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.
Juanita Copeland
I came to Nashville in 1990. Worked at Mercury Records until January 1995. Worked on the projects from their 2 biggest artists to-date, Billy Ray Cyrus and Shania Twain. I started ast receptionist (which is what almost all female employees did back in 1990) and was quickly promoted to business affairs. Read more>>
Debbie LeRoy
The Long Way Around: How a Science Major Found Her Calling in the Beauty of the Old Debbie Mathews — Debbie Mathews Antiques & Designs, Nashville, TN Some people know exactly what they are meant to do from the time they are very young. I was one of those people — I just didn’t know it at the time. Read more>>
Chandler Marie
I always knew somehow or someway I wanted to make music a career. I started writing and playing guitar early, first learning a few chords from my dad, a musician who notably opened for Opry Member T. Graham Brown in the late 80’s. His music career unfortunately came to a halt due to family medical emergencies. Read more>>
Michael Williamson
Sail On grew out of the individual members’ shared interest in the classic pop of the 1950s and 60s era. We were working together in Nashville on original music that was heavily influenced by The Beach Boys when we developed the idea for the tribute band. Read more>>
Natalie Butler
I have always loved creating artwork, even from a young age. I grew up making conceptual pieces inspired by my life and personal experiences, which eventually led me to study art at Lipscomb University, where I earned my BFA. After graduation, I began working as an art consultant, helping clients select, commission, and place artwork in commercial spaces. Read more>>
John Durnell
Loaves & Fishes began when a local church congregation recognized that hungry neighbors were gathering just outside its doors. Rather than looking away, members took stock of what they had, prepared soup and sandwiches, and invited people inside to sit at a table and be served with dignity. That simple act of hospitality became the foundation of Loaves & Fishes. Read more>>
Annie Moss
The Vintage Sparrow began from a very simple place—a love for creating beautiful things and a desire to remind women of who they are and the hope they have in God. What started as a small dream has grown into something I could have never fully imagined. Like most small businesses, the journey hasn’t been a straight line. Read more>>
Angel Faulk
I started teaching Fitness in 1997. After having a brain tumor, facial paralysis, and single sides deafness, I became a corporate health coach, focusing more on nutrition and overall health. That led to my ministry. Since Angel means Messenger, I became The Fitness Angel, speaking in churches, retreats, l and for various groups, making fitness DVDs, t-shirts, and teaching online. Read more>>
Bryce Sainty
I’m Bryce Sainty, a country artist and songwriter from the East Coast of Australia. My journey in music began more than a decade ago with the release of my debut single in 2012, followed by my first EP in 2013. Since then, I have continued to develop my career independently, releasing music, touring, performing. Read more>>
Victoria Richardson
My love for hair began when I was around eight years old. I remember learning how to braid and becoming fascinated with the ability to take someone’s hair and transform it into something beautiful. My mother was incredibly supportive of my creativity and passion. Read more>>
Jordan Steele
I started playing guitar when I was 10 and instantly knew this was what I wanted to do for a living. I didn’t have a roadmap for how to become a professional guitarist, but I knew I wanted to do whatever it took to make a career out of it. Read more>>
Trinity Ayscue
I began photography at the age of 14! I captured whatever caught my eye, I didn’t have a passion for it quite yet. Read more>>
Brendan Burke
Every podcast has a beginning. For the Christian Music Bros Podcast, it started with two guys who simply loved Christian music and wanted a place to talk about it. I, Brendan Burke and Bradden Ford, started the podcast with a pretty simple idea: talk about Christian music the way you would talk about it with your friends. Read more>>
Milad Yousufi
I began my musical journey in Afghanistan during a time when music was forbidden under the Taliban. As a child, I made a “paper piano” and dreamed of becoming a musician. That dream eventually led me to study piano at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and later in Denmark and New York, where I earned degrees in piano performance and composition. Read more>>
Claudia Carrington
My story has always been shaped by two worlds. I live and work in Vienna, Austria, where I am part of a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping and supporting people. At the same time, I have strong roots in the United States, which has always played an important role in my life. Read more>>
Tahina Fiaferana
I am a guitarist/bassist/producer/composer currently based in Nashville, TN. I moved here from Nairobi, Kenya but have been living here since 2016. Since I was a child I always knew that I had wanted to be doing something creative for my living, which I’m incredibly grateful that I am able to be doing that now. Read more>>
Jane Dupree
I fell in love with music at a young age. I started playing guitar as a teenager and soon began playing at local churches. In my freshman year in college, I was in a Christian rock band and we were on the label D-fusion music. The label head was a rapper and his DJ showed me the basics of turntables. Read more>>
Michelle Hill
My passion for serving individuals with special needs began through my work as a pediatric occupational therapist. Through my work with children in local school systems, and particularly as I watched young adults age out of school-based services, I became increasingly aware of the limited opportunities available to individuals with disabilities and their families. They deserved more than services to meet their basic needs. Read more>>
Hunter Briley
So here are my thoughts.. this is intended to be somewhat rambling but only so you will get the idea. I have been in culinary my entire life. I love food. I always thought that that was simply it, just loved food. I began to understand that it could be a source of income as well. Read more>>
Mark Gross
Embracing difference has always been one of my core values. My white paternal grandparents had two biological children (one of whom is my father) and adopted four mixed children, so extended family gatherings on my dad’s side were always wonderfully rich and meaningful. Family, I learned from an early age, is supposed to look and sound different from me. Read more>>
Dr. Jen Pfleghaar
I knew I wanted to be a doctor when I was nine years old, after my grandfather was rushed to the hospital for bypass surgery. Read more>>
Laura Sanders Holzman
I began ice skating as a child in Knoxville. At first, it was simply a way to earn a Girl Scout badge, but I quickly fell in love with the sport. From that point on, skating became a defining part of my life. Read more>>
Vanessa Medvedovsky
My story began in Honduras, where I was born and raised in a dangerous environment with limited opportunities. From a young age, I found my passion through ballet, fashion, pageants, and modeling, and I always dreamed of something bigger. At 20, I moved to the United States without speaking the language. I worked physically demanding jobs, including in a warehouse, while helping support my family. Read more>>
Lexx
I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. I started singing before I could speak. Growing up bilingual, music became another language for me. At our Friday night family dinners, I would put on little performances for everyone. Looking back, music was always my way of expressing things I didn’t necessarily know how to put into words. Read more>>
Mary Anne Richardson
n August 1994, Mary Anne Richardson made a career change and pursued midwifery. Since then, she has been assisting couples with births in Central Tennessee. During that time, she has trained and worked in hospital settings and in the homes of clients. She has experienced management of breech births, twins, shoulder dystocias, VBACs, and hemorrhage. Read more>>
Precious Johnson
I grew up in a really small town in Tennessee with a population of around 300 people, and from a very young age, I knew I wanted to be working in television and film. Read more>>
Sandi McAughty
TN Flea was established in 2016 in White House, Tennessee, by Eddie and Heidi Harlin. What began as a small weekend venture, with spaces rented to a handful of vendors, slowly grew into something much bigger—a thriving flea market and, eventually, a beloved vendor mall. Read more>>
Kelli Cox
I grew up in Denver and started playing piano when I was four. There were a lot of neat opportunities to learn to play and a lady at the end of my street who had her own all girl band in the 40’s. I got in her organization and played with some of the best players in Denver. Read more>>
Kelly Mason
The story of Green Pea Salon story starts when I was in college. I was in school studying to be a landscape architect in Knoxville, Tennessee. My best friend at the time was a hairdresser. I would spend hours talking to him about his craft. Asking questions, watching him give people confidence, and observing the hustle and bustle of the salon he worked in. Read more>>
Isabella Akel
My story starts with dance and family. I started dancing at four years old, competed on the dance competition circuit, and eventually went to Kennesaw State University to study Dance, with a focus on Ballet. In my third year of college, I made the decision to leave school and become a professional dancer full time. Read more>>
Jude Toy
I grew up with a tremendous amount of imagination. I was always making up songs, humming melodies, and finding creative ways to entertain myself. I was lucky enough to hit the parental jackpot: my mother was an accomplished pianist, and my father was a brilliant mathematician. Read more>>
Ciera Danielle
I began as a little dreamer in her teens in Los Angeles pursuing an acting career. After a while I began making movies myself and pretty much dared to do the impossible. By the grace of God and with the help of other fellow dreamers, I’ve been able to produce, write, direct and act in many feature films over the last decade and a half. Read more>>
Stephen ‘PunchmeinJay’ Dashiff
The first thing I remember touching is a guitar. My father had an Ovation acoustic, and there is a picture of me as a baby banging on that poor guitar. When I was growing up I played in many different bands ranging from Jazz to Reggae. This was very formative for me, and would later translate into my own production style. Read more>>
Todd Coats
I started out just loving to draw. Somehow I ended up spending a career helping people figure out what their product, service, performance, music package or book should be. I’ve been a designer, illustrator, creative director, brand guy, teacher, speaker, and occasional troublemaker. I came up through the advertising and design world, working across just about every kind of project you can imagine. Read more>>
Ron Brice
3rd and Lindsley Nashville opened in 1991 . I would consider an interview about the Venue , It’s journey, where it is today , and looking forward . A story about me personally is not something I would be interested in, I am not sure that fits the theme of what your doing on these. Read more>>
Sandra Mihic
I came to the U.S. from former Yugoslavia (Serbia) in 1998 and have called Nashville home ever since. I started Sandra’s Easy Cooking in 2010, while raising my three kids. It really began as a creative outlet and a place where I could share the food I was already making for my family, never thinking it would actually turn into a career. Read more>>
Kendra Jennings
There’s not a lot to do in the small town I’m from in Missouri so I spent a lot of time losing myself in things. Movies, music, the summer theatre program… I was just always in my head. Over the years, music remained the thing that I knew my life would be built around. Read more>>
Geneva Dudley
My name Is Geneva but all my friends call me Phae Creates, a 34-year-old Louisiana native, mother, licensed cosmetologist, content creator, entrepreneur, and community builder. Above everything else, I’m the proud mother of an amazing 14-year-old son who is autistic and truly my whole world. Read more>>
Gavin Kelly
I started out as a country singer in Nashville. I released my debut album Honolulu Blue in 2011 and was a regional finalist on Nashville Star. After some personal setbacks that pulled me away from music for a while, I relocated to Paducah, Kentucky. Around 2012, my wife Paula and I had a series of unexplained experiences in her family’s old home after a fire. Read more>>
Joshua Brown
After loosing both my parents to cancer I started Beachbilly Lifestyle as a way to turn hardship into hope and everyday moments into something meaningful. Founded in 2016 in Perdido Key, Florida, what began with a few t-shirts, a YouTube channel, and a family working side by side has grown into a lifestyle brand and streaming television show watched around the world. Read more>>
APRIL DENISON
My name is April Denison, and I’m the owner/welder/fabricator of Denizen Designs since 2017. I was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, and now happily call Chattanooga home—just a little closer to the mountains and the outdoor lifestyle I love. I still travel back and forth to Nashville for work and to visit my mom and long time friends. Read more>>
Belinda Johnson
I have always been creative and loved creating. My Mom was an artist; she mainly painted beautiful oil paintings, but really, everything about her was creative. So, creativity was just part of my upbringing, celebrated. I believe she taught me how to see things differently, and I took that into my art classes throughout school. I never really painted paintings, though. Read more>>
Dawn Nakamura
I lived in NYC for several years, I had a furniture showroom by appointment and to the trade. Read more>>
Juniper Vale
One of my earliest memories is sitting in the back seat of my dad’s car listening to jazz on the radio. He played in a bluegrass trio, and was making music all the time. When I was little I started writing melodies in my head over the chord progressions he would play. Read more>>
Messiah Cobb
Well to start off my name is VER7E. Its nice to meet ya. Im an artist from Chicago currently residing in Nashville. I’ve been putting out music for about 7 years now but i’ve been a student of the art my whole life. Music has been a lover, a friend, and teacher my whole life. Read more>>
Abbey Kostyal
I’m from PA, and grew up always wanting to be a graphic designer. I always looked up to my aunt who worked at a local print shop, and around middle school I asked her to teach me everything she knows! Read more>>
Ashley Byble
My journey has always felt like someone walking in the gray area between the lines. I have been overly empathetic with a justice complex since I was in elementary school. It did not take long to learn that, without trying, I challenge people. The hard lesson there is: people do not like to be challenged. Read more>>
Marshall Locke PKA J.Marshall
I started taking music seriously in 2021 to create an outlet to let out my intrusive thoughts. I had wrote songs in the past but there was nothing pushing me to drop other than the fact that I had something people need to hear. Shortly after I enrolled at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) where I graduated in 2026 with a degree in music business. Read more>>
Matthew Haddix
My story started in a one bedroom apartment in Houston Texas. I started making grooming products on my stove top after witnessing a gap in the market at stores as well as grooming locations. I could not find any products that were naturally made and towards men as well as women. Read more>>
Danny McMahon
I’m the former UK Country Artist Of The Year and I moved to Nashville in April 2026. I started working with labels from the age of 16 in a rock band and played the likes of Glastonbury Festival in the UK. Once I’d finished University I started listening to Country Music through my friend and absolutely fell in love with genre. Read more>>
Jessica Smith
I had my first baby in December 2019, and by the time I was ready to return to work as a bedside nurse, COVID was beginning to shut everything down. I decided to stay home with him instead, and a few months later, our family moved from Florida to the Nashville area. I stayed home exclusively for that first year before eventually returning to nursing. Read more>>
