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.
Audrey Grace
I’ve loved photography for as long as I can remember, but the reason I became a photographer goes a little deeper than just enjoying taking pictures. Growing up, my parents didn’t like having their photos taken, so there are very few photos of our family together. As I got older, I realized how much those missing memories meant to me. Read more>>
Juli Ray Joy
Black Joy Oregon was founded in 2020 with a simple but powerful belief: Black people deserve to experience joy, belonging, safety, and celebration in every corner of Oregon. What began as a grassroots effort to bring visible demonstrations of Black joy and culture to rural communities quickly grew into a statewide movement. Read more>>
Nora Sheils
I grew up in Portland, Oregon, surrounded by weddings long before I planned one. My mother was a skilled seamstress, running an alterations business out of our home, where I watched brides come and go. I was captivated early on! During my studies at Gonzaga University, I entered a business-plan competition with an idea for an elevated planning company. Read more>>
Morgan Willow
We can have many callings and this is among my strongest. It combines my love of the body and its wonders with my love of people and the many layers we have to explore. Massage and healing arts have long been a part of my life, with family members sharing their knowledge of massage, nursing, and energy work. Read more>>
Jonathan Hoffman
The Nest started out as a wholesale bakery. When we outgrew our kitchen we started looking for a retail location and found that in seaside OR. We called that business Dough Dough Bakery. We got through covid unscathed and even managed to buy the building where The Nest is located. Read more>>
Julie Walker
My late husband, Gordon Miller, had purchased the farm in 1999. At that time, much of the acreage was overgrown with blackberries and poison oak. With his vision, the farm was cleared of the overgrowth and the irrigation system was installed. In 2008, nut rees were planted and in 2012 berries and orchard trees followed. Read more>>
Motaz
Music has consumed my life since 6th grade when I first learned drums. From then I became obsessed with playing; going through one CD after another with headphones on drumming to anything from Michael Jackson to Jay-Z. As time went on I wanted to learn more, and was self-taught guitar, piano and how to record music on my 12-track. Read more>>
Dave Lucht
Charred Apizza is the passion project of two friends, Dave and Terry. Terry is a seasoned baker and self-professed dough nerd, while Dave is a chef with over 30 years of restaurant experience. Together, their combined expertise creates a wonderful pizza! Dave’s culinary career began at age 14. Read more>>
Dimitri Thevenin
I grew up in Southern California after immigrating from France as a child. Like a lot of people in the trades, my path wasn’t a straight line. Over the years I’ve worked in restaurants, construction, and eventually found my way into the electrical industry where I discovered I loved solving problems and building things that matter. Read more>>
Jhaesea Drake
Our story started with a lifelong connection to the trucking industry. Erin Thomas grew up around transportation and compliance, inspired by her father, Harold Wolford, who served as a DOT auditor for more than 30 years. Through that experience, Erin gained a deep understanding of the challenges motor carriers face and recognized a need for reliable, customer-focused compliance services. Read more>>
Becky Maddox
I was twenty, working as a housekeeper at an inn near downtown Ashland, and going through my first time of upheaval as an adult. Spiraling. I was hanging out with the managers in their apartment late at night when a guest checked in that, after some intriguing conversation, was invited to the table. Read more>>
Julie Wilson
From the age of seven, I wanted to be an artist and teach art. Inspiring people to create art for themselves is a gift I gladly share. My mother and both of my grandmothers are, and were, artists who worked in many different media. Read more>>
Marco and Leslie Sanchez
PDXFIT started in 2014 with a simple goal: help people get stronger and live better lives. In the beginning, that looked pretty humble, a free Bowflex, a set of dirty dumbbells, and 700 square feet of training space in Portland’s Lents District. Read more>>
Kitta Bodmer
I started Kitta Bodmer Photography in 2004 because my Dad could not stop talking about what a great job I had done documenting our own family vacation to China. My Dad was an architect by trade and my entire family has been or is now in the building trades in Portland. Read more>>
Jon & Roya Young
We started making our own mushroom teas in Germany in 2019 after we tried mushroom chai on a visit to the states and loved how it made us feel. Read more>>
Matthew Leerssen
Our story starts with our daughter working at a local car dealership. A few years back, she mentioned that their car transporter was contemplating retirement. This planted a seed and made us wonder if we could start a car transporting business. Matthew was a semi-truck driver with over 20 years’ experience which gave him the qualifications necessary for this business. Read more>>
Lee Newman
Several years ago, my wife Lisa and I bought a long-neglected old building in Ontario, Oregon — in the part of town we’ve started calling the NW Quarter. At the time, we weren’t setting out to build a music venue, start a record label, or create a nonprofit. Honestly, we just hated the idea of seeing another old building disappear. The building had character. Read more>>
Mike Falco
We are a family run business. We have lived in the Rogue Valley almost our whole lives with spending summers in Camas Valley, OR. We started a Christmas tree lot in Medford 12 years ago, and this past year we purchased one of the tree farms from the valley we spent our summers at. Read more>>
Emma Brent
I began my journey into dog training in 2018 as I looked for a way to create a career for myself. I have always been a self-starter, and I knew that dog training was my best shot at being able to make a living without sacrificing doing what I love. Read more>>
Toby Weiss
My story has had a few chapters, but the common thread has always been a mix of creativity, technology, craft, and service. I spent most of my career in technology and leadership, including many years in the corporate world. That experience taught me how to think strategically, solve problems, work with people, and understand systems. But I have also always been a hands-on creative person. Read more>>
Travis Woodrum
We got started while relocating to Southern Oregon. I had spent most of my childhood in Grants pass, but I hadn’t been back since high school. I wanted to bring something to Southern Oregon that I was passionate about. Coffee is abundant in Southern Oregon, but I wasn’t looking to create something based solely on making money and fast transactions. Read more>>
Darcy Haight
I grew up in Northern Idaho and attended Washington State University where I received a Bachelors of Science in Actuarial Mathematics and a Minor in Business Administration. After marrying my wonderful husband we moved to Bend. I started Accurate Bookkeeping Inc. in 2006. I am very excited to be celebrating 20 years in business. Read more>>
Jessica Webber
I was born and raised in Coos Bay, Oregon. I have deep roots in Coos County and a genuine passion for serving the community I proudly call home. My husband, which is my high school sweetheart of 25 years, and I, have built our life in Coos County, where we raised our two daughters, Emma and Gracy. Read more>>
Jason 789 Custom Designs
I have been an active artist most of my life. My background was in paint and also I created works in pen and ink. My current style of dimensional work came to life over the past four years here in Portland. Being able to create dimensional one of kind work from wood keeps me fully engaged and the creative flow moving in a meaningful way. Read more>>
Tara Inloes
Like most humans, my connection to the power of sound began through music. Participating in choir throughout middle and high school was where I began to understand how profoundly sound can shift our energy and emotions. Years later, during early motherhood, I attended my first sound bath and that intuitive understanding clicked into place. Read more>>
Hyla Lipson
I have led a varied life and have done a number of things. The important trail leading to my directorship at the museum began in the nineties when I went back to college (The University of Oregon) as a divorced mother (They called me a ‘retread!’). I needed to finalize my degree and took business courses and a one year long course called Museology. Read more>>
Nelli Sudbrock
I started shooting on film and using a darkroom in 7th grade in White Salmon, WA. I continued to study at community colleges in the Dalles and Vancouver, WA before finishing at EOU in La Grande. I took many family photos, seniors and weddings on a film camera without an auto focus lens before I moved to digital in 2005. Read more>>
Leslie Baird
My Journey as an Artist My journey into the arts began at Portland State University in 1982, where I earned a degree in Graphic Design. While studying there, I took figure drawing and painting courses. Drawing had never been one of my strengths, but during a life drawing class, I experienced an unexpected sense of euphoria and calm while working on a piece. Read more>>
Airin Mitchell
Healing has been a thread running through my life for as long as I can remember. Long before I became a massage therapist, I was fascinated by the way touch could comfort, connect, and help people feel better. Looking back, it’s easy to see how I eventually found my way to massage therapy. Read more>>
Dan DeFrancia
After I graduated from college I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. So I had various positions, mostly in a sales capacity. I enjoy speaking with people, learning what they do and how they do it, and helping people. I had several friends that worked in hotels and at times I reached out to them for a job. Read more>>
Judas Cain Graves
I started out as any other queerdo in a conservative, Christian, Midwest/Texan household – ashamed and angry, Escapism entertainment and “scary” makeup have always been of my intersecting passions, so discovering DFW’s drag scene proved invaluable to the germination of my artistry. Especially cutting my teeth /prior/ to my senior year of high school beginning. Read more>>
AGUENDINE KHASIDIS
If you told me years ago when I was a merchant marine, playing pro basketball, or running a motorcycle repair shop that I’d end up loving taxes, I would have laughed. On the surface, those worlds look completely different, but they required the exact same thing: the ability to diagnose a problem under pressure, figure out how it works, and fix it. Read more>>
Megan and Tom Atkins
Megan and Tom Atkins met and married while both living in the Turks and Caicos Islands during the late 1990’s. After relocating to the US with their 2 children and living in 2 states, they discovered Gearhart on the Oregon coast and fell in love with the community, natural beauty and coastal charm. Read more>>
