Our Mission

At Thinking Bigger Media, we have a simple mission: We want to help small businesses think bigger so they grow bigger.

Whatever the stage of your business — aspiring, startup, established or mature — Thinking Bigger Media has the resources you need to grow to the next level.

We are dedicated to providing the strategic, “how-to” information small business owners need to become more productive and more profitable. We also connect owners with people and resources in the local business community that can help them grow.

Our History

“If you want to start a fire, you’ve got to strike a match.” — Stew Leonard

In February 1992, entrepreneurs John Holsen and David Byrne published the first issue of Kansas City Small Business Monthly. They placed Stew Leonard’s quote on the front page of that first issue, believing they had just lit a flame that would help light the way for small business owners.

The new publishers found it slow going at first. The turning point came when a business owner told Holsen that a Small Business Monthly article saved his business from bankruptcy.

“At that moment,” Holsen said, “I knew we were a part of something that was too important to die.”

The endeavor grew with the addition of feature articles, special sections, events and profiles of successful small business owners, and the magazine was renamed Thinking Bigger by former publisher Kelly Scanlon in 2011.

The fire lit back in 1992 is still burning today, and, under the leadership of co-owners Brad Burrow and Evan Kirsch, the company has a modern, digital-focused outlook in keeping with the way many people access information today.

The company now offers a variety of media products for business owners who “think bigger,” but what has not changed is Thinking Bigger’s exclusive focus on growing small businesses.

Hundreds of area entrepreneurs have been profiled, and readers have been introduced to companies like Three Dog Bakery, Boulevard Brewing Company, The Roasterie, Warehouse 1, Original Juan Specialty Foods, Indigo Wild, Oncimmune, Rhythm Engineering and many others.

Some companies have earned national reputations in the years since being recognized by Thinking Bigger.