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.
Arvind Mozumdar
I was born in India and grew up both there and in the Middle East. My family moved around quite a bit when I was very young, so adapting to new places always came naturally to me. Eventually, I went to college just outside my hometown. After graduating, I moved around a lot in India with different jobs. Read more>>
Christine Gangelhoff
I’m a Minnesota native, and music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest artistic experiences were shaped there, and my time studying at the University of Minnesota was an important part of my development as a musician and educator. Read more>>
Melanie Dubbin
I graduated from Lake Superior College in 2008 as a massage therapist and started by working independently — traveling to clients’ homes, offering chair massage at local businesses, and building my clientele organically through community exposure, recurring guests, and work that created tangible results for people. Read more>>
Jessica Graham
I hold a master’s degree in psychotherapy and counseling, a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and education, and a certificate as a mindfulness mentor. I completed my master’s degree when my oldest daughter, Kate, was one year old, and I was a stay-at-home mom for over 10 years. Read more>>
Blake Carpenter
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been drawn to animals, nature, and the outdoors. I was constantly sketching random animals and anything that caught my eye. Going into college, I honestly didn’t know exactly what career path I wanted to take — I just knew I loved art and drawing. Read more>>
Ashley Easley
My journey started from a place of loss, purpose, and a deep passion for helping others. I lost my father when I was 13 years old and my mother when I was 25. Those experiences shaped me in many ways, but they also helped me discover my calling in life. Read more>>
Ryan Balow
Annie and Ryan Met in Thailand in 2011 during his time living in NE Thailand as a Peace Corps Volunteer. In 2013 they moved to Rochester (Ryan is originally from Rochester). Annie had a plan to work in the medical field, but as life happens sometimes, things took her in another direction. Read more>>
Hamdi Isse
Our founders didn’t start HDF from a desk. They started it from the field, inside refugee camps, at food distributions, in mobile clinics. That experience showed them pretty quickly that relief alone doesn’t fix anything. Aid comes, attention leaves, and the same cycle repeats. So HDF was built around a different question than other humanitarian organizations: what does it look like to actually stay? Read more>>
Amy Louhela
My uncle was a missionary, and when he would come home from his travels, he would gather us around and show us slide photographs from the places he had been. I can still remember sitting there, completely captivated as the images clicked onto the screen one after another. Villages. Children. Streets filled with life I had never seen before. Read more>>
Travis Keil
Travis M. Keil Criminal Defense Attorney | Founder, Second Chair Solutions I am a trial attorney specializing in the development of AI solutions for the legal profession and beyond. For over 15 years, I have stood in the gap for Minnesotans facing the most serious allegations imaginable—from DWIs and drug offenses to criminal sexual conduct and first-degree murder. Read more>>
Alex Udermann
Meadowbrook Farm direct sales started from a willingness to question the conventional path and rebuild our operation around long-term resilience — economically, environmentally, improve soil and human health, and for the future of agriculture as a whole. Read more>>
Andrew Featherstone
It all started with my Father’s roofing business. He would take me to work at a very young age and would bring me up on the roofs. His main clientele were in the Minneapolis and the surrounding area. We worked on many interesting houses during my youth. Read more>>
MaryBeth Meyer
In 2018, when my youngest son was 15 months old, my husband and I noticed his belly looked disproportionately large compared to the rest of his body. What started as questions to our pediatrician quickly turned into an ultrasound, where doctors discovered a large mass in his right kidney and additional masses in his left kidney. Read more>>
Kandice Shaw
I don’t think I ever set out to build what Sangha has become in some perfectly linear way. Like most meaningful things, it has unfolded one devoted step at a time. It began with a genuine hunger to understand the deeper layers of healing, the kind that goes beyond symptom management and into the root of who we are and how we live. Read more>>
Sophia Khan
I’ve spent most of my life learning how to navigate systems. First as the daughter of immigrants and as a young child immigrating to the US. Then as a young woman learning how to move through corporate America. Then as a mother raising two children while simultaneously building a career inside Fortune 500 companies and global organizations. Read more>>
Rio Saito
Rio Saito, a Japanese national born in Japan, has served as Executive Director of the Japan America Society of Minnesota for the past seven years. Before joining JASM, Saito taught at an art school and later transitioned into nonprofit leadership after discovering the organization’s mission‑driven work. Today, Saito focuses on strengthening cultural exchange and community connections between Japan and Minnesota. Read more>>
Eugene Newcombe
It seems like the driving force in my life from my earliest age has been to earn money. Coming from a poor family, I learned early that if I wanted anything for myself that I’d have to find ways to make money. By 10 years old, I was earning cash mowing lawns, raking leaves, and shoveling snow. Read more>>
Camille Gerdts
Jake, Julie, Steve, and I all decided we want to get into farm business together. We started our farm in late December 2024 with the goal of building an all-natural, family-run dairy farm focused on high-quality food and responsible animal care. We actually moved into our home the day after Christmas, so everything began very quickly. Read more>>
Kelley Zwisler
I was born and raised in Colorado, and it was such a beautiful place to grow up. Shortly after college, I started my journey in HR and talent acquisition, and I quickly realized how passionate I was about helping people and startups grow. My entire career has really centered around one thing: helping others. That’s what drives me. Read more>>
karwyn swartzentruber
Hello! What an honor it is that you have stopped to read my article. My name is Karwyn the creator behind Beloved Embroidery. When I was a little girl my late great-grandma Ruth taught me how to do a simple embroidery stitch. Throughout my school-aged years I embroidered several dish towels it was a good creative outlet for myself. Read more>>
Lisa Ferguson
I launched Ferguson Design Studio in March 2020, and by the fall of 2023, I was blessed to open our 2,500 sq. ft. showroom—a space that features everything a client needs for their home, from the ground up. It is hard to say exactly where the story started, as life is quite a journey. Read more>>
Keera Joel
I always fet like a misfit, like I didn’t quite fit. I found myself masking and hiding who I was. Living that way makes it almost impossible to connect with others because how can someone get close when you’re only showing them a tiny sliver of who you actually are? Over time, I found other people like me, people who were outside the mainstream. Read more>>
Kelly Miller
Well, my story is probably similar to a lot of people who feel called to make a difference in their community. My early twenties had some ups and downs, some really hard moments, but also a lot of growth. Read more>>
Joseph Turner
My name is Joseph Turner. I was born in Lebanon CT. I’m the 4th child of 8. I have always been very active in sports and really enjoyed anything involving using my hands and mechanical work. My life took a hard turn when I was 16 after my little brother passed. Read more>>
Sonja Wagenius
I grew up in a small village of Holmes City , Minnesota. It’s surrounded by lots of lakes, farm fields, Lutheran Church families and a group of kids that went to 4-H meetings and played softball on the old school grounds every week. When I was a junior in high school we moved to Eagle River Alaska. Read more>>
Ann Alaboud
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Arts and an MBA in HR. However; I have always found herself creating craft work such as scrapbooking, painting and drawing. After traveling to Europe and obtaining my culinary training , I decided to take the leap of faith into my amazing journey and start the business! Read more>>
Paige St John
I began my career with Worthington Liquor Store in 2012 as a part-time retail clerk. In 2018, I transitioned into a full-time role as assistant manager, and in 2023, I stepped into my current position as manager. What initially started as a part-time opportunity quickly grew into a true passion and a long-term career. Read more>>
