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.
Jeremy Thayer
Thayer Jewelers was founded in 1982 by Jeremy Thayer as a direct importer of important gems from Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. In 1985 he and Bruce Davidson opened Dianus Lanka LTD in Kalutara, Sri Lanka, a cutting factory with over 110 full-time cutters and polishers. He traveled to mining centers throughout the world acquiring rough gems for production cutting. Read more>>
Robert Hill
I started my music career in a small apartment in Leadville, Colorado. I was hanging out with a buddy who wanted me to help make Wu Tang Clan type music with him and maybe rap over a few songs. That night I realized music was what I wanted to do and started pushing myself to make more music. Read more>>
Jasmine Graves
My journey in mental health began in 2015 when I started working as a mental health specialist. I was drawn to behavioral health early because I appreciated the complexity of people and the opportunity to understand what was happening beneath the surface, not simply respond to symptoms. In 2017, I became a psychiatric registered nurse and worked in psychiatric hospitals across multiple units. Read more>>
Jannese Torres
I’m a first-generation Puerto Rican woman who grew up believing that financial security meant getting a good education, finding a stable job, and working hard. I followed that blueprint and became an engineer with a six-figure salary. On paper, I had made it. But I wanted more control over my time, my income, and what my life could look like. Read more>>
Andres Cadavid
I was born in Medellín, Colombia, and moved to Queens, New York when I was six years old. Growing up between Colombian culture and New York culture had a huge influence on who I became. New York exposed me to so many different sounds, cultures, styles and forms of art. Read more>>
Carrie Juliao
My journey began in real estate, where I built my own brokerage and learned firsthand what it takes to grow a business, lead a team, and create opportunities in a competitive industry. Along the way, I also realized how many women are building successful lives and businesses but still lack a genuine place to connect, collaborate, and feel supported. Read more>>
Capt. Greg Ingram
Sea n Things Boat Trips really started with my love of being on the water and the satisfaction I get out of entertaining others. I have owned other boat chartering services in the past but Sea-n-Things is my favorite by far. Now I am able to focus on a boating experience that people of all ages love. The trips are very kid friendly! Read more>>
Jezeel Bryan
I’m a proud Jamaican native who has called Tampa home for nearly a decade. As a digital creator, hybrid athlete, and wellness advocate, I’m known for sharing lighthearted and relatable cultural comedy, lifestyle content, and engaging video reels that celebrate Jamaican food, family, and heritage. Alongside my creative pursuits, I’ve served five years in the U.S. Army National Guard as a Logistician. Read more>>
Madeleine Ho
Hi! I’m Madeleine Ho and I create music under the name miinii, pronounced “mini.” I’m a Vietnamese American singer, songwriter, content creator and software engineer based in the Tampa Bay area. Read more>>
Rosalind McDaniel
Sleep Esthetics honestly started by accident. In the summer of 2023, I was playing around with fragrance and created a pillow spray for myself. There was no big business plan behind it. One of my clients smelled it, loved it, and wanted one. Then someone else wanted one, and it just kept going from there. At first, Sleep Esthetics was completely centered around sleep. Read more>>
Guilherme Britto
I was born and raised in the south of Brazil – a small city in the Serra Gaucha with deep northern Italian roots, which is where my family comes from. I started in design in 2010, and I learned the trade from the production floor up: prepress, color, materials, what actually happens when a file hits a press. Read more>>
Jennifer Owens
I started painting at the age of 7 or 8. Art is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I got started painting for others by responding to craigslist ads back in the day. My first gig was painting some murals for a teenager and a small childs bedroom. Read more>>
Thomas Griggs
I started playing guitar at 16. I was a skate rat who roamed the city skating stairs and whatever I could find to do tricks on. My friends at the time were in bands and introduced me to hardcore music. I quickly became obsessed with the bad The Fall of Troy. Read more>>
Leslie Gomez
I’ve always had a love for all things beauty. Even as a little girl, I was constantly doing my makeup, styling my hair, and even doing my cousins’ hair when we would play dress-up. Looking back, I truly feel like beauty and hairstyling have always been in my heart. I started cosmetology school in 2019 and graduated in 2020. Read more>>
Kendra Konitzer
Long story short, I was laid off in 2018 just one week after returning from vacation in Europe from a long standing job. As a single mom, I knew I needed something to keep us going. Several people suggested going into business for myself but I couldn’t fathom the idea. Then I went to a job fair and met a franchise consultant. Read more>>
Amanda Johnson
My love for photography actually started in fifth grade when I did a school project on Ansel Adams. I instantly fell in love with his work and how unique his images were. Soon after that I got my first digital camera and started taking pictures of absolutely everything. By high school, photography had become more than just a hobby. Read more>>
Kelcy Coleman
My husband is typically the face of Bayboro, and rightfully so. He is there every day, deeply integrated into the day-to-day operations, and has built so many of the relationships that have shaped what Bayboro is today. When we were given the opportunity to share our story, though, I decided to take it and tell it from my perspective. Read more>>
Angie Robinson
OK so I had a really rough year. With my oldest son receiving a life sentence and 5 months later I loss my god son (19 years old) that i had and raised since he was 5 days old.. his name is Johnathon Blue …aka Blue or fat boy.. Read more>>
Sebastian Gabriel
I started playing when I was young, and over time, music became a really important part of my life. At first, I just wanted to become a better musician and perform whenever I had the chance. As I started getting more opportunities to play at weddings, private events, and corporate events, I realized I could turn my passion into a career. Read more>>
Haley Springer
I founded Soley Creatives in October 2019, although at the time, I definitely didn’t have a five-year plan for what the business would become, just a hope and a dream. Prior to starting the business, I began my career working at a PR firm, and being the youngest person on the team, social media naturally became my lane. Read more>>
Jask
Bio: With over 3 decades of djing experience under his belt, Jask has touched the world dance community with his unique blend of deep, melodic, jazzphonic and soulful sounds. In 1986 Jask began djing at the age of 12. Music Influences consisted of soul, jazz, funk, r&b, hip hop, rock, new wave, disco, early electro & freestyle. Read more>>
Aubi Martinez
We started Abundant Life with the vision of supporting women facing an unplanned pregnancy. We value life, but also realize how sometimes entering the season of motherhood can have tremendous challenges. Read more>>
sara shamsi
When my husband and I got married in 2023, we were very intentional about every detail of our wedding. We didn’t want to choose favors just because they were pretty or traditional, we wanted to give our guests something meaningful, something they could actually use and that would remind them of our wedding day. After a lot of brainstorming, we chose prayer mats. Read more>>
Davin Kaufman
I started cosmetology school in 2017 and earned my cosmetology license in Pennsylvania in 2020, where I began building my career behind the chair and growing my clientele. Two years later, I took a leap of faith and moved to Tampa, Florida, where I had to rebuild my clientele from scratch. Read more>>
Buda Noël
My story has really been about learning to trust myself and having the faith to follow where life is leading me, even when it looks different from what I originally planned. Before becoming a full-time entrepreneur, I worked in education as a Teacher of the Visually Impaired. Read more>>
Edward Reyes
I grew up in Tampa Bay in a low-income family with roots in Cuba. We didn’t have much, and that shaped me in ways I didn’t fully understand at the time. I learned early that if I wanted something, I could not sit around waiting for it to happen. I had to work for it, keep pushing, and find a way forward. Read more>>
Ginger Alemaghides
My journey with Summer House began long before I became the owner. I was a vendor at Summer House for 12 years, so the store and its customers were already a meaningful part of my life. When the opportunity arose to purchase the business about two and a half years ago, it felt like a natural next chapter. Read more>>
Montee Miles
I’m Demonte Wallace But I Go By MonteeMiles. I grinded, stayed loyal to myself, and believed in my vision when nobody else did. I kept pushing through every setback, and I’m still here chasing greatness. This is only the beginning. Read more>>
Donna Casselman
When the profession I worked in offered opportunities for travel, I took advantage of this and traveled throughout the U.S.A., Canada and Far East. Doing so exposed me to many different geographies, people, cultures and languages and helped me to more appreciate my own home and culture. Read more>>
Dr. Francheska Diaz
M.I.N.D. Ministry Inc. started from something I kept seeing over and over again: people of faith struggling emotionally and mentally, but not always feeling like they had a safe place to talk about it. Read more>>
Rick Sommer
I spent more than 30 years working as a jeweler, but outside of work, one of my biggest passions was homebrewing. I brewed as a hobby for more than 10 years, always experimenting, learning, and sharing my beer with friends and family. Eventually, I reached a point where I was ready to leave the corporate world behind and build something of my own. Read more>>
Butch Ryan
I’ve been playing the local Tampa music scene for 40+ years. I’ve done tours on the East coast as well as the Midwest here in the states along with 2 tours of the UK. I ended up living and playing in the UK for 5 years before returning home to Tampa 4 years ago. Read more>>
Alissa Mastropietro
MotoMaid started from a very simple belief: the condition of our environment has a much bigger impact on our lives than most people realize. I didn’t come from a traditional business background, and I didn’t start MotoMaid with a polished business plan, a large team, or outside funding. Read more>>
Rosa Bastidas
Starting Over Doesn’t Mean Starting From Zero: My Journey Building The Beauty Collection Salon & Spa My story in the beauty industry began when I was 20 years old in Ecuador. Read more>>
Amy Fondriest
My interest in photography really started in high school. I had opportunities to enter school competitions, and I always found myself paying attention to the photographers around me. I remember watching the photographer during my sister’s senior photos and later at weddings. Read more>>
Cristy Hill
The Story Behind Latin American Boutique Latin American Boutique started with a simple idea: my husband Frank and I wanted to build something of our own that would allow us to spend more time with our family while sharing something we both cared deeply about: Latin American culture and handmade craftsmanship. Read more>>
Candance Toscano
I’ve never really had one job title, and I think that’s probably the best way to tell my story. I started in new home sales in Colorado more than a decade ago, but even then I was always paying attention to more than the sale. Read more>>
Nicolas Gonzalez
I kind of fell into it, right after one of the hurricanes back in 2019. I was working for a friend at the time for $15 dollars an hour, and a roofing company came to me with an offer to be a sales rep. I remember thinking, what did I have to lose? Read more>>
Renata Ankcroum
I started LashMaverick Essentials in May 2020 with a simple goal: to provide affordable, quality beauty products while creating something meaningful that I could build for my family. What began as a beauty business has grown into a brand centered around helping people look good, feel good, and take better care of themselves from the inside out. Read more>>
Alex Roy
My journey as DJ Alex Roy started 16 years ago with a simple love for music and a desire to create memorable experiences for people. What started as something I enjoyed quickly grew into a passion and eventually a serious career. I’m a Florida native, and much of my early career was built in Tampa and throughout Florida. Read more>>
Amanda Kacperowski
MY STORY: HOW I BUILT 24 EAST CREATIVE AGENCY I got my start in marketing right out of college, working for an agency that specialized in luxury real estate. It was a niche world, and I loved it. That job is where I fell for this industry, the strategy behind it, the creativity, all of it. Read more>>
Denis Laszczok
It started when I was around 13 or 14, back in Europe. I got into graffiti, just being drawn to walls, letters, the whole culture around it. From that point on I never really stopped painting. It became a constant in my life, no matter what else was going on. When I moved to Tampa, something shifted. Read more>>
Quinn Cale
I’ve been based in the Tampa area for about 15 years, though I’m originally from Delaware. My path as an artist hasn’t been a straight line I actually spent over 10 years working at Apple, which is where I sold my very first painting and learned to bridge the gap between design and technology. Since then, I’ve fully immersed myself in the local art scene. Read more>>
serge ramelli
I started photography over 20 years ago in Paris. I fell in love with shooting the city at sunrise, golden hour, and at night. For years I just shot for the love of it, walking Paris with my camera before the crowds showed up. Then I started teaching what I learned. Read more>>
Kailee Wanek
My love for photography started in high school, when I took my first film photography classes. I spent as much time as possible with a camera in my hands in and out of school. By my senior year, I had my first DSLR camera, and I took it everywhere with me. I’d capture my friends, my family, my pets – literally anything. Read more>>
Mike Provenzano
My career has taken a few different turns, but I think that’s what has made the journey so interesting. I spent nearly 30 years in the technology industry, including about 20 years running my own business. At the same time, I always had a creative side that I wanted to explore, which eventually led me to acting. Read more>>
John Blenker
My story began in law enforcement, where I spent nearly 30 years serving as a deputy sheriff with two agencies in California. During that career, I worked a variety of assignments, including eight years in marine law enforcement. Read more>>
Carlos Cortez
I started my career in the floral industry at age 13, working a wholesale nursery in Connecticut. After working 25 years in education as a professor and college president, I moved to Tampa to care for my ailing parents. I decided to follow my childhood dream and open a flower shop. Read more>>
Raychelle Wallace
For most of my life, I thought being responsible was one of my greatest strengths. I was the person who noticed what needed to be done before anyone asked. I anticipated problems, stepped in quickly, and often took ownership of things simply because I knew I could handle them. It wasn’t something I questioned — it was who I was. Read more>>
