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.
Nicole Sincavage
I have always tried to see how one thing could fit in with another. How could this– benefit from that? Instead of following the ‘rules’ of society, I chose to live outside of my comfort zone, with a blend of my own interests involved. I was often told that I was “doing too much”. Read more>>
Fleeger
At this point in time I’m 24, and in the older Gen Z crowd. I was kind of the first generation to experience the type of social media we have today. I still remember the old TV icon for the Youtube app as well as seeing apps like Twitter, Instagram, & Tiktok take off and blow up in popularity. Read more>>
Nahiema Craig
My story began on the track long before I ever realized it would become my life’s purpose. At 9 years old, I would spend time with my grandmother while she worked at Saint Joseph’s University. I would run laps and play on the track for hours until one day the head track coach noticed me. After watching me run, he wanted to begin training me. Read more>>
Elizabeth Myers
My journey into graphic design began in 2001 when I pursued a degree with a clear vision: to specialize in the automotive field, creating custom designs for vehicles. My ultimate goal was to establish my own business, allowing me the flexibility to spend more time with my family. Read more>>
Monica Babyak
My journey hasn’t followed a straight path. After overcoming addiction, I made the decision to completely change the direction of my life. That decision led me to a marketing firm, where I spent five years learning everything I could about website design, branding, digital marketing, and helping businesses grow. Read more>>
Evan Slepian
in 1995, At 24 years old, I got an opportunity to open an art gallery in center city, focusing at first, mainly on 20 th Century Contemporary American prints, with the likes of Warhol, Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns etc. As the years flew by,, and our buisness grew…our focus added Emerging Artists, and Publishing. Read more>>
Ashley Kelley
My journey to starting Groundwork Mediation Solutions really began through my work serving families in Allegheny County. Before becoming a business owner, I worked as a County Caseworker with the local child protective service agency and later in family support and aftercare roles. Read more>>
Zak Zavada
I grew up fascinated by cameras. I have always loved gadgets and technology, but cameras felt especially enjoyable because they combined the technical side with the ability to capture light, color, texture, and the mood of a place. In high school, I worked in the small electronics department of a big-box electronics store and bought my first digital camera. Read more>>
Jennifer Rickert
I began drawing and hand sewing clothes as early as age five. My father taught me to use a sewing machine, and my mother encouraged me to embroider, knit and crochet. I also drew prolifically as a teenager. In high school I won many awards for my surrealism, portraits and photography. Read more>>
Ben Hinton
When I was 26, I sustained a traumatic brain injury January on January 9th, 2013. My wife and I were engaged, and our wedding was for July 13, 2013. In 2012 I had signed up to run my first half marathon. I made a choice to run that half marathon only 8 coming home from the hospital. Read more>>
Timothy Lydon
We started Harmony Dog Rescue in 2023 when we noticed a major gap in services for people with pets in crisis. Our organization provides emergency boarding and foster care for dogs whose families are in crisis. Before we launched our non-profit, we talked to as many people as we could who could provide mentorship and guidance. Read more>>
Melodie Essig
Namaste, I was born in Los Angeles. I went to a private school The Progressive School of Long Island. As a kid where we learned meditation. I have a degree in Yoga and completely the largest Yoga teacher training in the world at Naropa University in Boulder, CO in 2009. Since then I’ve been teaching professionally at University, temples and studios. Read more>>
Sandra Mccabe
The start of my business was a slow and gradual process. I left my job as a lawyer to pursue a culinary education at a local community college. Even after taking classes, I still did not have a plan or idea. I worked at some bakeries and just assumed that I would make cakes and cookies. And yet, I didn’t love making desserts and cakes. Read more>>
AnnMarie Knorr-Fischer
My wife, Rachel Fischer, and I were cleaning out a box of old games when she came across the notes from a Dungeons & Dragons campaign she had created years earlier. As I read through them, I fell in love with the world and the story. Read more>>
Allory and Jessica Melhorn
My name is Allory Melhorn and I am the fourth-generation co-owner of Melhorn Manor with my wife, Jessica Melhorn. The farm on which Melhorn Manor is located has been in my family for a little over 100 years, dating back to 1919, when the property was originally owned by my Great Grandfather, Christian Arthur Melhorn. Read more>>
Sally Lipsky
My life took an abrupt and shocking turn in 2007. A month after a clean bill of health from my gynecologist, I was diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer. (Ovarian cancer often is diagnosed at an advanced stage because of subtlety of symptoms and lack of reliable screening tests.) I was stunned, especially since I thought I maintained a healthy lifestyle. Read more>>
Megan Robinson
My passion for sports nutrition and endurance running began when I was a young athlete. I was fortunate to have a running coach who understood the importance of nutrition and recognized that I wasn’t eating enough to support my high school training load. Read more>>
Chad Divel
I would rather not bore with a chronological timeline of events. Instead I’ll leave you a brief summary with a thought at the end. I credit my success to being surrounded by so many unique and supportive people. Beginning with childhood those thoughtful words of encouragement had kindled a fire within. Read more>>
Melissa Hooks Bobrowicz
When I was in undergrad and graduate school, my children received Early Intervention Speech services in the birth-3 program, and it inspired me to go into Early Intervention as a Speech Therapist. Read more>>
Linda Smales
I’m Linda, a registered nurse of 21 years, licensed esthetician, and permanent makeup artist in Pittsburgh, PA. During my nursing career, I tried several different areas of nursing because I was looking for where I really belonged. I found that some of the workplace politics and negativity were becoming draining, and it made me reflect on what I actually wanted from my career. Read more>>
Isaiah Gwinn
I’ll give you the condensed version. Shortly after graduating high school and entering the real world. I realize I didn’t know as much as I thought I did ended up working two part-time jobs to pay my rent and not much else. So decided to restart my education applied and was accepted into the university of Pittsburgh. Read more>>
Abdullah Uzair
The idea of starting a Ghanaian style restaurant came about as we realized there was only one African restaurant serving the whole of Pittsburgh. My wife and I then up with the idea of starting a Ghanaian style African restaurant to serve the greater Pittsburgh area. As we already had managed African restaurant before in Virginia, so starting off wias easy. Read more>>
Dallas Jones
I’m Dallas, the founder of Love Birds Coffee, and I’m born and raised right here in Pittsburgh. I grew up in Bethel Park before heading to Kent State, where I studied Fashion Merchandising. After college, I moved to New York City and spent two years working in digital marketing and graphic design. Read more>>
Rokita
I got my start as an artist when I was just 10 years old living in Willimantic, CT. I had always been creative, but at this point in my childhood I started teaching myself how to draw. I would get books from the library or the bookstore about drawing, or I would simply try to copy images that I found in magazines or novels. Read more>>
Dakota Johnson
As a young girl, I always just knew I wanted to be a photographer. At the age of 12, I received my very first set of camera gear for Christmas and ever since that day, the motivation and passion for photography, only grew stronger. Read more>>
Doug Ripley
My story started a little over a year ago with my business. I’ve been in the telecommunications industry for about 9 years. Where I live there is only one option for internet, so I looked into Starlink. I got it and hooked it up and it worked great! Read more>>
Tony Kadysewski
My FixturesCloseUp website is comprised of 28,620 Posts and 1,391 Pages, 1,100+ categories, and a 105,707+ image pictorial inventory of unique or otherwise interesting small-scale fixtures, displays, Guerrilla Marketing, and visual merchandising strategies seen across the entire range of retailing. I undertook its journalistic development as Long Tail Content Marketing because I work in the fixture industry. Read more>>
Joann Griffith
I was a single mother of 5 great children working 2 and 3 jobs just to make ends meet. In 2014 I meet a wonderful man who took to my children right away and acted as if they were his own. I as well took to his son .2017 we got engaged at the Pittsburgh renaissance fair. Read more>>
Sheila Druist
I have always been a creative person, but I decided to pursue art as a career in 2019. I had tried multiple other jobs, but none of them felt like my calling. I was created to be an artist, and I was determined to pursue my art. I started college around the same time with the goal of becoming an art therapist. Read more>>
Rose Schlagel
My story is one of resilience, growth, and learning to turn life’s challenges into opportunities. I was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up between Buffalo and Puerto Rico. Being raised between two cultures gave me the gift of being bilingual in English and Spanish and taught me from a young age how to connect with and appreciate people from different backgrounds. Read more>>
Ryan Sellers
My story starts as a kid, where I was fascinated by movies like Jurassic Park and Star Wars. I spent my early years watching the behind-the-scenes videos and learning how their production teams built unique worlds was very captivating and left a lasting impression on me. Read more>>
Heather Geiser
My journey to where I am today really began through illness. For a long time, I was living what probably looked like a fairly normal life from the outside. I was working, raising a family, being a wife, and managing all of the responsibilities that come with everyday life. But eventually, my body began telling me that something needed to change. Read more>>
Suzanne Rende
When I search my brain for earliest memories, I cannot remember a time in my life that I was not doodling, painting, sewing,…creating something. Since painting my first mural on my bedroom wall at 12 years old, I have been hooked on murals. I painted murals throughout high school and college, graduating from Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia, PA in 1993. Read more>>
Sarah Kauzmann
Pipit’s Bakery started during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we all remember that was a time of high uncertainty and high boredom for many. Read more>>
Nikki Johnston
From Hospital Nutrition to Community Health: Building a Practice with Purpose Nutrition has always been about more than food for me. Throughout my career as a Registered Dietitian, I’ve seen firsthand how nutrition has the power to change the course of someone’s health. Read more>>
Todd Sanders
I began my independent publishing imprint Air and Nothingness Press 30 years ago when I started translating and publishing the work of the French surrealist poet Robert Desnos. I did this for a number of years, eventually publishing 5 books of his writing as well as a number of other small projects. Read more>>
Dr. Elyssa PhD, LPC, RPT-S, ACS
I founded the Inner Canvas Collective to build a community of mental health professionals committed to transforming our field. Our mission centers on two key goals: improving the quality and appropriateness of care for children, young adults, and families, while simultaneously addressing professional growth and enhancing clinician wellness. The Inner Canvas Collective challenges conventional approaches to professional development and career sustainability in mental health. Read more>>
Thiago Thomaz
Success Is Rarely a Straight Line Good evening everyone, People often look at success and assume it was planned. Mine wasn’t. I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but I grew up in Fortaleza, in the northeast of the country, where the ocean was part of everyday life. Some of my earliest memories are of trying to surf. Read more>>
Courtney & Nick Menanno
Nick had never been out of the country before he met me. Six weeks into dating we went to New Orleans for New Year’s Eve, and after that I decided he needed a passport so he could come to the UK with me. Three months into our relationship we were on a trip for two weeks, which probably tells you everything about how we operate. Read more>>
Amie and Coletta
We’re a small wallpaper installation and house painting business in philly. We’ve known each other for years but only started our work relationship a few years ago. While working for Coletta’s brothers construction business we realized how well we work together and decided to break out on our own. Read more>>
Tony L. Simpson
Well, my interest in music began when I met Mr. Raymond Earl of the legendary Funk Band ‘Instant Funk’. He was dating my older sister and during our meet he noticed my interest and began teaching me how to play and gave me my very first bass…don’t know what ever happened to that bass..anyhow, moving on.. Read more>>
Tory Gates
I feel like my career and life have been a long series of journeys. My initial goals were pretty simple, but over the years, new opportunities arose, and my creativity got the chance to be used in many other areas. I never thought I would have a career of more than 40 years in radio, and still be in the business. Read more>>
