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.
Priyanki Heidelberger
I came to USA 15 years ago, did internal medicine residency (my second residency!) and then worked with wellspan health for 11 years. While I was working, I found that there was something missing in the care and decided to pursue fellowship in integrative medicine which is a broader umbrella that includes functional medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese medicine etc.. Read more>>
Keith Renard
I was born and raised in Scranton, PA. I always love creating different types of artwork in all sorts of mediums, Loved art class all through school. I took private art lessons while I was growing up. Read more>>
Daniel Kilp
I grew up in a German Club where my grandparents started a Schuhplattler Group and my parents started a children’s dance group. I danced from the time I was 2 and still do currently. I grew into a culinary career and the two paths eventually crossed to help me create a much needed German restaurant in Lancaster. Read more>>
Joann Ready
Soul Shine began in 2017 with a simple vision: to create a welcoming space where people could explore, heal, learn, and connect. What started as a dream by owner Joann Ready has grown into a thriving metaphysical and holistic community dedicated to helping others find their own path toward balance, wellness, and spiritual growth. Read more>>
Richard Reiser
I grew up in North Philadelphia When I was nine years old, my aunt got me started doing drugs, smoking marijuana, and cigarettes at 13 years old I started using alcohol and harder drugs. I ran the streets without very much supervision or guidance and direction. Read more>>
Lauren Nolan-Sellers
Lauren Nolan Sellers is a world-class interior decorating expert, co-founder of the award-winning 7-figure decorating firm Trust the Vision Decor, a mission-driven mentor through her Aspiring Designers Academy coaching program, and the visionary behind her latest venture, a design-based technology initiative called H.O.U.S.E.D. Inn Blaque. Read more>>
Ron Mounts
How Your Podcast Studio Started Your Podcast Studio was founded in 2021 in New Castle, Pennsylvania, with a simple vision: to create a platform where local voices, sports, faith, and community stories could be shared with passion and professionalism. Read more>>
Stevo Sadvary
Stevo Sadvary, who grew up in Washington county and studied weaving and textiles at Edinboro University and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh, has lived in Pittsburgh since 1989. And his creativity bubbles over into all sorts of other interesting areas, from painting to songwriting to web designing to gardening. Read more>>
Brian Minto
I was a drop out at SRU because of my drinking. So I left school an got a job as a cable TV lineman. I was 250lbs fat an out of shape. So I started boxing to lose weight. Then I started amateur boxing. An I made it to the regional Golden glove final an lost. Read more>>
Craig Zuber
I discovered Reiki at a particularly overwhelming time in my life. I was pursuing my master’s degree in social work at Humboldt State University among the redwoods in Arcata, California, while living in a van and attempting to heal some deep emotional/psychological wounds. For years I had been living in a state of chronic overwhelm and stress. Read more>>
Jennifer Zori
I’ve loved beauty and makeup since as long as I can remember. Being an identical twin, I loved the idea of not only using makeup as a form of artistic expression, but also as being able to individualize yourself in your own unique way through that creativity. Read more>>
Christena Plummer
My family has a hobby of classic cars, hot rods, and anything else that needs a motor. Growing up, my parents were very involved in the hot rod scene; my dad painted award winning cars, and my mother, through her automotive upholstery shop Leis Upholstery, rounded out the project with an amazing interior to match. Read more>>
Nick Garver
Born in Titusville Pa May 22 1978 , moved to Erie for kindergarten and 1st grade and then back to Titusville. My family was poor, we lived in housing developments until 1991 when we moved to Oil City. Read more>>
Atiya Pope
My name is Atiya Pope and I am born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. I have always been a go-getter and someone who wanted more for myself and my future. I knew that I wanted to accomplish something meaningful and special, but for many years, I was not exactly sure what that would look like or which direction I should take. Read more>>
Tanya Trewick Ryans MSN, APRN-C, PMHNP-BC
I began my nursing journey at just 15 years old, but it was an experience at 17 that gave that journey its purpose. I walked into a patient’s room and discovered that he had passed away alone. As I walked back to the nurses’ station, I remember thinking that someone needed to be his voice. Read more>>
Lucas Corrales Ovares
I’m a 22 years old costarican artist, i’ve been creating since i was little. I’m also an animation student and an art teacher at my community center and at my art workshops proyect ‘Taller El Caracol’. Read more>>
Jonathan Snider
I had always wanted to start a business. As I was thinking of what to start I landed on a BBQ food truck. In the South and West I loved the classic BBQ joints that were legendary for their craft. I saw we had nothing like that here. I found out quick why. BBQ is really tough. The cuts of meat are expensive. Read more>>
Alex Kelsey
I’ve always been a creative person, but for a long time, that creativity showed up through marketing. Read more>>
Karen Adams
I started as an account executive at Bozell Worldwide, working on the Taco Bell account. It was a big-agency introduction to advertising: big ideas, a major national brand, and a fast education in what it takes to get people’s attention. Read more>>
Joseph Devlin
My journey into Family Sobriety Now really began with my own recovery journey a couple of decades ago. At the time, I was bartending, and I realized pretty quickly that if I was going to have a chance at long-term sobriety, I needed to make some significant changes in my life, including getting out of that environment. Read more>>
Laura and Kate Weiner
We initially started the flower farm to attract pollinators. We began to notice a diminishing population of bees and butterflies. Shrubs that would be swarmed every summer so much so that you couldn’t get near them, suddenly weren’t anymore. Read more>>
Joey Guida
Growing up, football was my life. Like a lot of kids, I dreamed of one day playing in the NFL. But during a high school football game, I suffered a career-altering injury that changed the direction of my life. I still played football in college, but I knew my future was going to look different than I had imagined. Read more>>
Shawn Cannon
Holly Mack Designs was born out of a desire to create. I started my business in 2011, when my youngest daughter started full-day school. Coming from an HR background in an office environment, I wanted my next chapter to offer more flexibility and allow me to work from home. I took a few jewelry-making classes, and from there, the passion grew. Read more>>
Andrew Smith
I came to visual art somewhat indirectly. I spent 32 years as a public school music teacher, so creativity was always central to my life, but for most of that time, music was the primary form. Read more>>
Ann Sobieski
All of this started because of my sons. I have two sons; one here and one in heaven. My still born son is Luke. In order to heal from his loss, I volunteered to teach art. My first born is John, a man of many talents. When he was in second grade, I recognized that he would really enjoy more art projects. Read more>>
Kellie Flanagan
My journey into Reiki and sound healing really began through my own experience with pain, caregiving, healing, and transformation. In 2021, my dad suffered a rare spinal stroke that completely changed the trajectory of our family’s lives. The stroke left him paralyzed from the waist down. Read more>>
Kelsey May
My passion for design began at a very young age. I spent countless hours decorating a custom dollhouse my grandfather built for me, which sparked my love for creating beautiful, inviting spaces. Read more>>
Anna Raport
I originally started as a kid of a pretty poor blended family from Pennsylvania. My mother was Puerto Rican and Father is White. Grew up with two culturally different parents but raised very American. Read more>>
Fabienne Singer
How Wellness for Joy LLC Was Born From a very young age, I felt blessed with a gift I could neither explain nor ignore the ability to intuitively sense and perceive glimpses of the past, present, and future. I could see, feel, and sense things about the people around me. Read more>>
Prakash Gurung
My name is **Prakash Gurung**, and I am originally from Nepal. My journey in the restaurant industry has been an exciting one, spanning nearly **25 years**. I began building my culinary career in India, where I worked as a **Head Chef** in different regions, including Kerala and Gujarat. Working in different places gave me valuable experience with a variety of cuisines, ingredients, and cooking styles. Read more>>
Mary Lou Dreisbach
I began practicing yoga as a form of exercise about 15 years ago. At that time, I was a busy, stressed out social worker with two little kids, and a difficult marriage. Despite the calming effects of yoga, I was inconsistent in my practice and didn’t have the mindset to truly embrace the full effects of a yogic life. Read more>>
Tina Stroh
My story with yoga began long before Just Plain Yoga. I first found the practice as a teenager in the 1980s, when yoga was still very far from the mainstream wellness industry it would eventually become. What began as a personal interest grew into decades of study and exploration. Read more>>
Athenae Evans
My Story My journey has never been a straight line—it has been a collection of experiences, lessons, challenges, and opportunities that ultimately led me to where I am today. I began my career in the human-services field more than two decades ago, working with individuals with developmental, intellectual, behavioral, and mental health challenges. Read more>>
Cathiusca Barley
I’ve always been someone who believes that every season of life—both the successes and the challenges—has something to teach us. I earned my degree in Business Administration and built my career in business development, sales, operations, and relationship building. Read more>>
Ryan Macaluso
My story started back in college, I was originally a Neuroscience Major at a small science college. Two years in I decided to switch to Music Business and Audio engineering. Read more>>
Matt Spettel
I have always been drawn to building things, starting with coding my own video games and filming my own action movies in middle school. I grew up in Merrimack, NH and after graduating as valedictorian of my class, I went on to study electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon. Read more>>
Catarina Tucker
I started Barnastics in 2018 while working a 6–2 job and bartending on the side at weddings and restaurants, including The Cheesecake Factory. I realized how much I could make bartending and decided to start my own bar service. Over time, I began working more with brands instead of weddings, and they started asking me to take on more than just the bar. Read more>>
Justen Mills
My passion for fitness and nutrition really started growing up in New York. I was always athletic and involved in just about every sport I could play, but at the same time, I was also the chubby kid who loved chips and food. Looking back, I really could’ve gone either way. Read more>>
Jasmyne Morgans
Growing up in the struggle taught me two things early: resilience and survival. At the time, I didn’t realize it, but those experiences were building some of the most important qualities I would eventually need to become a leader and entrepreneur. I’ve always had a desire to help people. Read more>>
Amy Clark
I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Marywood University in 2006. At the time I wanted to work with sexual offenders in the corrections system. I knew that offenders did not stay in jail forever and my hope was to be able to provide some sort of help to them that would lessen the chances of the reoffending. Read more>>
Jortae Avee Charles
At the age of six, I was introduced to fashion and creativity by my great-grandmother, who taught me many of the skills and values that continue to guide me today. Through her mentorship, I learned not only craftsmanship but also the importance of faith, consistency, and discipline. Those principles became the foundation of who I am as a woman, entrepreneur, and designer. Read more>>
Elana Lieberman
I’ve been a Licensed Massage Therapist for over 15 years, and my career has taken me through a lot of different experiences in the massage and wellness industry. Over the years, I’ve developed a passion for helping people feel better in their bodies—whether that means working through chronic tension and pain or simply giving someone the space to relax and reset. Read more>>
Angelica Perry
My path into tattooing was definitely unconventional. I was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and have called Pittsburgh home for nearly 12 years. My professional background is actually in technical drafting and graphic design, so I’ve always had a strong connection to design, precision, and visual storytelling, but becoming a tattoo artist was never something I had considered. Read more>>
Suzie Hauptman
When first graduating from college, I worked in retail. I always thought one day I would open a chain of stores for women and men. I had unique names picked out for them as well. Life took a different course and I started a career in the business of healthcare coding and compliance. I took on several different roles throughout my career. Read more>>
Jen Lucas
My journey to creating Sacred Tones Healing began during a very tumultuous time in my life. I knew I needed to find something positive to help balance the negativity and stress I was experiencing. That realization started me on a journey inward. I began practicing yoga and becoming much more mindful of what I was putting in and on my body. Read more>>
Marti Lieberman
I started Mac Mart in 2013 with a pink food truck, a Drexel degree, a borderline inappropriate love for mac & cheese and truly NO idea what I was doing. I was 23, scrappy as hell and pretty much just figured things out as they came at me… which, honestly, is still kind of the business model. Read more>>
Antonio Lavigna
When I chose to open my restaurant I knew it would be a challenge because I’ve done it for so many others before from here to Salt Lake. Because I am a glutton for pain, I took this challenge 1 step further and opened up in a town where there are literally 35 other restaurants in a 4 block area. Read more>>
Elizabeth Thomas
My journey into mental health counseling didn’t begin in a classroom — it began in my own lived experience. I grew up in an environment marked by abuse and silence, and I learned early what it felt like to navigate pain without support. Those experiences could have broken me, but instead they pushed me toward purpose. Read more>>
Dayton Cummings
My journey with dogs started about 30 years ago, and like a lot of things in life, it wasn’t one straight path. I started out working in a kennel in Memphis, Tennessee, and later worked as a veterinary assistant. Those early experiences gave me the opportunity to work around a lot of different dogs and really started shaping my interest in training and behavior. Read more>>
Rae Johnson-Bundy
My birth work began with a desire to support birthing people during one of the most vulnerable and transformative times in their lives. I became a doula because I wanted families to feel heard, supported, informed and empowered throughout their birth experience. United States has a poor report card for birth but the maternity mortality rate for Black women is worse. Read more>>
Myles Slade-Bowers
My political career didn’t start in a boardroom or a state capitol office—it started when I was a 15-year-old high school student in Steelton who saw a broken system and decided I couldn’t just wait around until graduation to fix it. Read more>>
Noel Christian
I started my culinary journey straight out of high school in 2003, going from Cherry Hill High School West to The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in Philadelphia. Culinary school gave me a foundation in classical French techniques—and yes, I can make a pretty decent omelet—but I would say most of the chef I am today was shaped by actually working in kitchens. Read more>>
Madilyn Cahill
Growing up, my mother loved throwing elaborate parties. Christmas eve was one of the most exciting. The night before each place was labeled with what delicious home cooked meal would sit there and what china it was to be displayed in. Through helping her I gained a love for hosting and preparing foods. Read more>>
Antonella Faraone
I was born and raised in Palermo, Sicily, where food is at the core of all things family and has therefore influenced me since my early childhood. For us, food is not simply nourishment or something to be done quickly, it is essential family time to tell stories, pass down recipes, or simply to share daily news. Read more>>
Caitlin Kolba
I moved around a lot as a kid – various places in New Jersey, then Pennsylvania, before ultimately relocating to Virginia with my mom and siblings. The one constant for me no matter where I went was horses. No matter what I was dealing with, being around horses made me feel more grounded and myself. Read more>>
Olena Haviuk-Sheremet
Our story started with music. Both my husband and I are musicians, and we were born and raised in Ukraine, so music has always been a huge part of our lives. I was accepted into the Boyer College of Music at Temple University to pursue my doctorate in piano performance, which brought us to Philadelphia. Read more>>
Blakey Hastings
My path to this work has been anything but linear. I began my career as a yoga therapist, working with people to use movement, breath, and mindfulness as tools for greater health and well-being. That work eventually led me into addiction treatment, where I was a pioneer in my area bringing trauma-sensitive yoga into treatment centers. That experience was a major turning point for me. Read more>>
