over.” It changes us, and finding a way to move forward while still honoring the people we have lost became an important part of my own healing. Read more>>
Shadora L. Ford
In 2010 at just 19 years old, I founded the Destined for Greatness Mentoring Initiative in Detroit. I grew up on Detroit’s lower East Side in challenging circumstances and understood firsthand what it meant to be considered an “at-risk” young person. Rather than allowing those circumstances to define me, I turned my experiences into a mission to help other young women avoid the same obstacles. Read more>>
Scott Tucker
I started out one summer trying to make a little extra money to help out with bills/fun money for the summer by making 16x16x17 cedar planter boxes. As the summer went on I realized that this gained a lot more traction then I was expecting. I began getting custom orders for different sizes and quantities. Read more>>
Freddy Vasquez
The band started in High School! Vincent (Drummer) and I (Singer/Guitar) met and I showed him some of my demos since I had just started writing and he liked them and we decided to start the band in late summer of 2019. Read more>>
Kyle Cabanas
I got my first camera when I was 16 for Christmas living in the Philippines, with my parents both working 2 jobs it meant the world to me that they have saved up money to get me a camera. Ever since then I’ve been consistently trying to learn on how to improve my camera skillsets together with my editing knowledge. Read more>>
Jonathan Weems
Before photography, a huge part of my identity was football. I grew up in Detroit playing for the Detroit Knights, continued playing at Osborn High School, and eventually took football into my college years at Michigan State. For a long time, sports were the direction I thought my life was going. Read more>>
Ashley Franklin
Wonderlane did not begin with a formal business plan or a background in the event industry. It began with me paying attention. I have spent nearly two decades working in healthcare, I am a wife and mom of two girls, and I spent more than seven years experiencing events from the vendor side. Read more>>
Renee Sorgi
Free and Simple Foods was born out of my own health journey. About nine years ago, after years of struggling with severe skin issues, terrible stomach aches, and uncontrollable allergies, I found a naturopathic doctor who helped me uncover what was going on with my health. I was diagnosed with leaky gut, Candida, and SIBO. Read more>>
K.C. Knipple
I was a tattoo artist for 15yrs. Never really satisfied I lied my way into a scratch kitchen just for a steady income. Within 2yrs I was managing the morning shift and 5yrs into my culinary career I was named Chef de cuisine of the company’s newly acquired 2nd location. Read more>>
Tanya DeClercq
When I was little, I read to escape daily life. It was strange but I even read Shakespeare and Longfellow. Really anything I could get my hands on to take me away from reality for a bit. As a teenager, I wrote poetry to get my emotions out. Read more>>
RJ Spangler
I started way back in the late 1970’s. I learned from older musicians here on the east side of Detroit. I’ve been a band leader for most of that time. I’ve played all sorts of types of jazz from traditional to pretty avant guard. Read more>>
Jurnee Kennedy
My story started with me being a very shy kid who was scared to try a lot of things and step outside of my comfort zone. I always took school and academics seriously, and through that, I began to discover my strengths, understand my weaknesses, and learn more about who I was. Read more>>
Ashley Zardus
I am currently the Director of the Dance Program for the Novi Community School District. I have always had a love and passion for dance, I grew up in the private studio sector and graduated high school in 2017 as a 4 year member of the Oxford Dance Conservatory. Read more>>
Stanislav Harcinik
Former Journey: Stanislav Harciník is native to Bytča, Slovakia where he graduated from high school. After graduation, he moved to Bratislava to study at the Comenius Faculty of Sciences. In addition to his education, he worked in El Gaucho, a legend in Bratislava’s restaurant community, where he had the chance to interact with many successful Slovak bartenders. Read more>>
Ciara Ruffin
I started C&C Cleaning Company here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2022 as a single mom of two children who was searching for my purpose in life. Taking a leap of faith, I decided to start my own cleaning business something built not just on income, but on meaning. Read more>>
Aaliyah Jackson
My name is Aaliyah Jackson, and I graduated in 2018 with my B.F.A. in Digital Photography. I grew up a true artist at heart. Anything that allowed me to express myself was right up my alley. I grew up singing, played the flute, danced, created my own step team in school, and even became student secretary. Read more>>
Rodrick Samuels
My story started before the awards, titles, stages, or board appointments. I was a kid cutting hair in my mother’s bathroom. I didn’t know barbering would take me around the country or put me in rooms I never imagined being in. I just knew I loved the craft and I loved what happened when people sat in that chair. Read more>>
Jonathan Brady
My journey as a filmmaker started like many others before me. With a camera and a story to tell. However, it was not that straightforward for me. My journey actually began down the path of wanting to be an actor. I applied for dozens of local indie projects and landed a small handful of them. It was a fun beginning. Read more>>
Donnakay Owusu-Agyei
I have always loved to bake. While working in the kitchen at Lakeland (Corewell Health) Hospital, I began making cakes and cupcakes for staff birthdays. A co-worker asked me to make an Xbox controller cake for her son’s birthday. When she showed me the picture, I told her I don’t work with fondant, which was required to make this cake. Read more>>
Jaquan Wilson
My story isn’t your ordinary I was born in Toledo, OH birthed by a young mother not knowing what life was trying to prep her for. Read more>>
Tara Pilarski
I started working at Rosa’s Lookout Inn when I was 14 years old as the hostess! Very quickly, I fell in love with the restaurant industry. I became a server when I was old enough at 18 years old, and then at 20 I moved away to attend college downstate. Read more>>
mark weiser
Ive been a performer for over twenty years, founding Shake Rattle & Roll Pianos in 2010. This week marks our 16th anniversary. We are now the longest running Dueling Pianos show in the Northeast USA, with weekly shows since 2010. We’ve steadily grown, now doing 800 shows annually, with more than 100+ venue partners coast to coast. Read more>>
Iam Kingstarr
I got here today trusting and standing by a supernatural divine unforeseen force . Read more>>
Dawn Stutzman
From bakery/restaurant to running a short term rental business in Southwest Michigan, our main goal is to give people a secluded, quiet, destination to be refreshed and rejuvenated. Hospitality runs deep in our families. Grandparents and parents who shared home and hearth with many. They were know for their culinary skills as well as the art of great conversations. Read more>>
Milton Putman
My journey began through athletics. As a former college basketball player and personal trainer, I learned early that mental strength and physical performance are deeply connected. However, the most defining part of my story was not athletics it was the eight-year struggle that shaped the person and leader I am today. Read more>>
Drew Verdé
My dad use to make me watch recorded cassette tapes of MLK and Michael Jackson as a kid from ages 5 until around 8 I became a big fan of MJ. He would listen to mowtown and my mom would listen to 80s pop rock and I hated it as a kid but grew to love it. Read more>>
Aditi Gadgil
I grew up in India in a family where creativity just ran in the blood, my great-grandfather and grandfather were both trained artists, and honestly, everyone in my family is creative in their own way. As a kid, I was always doodling, trying out every form of art I could get my hands on. Art was rooted in me from the very beginning. Read more>>
Sarah Stevens
Our soap business, Love That Soap!, actually started in 2011. My father, Dave Pety, a salesman to his core, managed a local phone book company. He started out there selling advertising to local businesses to be featured within the phone book. When the company that he was employed by was purchased, they brought on their own people. Read more>>
Brittni Cuevas
I grew up in Michigan and spent the first 20 years of my life there. I went to Grand Valley State University, where I studied Spanish Language and Literature, and when I was 20, I met my now-husband, Jacobo, who is from Morelos, Mexico. He was visiting family in Michigan, and I happened to be helping with GED tutoring through his family’s church. Read more>>
Harrison Lourim
I’ve been making music all my life. When I was in elementary school my super supportive parents bought me a Tascam digital portastudio recording device. From there everything changed. I started recording songs and albums and when I was in middle school started to digitize my recordings using Ableton Live and FL Studio. Read more>>
Aondray Worthy
Aondray’s WalkWorthy Journey: From a Sunday Outfit to a Calling The story of WalkWorthy Menswear didn’t begin with a business plan, a storefront, or even a dream. It began with something far simpler: a Sunday morning suit. In 2011, after another Sunday service filled with fellowship and faith, Aondray’s assistant pastor pulled him aside. Read more>>
Jason Sharp
.My love for craftsmanship started back when I was a kid, hanging out with my grandpa in his woodshop. For years, woodworking was a hobby for me, and I never imagined I could actually make a living from it. I went to culinary school in Portland, Oregon, in the mid-1990s and spent over 20 years working as a professional chef. Read more>>
The Monarch
I am a Michael Jackson Impersonator of Michigan what im proud of is keeping MJs legacy alive but also bringing smiles and nostalgia to the people i meet rather its in the audience or some random person hearing there stories brings a smile to my face What sets me apart is that im not always booked for bars and clubs I’m booked for other things as well a boat cruise or private shows Read more>>
Izzy Savides
Hello! I have been making music passionately for just about as long as I’ve been alive. It started when I was three, playing along to the radio on my abuela’s keyboard. I started messing around on guitar at five, then drums, then played trumpet and French horn. Read more>>
Marcia Perry
My wood sculpting love affair began at 17 when I told my art teacher I wanted to carve an ashtray that would never be used. She said ‘You’re on your own.” So I found where I could buy a set of five little Millers Falls carving tools and then I visited Baker Furniture Company to see if they had any scrap wood available. They did. Read more>>
Barb Birdsong-Horse North Rescue
Horse North Rescue was established in 2005 as a non-profit with a mission to assist struggling horse owners needing assistance as well providing a service to educate horse owners or those interested in equine ownership. It began because there was such a need for assistance for horses who were undernourished, mistreated, abandoned or abused. Read more>>
