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.
Kevin Mahoney
I got started in music because I was drawn to songwriting as a way to tell honest stories about life. Rather than chasing trends, I gravitated toward artists whose lyrics carried emotional weight and whose songs stayed with people long after the performance. Over time, music became more than a hobby—it became a lifelong creative pursuit. Read more>>
Lainey Seitz
Although i’ve always thought of myself as a singer and musician, I never considered songwriting until I was in college. I never considered myself to be someone who could be an artist. I started writing fall of 2023 when I was going through some personal struggles, and realized it was the most effective emotional & creative outlet for me. Read more>>
Al Lauro
Native South Louisiana drummer Al Lauro traveled to Big Pine Key, Florida in 1980 to play with Outlaw Country legend, David Allan Coe, who quickly dubbed him Big Al, despite his vertically challenged stature. Al and the band lived in Coe’s rehearsal warehouse between Ernest Hemmingway’s favorite bar, “Sloppy Joe’s” and Shorty’s diner. Read more>>
Nicole Sullivan
I was born in 1994 in Truth or Consequences, NM. I was one of the last people to be born there, as the hospital closed shortly after. I spent my formative years unrooted, poverty and the law kept my family on their feet. A victim of CSA, I helped my father get arrested, and fought for the right to normalcy. Read more>>
King E
I was born Samuel Ethan Mitchell on December 23rd, 1995 in Dallas Texas. My parents are both pastors, that’s what gave me my love for music. Growing up listening to choirs and gospel music instilled a lot of core values that I still carry today. Read more>>
Diamond-Jade French
I’ve always had a heart for serving others and creating opportunities where they don’t already exist. My journey has taken many different paths, but they’ve all been connected by one purpose: helping people believe in themselves and reach their full potential. Today, I serve as an 8th grade math teacher and Head Cheer Coach at Stratford STEM Magnet Middle School in Nashville. Read more>>
Kirk Reed
My brother, Chris, and I were born in Providence, Rhode Island, and we lived in a Funeral home for the first 5 years of my life while our parents were in school. We then moved to Connecticut where our Father was hired as a Pastor at a local Church. So, most of my formative years were spent there. Read more>>
Sarah Adair
In 2013, I started Social Bliss Events while still working at my corporate job. My little side hustle began to flourish and even though the naysayers told me, ‘Have fun with your hobby. No one is going to pay you to plan bachelorette parties.’ I was enthralled with Nashville becoming the ‘It City’ and knew something was on the horizon. Read more>>
Demetria ‘MzMetchi’ Brown
My journey has always centered around creating meaningful connections through storytelling. While working full-time in commercial real estate, I built The Blueprint Media Company with a vision of creating platforms that celebrate entrepreneurs, artists, small businesses, and community leaders whose stories often go untold. Read more>>
Jasmine Renee Madkins
My journey began in 2021 during one of the most difficult seasons of my life. I was struggling emotionally and searching for the courage to keep moving forward. During that time, Joshua 1:9—“Be strong and courageous”—became a personal reminder that God was with me, even when I felt afraid or uncertain. Read more>>
Madison Ray
Music has always been the center of my life but it wasn’t until I started studying under Johnny Contardo of ShaNaNa that I realized I could take a serious swing in show business as a talent. Read more>>
Josh Linville
Life is a full of barriers, and that is completely okay. What makes us unique isn’t our thorns, it’s our stories. To share my own little narrative, when I was young I had a very difficult speech impediment, and honestly it would of inspired Tolkien if he heard me speaking publicly. Read more>>
Keshia Gooden
I started my journey in 2017 at 220 pounds. I knew I wanted more for myself. I wanted to look better, feel better, and most importantly, live a healthier life. My motivation started with something simple, a pair of jeans that no longer fit. I carried those jeans with me everywhere I went as a reminder of the promise I made to myself. Read more>>
Wilfredo ramos
My journey into photography began when I moved from Poughkeepsie, New York, to the Bronx at the age of 31. A close friend invited me to join his video production team, where I learned the fundamentals of production—from setting up lighting and preparing film sets to working on music videos and short films. That experience gave me a strong foundation in visual storytelling and production. Read more>>
Jessica Meyers Shaffer
My name is Jessica Meyers Shaffer. I’m a creative producer and media personality in Nashville, TN and I am running for schoolboard in District 5 of Clarksville, Montgomery County, TN. I was born and raised in South Nashville and graduated from Antioch High School in 2005. Read more>>
Daisney Lacroix
Growing up, there were two things I always kept close by: my Bible and my books from the local library. You’d never see me without one or the other. And that’s how it was for years, until I went off to college. You know how the story goes. You get to university and lose a part of yourself you’ve always known. Read more>>
Jessi Atkocaitis
I have always been pretty conscious about what I use in my beauty routine- but especially after having my 3 kids, and dealing with postpartum hair loss- I thought I was using ‘clean, non-toxic’ hair care products- but they were making my hair worse. Read more>>
Dustin Luttrell
As long as I can remember, I’ve had a camera in my hand. It started with my mom’s disposable cameras, moved to cheap digital point-and-shoots, and then hit a turning point around age 12 or 13 when my mom bought her first Canon Rebel. I was instantly hooked by what a real camera could do. Read more>>
Joel Ross
Hi, I’m Joel Ross, though I create under the artist name Joel Bear. I’ve been working in the creative industry for the past 13 years, primarily in Los Angeles and Costa Mesa, California. Recently, my family and I opened a studio in Nashville, Tennessee, where we’re building the next chapter of our creative journey. Read more>>
Casey Steele
I’ve always been someone who’s willing to take risks and build things from the ground up. I spent much of my career in the tech startup world, working in sales and leadership roles with companies in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Being part of several successful startups taught me how to grow businesses, solve problems, and adapt quickly in fast-changing environments. Read more>>
Jody lynn Malone
No Telling your journey along the way can be a pretty long story, but I’ll try to keep it shorter. I started in singing and arts and crafts as a child at five years old I was singing in church and by 12 I was in a Christian rock band. Read more>>
Jamcidy Wilson
Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but I officially started my journey as an artist at 17 years old. In 2015, I released my first project, and from that moment on, I was all in. Read more>>
Andrew L. Lucas
When I was seven, my dad took me to a mom and pop music store in my hometown of Morristown NJ, where he purchased a mini Taylor Acoustic that still sits in my childhood bedroom to this day. My first guitar teacher ever was Mr. Andrew Chiurazzi, who told me after two years of working him that I was outpacing what he could teach. Read more>>
Shannon Flack
It was definitely a long and winding road to photography. Looking back now, it’s funny because I didn’t discover it until my sophomore year of college, even though it had been quietly following me for years. I started playing violin at three years old under my mom, who has been a violin teacher since long before I was born. Read more>>
destiny babyak
Golden started with my love for makeup. At just 15 years old, I began building my makeup kit and doing makeup for my friends and teammates. I quickly fell in love with how something as simple as makeup could completely transform the way someone felt about themselves. Read more>>
Morgan Maassel
I started playing violin when I was seven and loved it so much that I decided to follow that passion to Nashville to attend Belmont University. After graduating, I decided to stay in the area. I teach in Franklin and Burns, perform in the greater Nashville area, and record in my home and in Nashville. Read more>>
Cristina Pineda
My journey began more than 14 years ago when my sister, Alessandra Conti, and I founded Matchmakers In The City. We were young entrepreneurs with a shared passion for relationships and helping people to find love. At the time, dating was already becoming increasingly impersonal, and we felt that there was still a need for thoughtful, hands-on matchmaking rooted in trust, discretion, and genuine care. Read more>>
Perla Mendoza
I moved to Nashville in 1996 and began my career in radio in 2000. Music has always been a major part of my life—I have been singing since I was 15 years old. After arriving in Nashville, I performed as a solo artist and later with several local bands while continuing my work in radio. Read more>>
Chris & Claire bullard The Déjà vu collective
Deja Vu Collective was born out of our love for Nashville and a desire to build a different kind of life. Chris has been in the music industry there for more than 15 years, so the city has played a huge role in our lives. Read more>>
Sydney Bridenstine
I founded Olive Branch Speech Therapy in the fall of 2015, though it started almost by accident. I’d been a speech-language pathologist in the Nashville public school system for five years when a family I used to babysit for asked if I’d see their child for private speech therapy. Read more>>
Rachel Cintula
Freedom Sings USA (FSUSA) partners veterans with hit songwriters to tell their story of service through song as a form of music arts therapy. FSUSA was founded 12 years ago due to a perceived need for ongoing connection for veterans and their families beyond the completion of their song. Read more>>
Samantha Ruiz
I started my business Soulstice Beauty lab in Summer of 2020. I initially enrolled in Beauty School November of 2019 and had no idea what the next couple months would be like due to the uncertainty around the Pandemic. Read more>>
Connor Clark
I sat down to write this out and walked myself through the paces of what I understood to be a quintessential response for the industry. I racked my brain and pinned down the details of my move to Nashville in 2016 and the immediate luck I had running into the drummer, Nick Howard. Read more>>
Allegra Davis
I grew up in Santa Barbara, California, where horses have been a part of my life since I was two years old. I began competing in the pony hunter divisions at four and spent my childhood immersed in the equestrian world. Read more>>
Darla Knight
In 2016, my daughter and I purchased a small neighborhood coffee shop with a simple vision: create a place where people could gather over thoughtfully prepared food and genuine hospitality. We transformed it into a café that focused on clean, scratch-made food while fostering a sense of community. Read more>>
Keon Atwater-Thomas
I would say that my journey started with the pursuit of my culinary career. At a very young age, I identified my love for food and started my career as a chef. I spent years training and working in the culinary industry, offering my personal chef services and pop-up events before I discovered my overall purpose. Read more>>
Sydney Clancy
I started DJing in 2023. The way I got here was through the fact that, my whole life, I performed in theater and was involved in music through musical theatre, bands, or singing at my high school’s acoustic ‘coffee shop’ nights. Read more>>
Cody Harris
I’ve never really followed a traditional creative path. I started photographing people more than a decade ago, mostly driven by a fascination with relationships, emotion, and the small moments that reveal who someone really is. What began as simply wanting to make meaningful photographs eventually grew into a full-time wedding and portrait career. Read more>>
Matthew Galardi
Matthew always wanted to learn how to play guitar in childhood. He was inspired by all genres of music. He was about 20 years old when he picked up the guitar for the first time. Read more>>
Janet Robin
I got my start in music growing up in Los Angeles, where I had the incredible opportunity to study guitar with the legendary Randy Rhoads. Read more>>
Andy Baker
I’ve had a varied and rewarding professional journey over the past two decades, beginning as a songwriter and record producer. After making music with friends, it became clear that they needed help getting it heard. Almost by accident, I found myself managing artists. The first band I worked with built a significant local following and generated a real buzz. Read more>>
Trent Denson
It all started with a missed phone call. A friend of mine, Adam, left me a voicemail when he was going through a tough season. At the end of it, he said, ‘I hope you’re spreading the positive.’ I think he was quoting a Kid Cudi lyric, but for whatever reason, those words stuck with me. I couldn’t shake the idea. Read more>>
