Lawrence Business Magazine 2019 Q3 by Lawrence Business Magazine

2019 Q3

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHERS

The September issue each year is our IMPACT issue. The mission of the magazine is to cover the people and businesses making a positive impact on our community. So with the IMPACT issue, we look at different areas of our community through the lens of how that specific area positively impacts our community. And through the story, hopefully, reveal something new to our readers or a different perspective in which to view our subjects and the significant impact they have on our community. Our first IMPACT issue focused on Women of Impact in our community, some of the other areas we have covered in our Impact issues include: The Impact of Art; The Impact of Sports; and The Impact of Giving. As we start our ninth year of the magazine, our issue is on the Impact of Diversity. Diversity has always been a part of the personality of Lawrence, Kansas. Our diversity functions as one of our most significant character strengths. It supports us in our ability to be a leading, thriving, dynamic city. As well as contributing to our cultural identity, our diversity is also what keeps Lawrence and Douglas County’s economy healthy and vibrant. Diversity helps attract others to not only visit Lawrence but to move their families, businesses, and lives here. They come here to join our diverse workforce, start new local businesses, help our economy to flourish, and expand the cultural identity of our community. From our local economy to the global economy, diversity is critical to Lawrence’s ability to adapt to a fast-changing environment. It brings about a fresh and new outlook to perspectives, experiences, culture, gender, and age as well as new customers. We can learn from and embrace our differences and the value it adds to our community but always with the understanding that we are all part of the wonderful fabric that makes us want to call Lawrence our home. In this issue, we look at several different individuals that add to the uniqueness of our community through their diverse cultural, racial, ethnic, and gender identities. These individuals were chosen as a sampling of the diversity we have in our community; they do not, by any means, represent the total range of culture, ethnicities or identities that are a part of Lawrence. By learning a bit about how these individuals are positively impacting our community, we hope our readers will enjoy the beauty of our diversity, and how diversity is our strength and our future. Sincerely,

Ann Frame Hertzog Editor-in-Chief/Publisher

Steven Hertzog Chief Photographer/Publisher

Publisher: Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC Ann Frame Hertzog & Steven Hertzog Editor-in-Chief: Ann Frame Hertzog Chief Photographer: Steven Hertzog Featured Writers: Tyler J. Allen Mike Anderson Julie Dunlap Joshua Falleaf Bob Luder Patricia A. Michaelis, Ph.D. Emily Mulligan Tara Trenary Liz Weslander Copy Editor: Tara Trenary Contributing Writers: Courtney Bernard Contributing Photographers: Patrick Connor Top Row L-R Brendon Allen, Adany and Raul Perez, and Breanna Bell Bottom Row L-R Hamlet Chang, Jay Pryor, Dr. Anthony Lewis, Amrutha Ravikumar, Lisa Boulton, Lee Meisel, Isaiah Bell Photo by: Steven Hertzog INQUIRIES & ADVERTISING INFORMATION CONTACT: info@LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com

www.LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC 3514 Clinton Parkway, Suite A-113 Lawrence, KS 66047 Lawrence Business Magazine, is published quarterly by Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC and is distributed by direct mail to businesses in the Lawrence & Douglas County Community. It is also distributed at key retail locations throughout the area and mailed to individual subscribers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reprinted or reproduced without the publisher’s permission. Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Statements and opinions printed in the Lawrence Business Magazine are the those of the author or advertiser and are not necessarily the opinion of Lawrence Business Magazine.

2019 Q3

Contents Features:

Lawrence in Perspective: Free State Stronghold by Patricia Michaelis, Ph.D.

Creating Change

by Liz Weslander

Authentic to the Core by Joshua Falleaf

A Way of Life

by Tyler J. Allen

A Taste of Home

Anything But Ordinary

Thriving In A World

More Than a Haircut

Old World Art and Science

At the Car Wash

Beyond Bread

Business Hall of Fame

by Bob Luder by Liz Weslander by Julie Dunlap by Dr. Mike Anderson by Joshua Falleaf by Emily Mulligan by Bob Luder by Bob Luder

Departments: 13 LMH Health 77

Local Scene

80 Newsmakers 82

Whose Desk?

Mission:

Lawrence Business Magazine: Telling the stories of people and businesses making a positive impact on Lawrence & Douglas County. /lawrencebusinessmagazine

@LawrenceBizMag

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com/SUBSCRIPTIONS

LAWRENCE & DOUGLAS CO [IN PERSPECTIVE]

Free State

STRONGHOLD Though still segregated, blacks in early Lawrence were able to create a community for themselves, some even rising to prominence. by Patricia A. Michaelis, Ph.D., Historical Research & Archival Consulting photos courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society, kansasmemory.org

Since it was founded by abolitionists in 1854, Lawrence has been known as a free-state stronghold. This made it attractive to free blacks and escaped slaves from Missouri and other border states. Lawrence was a stop on

the Underground Railroad along with Holton, Mound City, Osawatomie, Oskaloosa, Quindaro and Topeka. “Conductors” would guide escaped slaves from a safe house in one community to another in the next. The Underground Railroad routes ended in Iowa and Nebraska. During the Civil War, several black militia units from Kansas fought to end slavery. At the end of the Civil War, Lawrence continued to attract former slaves and a number of blacks who had served in the conflict. The African American population in Lawrence grew from 25 in 1860 to 936 in 1865. Because of continued emigration of blacks, by 1880, 2000 African Americans lived in Lawrence. The federal census of that year listed the total residents of Lawrence at 8,510, so African Americans comprised about 25 percent of the city’s population. That number remained relatively constant through 1900. By the mid-1880s, the time focused on in this article, most blacks lived in North Lawrence or the East Bottoms, adjacent to the Kansas River. Because blacks were a sizable segment of the Lawrence community and since “separation” if not outright segregation existed, African Americans created their own institutions and community organizations. Traditionally, black churches have been crucial to African Americans creating their own sense of community and culture, and Lawrence was no exception. The 1886 city directory for Lawrence listed three black churches: the African Baptist Church, at the northwest corner of Ohio and Warren, the Second Congregational Church, on Kentucky between Henry and Warren, and St.

John Lewis Waller, 1850-1907. Born into slavery, Waller overcame his humble beginnings to become an accomplished lawyer, journalist, politician and diplomat. He migrated to Kansas in the spring of 1878,

Luke’s African Methodist Episcopal Church, located on the southeast corner of New York and Warren. Lawrence had a segregated Grand Army of the Republic post, the Western Star Lodge No. 1 of the Knights of Pythias, an Odd Fellows Lodge, mutual and benevolent aid societies, Masonic lodges and women’s clubs. Also supporting the black community were two short-lived African American newspapers: the Western Recorder, published from March 17, 1883, to November 6, 1884, by John L. Waller; and the Historic Times, owned and edited by C. H. J. Taylor. Lawrence residents also had access to the Topeka Plaindealer, a black newspaper published in Topeka. The availability of these newspapers and the existence of mostly black neighborhoods contributed to the election of John Waller in 1883 to a seat on the Lawrence Board of Education. He represented the 6th Ward and won by a significant majority. The Western Recorder credited the women in the African American community for helping secure Waller’s election, as well as victories for several whites considered friendly to blacks. Though unable to vote themselves, women held dinners for friendly candidates and ensured that their husbands voted. The Western Recorder published 9

the following on April 4, 1883: “These ladies deserve much praise for their fidelity to principle. They labored the live long day for the success of the Republican ticket on behalf of the colored voters of this city.” However, one successful candidate was unable to make much of an impact on issues of interest to African Americans. The schools in Lawrence reflected the segregation of the city as a whole. In fact, most cities in Kansas with a sizeable black population followed the doctrine of “parallel development.” (This was later referred to as separate but equal, and it was not resolved until the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka in 1954.) Lincoln Elementary was located in North Lawrence and was believed to be the only school attended by blacks and taught by African American teachers. In an article titled “Breaking Ground in Canaan: African American community in Lawrence, 1870-1920,” Paul E. Fowler III describes the situation for black students as follows: Other elementary schools offered all-black classes, occasionally taught by African-American teachers, yet only when there were enough students in a single age group. When there were too few students to form a full class, black children would attend the same classes as white children; however, administrators and teachers used segregated seating charts to physically separate the students. It can be difficult to find much information on blacks in the 19th century. Census records and local directories are some of the few primary sources that provide names and occupations of African Americans. The 1886 Lawrence City Directory provides a brief look at the African Americans living there. According to the customs of the time, listings of the names of black residents was followed by “col’d” in parentheses to indicate the person was colored. The majority of the men did some form of labor, although various jobs were listed. More than 140 men were listed as laborers, and over 40 were teamsters and wagon drivers. Some 30 men were listed as farmers, though many were probably truck farmers. Skilled trades included 13 blacksmiths, 12 barbers and eight men employed as painters and plasterers, glaziers and stone masons. Seven African American men worked in railroad-related trades as section hands and at the Santa Fe Depot. Others worked at hotels as cooks, servants and handymen. Two men were listed as working for the post office—one a mail carrier and the other a postal clerk. One black man was a member of the Lawrence police department, and one was a physician. At least five men worked at feed and livery stables, or as hostellers. There were four butchers, four janitors, three pressmen, three making boots and shoes and one quarryman. Several worked in restaurants and/or for grocers. African American women listed in the 1886 Lawrence City Directory were few. Husbands were listed but not wives. However, more than 40 black widows were included in the

directory. Two women were listed as dressmakers, six were identified as domestics and four were listed as doing washing. One woman was listed as a midwife. However, all was not well between the Lawrence African American community and some segments of the white community in the 1880s. Blacks, with few exceptions, were poorer than the white population. Few owned their own homes, with many families renting homes. Single blacks often lodged with black families. Dr. William M. Tuttle Jr. wrote about African Americans in Lawrence in an article titled “Separate but Not Equal: African Americans and the 100-year Struggle for Equality in Lawrence and at the University of Kansas, 1850s-1960.” He described the situation for blacks in Kansas and Lawrence as follows: “For African Americans the state of Kansas has always functioned on two levels, one symbolic and romanticizes, the other harshly real and truly unfortunate. … Once in Kansas, however, African Americans encountered the unrelenting force of the color line. … The conflict between lofty ideals and racist realities has been a central theme of African American history of Kansas.” This was true in Lawrence, as well, and is illustrated by the lynching of three African American men in 1882. A black woman was assaulted by a white man. Three black men murdered him and tossed his body into the river. The three men were arrested, and an angry crowd of 300 men gathered at the jail. Initially, this group was dispersed, but the three men arrested were later taken from the jail and lynched by a mob of approximately 50 white men. Rev. Richard Cordley, minister of the First Congregational Church and one of those in Lawrence who encouraged settlement by blacks, expressed the dismay of the lynching in a letter to the editor of the Lawrence Journal. He wrote about “the terrible tragedy which has just disgraced Lawrence and the State. … For Lawrence stands for Kansas, and the best in Kansas, and this terrible deed will go abroad to our shame. … ” Cordley also addressed the lynchers with, “You say you are sorry. That is a feeble word. The blood of every law abiding citizen should tingle with shame, and his face blush with horror at such a deed.” In spite of incidents such as this, African Americans in Lawrence continued to build a strong but separate community. Additional black businesses were established, and several blacks worked as professionals. Two lawyers, Robert B. McWilliams and John W. Clark, had offices at 730 Massachusetts St. and were members of the Douglas County Bar Association. Sam Jeans, an African American, served as assistant chief of police. Two black doctors were practicing in Lawrence at the turn of the 20th century. Thus, in Lawrence in the 1880s and 1890s, some African Americans gained economic stability, many children were educated while dealing with various aspects of segregation in the schools, black businesses served their neighbors and black churches and other institutions and organizations provided support and encouragement for a strong African American community. p 11

Front row, L to R: Ana Tosta, Amani Austin, Mollie Coffey and Erica Hill with the USD 497 School Board behind.

Bridging the Equity Gap LMH Health focuses on health equity, inclusion and diversity to help ensure everyone has the opportunity to be as healthy as possible. by Courtney Bernard, Development Coordinator, LMH Health Foundation photos by Steven Hertzog and courtesy of LMH

While health indicators such as life expectancy and infant mortality have improved for most Americans, some groups experience a disproportionate burden of preventable disease, death and disability. This nationwide issue is visible in our own community: Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department’s 2018 Health Equity Report shows disparities in health by income and education. Racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately impacted by their social determinants of health, such as availability of resources like safe housing and food, and access to job opportunities and health care. Residents with low income are also affected. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible, and that requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, education and housing.

LMH Health is building programs to help bridge the health equity gap. LMH Health president and CEO Russ Johnson believes this work is integral to the hospital’s role as a partner in lifelong health. “As much as 80 percent of health is determined by social factors—where you live, education, how much money you make,” Johnson explains. “One of the strongest predictors of life expectancy is zip code, and in Lawrence, adjacent zip codes have an eight-year discrepancy in life expectancy. LMH Health must partner with others and extend our work into these areas that can affect the health of our patients.” Thanks to collaborations with donors, community partners and businesses, LMH Health is making progress in key areas, including diversifying the health-care workforce, educating the community about implicit bias and providing two critical opportunities to help patients pay for care.

Left to right: Erica Hill, Amani Austin, Mollie Coffey, Ana Tosta

LMH Health Summer Leadership Academy

Upcoming Seminar: Unlocking Implicit Bias

Providing more opportunities for health-care career education is one path to improve health equity in our community.

Another factor in equity is implicit bias, the unintentional, unconscious stereotypes or automatic assessments we all make about people whose backgrounds differ from our own. When implicit bias occurs among doctors, educators and other professionals, the results can have a direct impact on our community.

To address this challenge, LMH Health and USD 497 launched a new program this year: the LMH Health Summer Leadership Academy. The Academy engages high school juniors and seniors, and gives them a jump-start on careers in health-care administration, medicine and allied health. LMH Health equity advocate Erica Hill, who also serves as the finance and operations manager for LMH Health Foundation, founded the Academy.

Plans are under way to host a special seminar on implicit bias. Mark your calendar for this event on Oct. 1 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lawrence Arts Center. Jabraan Pasha, M.D., of the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine, will be the keynote speaker, accompanied by three LMH Health physician panelists. Visit lmh.org/foundation for more information.

“The Academy provides a unique experience for students to learn and gain health-care experience, and also hopes to engage more students of demographics traditionally underrepresented throughout health care,” Hill says. “This investment cultivates future leaders who more fully represent the diversity of our community.” Three local high school students were selected to participate in the Academy through a paid eight-week internship. Ana Tosta, Mollie Coffey and Amani Austin were each paired with an executive mentor, participated in professional-development opportunities such as workshops and training, and had the opportunity to engage with other leaders in the Lawrence community. At the conclusion of the program, each student received a $500 scholarship. These scholarships, which were financed through the LMH Health Foundation, will support the students in their planned post-secondary education. LMH Health physician Marc Scarbrough, M.D., and his wife, Stephanie, gave a generous gift to make these scholarships possible. If you are interested in supporting the LMH Health Summer Leadership Academy, please contact LMH Health Foundation at 785-5055005, or email foundation@lmh.org.

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LMH Health Foundation, formerly LMH Endowment Association, is a 501(c)(3) that leverages more than $11 million in philanthropic assets to provide average annual donor support of more than $1.8 million to LMH Health. The organization is governed by a board of directors, which guides programs to grow investments in patient care, community education, charitable care, wellness and more. LMH Health Foundation provided a record $3.5 million in donor support to LMH Health in 2018, and this year, the organization celebrates its 50th anniversary. p

Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis and Director of Secondary Schools Rick Henry, greet students back to school at Southwest Middle School

Creating Change USD 497 recognizes the importance of equity within its schools and actively strives to infuse it throughout the district. by Liz Weslander, photos by Steven Hertzog

The term “equity” is prominent these days in discussions about public education, and USD 497’s mission statement reflects this priority: “Lawrence USD 497 is a learning community committed to ensuring educational equity and excellence so that students of all races and backgrounds achieve at high levels and graduate prepared for success in college, careers and life in a diverse and rapidly changing world.” With this mission in mind, the district has had equity training for staff in place since 2009 and, in 2012, appointed Danica Moore as equity facilitator to further support the district’s equity training and goals. In 2018, the district, tasked with hiring a new superintendent who “possesses the leadership skills required to respond to the challenges presented by an ethnically and culturally di-

verse community,” chose Anthony Lewis, a former assistant superintendent in the Kansas City, Missouri, district with a track record of positive outcomes in schools he has served. Lewis aims to be a transformational leader for USD 497, which includes a focus on achieving meaningful results in the area of equity. But what does equity really mean? In order to provide clarity, both Lewis and Moore compare the concept of equity to other commonly heard buzzwords in the world of education. Superintendent Lewis says it is important to distinguish between equality, which focuses on allocating resources equally regardless of need, and equity, which focuses on varying the allocation of resources to individual schools, classrooms and students based on data showing what they need to be successful. 17

“As a leader, I see schools and school districts that operate on the premise of equality, meaning that they want every school to have the same thing just because that’s what is fair,” Lewis explains. “But if we are really serious about responding to the needs of the students, we need to look at things through an equity lens. We have very diverse schools in this district, and there are some that are outperforming each other. They will continue to outperform each other unless we make decisions from an equity standpoint.” For equity facilitator Moore, it is also important to understand the difference between equity and diversity. “For the longest time, our country has had a culture of celebrating diversity, but then it just stops there,” Moore says. “Diversity is a baseline. It’s the idea that everyone is welcome. Diversity is numbers and representation at the table. But equity is saying when people are at the table, are they getting what they need? To have diversity and inclusion, but not equity, means that someone is still suffering.”

Diversity in Leadership Lewis, now in his second year as superintendent for USD 497, grew up in Alabama and spent the first 10 years of his career working there as a special education teacher, assistant principal and principal. In 2011, the Kansas City, Missouri, school district recruited him to serve as principal of Benjamin Banneker Elementary School. He was soon promoted to director of elementary education for the district and, in 2016, advanced to assistant superintendent. Lewis says his move to Lawrence in 2018 has been a great experience so far. “I tell people that Lawrence is the world’s best-kept secret,” Lewis says. “It’s really a diverse and accepting community, and has been so welcoming to me and my family.” Lewis says growing up as an African American student in a predominantly white school district meant there were times when he missed out on opportunities afforded to other students. This experience allows him to be more aware of what students of color in USD 497 might be experiencing, he says, and helps keep inclusion at the forefront of his actions. Having people of color such as himself in district leadership positions can be inspiring for students of color, he adds. “When they would introduce me to classrooms during my first year here, my eyes would naturally go to the students of color in the room, and I could see them just light up,” Lewis says. “It’s important for diverse students to see someone who looks like them in a leadership role. They start to see that what they may have thought was impossible is actually possible.” Because collaboration is an important part of his leadership philosophy, Lewis spent much of his first year in USD 497

doing a listening and learning tour that included six publicinput sessions held across the community that attracted nearly 500 attendees. The district also collected more than 790 online feedback forms as part of the tour. “I was very intentional in my first year about listening and learning,” Lewis says. “Sometimes new leadership will come in and want to immediately change things, but I thought it was valuable to come in and really learn the lay of the land and learn the needs of the community. I really wanted to hear from parents, teachers and students about their experiences.” One of the biggest takeaways he took from the yearlong listening tour is that the community is ready to see achievement gaps in the district shrink, Lewis says. The community is also concerned about data that shows a disproportionate number of minority students are suspended at higher rates in the district. Lewis’s year of listening and gathering data has since been transformed into a five-year strategic plan. He says when creating the plan, he wanted to avoid having equity as a separate category and therefore worked to create a plan that has equity woven throughout. “Equity is not measured in numbers of trainings we receive or in the books we read. Equity is measured in the changes in practices and behaviors in the classroom,” he explains. “Equity should be woven into each of our action steps, and we should be able see that in every single classroom.” Two notable equity-related goals of the district’s new fiveyear plan are collaborating with community organizations like LMH Health and the City of Lawrence on equity efforts and focusing on selecting evidence-based, multicultural instructional resources that honor and preserve students’ diverse cultural backgrounds. Lewis also notes the district is working on removing institutional and financial barriers to college-prep courses at the high school level. “The only way that we can close achievement gaps is to first focus on opportunity gaps and making sure that students of color and low socioeconomic status have the opportunity to be part of advanced placement and concurrent college classes.”

Equity Foundations While Superintendent Lewis has identified some fresh ways to address equity in the district, for the last seven years, USD 497’s equity facilitator Moore has been building a foundation and creating an environment where staff and students can effectively discuss and address how race and equity overlap. One of Moore’s regular tasks has been coordinating and facilitating Beyond Diversity workshops for staff across the 19

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It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. – Maya Angelou

Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis listens intently at the bi-monthly USD 497 board of directors meeting

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district. Beyond Diversity, a training developed by district consultant Pacific Educational Group, is a foundational two-day seminar designed to help educational communities understand the impact of race on student learning and investigate the role that racism plays in institutionalizing academic achievement disparities. Beyond Diversity training focuses on teaching participants a specific protocol called Courageous Conversations that helps people analyze and reflect on the impacts of race with the idea that they will take this protocol into the workplace and classrooms, and use it to analyze and reflect on situations in a way that is conscious of race. Beyond Diversity training is required for everyone who works for the district. Lewis says the Courageous Conversations trainings Moore has been leading are an important component of positive change for the district and society. “If we want to change generational racism and misunderstanding of different cultures, it starts with our students and teaching them to have conversations about these things,” he says. “We don’t want teachers to sweep stuff under the rug when there is an opportunity there to address it, which means we need make sure that our educators are equipped with the skills to have those conversations, as well.” Another initiative Moore has worked on during her time as equity facilitator is creating a support group for staff of color in the district. Moore explains that when she went to her induction after first being hired by USD 497 as a special education teacher, she remembers noticing that she was the only black or brown face in the room. As Moore built relationships with other staff of color across the district, she learned they’d had similar experiences and were interested in having a space to connect with other people of color in the district. She says this kind of support group is especially relevant given the equity work that is occurring regularly in the district. “Equity work is taxing, and equity work taxes those who are in the marginalized populations the most because it is working within their very identities,” Moore says. “When discussions on race come up, and a staff member of color is the one person that people are looking to on that subject, there can be fatigue in that, as well. Making sure that staff of color still have the support that they need is critical.” Moore also explains this type of support is an important component of retaining staff of color. “Committed and effective staff need to be mentally and emotionally healthy,” she says. “Keeping staff of color effective means providing them with a space where they can hash out the day-to-day experiences in the schools. When they can unpack that and go home 21

Danica Moore leads discussions with 7th grade class at Billy Mills Middle School

mentally and emotionally decompressed, it keeps them healthier in a mental and emotional capacity.” In her role, Moore has spent time in all the district’s schools working with teachers and students in classrooms. While in the district’s different buildings, she started noticing some patterns of interactions that involved indirect, subtle or even unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group—otherwise known as microaggressions. Based on these experiences, she developed a foundational microaggression training for the district that outlines four categories of microaggressions to help staff further examine the topic. The categories are microassaults, microinsults, microexclusions and microinvalidations. “I picked the categories based on what I had seen occurring in the buildings between adults, between students and between adults and students,” Moore explains. “The training is really just a learning space for staff, because for many people in those trainings, it is the first time they have heard the word microaggression. So it’s a chance to explore the word, look at examples and think about some examples they have seen now that they have the information. It’s a chance to reflect and ask questions.” Moore admits both the Beyond Diversity and microaggression trainings can be emotionally challenging for people, 22

and reactions to the information run the gamut from inspired to discouraged. There are equity teams in place in all the schools to help staff debrief and continue the conversations they have in trainings. Her hope is people understand that every single person in the community gains from equity. “The perspective in the community is sometimes a sense of loss, because society has socialized people to think that equity means giving up something,” Moore says. “But equity is allowing us to bring people in and to have conversations where we all gain a sense of respect, a sense of awareness and a sense of learning. There is a 100 percent gain and 0 loss in equity.” p

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Authentic to the Core

Bringing together community and culture with a variety of Mexican foods and products is what makes this family business thrive. by Joshua Falleaf, photos by Steven Hertzog

Owner Raul Perez greets a friend walking through the door of La Estrella Mexicana to shop the grocery aisles, send some money to family or, perhaps, get a couple asada tacos for lunch. Then he turns to another friend to ask how the day is going as he waits for his food. Ten minutes later, Raul jumps behind the counter to assist his wife, Adany, with a growing line of friends who are hungry and trying to take authentic Mexican products home to their families. “We don’t have customers,” Perez says. “We have friends and family. All are welcome here.” It has been a long and challenging journey for Perez. Originally from Querétaro, Mexico, he spent much of his life as a factory laborer with just a few years serving in the restaurant industry. To improve his situation, he moved to California to work. He endured for nine years before the threat of gangs became a concern for his family. A friend told him about a small college town in Kansas. With little more than a couple connections with a few people, Perez packed up and came east to Lawrence. The good schools, pleasant neighborhoods and helpful neighbors of Lawrence would be perfect for the Perez family. “I fell in love with the friendliness of the people, the landscape, everything,” he says. What he missed, however, was the truly Mexican foods he grew up enjoying. Much of what is available in the Midwest is generally more Tex-Mex than Mexican and bears little resemblance to the diverse ingredients and preparations of Mexican cuisine. Having devised the idea to start a small grocery store, he would stock his shelves with the very particular foods and products he grew up with, knowing Hispanic and non-Hispanic friends would also crave them and enjoy the various and delicious Mexican flavors they could cook at home with the right ingredients. The pursuit of this store offering authentic Mexican products proved difficult. Without any experience owning and running a business, it was truly a matter of trial and error for Perez. For instance, being a very small startup grocer, he did not need, nor could he afford, the massive quantities larger grocers require to stock innumerable shelves and racks. Distributors were only willing to ship those products to his store at a very high cost to the business.

Owner Raul Perez of La Estrella

But he persisted, traveling back and forth to Kansas City markets several times a week to stock his shelves. “It was bad for me at that time,” he says. “I wasn’t making any money from the grocery, so I was working labor full-time, too. No money to eat or do anything.” 25

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Authentic Mexican food being cooked in La Estrella kitchen

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There are no nations! There is only humanity. And if we don’t come to understand that right soon, there will be no nations, because there will be no humanity. – Isaac Asimov

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Perez was confident, however, that in the end, his store would have a significant customer base with the same longing for the flavor of mango, cactus, coconut and tamarind. “I knew the needs of my people,” he says, “because I knew what I wanted.” So he worked tirelessly to satisfy those needs. Today, Estrella Mexicana is a very busy grocer and diner. People come in morning to evening at a steady pace, because it offers the services and products they want. The Mexican music coming through the speakers keeps the ear aloft. The many colors, shapes and sizes of the packaging, contents and products throughout the business intrigues the eye. On one wall, the bright sodas and nectars in the refrigerators with familiar and less-familiar makers like Manzanita Sol, Mundet, De Mi Pais and Jarritos; on another, dried herbs and spices in Mi Costeñita packages or plastic baskets for bulk purchases. Even during lulls in friends visiting, employees are hard at work stocking shelves in the store and preparing food in the kitchen. One might call it hectic if not for the calm manner in which the staff moves, a way of being that comes only by way of experience. Included in the activity is the preparing and stocking of arroz con leche (rice pudding), gelatinas de sabores (flavored jellies) and various fresh meats for the coolers. Now that the Perez family has added a small diner, the quality and authenticity of the prepared food is paramount. Señor 27

Perez learned from others and otherwise taught himself how to make foods from recipes that are generations old. “I never had a business or was a cook,” he says. “I had to learn everything through experiment.” Using products sourced through numerous relationships with others who provide just the right flavors, the food continues to grow in popularity. “We make our own marinades for the meat,” he says. And the pork, beef, chicken and other meats are infused with flavor for however long it takes to create the best plate for his friends. Perez himself teaches his staff every step of the process as he learned it. They not only learn the practice of the business or simply how to produce high-quality food for anyone who walks in the door, he develops what he calls “our team.” I’m not their employer, he says, and they are not my employees. We are a team, a family that works together to support the community. The menu does offer the tacos, burritos and other staples eaters have come to expect. The tacos, as simple as they seem, are very complex in flavor in large part because of the marinade used. However, the diner also provides options for those looking for something different, not your typical Tex-Mex items. Of course, the daily menu presents tacos, tortas, burrito, and quesadillas made with carnitas (fried pork) and asada (grilled steak), items available at many venues, but it also includes lengua (beef tongue) and cabeza (beef head) prepared perfectly by experienced cooks. Some of these ingredients take a great deal of additional work to source for Perez. But his resilience and determination to have them in his store pays off. For instance, “It was very hard to find beef head,” Perez says. But now, it’s a staple in the market and the diner. Raul Perez continues to work hard to bring not only the products but the culture to this community. While including Savilé soap, piloncillo (raw sugar cane) and Carlos V candies in the store, he’s focusing on the fact that, “We are a snacking people,” so he looks to grow the snacking options with an emphasis on ice creams, chicharrones, chips, ices and waters with the kinds of flavorings typical of the authentic Mexican market. “There are so many pops in Mexico,” he says, “that I can’t yet get here.” Given Perez’s track record, his family and his determination, he’ll get those pops, ice creams and flavored waters here eventually. And the Lawrence community will be better off having them. p

La Estrella owners Raul and Adany Perez

A Way of Life by Tyler J. Allen, photos by Steven Hertzog

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about personal authenticity and engaging with the community for this banquet hall and catering business owner.

Steve Maceli in front of Maceliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

In a small college town, small businesses keep the community connected and progressive. Here in Lawrence, Mass Street, and the downtown area as a whole, is a perfect example of where community engagement and constant economic drive take place. With plenty of activities in which to partake, ranging from entertainment to trying new cuisine, Downtown Lawrence hosts a plethora of businesses that keep the city lively year-round. More importantly, with Lawrence being a college town that caters to students from all across the globe, it is key that business owners are able to reach and maintain diverse audiences. Their ability to do so contributes to Lawrenceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goals of cultural engagement and economic success. 31

Steve Maceli, owner of Maceli’s Banquet Hall & Catering, is a prime example of business owners who live and work to engage with the community. Located in the 1000 block of New Hampshire Street, Maceli’s is known for hosting business meetings, KU banquets, private functions, weddings, community events, fund-raisers and more. For the past five years, Maceli’s has been voted the No. 1 caterer by the Best of Lawrence and strives to live up to that title every day. Maceli, a University of Kansas (KU) graduate, started his catering business in 1995 while living in the home of a professor who was on sabbatical. He never thought the offer to help friends with parties would result in him building his first commercial kitchen in 2000. Not five years later, Maceli would move his business to its current location and, within five years, become the largest private caterer in the city. Today, he hosts many community groups weekly, including the Lawrence and Jay-

Steve and his staff prepare lunch for their Monday Rotary Club

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Ultimately, America’s answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired. – Robert Kennedy 32

hawk Rotary Clubs, and the Kiwanis Club of Lawrence. As a business owner, he strives for a space that is open and welcoming to the community as a whole. Identifying as an openly gay man, Maceli’s sexuality has only helped his entrepreneurial success. Within his business through social advocacy and community engagement, he feels “philanthropic dollars” are used in an effective manner. In support of the LGBTQ+ communities in Lawrence and the surrounding areas, he has served as a member of the Douglas County Aids Project and the Headquarters Counseling Center and Health Care Access boards, in order to contribute to LGBTQ+ health initiatives. This has helped to raise awareness about marginalized communities and the issues within them, and better the Lawrence community as a whole. Maceli uses his business to accomplish this same goal. Over the past decade, his company has hosted many of the

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LGBTQ+ events in town, some of which included NetworQ meetings and community forums. He has organized and hosted New Year’s Eve and Halloween parties that are open and welcoming to all members of the community. This past June at a community Pride party, guests brought health-care products for displaced gay youth in Franklin County. In August, Maceli’s hosted the Unity Tour: Spreading the Message of Love and Acceptance Through Song, performed by Choral Spectrum, Kansas City’s LGBTQIA+ and Supporting Chorus. As a business owner, Steve Maceli’s philosophy of engaging diversity and economic success is simple but notable. It is a reflection of his honest character and “true intention of [his] deeds.” He says one of the reasons he is successful is he makes a concerted effort to learn from his mistakes to prevent them from recurring. You have to “continue to be open to new ideas, opportunities and relationships,” he explains. When you venture out, you expand your business, community relations and economy. And when thinking about how any business can contribute to the community’s economy, Maceli believes in smart growth. As a business owner, you must continually reinvest in your business and maintain it from the inside out. Beyond equipment, you must be able to keep staff that help move your business forward. “I have five full-timers, and I try my best to provide them with competitive wages and benefits. You have to pay your workers,” he says. “When you get more dollars in more people’s pockets, they are able to spend their wages keeping our local economy vibrant. “We need to help our friends and neighbors by buying from them,” he continues. “It’s a battle when people shop online when there are stores here with the same product. And then we complain about the loss of retail on Mass St. There is a disconnect about why that is happening.”

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Maceli is proof that diversity impacts a community’s engagement and economy. Through his business, he has successfully served and continues to make marginalized groups feel welcomed and advocates, raises awareness and gives back to the Lawrence community, its LGBTQ+ communities as well as those in neighboring cities. He has contributed to Lawrence’s economic progression by making sure his employees can contribute, as well. Maceli knows it is 100 percent possible to successfully own and run a business while being your authentic self. His constant practice of innovation, perseverance and entrepreneurship contributes to Lawrence’s liveliness and, in turn, makes this a place you’d like to call home. p

Amrutha Ravikumar, owner of Cosmos Indian Store

A Taste of Home by Bob Luder, photos by Steven Hertzog

This Indian store started in Topeka selling traditional Indian goods but expanded to Lawrence and transformed into a multifaceted business: a grocery, restaurant, health and beauty store, and tobacco shop. When Amrutha Ravikumar made the permanent move to Middle America from her native India in 1995, she figured she had everything she needed. She was reunited with her husband, who had moved to the area years earlier to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Kansas (KU). With a master’s degree herself from a university in India, she had a good job awaiting her in information technology with the State of Kansas. She had a nice home in Topeka, two stable incomes. She seemed to have it all.

to Kansas City to the one Indian store in the city. We had to travel for every small need.”

Except, there was one thing missing: no taste of home and nowhere—at least, not nearby—to obtain it.

Rather than continue burning fuel back and forth on Interstate 70 between Topeka and Kansas City, Ravikumar decided to take matters into her own hands. Despite having no business education, training or experience in running a business, she opened Cosmos Indian Store in Topeka in 2000. It would carry a variety of traditional Indian groceries, clothing and personal items, giving the growing Indian population—in particular those born and raised in the southern half of the country, near Ravi Kumar’s hometown of Chennai—a place to shop and purchase authentic goods from home.

“When I came here in 1995, there was no Indian store in Topeka … none,” Ravikumar says. “People were traveling

“I thought it would be a good opportunity to hire some people,” she says. “We started with two employees, but when 35

Women hair products at Cosmo Indian Store

we started our online shipping and e-commerce business, we had to hire three to four more to help with shipping.” When the Ravi Kumars’ oldest daughter was ready to enter KU in 2010, the family moved to Lawrence and opened a second Cosmos location on Massachusetts Street. That lasted but a couple years, when Ravikumar determined maintaining her full-time job with the state and two business locations was too much to handle. She closed her Topeka location and expanded services at the Cosmos in Lawrence. “The Topeka store was a grocery and personal items (store),” she says. “When we moved to Lawrence, we found there was a need for an Indian restaurant specializing in south-Indian cuisine. Customers were asking for it.” Cosmos Indian Store became Cosmos Indian Store & Café. “We started the restaurant in 2013,” Ravikumar says, “and now it’s more popular than the groceries.” About a year after opening the restaurant, Ravikumar relocated Cosmos once again, this time to its current location at 3115 W. Sixth St.

A Store for Everyone and Everything Ravikumar likes to think of Cosmos Indian Store & Café as a “five-in-one store.” It’s an Indian grocery, restaurant, health and beauty store, and tobacco shop, and sells a variety of henna cones and products for Henna art—temporary body tattoos. Cosmos also offers Henna art services, which is a very big attraction, she says. The small store space, tucked in the middle of a strip mall just off of West Sixth, is crammed full of grocery 36

Artifacts at Cosmo Indian Store

items that include basmati rice, spice marsala, lentils, whole grains, teas and coffees, and, of course, plenty of spices. Health and beauty items include incense, essential oils, hair oils, soaps and Himalayan supplements. There are religious and historic statues and jewelry. Also, a variety of women’s clothing, including traditional Indian saris, limited men’s Kurta and full Indian suits. It’s nearly everything anyone from India, or any other numerous Asian and African countries, could want. “We try to reflect our culture here at Cosmos,” Ravikumar says. In fact, she says she named her business Cosmos because the name is universal and includes all peoples, not just those from India. “I’d say about 50 percent of our customers are Indian,” she says. “But we get a lot of American, Mediterranean, Philippines, Indonesians … Africans love our health and beauty items.” Ravikumar takes equal pride in her workforce. She loves the fact it’s all women. And like her clientele, it’s a veritable United Nations. Her five employees hail from India, Kuwait, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the U.S. “Of course, I’m proud of that,” she says. “When I first opened back in 2000, I had no idea about how to open an Indian store. Everything I learned on the fly. The first couple years were a struggle. I think it helped that the purpose of this was never just to make money. Of course, I didn’t want to lose money. “Now, we’re doing very well. The restaurant is doing well, and we do very well with online shipping, as well. We ship 20 to 30 packages a day to West India, the (United Kingdom), Ireland, all over.”

Passion and Spice Like her background in business, Ravikumar says she also had no formal training in cooking. But she didn’t need any. She learned everything she needed to know about Indian cuisine from her mother back home in Chennai. When asked what makes a dish uniquely Indian, Ravikumar simply smiles and says, “Curry.” Curry is the traditional Indian spice blend that adds a certain kick to native recipes. You can most likely find it in the Chicken Tikka Masala or Vegetable Korma that are featured servings. The menu also includes rice specialties, Indian breads, soups, dosas (crisp pastry crepes stuffed and made for dipping into chutney), samosa chaat (fried samosas tossed with vegetables and spices) and biryani, a rice dish. Beverages include Indian coffees and chai teas. The café features a small space for dine-in restaurant customers, but most of Cosmos’s food-service business comes through deliveries and carryouts. Ravikumar says she uses six online channels for deliveries: Grubhub, EatStreet, Uber Eats, DoorDash, Starve Bird and Jayhawk2Go. Cosmos also offers party orders, catering and gift certificates. Cosmos Indian Store & Café, which offers a 5% discount to KU students, is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. Prior to July 1 of this year, Ravikumar closed the store on Mondays. But one employee who cleaned that day kept having customers drop in wondering why they couldn’t feed their Indian jones. Ravikumar had no problem opening that extra day despite working a full-time job with the state and spending most of the rest of her time with her business. “I’ve never considered this as work,” she says. “It’s my passion. I enjoy doing this, and we’re doing very well. I usually take some time off each year and go visit my mom in India. I have two daughters, one who is studying engineering and the other who has completed a degree in finance. They and my mom helped me for a long time.” If all continues going well, Ravikumar says she plans to take over the space next door to Cosmos and open a tobacco and CBD store in October called Fusion. Business is that good. “Now the business is very stable,” she says. “People followed us here when we moved. We have a good reputation and are well-known. Everything looking ahead to the future looks good.” p 40

Left: Henna Painting at Cosmo Indian Store Colorful Indian clothing and Grocery items at Cosmo Indian Store

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I believe it’s our responsibility to show our communities the value of all people, to celebrate different, and to take a stand for acceptance and inclusion. – Julie Foudy

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Anything

Jay Pryor performing The Gender Reveal Party, A One-Human Show

but Ordinary by Liz Weslander, photos by Steven Hertzog

Being transgender in today’s society can be tough, but this life coach and advocate turned a difficult start in life into a career helping others transform their own lives.

Understanding the unique perspective that executive coach Jay Pryor brings to the table requires a little backstory.

ed taking testosterone and using he/him pronouns. Before long, Pryor had a full beard, a low voice and sudden access to male privilege. This is when Pryor’s unique perspective really started to kick in.

Pryor, who was born female, grew up in a small, conservative, southeastern Kansas town where being gay just wasn’t an option. So when Pryor, who now identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, realized at a young age they were attracted to women, their attempt to hide and bury those feelings manifested in risky and suicidal behavior.

“When you have a situation like mine where you go from being treated like a woman to being treated like a man almost overnight, it’s like, ‘Whoa, hold up! All of a sudden I’m an expert? When did that happen? Yesterday everyone was second-guessing everything I did!’ ”

“I just freaked out throughout high school knowing that I was gay and that I was going to hell,” Pryor says. “I ended up in a psychiatric unit when I was 18, and that’s where I first came out.” Pryor’s care plan from the hospital encouraged them not move back to southeast Kansas for both their mental health and their safety, so in 1985, Pryor moved to Lawrence. They spent the next several years enjoying being an active member of the Lawrence gay and lesbian community, and working on their communication studies degree. All the while, Pryor’s gender identity continued to evolve. In the mid-90s, Pryor read a novel written by transgender activist Leslie Feinberg called “Stone Butch Blues” that solidified the fact that Pryor preferred a more masculine presentation and prompted them to embrace a butch lesbian identity. Pryor moved to Washington, D.C., after completing their degree and, while there, decided to make the transition from butch lesbian to transgender male. In 2001, at the age of 34, Pryor start-

Pryor has since married, moved back to Lawrence, adopted two kids and has been running Jay Pryor Coaching for the last 10 years. Pryor says the majority of their executive coaching is with women, and their journey through various gender identities enhances their ability to do effective work with women. “The world saw me as a woman for 35 years, and then when I transitioned, the difference in how I got treated in this skin was so stark, that I had an immediate insight into my clients’ lives that they couldn’t even see,” Pryor says. “That experience informs how I do business.” Jay Pryor Coaching works mainly in business-to-business settings and uses a signature process laid out in a book by Pryor called “Lean Inside: Seven Steps to Personal Power.” Pryor has a cadre of 10 coaches, male and female, trained in the Lean Inside process who help carry out corporate trainings. “We take that process into companies to create cultures called ‘Lean Inside’ cultures,” Pryor says. “Just like back in the day when companies got onboard with figuring out how to provide opportunities for people to be physically well, companies are now starting to fig43

ure out that they need to provide opportunities for their employees to be mentally well, emotionally well, to have emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence. That’s what my program has been doing for 10 years.” In addition to executive coaching and corporate training, Pryor does keynote speaking events both on the Lean Inside culture and on inclusivity and gender consciousness. Pryor’s latest project is a comedy show they wrote called “The Gender Reveal Party: A One-Human Show,” which chronicles the evolution of Pryor’s gender identity using humor, raw emotion and a smattering of explicit details. “It’s essentially the story of my life but this time with more of some of the real-deal stuff,” Pryor explains. “It’s designed to wake people up around gender.” Pryor performed The Gender Reveal Party in July and August at the Jazzhaus in Lawrence, and plans to start booking the show with companies and CEOs as diversity and culture edutainment at conferences. Pryor says getting to the point in their life where they felt comfortable creating comedy around their gender identity journey required a lot of personal emotional work. Pryor has relied on the Lean Inside process to get there. “This was such a vulnerable thing for me before that there was no way I could have written the show,” Pryor says. “But I’ve done my own work to the point where I can now do comedy. I’m at a place in my business and in my life where I am the full expression of myself, and I’m really proud of the show.” About a year ago, Pryor decided to go from using he/him pronouns to they/ them pronouns. They says the change is indicative of the evolution and expansion of gender identity language in recent years. “I now identify as nonbinary because that exists,” Pryor explains. “It didn’t exist back when I transitioned. They/ them pronouns didn’t exist.” Pryor says because they look like a man and are married to a woman, harassment and discrimination are not typically part of their daily life, which they acknowledge is a privilege that 44

Jay Pryor performing The Gender Reveal Party, A One-Human Show

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Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness. – Ola Joseph

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many gender nonconforming people don’t have. That said, it’s not uncommon for people to use the incorrect pronouns when interacting with Pryor. Pryor says sometimes, especially in a business situation, they will choose not to correct people, but it doesn’t mean pronouns are not important to them. “If I specifically tell you my pronouns once or twice, and then you don’t honor that, the younger people would call that a microaggression,” Pryor says. “I do notice it every time it happens, and if I do choose to correct you, it means I feel vulnerable and scared.” While negative interactions are rare for Pryor, they say that over their many years of activism, they have seen and heard endless stories of brutality and discrimination in the gender nonconforming community. Pryor chooses to remain hopeful. “I know as a coach and a transformational leader that what we focus on always gets bigger, and if I were to focus on the bad stuff, I would be depressed and unable to function,” Pryor says. “So I have learned to focus on the changes and the progress that we are making in incremental baby steps.” p

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Thriving in a world that isn’t always built for you. by Julie Dunlap, photos by Steven Hertzog

“I like what I do” Spend 10 minutes with Lisa Boulton, and the world seems brighter. Boulton is a client served by Cottonwood Inc., an outreach and care organization for people with intellectual disabilities, and has been lighting up the workplace for nearly three decades, including the past 20 years at the University of Kansas’s Lewis Hall dining room, Mrs. E’s. “I’ve worked in cafeterias most of my life,” says Boulton of her tenure, adding with a beaming smile, “I like what I do. It’s something I’ve always liked.” 46

Lisa Boulton

She begins a typical workday on a bus to Daisy Hill’s main dining hall, arriving early enough for the breakfast shift to make sure the coffee is ready, napkin dispensers are filled and salt and pepper shakers are full. “I like to be there early,” she says. “That job is important, and it’s important for me to be ready and prepared.” Boulton appreciates the routine of each shift and meeting a new crop of students each year. “I’m very laid back with [the college students],” she explains. “I’m used to them, and they’re used to me … I call Mrs. E’s my ‘second home.’ ”

When school is not in session, Boulton works for Cottonwood Industries, a division of Cottonwood Inc., which offers bulk mailing, commercial sewing, packaging and manufacturing and assembly services for companies around the area and across the country, including producing cargo tie-down straps for the United States Department of Defense. The importance of this work is not lost on Boulton, who humbly takes pride in her part of our nation’s military operations, saying, “I know what I’m doing, and it’s very impressive.” Boulton is one of roughly 120 clients served by Cottonwood and one of nearly 240 people currently employed through Cottonwood’s JobLink program. More than 200 businesses of all sizes in the Lawrence area hire JobLink employees each year. “We have really good loyalty from these employees,” says Ken Sarber, director of Education and Learning Services at LMH Health. “They strive to do a great job, and that makes a big difference these days.” LMH Health was named JobLink’s 2018 Outstanding Employer of the Year, a partnership it values and encourages other employers to consider. as well. “Keep a very open mind,” Sarber advises, noting the job coaches at JobLink work hard to match the right employees with the right jobs. “Every applicant from JobLink has a unique skill.” “It’s all about the relationships we build with employers and our applicants,” says Phil Bentzinger, director of JobLink at Cottonwood Inc., adding, “the applicants we have are people who want to work.”

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I wish for a world that views disability, mental or physical, not as a hindrance but as unique attributes that can be seen as powerful assets if given the right opportunities. – Oliver Sacks

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Any job seeker who has experienced a barrier to employment is encouraged to apply with JobLink. The program has filled more than 3,000 jobs in its 35 years, affecting far more than employees’ bank accounts. “The power of employment has a diversely positive impact on the lives of all people, while the power of diversity has a needed positive impact on all employers,” Bentzinger says. Boulton agrees. “I like what I do, I mean, it’s obvious,” Boulton smiles, recounting not just her time at work but enjoying the fruits of her labors with regular trips to her favorite store, Claire’s, and outings and vacations through the City of Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department before infectiously adding, “I’m very happy.”

Top to Bottom: Lisa at Cottonwood Inc; Lisa with co-workers Alex Leland and Sherri Hobbs in the cafeteria at Mrs. E’s; Lisa laughs it up with Lead Supervisor Jason Pattison at Mrs. E’s

“On my terms” Lawrence Beer Co. co-owner and Alarm.com director Brendon Allen has long been an endurance athlete. An adventurous soul, Allen was completing his MBA (master’s degree in business administration) in Melbourne, Australia, in early 2002 when his leg suddenly gave out while running. He went to the emergency room in Australia and was told he likely had injured a tendon. Weeks later, a second attempt to run brought the same result. By this time, Allen and his wife were heading back to their home state of Kansas briefly before moving to San Francisco, where a job with Apple awaited. While in Lawrence, he had a local orthopedic surgeon and longtime family friend check out his leg. Instead of a tendon injury, an Xray showed a mass in Allen’s lower leg. A biopsy the following day confirmed it was a bone cancer. “I’ve always been afraid of failing,” Allen says, “but the stakes definitely got a lot higher at that point.” Allen tried delaying his job with Apple but, a few months in to 48

Brendon Allen co-owner the Lawrence Beer Company

his 10-month chemotherapy regimen, decided to turn down the position altogether. Another blow came when, after six months of treatment, Allen’s lower leg was amputated. “I was so done with chemo by then,” Allen recalls. “I was at peace with the decision.” Allen spent just over a year from his diagnosis undergoing chemotherapy, amputation, physical therapy and recovery before easing back into work. “I had interned for a company in Lawrence during college and worked full-time for them after college,” he explains. “I asked them if I could come back for part-time contract work.” With $125,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses, getting back to work was as important financially as it was mentally and emotionally. Allen started slowly, consulting and coding for one client in Atlanta. While Allen had previously trotted the globe with no special accommodations in the past, losing a limb brought a new set of challenges to the traveling tech expert.

“It took 18 months of working with it,” Allen says of learning to walk with a prosthetic leg, “before it became a natural act.” Navigating airport security, hustling through the Atlanta airport, driving and carrying luggage that changed his center of gravity all took practice and patience. More than 2 million miles in flight, two overseas relocations and seven continents later, however, Allen has it down. Those travels, in fact, helped influence another business venture for Allen. While living in Germany, Allen developed a strong appreciation for good beer. “I used to home-brew, especially after living in Munich,” he says. Home-brewing back in Lawrence led him to team up with Matt Williams, Sam McClain and Ken Baker two years ago to open Lawrence Beer Co., at 826 Pennsylvania St. As a business owner, Allen has deeper insight on accessibility for both employees and patrons. He also works very hands-on, not letting his physical limitations get in the way of doing what needs to be done, whether that means carry49

Dorothy E. Nary, Ph.D. Photo by Cat Rooney.

HEATING & COOLING

Sales

Sevice

Installation

ing supplies from the parking lot into the restaurant or climbing ladders. Employees are often surprised to find out Allen is doing all of this with a prosthetic leg. “It’s been long enough [since the amputation], I actually forget sometimes,” he laughs. This falls right in line with his driving desire to not let his prosthetic leg be the focus in the workplace. He emphasizes, “I do it on my terms.” The path to autonomy and independence has been long but never lonely, a great fortune Allen appreciates. “The support group I had—my wife, parents, visiting daily,” Allen recalls with a lump in his throat. “Not everyone at the hospital was as lucky as I was.” Knowing how crucial a support system, including the prosthetist who has fitted him for multiple prosthetic legs, has been to his participation in the world around him, Allen now helps other amputees across the country gain access to opportunities with his work on the board of the Kansas Citybased Steps of Faith Foundation. “I see lots of people like me who just don’t have that one tool,” he explains. Steps of Faith provides prosthetic care for amputees, a vital service for those seeking or continuing employment postamputation. The foundation, led by Allen’s good friend and fellow amputee, executive director Billy Brimblecom, provided more than 100 prosthetics nationally last year alone, with nearly all recipients able to hold jobs within six months of receiving their new limbs. All of this is very different from his dream of working in San Francisco for Apple 17 years ago. “Billy (Brimblecom) and I once asked each other, ‘If we could go back and change it, would we?’ ” Allen muses. “We were surprised the answer was, ‘No.’ ” The now-married father of two, living and working in Lawrence, adds with a smile, “We realize what’s important.”

“Employment is much more than a paycheck”

Dot Nary, with the Kansas Disability and Health Program, has lived with spina bifida her entire life and has spent the last 33 years living that life to its fullest while in a wheelchair. Nary knows from both her work as a researcher and her own experiences the challenges those with physical and intellectual limitations face in the workplace. She also knows what overcoming those limitations can mean for a community. “As more people with disabilities become aware of their rights, advocate for themselves and gain education and access to employment, we change the community,” Nary explains. “Employment is much more than a paycheck … it is better for all if people with disabilities have opportunities to work.” These opportunities often depend on simple factors those without disabilities might take for granted, such as reliable transportation or physical access to a work site. In Allen’s case, a prosthetic limb can run tens of thousands of dollars. Nary recently spent $52,000 on a used wheelchairaccessible van for herself to be able to go to work (nonmodified used minivans typically cost closer to $20,000). For someone entering the workforce, these costs can be insurmountable. Access to health care can also limit a person’s ability to work. Steps are being made to assist with this, as Nary explains that Medicaid expansion, available under the Affordable Care Act, has significantly increased employment opportunities for those with disabilities. Unfortunately, Kansas has yet to allow for this expansion. Organizations such as Cottonwood Inc.’s JobLink Program and Steps of Faith Foundation are available to help. Additionally, Nary recommends consulting with Independence Inc., the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, Kansas Department for Children and Families and Minds Matter for assistance. Nary is hopeful for the continued advancements in employment for those with disabilities but believes, citing the high rate of unemployment and underemployment notes, “We have a long way to go.” p

For more information, please visit: www.cwood.org www.stepsoffaithfoundation.org www.ihdps.ku.edu 51

MoreThan

a Haircut by Mike Anderson, photos by Steven Hertzog

These distinctive salons cater to their clients specific needs, but sometimes what they crave is just a little friendly banter.

Catherine, Isaiah and Breanna Bell in front of Prestige Hair Studio

When you’re 13 years old, you need two things if you want to be a barber: a pair of clippers and 10 siblings to experiment on. Luckily for Isaiah Bell, he had both. Isaiah is number seven of 11 kids in the Bell family. He owns and operates Prestige Hair Studio with two of his sisters, Breanna (number nine of 11) and Catherine (number eight of 11). Each sibling has his or her own separate space in the studio. Isaiah is a barber offering cuts, shaves, skin care, consultations for balding individuals—he’ll even work on your hair unit (barber speak for toupee). Breanna works in the salon and offers cuts, color, waxing and more. Catherine operates her own alterations business within Prestige and even teaches sewing classes. Basically, it is a one-stop shop for the entire family. As Catherine explains it, “We un52

derstand that people want to have their family time, but they also have their separate spaces.” Isaiah started cutting hair when he was 13, experimenting on any willing sibling he could find. Just more than a decade later, he’s now his own boss running a hair studio. “We are a high-end shop with a welcoming atmosphere,” he explains. This detail-oriented individual provides cuts that cater to your personality. Prestige has a hotel feel with customer service that caters to those who like to stay groomed and respect self-care. When you walk in the door, you’re greeted with offerings of water and chocolate. There’s a fountain in the lobby area, the Hallmark channel playing on the television and a chandelier in the barber area. “We maintain people’s image in a relaxing way. The ambience

PROFESSIONAL

PLACEMENT AND

T to B: Catherine, Isaiah and Breanna Bell

of our place magnifies that aspect,” Isaiah says. Prestige is not a quick-service, get-in-and-get-out type of place. The salon staff strives to make you feel like royalty.

RECRUITING

SERVICES

The Bell family is familiar with entrepreneurship. One of Isaiah’s older siblings owns an accounting firm. Isaiah’s father started his own construction business. When the Bell kids were young, their father taught them to be professional when answering the phone, because they would never know who was calling. If the Bell kids wanted something, they knew they had to earn it. “Our parents were just like, hey, if you want that, I’m not going to get it; you’re going to have to go out there and work for it,” Catherine explains. “Anyone who comes in here can tell that we have that heart. We all put our heart and soul into this place.” Before one goes to a wedding or an interview, he goes to Isaiah for a cut and shave. And in some cases, before a 53

big University of Kansas (KU) basketball game, they visit Isaiah. KU coaches and players are some of his regulars. Like any great barber, Isaiah at times feels like a therapist. He is always someone’s trusted uncle, offering an ear to anyone who comes through his door. “I get it all,” Isaiah says. “I’ve had people vent to me about their relationships; I’m in here feeling like Steve Harvey or something like the Steve Harvey show talking about relationships.” Breanna explains, “Clients have told me things before they’ve told their family or their doctors. It’s awesome that I have that relationship with my clients.” Isaiah has stories about cutting hair for a big first date and then later right before the marriage. “That’s one thing I will always try to do is to keep it positive. Anytime someone comes in here feeling down, they can leave here feeling 10 times better,” he says. A clean haircut and a spike in confidence is what Isaiah has to offer. He can help those who respect self-care or are looking for a complete transformation. “Come in and let your hair down, and we’ll help you achieve the image that you are looking for,” he says. Prestige caters to all races and hair types. Breanna is even a certified curl expert. She noticed her cosmetology classes didn’t cover curly hair education: how it should be styled and how to keep it healthy. This isn’t surprising being the state board tests for cosmetology students have seen little change since the 1950s even though roughly half of Americans have curly or textured tresses. So she went to separate institutions in New Jersey for further education. “Sometimes within our industry, it’s almost segregated in that you can only go to this person for one type of hair. One thing we encourage here is understanding what people want. We are able to be versatile, being able to do all hair types, for men and women,” Breanna explains. The fourth and final member of the team is Allison Gaspard, the honorary Bell sibling. Allison is a stylist and colorist who worked for several salons before but wanted to work with like-minded people who pushed each other. She appreciates working with a family because of how much they care for each other. “For one of us to be hurting, that means I’m hurting, that means he’s [Isaiah] hurting,” she says. “So it doesn’t help anything to say, ‘Oh I have all this knowledge, I’m going to keep it to myself.’” Many individuals might think working with family can be difficult, but the Bell family likes the atmosphere it has created. For them, it’s an energy and culture that is about respecting each other’s talents but also pushing each other to be the best. As Allison puts it, “I knew this was the place I wanted to be the first time I got a little criticism. I was like, alright, I like this.” Prestige Hair Studio has been serving Lawrence since February 2017. That teenage Isaiah knew exactly what he wanted to do and made it a reality. He might not have made it, however, if it weren’t for Marty Watson, the first person to put sheers in Isaiah’s hands and give him a job. 54

Watson’s Barbershop Marty Watson has been cutting hair for 15 years. His first job cutting hair was with barber Mike Amyx when Amyx was running a place on the KU campus. Before long, Marty had grown an impressive list of clients. At the advice of Amyx and hair stylist Joda Doudna, Marty started Marty’s Barbershop on 9th and Indiana streets at age 20. “Amyx said, ‘Son, you got what it takes,’ ” Marty explains. “It was never my intention to have my own shop.” Fellow workers Amyx and Doudna believed in Marty so much they helped him find the location for his own shop. They also helped him obtain the equipment and offered some financial assistance. Marty says at this time, Lawrence didn’t have an all-black barbershop—some salons but not a black barbershop. All this helped drive Marty to create and run his business. Marty now owns and operates Watson Barbershop, at 925 Iowa St. He sees his shop not just as the “best shop in Lawrence” but also as the “best place you want to be.” Marty has created an environment where everyone can express what they are feeling that day, a place where they can talk freely without being judged. “It’s not just offering quality haircuts; everybody’s on the same playing field at the barbershop.” Today, the place is packed. Four separate barbers are working constantly. When someone sits down in Marty’s chair, he starts cutting right away, never even asking the client what he or she wants. After seeing the strange look of astonishment on my face when I notice this, Marty explains, “You see people so long, you don’t even have to ask what they want. They sit down on the chair, and I start cutting.” For Marty, it’s as simple as remembering someone’s phone number (before cell phones, of course). Marty sees 30 people a day six days a week and still remembers everyone. That’s repeat business. “They become part of your family; you become part of their family,” he explains. This shop offers everything a barber has to offer. “Anything, we do.” There’s a certain energy at Watson’s Barbershop. “Stay tuned, our work is just beginning,” Marty says, and I believe him. Marty thrives on word of mouth; that’s how most of his marketing is done. “This is the type of business where word travels fast,” he says. “You put out a good haircut, people are going to ask where you got it … if you’ve heard about it [the shop], come see for yourself. It can not be described.” Some people, Marty explains, just come in during lunch to catch up or talk. Some don’t even get a haircut, they just come into the shop for the community feel-

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We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.

Marty Watson cuts hair for Edward Jones KU Football, Director of Player Development

– Jimmy Carter

’

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ing. After an hour sitting in one of the unused barber chairs talking with Marty, Nelly and the other barbers, I understand what Marty is talking about. By the time I leave the shop, somehow my name has been put up on one of the whiteboards. Seems I’ve bet Marty that my Minnesota Vikings will win more games this year than his favorite NFL team. At first, the bet is just buying the other lunch, then it evolves into lunch and dinner. We spend 10 minutes talking about what we are going to make the other buy us. He makes sure everyone in the shop hears what is on the line. This is the type of environment Marty strives for in his shop. Here I am a stranger, and an hour later, we are razzing each other about our NFL teams. Marty and his employees make everyone feel free to share their thoughts and problems. Marty’s four employees share his philosophy. One of his barbers, Tim Nelson (aka Nelly) used to cut at another place. Nelly soon moved to Marty’s because he wanted more of a man’s feel where men talk. He sees himself as an “all-around pimp-counselor,” Nelly explains. “What’s said in the barbershop stays in the barbershop.” People often forget that barbers have long hours. Prestige is regularly open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Thursdays and Fridays, Watson’s Barbershop is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Both places know that long hours can be grueling but are important for the clients. As Marty puts it, “We still work for the people. Some people’s schedules are different. We try to cater to those.” Both Prestige and Watson’s Barbershop offer more than just a haircut; they offer experiences and a sense of family. Marty’s advice for any young barber or entrepreneur looking to be the next Isaiah is simple: “Be hungry, and be serious about it. Be a part of the community.” Something tells me we’ll see the Bell family, along with Marty Watson and his team, as part of our community for years to come. p

Proprietary Nanotechnology • Nature Enhanced By Science •

Lee Meisel, owner of Leeway Franks and Leeway Butchers

OldWorld Art and Science This award-winning entrepreneur tells his story through food, butchery and conversation with his customers. by Joshua Falleaf, photos by Steven Hertzog

Old-world skill and new school flair blend just off of Ninth and Iowa streets at the Hillcrest Shopping Center. With just a knife and cleaver, as well as active Facebook and Twitter accounts, Leeway Franks intends to provide customers “nostalgic food memories” that inspire a “childlike joy,” explains owner, butcher, chef and raconteur Lee Meisel. He is nothing if not passionate about the detailed process of serving a good meal, especially a good frankfurter. The art of butchery was learned very early. As a teen, Meisel processed thousands of deer during deer season in Mandan, North Dakota, just north of his childhood home on Standing Rock Reservation. He “learn[ed] how to grind meat properly, break down the animals and then mixing in pork to get the fat-to-lean ratio just right.” These were just a few of the lessons that comprised the “crash course” that would stick with him into adulthood and propel him into opening his own business.

Meisel remembers the relationships his Lakota people had with the cattle and crops that surrounded them, and with whom they shared the earth. The indigenous way, he says, is to understand and celebrate food and the community coming together to eat and connect. “[People] canned beets. They made sausages and raised animals obviously for food” to feed their families. After several false starts at pursuing a college degree, Meisel came to Lawrence in 2005 to study business at Haskell Indian Nations University, home to Native American students from approximately 150 distinct federally recognized tribes from across the United States. “The most eyeopening thing,” he says, “was the realization of how diverse Indian Country is. I never knew how many cultures and languages … It really teaches you about other people, but it really teaches you about yourself. How do you represent yourself, your tribe and your community?” This idea is what sparks his own creativity and determination to find the best 57

Lee demonstrates the art of butchering

local products and prepare them in the ways he learned growing up. Finding an academic home at Haskell and meeting his wife and business partner, K, he continued to work in Kansas City and Lawrence in the food industry. At the Merc and 715, as well as in KC, he continued to hone his skills as a butcher, develop recipes and learn through experience what the instructors at Haskell were teaching him about business. Upon his arrival in Lawrence, Meisel recognized that the local food system and the produce he now had access to was astounding. “I couldn’t believe the produce,” he says, “Tomatoes and heirloom varieties of tomatoes I never heard of. I thought tomatoes were either big or little.” Meisel says Lawrence and the surrounding communities are “effortlessly charming” and make available some of the best produce and livestock he’s found in his decades-long culinary career. In just a short drive, he’s able to access delicious seasonal produce and meats of many varieties. Moreover, this community appreciates a love of farming and does “very little [to the products] but treat it with respect.” Local sourcing of produce and meat, and even a local bakery where he gets his bread fulfills Meisel’s sense of community and relationships. “We want to get back to knowing the people who [care for] the eggs, food, meat” that they provide. This is Meisel’s way. “I buy lambs and goats from 58

‘

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A lot of different flowers make a bouquet. – Muslim Origin

kids at the 4-H auctions or the fairs,” he explains, wherever he can get the best. Once the product comes to Leeway Franks, there is no less care for it amongst the team. Recipes are simple, clean and respectful. “My seasonings are salt, pepper, brown sugar, things that make it taste good,” he says. More clearly, the seasonings simply help the ingredients taste more like themselves. As for what he plans to serve with each menu, “I really let the ingredients dictate what we’re going to do.” Having worked in many upscale restaurants with amusebouche, many pretty plates and extensive wine lists, he decided to chart his own path and create his own business: an “upscale concession stand” he calls it. “I wanted the ability to tell my own story. I worked at places that were like, ‘Look at how complicated things can get.’ And I wanted something simpler.” Meisel fondly remembers those moments, those flavors that have stuck with him long after digestion. “My favorite food memories,” he says, “are like, this truck stop that had the best soup. Or this concession stand that cut their own fries and served them with vinegar.” These are the kind of thoughts and emotions Meisel and his team seek to create with simple, familiar fare done in just the right way with the best local ingredients. Each item that appears on a menu is made as many times as necessary to make that experience happen. He explains that some items haven’t yet been available because they don’t “eat well.” In other words, the action of eating is perhaps messy, with ingredients sliding out of the side or back when one takes a bite. It will make an appearance when those issues are resolved. In 2015, Leeway Franks opened its doors. It was and is still a “low-budget DIY” establishment. Meisel understands that in business, what you get out of the venture is “almost absolutely proportional to the amount of effort you put into it.” And he and wife, K Meisel, and his entire team put in tons of effort. Just four years following the first bratwurst served at Leeway Franks, Meisel opened Leeway Butcher, just two storefronts from Franks. Not only can he now provide sausages and meats for his restaurant with more space to work with raw local products, he also employs “old-world style” butch59

ery to make various cuts available to customers wanting to cook and grill at home. Meisel’s “old-world style” butchery has several unique elements. In “a retail cutting environment, everything is portion controlled,” he says. “You get beef that’s already broken down into primals and subprimals.” He’s done this throughout his journey, creating the familiar cuts of meat found in the average grocery store and other markets. At Leeway Butcher, “We isolate more of the muscles and seam cut them. We call it seaming,” he says. “And so we really focus on those individual cuts because we can merchandise them in different ways.” While commercial butchery has familiarity and dollars in mind, Meisel approaches butchery from a “value-added” perspective for the consumer, with cuts not as common in the American commercial market, where “a lot of those muscles would be attached to other muscle groups.” Another quality Meisel brings with his “old-world style” is not “run[ning] stuff through a band saw like a big packing facility, where you would sit in one spot all day and do one movement.” He and his staff “mostly use a knife and a cleaver,” he says. It is both art and science. It entails an understanding of the anatomy of the animal, the structure unique to each, as well as the art of communicating to customers appropriate home-preparation methods. “How do we make the guests happy with finding things they’re familiar with?” he posits. “And if there is something outside of their comfort zone, how do we teach them and start that conversation about how to cook things properly?” He understands that “it’s not the easiest conversation to have,” but he continues to be passionate about “relat[ing] to people on a personal level.” This has been his calling card. Lee Meisel is telling his own story through food, butchery and regular conversation with folks who come in. He also realizes others are telling theirs, and he’s incredibly interested in them.

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The winner of many local and national awards for his food and business, Meisel was named 2019 Top 50 Native Business Entrepreneurs by Native Business Magazine. Rather than celebrate himself or his success, he is “more fascinated with opening up that article and seeing 50 people opening their own businesses and doing things in Indian Country and beyond. It just blows my mind,” he says. Embodied in Leeway Franks and Butcher is Lee’s desire to connect and share with others. Although he’d “love to have Leeway Franks in grocery stores across the country,” he’s equally as adamant about connecting his home in North Dakota with his home in Lawrence by bringing “bison from my Tribe to Kansas,” he explains. “Even though I’m not on the reservation anymore,” Meisel continues, “I feel like I’m able to represent my tribe in a positive manner. Maybe there’s somebody out there who’s like, ‘Why can’t I do that? That’s incredible.’ ” p

CAR WASH

At the

by Emily Mulligan, photos by Steven Hertzog

This car wash manager knows that with all the change in this world everyday, one thing that never changes is the need for a clean car. Fortunately for Ivan Hollins, self-driving cars are not also self-cleaning, so the future of the car wash business is secure. Even with all the constantly changing trends and technology, a clean car still hasn’t gone out of style. Hollins manages the Auto Plaza Car Wash, a full-service car wash and car-detailing business at 2828 Four Wheel Dr., and he sees firsthand that there is still no substitute for a shiny, clean car. Auto Plaza Car Wash is an independent business and the longest-running full-service car wash in Lawrence, having operated for more than 30 years. It offers hand washing, hand waxing and car detailing, as well as boat washing and detailing. Hollins’ employees are a diverse group for many reasons. Although most of them are young people under age 25, they represent a variety of backgrounds. And Hollins employs both full-time, year-round staff and parttime and seasonal workers, usually about 30 employees total. Employees typically start off working the car wash line, either vacuuming cars before they go through the wash or drying and polishing the cars after they have gone through. Most of the time, Hollins staffs the car wash line with 10 employees at a time, and they have opportunity for advancement if they are hard workers. “I usually hire for detailing from the outside crew. I look for people who are detail oriented and who you don’t have to follow up with a lot, and who have good attendance and work ethic,” he says. Ivan Hollins, manager of Auto Plaza Car Wash

Another element of the diverse mix of employees at Auto Plaza Car Wash is that some people have made the car 61

wash and detailing work their career, and others work there while pursuing training in another field. Many of the detailers are full-time, and Hollins hires a lot of students for the car wash from the University of Kansas (KU) and Haskell Indian Nations University. He plans the schedule around everyone’s class times and exams, which can be complex for him but a convenience for the students. “This is a first job for a lot of employees. I try to make it a fun environment and family friendly. I care about the employees, and they like it here. Some of them will sit and talk to me about personal things, and I kinda like that,” Hollins says, smiling. Hollins’ father-in-law, Bill Stewart, opened Auto Plaza Car Wash in January 1995, strategically choosing the location to be proximate to car dealerships and other auto businesses on Four Wheel Drive. Hollins had experience in car detailing, so he helped part-time with that aspect of the business not knowing it would eventually be his business to run. “I started out just helping him out, because I had another full-time job; but here I am 24, 25 years later,” he says. Stewart sold the business to Floyd McMillin in 2007, who kept Hollins on in his same role as the manager. Hollins says Stewart’s initial vision of placing the car wash in an automotive “neighborhood” has really paid off over the years. Until more recently, the auto dealers in the area sent almost every used vehicle to Auto Plaza to be detailed before it was sold. Now, most of them have in-house detailing bays, but the dealers still send work to Auto Plaza if it is specialized or if they get behind on their own cars. The only downside to the location, Hollins says, is that it is a little bit off the beaten path, so people have to seek out Auto Plaza as opposed to seeing it from the road as they are cruising through town. Hollins says that regardless of the location, their personal attention and ability to offer a range of services sets Auto Plaza apart from its competition. “Lately, there are lots of washes in town, on every corner. My employees were starting to be worried, and I told them, ‘As long as you guys do what you’re supposed to do, customers will keep coming back,’ ” he says. “Recently, we won best car wash in Lawrence, so we are keeping it up.” Hollins tries to greet personally and check in with as many customers as he can, making sure they are satisfied with the wash service. The unique mix of employees is unified in the goal of producing sparkling cars at the end of the car wash line, he says. Even with a longtime, established customer base, Hollins is not one to sit back and wait for business to come to him. He is fully aware that potentially thousands of new customers show up in Lawrence every year in August, so he has many creative marketing tactics aimed at incoming and current KU students and their parents. Knowing where most of the students’ money comes from, Hollins sells booklets of car washes that KU parents can give to their students to use throughout the school year. He also uses text messages to contact students and parents, and bring in repeat business. He says the dealerships, mechanics and body shops in the neigh62

borhood cross-promote one another’s’ services with referrals, which is a benefit to all. He also makes a point to collaborate with other businesses and swap advertisements to display in prominent locations so they can cross-promote. Wintertime can be a slower time for the car wash, so Hollins often advertises his detailing services with special offers, especially during the “slushy” months. Business has been steady for a long time, yet Hollins is always experimenting with new products and ideas. Innovative products he has adopted for the detailing side of the business include a wheel spray that doesn’t require scrubbing and a manufactured stone that scrapes out pet hair in about half the time of the combing that his detailers used to do. What hasn’t changed is his high-quality wash system—for now. Hollins maintains most of the mechanical aspects of that himself with the exception of things like electrical and hydraulics. Eventually, he plans to replace the system, and he is eying the car wash’s interior waiting room for a potential makeover, as well as the exterior pavement. Long-term, car washes will endure, he says. “The equipment will change some day, but we’ll still be washing cars for a long time, and detailing will be around for a while,” he says. Customers’ expectations and wishes haven’t evolved a lot through the decades, he says. People still derive happiness and a sense of accomplishment from having a vehicle that is clean and neat both inside and out. “When a customer says it’s the greatest thing ever, I feel good. The satisfaction on their faces when you’ve done something that pleases someone is why I stayed in the business,” Hollins says. p

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A Society is unity in diversity. – George Herbert Mead

The diverse staff at Auto Plaza Car Wash

Tucked back in a white, nondescript strip mall a block off of 25th and Iowa streets in south Lawrence between a spa and nail salon sits Formosa Bakery, one of just a few Asian bakeries in the city, state and region. It’s in this modest two-room space that proprietor and sole employee Hamlet Chang creates and bakes his breads, desserts and snacks that, on the surface, don’t appear all that different from what one might find in any other bakery in town. Puddings and custards, cream puffs, cheese bites, chocolate jelly rolls, cakes, tiramisu, pillow-top cheesecake: They all look pretty standard. There also is the bakeddaily bread, stuffed with anything from taro, red beans, corn and ham to coconut and shredded pork. But then there’s the taste. Chang says the secret to being an Asian bakery isn’t necessarily what you bake but how you bake it. “Not too sweet, not too salty,” he says with a proud gleam in his eyes. Indeed, taking a bite into one of Chang’s creations is experiencing a willowy light texture with a hint of sweetness but nothing that ever would be considered rich. The pudding is creamy, the breads are soft, the shortcake spongy. It’s all full of flavor without being overly dense, sweet or salty. It’s what makes Formosa worth seeking out. And therein lies the challenge. Street visibility: zero. Signage: except for a small logo stating “Formosa Bakery Since 2013” painted on a window, not much. To find the Bakery, one better have a top-notch navigation system and, even then, a keen eye picking out the small bakery among the spas and salons. And yet, during the school year for the 64

Hamlet Chang, Owner of Formosa Bakery

Beyond Bread

This tucked-away Asian bakery may be a little bit hard to find, but its not-too-sweet-or-salty style is worth the search. by Bob Luder, photos by Steven Hertzog

University of Kansas, Chang has hordes of students from China and other east-Asian countries trekking through his door to sample his creations. He says he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I have a loyal base of customers that’s enough to keep me in business,” he says. “My clientele mostly comes from (the roughly 1,000) Chinese students. Also, there are not many Asian bakeries in Kansas, so I get business from Kansas City, Topeka, even Manhattan.” Chang, who turns 40 this year, adds, “I also have the freedom of closing and taking vacation when school is out in the summer. I can take up to two months of vacation a year.” Chang closed the bakery for the month of July and returned to his native Taiwan to visit family and friends before returning for the start of the University of Kansas’s (KU) fall semester in August.

Asia to Lawrence and Back and Back Again To understand Chang’s philosophy in running his business, one must first learn his backstory. He was born the middle child of three sons in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and spent most of his formative years there before his family immigrated to Lawrence when Hamlet was 17. “I had an uncle who lived here and was a KU graduate,” he says. “He had his own business here. My father saw opportunities to make a good life here.” After finishing his final year of high school here, it only seemed natural that Chang enroll at KU. He graduated from 65

the School of Business and earned his master’s degree in economics in 2005. Then he decided to return home to Taiwan. “By then, I just wanted a change in environment,” Chang says. “I’d stayed here too long. I moved to Taipei. If I want to work in Taiwan, I have to serve some time in the military, so I served in the military for a year and four months.” Upon finishing his military service, Chang landed a job back in his hometown of Kaohsiung, a coastal city in southern Taiwan. For the next year, he worked with ships in that city’s port on logistics and accounting. But he grew restless with his duties there and sought employment he thought more matched his education and aspirations. He moved to Vietnam and landed a sales job with a company there. “I stayed another year and decided not to stay in Asia,” he says. “I found that sometimes in sales, you do positive work and still don’t get a good result. You feel like you work for nothing.” Chang decided he’d return to Lawrence, a place away from his hometown where he felt comfortable. Only, he needed to figure out what he was going to do when he got here. “I wanted to open a restaurant,” he says, “but there were already a lot of Asian restaurants in Lawrence. But there weren’t many Tai bakeries in town. I decided it was good timing (to try that).” First, however, Chang needed to learn how to bake. Through some searching, he found a cake shop in Kaohsiung that offered a six-month baking class. He found he took to the process of baking right away. “I like that you can see the results right in front of you,” he says. Chang’s KU education gave him a good framework of knowledge in how to run a business. In 2013, he opened Formosa Bakery, naming it after the former name of his country, a Taiwanese word that translates to “beautiful island.” Don’t think because he takes two months off each year that Chang is a slacker. When students are in session and the bakery is open, he routinely puts in 12-hour days and 70-hour weeks. A typical workday begins at 8 a.m. He bakes through the day until the shop opens at 3 p.m. and typically stays at the bakery until 8 p.m., an hour after closing, to clean up. 66

‘

We are a nation of communities... a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky. – George H.W. Bush

’

Hamlet Chang with some of his creations

Reading the Tea Leaves Chang says he’s had opportunities during the last six years to expand his business, even franchise it, but has declined. Actually, he hasn’t really given the idea much consideration. “I try to keep the business as small as possible to keep expenses down,” he says. “Keep it simple. It’s easier. I have no employees. I can take vacation whenever I want. “There are other bigger places that make more money,” he continues. “But they don’t have the freedom I do. I’m happy with the way it is.” Chang does express concern that the Chinese student population at KU appears to be waning. Because of current U.S.-China relations and bubbling trade wars, many young Chinese are choosing to further education in Australia or Europe.

“Business is OK,” Chang says. “But I think it will go down.” To try and counter that trend, Chang began contracting this year with Starve Bird, a food-delivery service. He’s considered tapping into apps such as Uber Eats but says his current business is strong enough that it doesn’t make sense to pay the 30-percent user fee. “I know my location is not great,” he says. “Maybe I can get an app that people can use to find me.” Until then, Chang says he’ll rely on his loyal customer base in a city that champions diverse businesses such as Formosa Bakery. “Lawrence is not like other cities in Kansas,” he says. “There’s more diversity here, which is better for me.” p 67

GIVING BACK

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT TO HONOR

Honoring Outstanding Lawrence Business Leaders

OUTSTANDING LOCAL BUSINESS

Deanna Bisel

Steve Edmonds

The 2019 Hall of Fame Class

Sandy Praeger

Alan “Al” Hack, Jr.

Tuesday, October 8, 2019 DoubleTree by Hilton

Tickets are $190 each or $1,400 per table of 8 To order tickets go to: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/lbhof/event/803284/ or call 785-841-8245 For more information please contact Debbie Harman debbie@kansasja.org 2019 HALL OF FAME SPONSORS

LEADERS

Meet the four newest laureates of the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame. by Bob Luder, photos by Steven Hertzog

For a concept like Junior Achievement ( JA) of Kansas to succeed in its mission, it must have strong volunteer mentors to guide the young minds and talents it seeks to cultivate and inspire. JA takes young, aspiring business students and entrepreneurs, and imparts the knowledge and skills they’ll need to forge successful careers. And what better way to convey that know-how than by providing real, living examples of entrepreneurial achievement and economic success? It’s why JA recognizes annu-

Steve Edmonds ally some of its most influential volunteer mentors as Lawrence Business Hall of Fame laureates. For 2019, four Lawrence-area entrepreneurs will be so recognized: Sandy Praeger, Steve Edmonds, Alan “Al” Hack Jr. and Deanna Bisel. This 10th class of Lawrence Business Hall of Fame laureates will be honored at a black-tie tribute dinner Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the DoubleTree by Hilton (Regency Ballroom). Praeger spent much of her adult life serving in local and state politics, first as a Lawrence city commissioner and mayor, and later in the Kansas House of Representatives and Senate. She served 13 years as the state’s Commissioner of Insurance, overseeing approximately 1,600 insurance companies and more than 108,000 licensed agents. Edmonds grew up working in his family’s grocery business before forging a highly successful, 47-year career in finance and investment advising. Hack, who is being honored posthumously, moved to Lawrence in 1951 and co-owned a men’s clothing store before transitioning into, first, banking, and later, the hotel business and real estate. Bisel spent her entire professional career in the printing industry and grew Minuteman Press from a start-up to a company that oversees more than 1,000 client accounts. All four honorees are shining examples of what hard work and an unrelenting entrepreneurial spirit can accomplish, and all four volunteered their time, knowledge and business acumen to the classrooms and in the field with JA. They were selected as Lawrence Business Hall of Fame laureates based on sterling records of business achievement and demonstrated excellence, both in their respective businesses and volunteer endeavors. They join a list of notables who include publisher Dolph Simons Sr. (inaugural class of 2010), real estate developer Bob Billings (2011), Bob Stephens (2012) and, just last year, real estate developer John McGrew and advertising executive and designer Cindy Maude as prominent business leaders who have made extraordinary contributions to Lawrence. Each honoree has a different background but probably more in common, devoting hours of their time and resources for the betterment of Lawrence’s youth and the community at-large. The following pages have a little more about each honoree.

Congratulations on joining the Junior Achievement Lawrence Business Hall of Fame!

To a wonderful Husband, Father, Grandfather, Son, Brother, Cowboy, Arborist, Friend, Advisor & Business Partner. Thank you for being there for all of us!

Deanna Bisel Deanna Bisel’s career in the printing industry began soon after receiving her business degree from Washburn University in 1970. She began working at General Printing and Paper, in Topeka, as sales manager but after six years, moved to Hallmark as its first female production manager, overseeing 800 employees and achieving ambitious corporate objectives for large manufacturing plants in Kansas, Missouri and Mexico. She founded Minuteman Press in 1993. The company was the first printer in Kansas to earn the coveted Sustainable Green Printing certification.

Bisel

This year, Bisel was awarded the Washburn University Alumni Distinguished Service Award. She was the Printing and Imaging Association of MidAmerica Executive of the Year in 2012, and Minuteman Press was the 2009 Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year. Other honors include the 2007 Society of Financial Service Professionals Northeast Kansas Business Ethics Award, 2004 American Business Woman’s Association Woman of the Year, 2002 Small Business Magazine 25 Best Companies Under 25 Employees, 2001 SERTOMAN of the Year, 1999 Sam Walton Business Leadership Award, 1998 ATHENA Award for Excellence in Mentoring Women and is a Leadership Greater Topeka graduate. Bisel serves on the Washburn Foundation board, Central National Bank board, Printing Industries of MidAmerica executive board and SERTOMA board, and is a Lawrence Heights Christian Church trustee. She was a past board member of Junior Achievement of Kansas-Douglas County District, United Way, Crime Stoppers, Meals on Wheels and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. Bisel enjoys spending time with her children, Ryan and Kristi, and her four grandchildren. “I have been involved with Junior Achievement in one capacity or another for more than 35 years,” Bisel says. “I’m passionate about JA because it is an organization based on connecting schoolchildren with business leaders. We have the privilege of helping prepare them as future employees or employers. “As I reviewed the names of past laureates, I was humbled. To be inducted into the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame is truly an honor and one of my career highlights.”

Edmonds

Steve Edmonds

Born and raised in Lawrence, Steve Edmonds graduated from KU with a degree from the School of Business in 1965. He worked for his father and grandfather in the family grocery business stocking shelves and cashiering, all while learning the value of hard work and integrity, and developing genuine personal relationships with customers. After graduation, he went to work for Proctor & Gamble, in Kansas City, and soon was transferred to the company’s office in Sacramento, where he became a manager. It was while working in California that Edmonds developed an interest in the financial markets and began investing in his own account. As Edmonds and his wife, Chris, were expecting their first child, they decided to return to Lawrence. He was hired by Paine Webber, beginning a successful 47-year career in finance. He became the branch office manager for Robert W. Baird, Piper Jaffray & Co. and was a senior vice president with Morgan Stanley before partnering with his son, Jason Edmonds, and Don Duncan, founding Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors. Edmonds was involved with many philanthropic and service organizations, including Kiwanis, Jaycees and Optimists. He has led and served on the boards of the KU Biodiversity Institute, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, Lawrence Arts Center and Outside for a Better Inside. He was president of the KU Roundball Club and chaired the KU Relays marathon for several years. Since retirement, he has served as treasurer of Audubon of Kansas and president of the Friends of the Lied board, and has sponsored the Jazz at the Lied Center series since 2015. Edmonds and his wife also have been active in the community in growing Christmas trees and planting flowers and trees throughout the city, as well as showing horses. “I thoroughly enjoyed teaching students about money, financial markets and investing,” Edmonds says. “It is vital that these kids learn about free enterprise and capitalism, and have the skills to compete. It is also important that the kids know you care about them. “I am very honored and humbled to be selected as a laureate for the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame. It is my goal to leave a legacy that I made things better than they were before.” 71

Sandy Praeger Sandy Praeger was born in nearby Paola, Kansas and graduated from The University of Kansas (KU) with a degree in education. After spending some time in Colorado, she and her husband, Mark, moved to Lawrence in 1977 where she began a career as an educator, teaching in the Kansas City area. She worked in the arts industry before assuming the role of vice president of community affairs for Douglas County Bank. She later became director of marketing for the Brandon Woods Retirement Community, in Lawrence.

Praeger

Praeger served on the Lawrence City Commission from 1985 to 1989 and was the city’s mayor from 1986 to 1987. During that time, she was a strong advocate for small business and keeping Downtown Lawrence the main focus for Lawrence business in the community. She served one term in the Kansas House of Representatives and was then elected to the Kansas Senate in 1992, 1996 and 2000. While in the legislature, her focus was on health insurance and care, and she successfully led the 2001 campaign for mental health parity. She became the state’s 24th commissioner of insurance in 2002 and, in 2008, was president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), where she advocated for health care and small business insurance reforms. She has been recognized by the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved and The Center for Population Options for her leadership.

After three terms, Praeger retired as insurance commissioner in 2015. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Dr. Nathan Davis Award, bestowed annually by the American Medical Association to individuals who have made significant contributions to public health through elected and career government service. She was recognized by AARP and Kansas Wildlife Federation as Legislator of the Year and, in 2014, received the President’s Award, given at the discretion of the President, for distinguished service as a commissioner-member of the NAIC. Praeger is a founding member of three Lawrence-based boards: CASA, Haskell Indian Nations University Foundation and Health Care Access. She lives with her husband, Dr. Mark Praeger. They have two children, Gretchen and J.D., and three grandchildren. “I’m very familiar with the good work Junior Achievement of Kansas does,” Praeger says. “I come at this not so much from involvement with business but from my involvement in social service and serving community needs to make Lawrence a better community for all its citizens. “It’s such an honor to be able to participate in this program,” she continues. “I hope my involvement has had some positive impact.” 73

Hack 74

Julie Hack with photos of Alan “Al” Hack, Jr. & Family

Alan “Al” Hack Jr. (Posthumous) Hack was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but after serving in the U.S. Army and graduating from Penn State with a degree in commerce and finance administration, he and his family moved to Lawrence in 1951 to pursue a business opportunity with his brother-in-law. He was co-owner and manager of The University Shop, a men’s clothing store located west of the KU campus for 21 years. Hack became a bank officer with Lawrence National Bank and Trust Co. in 1971 and soon became its vice president. He was promoted to senior vice president four years later and, in 1978, was named the bank’s president. From 1981 to 1987, he served as executive vice president and corporate treasurer for the Brock Hotel Corp. While semiretired, Hack worked in real estate with Calvin, Eddy & Kappelman Real Estate and capital management industries with Campbell-Becker Inc. Hack’s community involvement included being the founding director of Achievement Place for Girls, in Lawrence. He was moderator, trustee and senior deacon at Plymouth Congregational Church. He also served as chapter advisor of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, president of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce and president of Warm Hearts. His family was the 1972 Kiwanis Family of the Year. Awards bestowed upon him include the 1995 Baker University Achievement in Business Award, 1999 Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year and 2005 CornerBank Community Cornerstone Award. An avid golfer, Hack was a member of the 1948 NCAA golf championship team at Penn State, was club champion at Lawrence Country Club and a former Lawrence city golf champion. He enjoyed spending time with his wife, Julie, four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren until his passing in 2009. Hack’s wife, Julie, says an inscription on a bench at Lawrence Country Club perfectly sums up her husband’s life, saying Al “loved his family, friends and the game of golf.” “Al was very instrumental in working with young men, especially when he owned The University Shop,” Julie says. “It’s estimated 92 to 100 young men went through there, and they certainly came out better for it. He was a good businessperson working with a lot of people. And he was such a good person, husband and father, but was also so dedicated to his community.” p 75

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NEWS [MAKERS] Good Energy Solutions Featured on 2019 Top Solar Contractors and Top 100 Commercial Contractors Lists

With renewable energy expected to be the fastest growing source of U.S. electricity generation for at least the next two years, local solar installer Good Energy Solutions is happy to be contributing to the country’s energy mix. Good Energy Solutions has been recognized by Solar Power World (https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/) magazine for its installation efforts, achieving a rank of 264 out of 415 solar companies on the magazine’s 2019 Top Solar Contractors list (https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/top-solarcontractors/), and a rank of 88 on the Top 100 Commercial Contractors List. “We’d like to thank Solar Power World for their continued recognition of the hardworking companies on the front lines of the solar energy revolution. It’s an honor to be listed among the leaders in our industry,” said President of Good Energy Solutions, Kevin Good. “As the financial value proposition of solar versus fossil fuels improves, we are already seeing dramatic growth in 2019. The future is bright, indeed!”

& PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Mize Houser & Company P.A. Lawrence Office to become Kindred CPA, LLC The Lawrence office of Mize Houser and Company P.A. will become a new, independent accounting firm named Kindred CPA, LLC effective October 1, 2019. The new firm will be owned and directed by Ken Hite, CPA. Ken has been an accountant in Lawrence since 1998 and a shareholder with Mize Houser since 2011. Kevin Kressig, CPA and Abram Chrislip, CPA will also be directors of the new firm, and the professionals and staff of the Lawrence office will transition to Kindred CPA as well. The Kindred CPA office will remain at 211 East Eighth Street in Lawrence and can still be reached at the same phone number (785) 842-8844. Owner Ken Hite is excited about this transition. “We’re grateful to all the clients we’ve served over our 67-year history of providing accounting, tax, and consulting services to the Lawrence community. Our name is meant to convey our goal to be of kindred minds to those we serve, sharing the worthy goals of our clients, our co-workers and our community. Kevin, Abram and our entire team are looking forward to the new opportunities in our future.”

Casey Meek from the Lawrence offices of Joseph, Hollander & Craft LLC Honored by Best Lawyers in America® Casey Y. Meek earned recognition by Best Lawyers in the area of Criminal Defense: General Practice. Meek represents individuals during the investigation and prosecution of felony and misdemeanor charges, including: drug & alcohol offenses; DUI & other traffic offenses; property crimes; person crimes; and probation violations. Meek also assists clients with expungements of criminal investigations and convictions.

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BUSINESSES OF THE YEAR.

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WHOSE DESK ? Be the first to correctly guess which local business figure works behind this desk. Winner receives a $50 gift card to 23rd Street Brewery. facebook.com/lawrencebusinessmagazine