Embracing Change with Kansas City Leader Adrienne Maples

[00:00:00.380] – Virginia Huling

Hey, everybody! Today, I’ve got Adrienne Maples here as my guest on the KC Leaders Podcast. And I’d like her to introduce herself for you guys. She is a renowned photographer here in the Kansas City area. Take it away, Adrienne!

 

[00:00:28.020] – Adrienne Maples

Wow, you’re going to say nicer things about me than I would myself.

 

[00:00:31.020] – Virginia Huling

Oh, come on.

 

[00:00:31.850] – Adrienne Maples

But I’m a professional photographer. I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years. I learned on film and have evolved as the media has changed. So I consider myself an AI novice. I’m also a speaker, an educator. All things photography my clients come to me for.

 

[00:00:47.180] – Virginia Huling

So talking about evolving your work and you as an artist, you’re on a couple of boards here in town. Can you tell me.

 

[00:00:54.140] – Adrienne Maples

More about some of that? That’s right. Yeah. So I’m on the board at the Kansas City Artists Coalition, and I’m also serving on the board for AIGA, which is the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Oh, cool. We don’t actually call it that anymore. That’s just the acronym. It’s really about designers of all walks of life. Okay. And on that board, I serve on the committee for Kansas City Design Week. So I am actually putting together, hold your horses, I am putting together an AI event for next year’s Kansas City Design Week, which will take place in April. And this is a big deal for me because I was very resistant to AI.

 

[00:01:27.000] – Virginia Huling

Okay.

 

[00:01:27.680] – Adrienne Maples

Very, very resistant.

 

[00:01:29.350] – Virginia Huling

All right. Yeah, we have a wide audience here. Let’s talk about that.

 

[00:01:33.310] – Adrienne Maples

Well, so it goes back to learning on film. I evolved on film. I was in art school, and they hammered it into my head that you capture everything in that one frame. So it was even hard for me to move past shooting my film to digital camera and then embracing Photoshop. So many people asked me to put their heads on Brad Pitt’s body. I get that a lot, actually. We don’t do that. I want you to look like you. And it’s only been in the last year, believe it or not, that I started thinking past that one frame that I shoot and thinking, All right, I can shoot this in five frames and blend them together in Photoshop. I don’t know why it was so hard for me to get on board with that, I guess, because I think I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to film and photography, and I believe in authenticity. I really pride myself on being authentic and being honest with my clients. And I feel like photography lies. Now we have Instagram filters and people slap filters on everything to make a mediocre photo decent.

 

[00:02:32.930] – Adrienne Maples

And I’m a firm believer in using your camera to get an amazing photo. Use all of the elements that you have in your camera, your lighting, get a great shot, and then use Photoshop to push it to the next level. Even children have bags under their eyes now because digital is so unforgiving. So there is a little bit of post-processing that’s involved in any photograph. But to take it a step further to think about shooting in the snow, for instance, shooting in the snow and getting a person to freeze in the snow, not freeze, literally, but to have that perfect moment of the person in the snow, the snow falling, that is a really hard thing to do in one frame. So one of the first images I did where I embraced Photoshop and this idea of combining images together was an artistic photo that I created of a little girl in the snow holding a Lantern. I’ve seen that one. And it’s actually four or five frames blended together. So that started with I took a photo of the scene. I had to light. You can’t get snow unless you light it and you have a dark background.

 

[00:03:36.000] – Adrienne Maples

So I lit the scene, shot my scene, got my snow. That was how I started. And then I brought my subject in because also I have a little girl. I don’t want to freeze her in the snow. Right. So I brought her in and I did a number of different expressions. I had her holding a ladder just to get that feel that I wanted, this magical her searching for something was the ultimate goal. And so before Itried to try to get the idea that I wanted to achieve, I went out in the snow, I already had this idea. I’d storyboarded out this idea that I wanted. So now we have AI. Ai can do everything I just told you with prompts. Right.

 

[00:04:13.990] – Virginia Huling

So you have done a lot of different things over the years. You started off as full-blown, woman-owned business, wedding photographer. Right. Can you give me just a little bit of an intro of what you’re doing now? You’ve come massively.

 

[00:04:33.340] – Adrienne Maples

There’s a lot of photographers now that start their business in weddings. When I first started out more than 20 years ago, that was not a cool thing. It was not cool to start with weddings. Now I kindI’ve owned it. I built my business on the back of weddings. The clients that I’ve collected over the years, I don’t collect it the right word, but the clients that have stuck with me throughout the years, a lot of them I met through a wedding. And then people that have hired me, even recently, I just had a new commercial client hire me who remembered me. She was a bridesmaid at a wedding 15 years ago. Oh, wow. I built my business on the back of weddings, and that really was just the way to be shooting all the time. Weddings were really challenging because not only did I have to be great with my camera, with my lighting, but you have to be great with people and you have to constantly move. So it really taught me how to pivot, how to make things work, even if something broke to find light. You have to keep moving through a wedding.

 

[00:05:33.320] – Adrienne Maples

And I really feel like that helped me have a strong basis after art school. So the art school gave me the photography background, but throwing myself into weddings taught me how to deal with people, how to run a business. And since then, I still do a few weddings. You have to know me. You have to know somebody. And it’s just because it’s such a laborious process. If I accept a wedding, I am 10 hours on my… It is a sport, and it takes me days to recuperate.

 

[00:06:06.200] – Virginia Huling

Well, and you’re doing a lot more different types of art these days. That was looking at… All right, I’m just going to lay this out there. You say maybe it’s not cool to start with weddings or it wasn’t. But here’s the deal. You are a working artist, and that’s what everybody wants to.

 

[00:06:24.970] – Adrienne Maples

Get you. That’s true.

 

[00:06:26.190] – Virginia Huling

I think it’s pretty awesome.

 

[00:06:27.890] – Adrienne Maples

And you’re right. If after graduating from art school, you have to… It’s really hard to see who you are as an artist. I think that every artist has imposter syndrome to a degree. And it was hard for me to say I’m an artist. It’s still hard for me to say I’m an artist. I still feel like I need to qualify it, but I do less of that now. If I meet someone, they want to know more about what I do, they can go look at my work. They can decide whether they think I’m any good or not. I’m not in the business of qualifying my art anymore. But yes, I would say that photography was a way to pay the bills and to take care of my family. I was the primary breadwinner. That’s amazing. It was challenging, but it had to be done. And I was doing photography. So, hey, I can’t complain that much. But from that grew everything else. Photography is my life. I live and breathe photography. I can’t help but look at beautiful light. My daughter gets annoyed. She’s like, Mom, stop pointing out beautiful light. But I see it everywhere I go.

 

[00:07:32.010] – Adrienne Maples

I think about how I would photograph things, but people are my passion. I love people. I love exploring what makes someone who they are, trying to find that authenticity and trying to represent that in a photograph. So weddings made it, I don’t know, easy to be around people to capture personalities where they weren’t paying attention to me. When you’re doing portraits, people are very aware of the camera. So it’s a different ball game. But I think what makes me really good at what I do is my ability to make myself vulnerable with my clients, to get them to relax, and then they’re allowed to be authentic. They can be themselves. They don’t look like I make the joke that when you do the weird eyes and you smile, people look like a serial killer. And that’s the concept. I’m like, hey, you look like a serial killer. You got to relax. Take a deep breath. And then people are the central focus of what I do. But now businesses will hire me and they want me to craft a certain look for them. And that requires me to be a creative problem solver. It’s more than just a photographer.

 

[00:08:40.010] – Adrienne Maples

I’m styling people. I’m a psychologist. You’ve got people that are angry about something on a photoshoot, and I have to mitigate the situation in order to get the best shot. All of it is about getting that moment, capturing that moment.

 

[00:08:54.880] – Virginia Huling

Do we bring a lot of all that stuff that’s under the surface? Does that show up in your face.

 

[00:08:59.830] – Adrienne Maples

When you’re taking, you’re capturing? It does. Because people aren’t… If you put a camera in front of somebody’s face, you go stiff. The moment you know you’re being photographed and it’s being recorded, and maybe the younger generation is better at this because they have phones and they’re photographing themselves all the time, but they’re still creating this very one-sided view of themselves. The selfies, in particular, girls who take selfies and they take a million selfies and they post that one photo online. They’re looking for something very particular that they want to say about themselves. When I’m photographing people, I’m trying to capture their essence. I don’t want to capture that one photo where they think they look sexy or, Hey, I look hot. I look beautiful in that photo. I want to capture a well-rounded image of someone. It can be challenging with business people because maybe they see themselves one way. I have to take all that information in my initial consult. How do they see themselves? How do they want to present themselves? And then when I have them behind the camera, I have to light them in a way. Sometimes it’s more dramatic lighting.

 

[00:10:05.300] – Adrienne Maples

Sometimes it’s more flattering lighting. All of that plays a part into the story that I want to tell about the person. So that’s my passion. It’s always been my passion shooting people.

 

[00:10:15.190] – Virginia Huling

And you’ve got a couple of different types of portrait photography. I’ve seen ones where you’ve done, like you said, the very corporate ones, where there’s a certain aura that comes across and maybe your setting is a little more muted or nodding towards the industry that you’re in. But I’ve also seen fantastic ones where you’ve got these magical snowy settings and papers floating through the air and you really are reaching into this very artistic world where you’re doing these magical portraits.

 

[00:10:52.160] – Adrienne Maples

So I like making magic.

 

[00:10:53.680] – Virginia Huling

All right. So how do you move between those two worlds?

 

[00:10:57.940] – Adrienne Maples

Well, it would be if people were hiring me to make the magical photos. At the moment, I do have a few clients that see my magical work and they want to bring something into their photographs like that. But I would say that right now the corporate world is still a little boring. I try to make it as exciting as I can, but I would say a lot of the magical stuff, that’s more on my personal body of work. And I’ve tried to do more of that in the last year because that feeds my soul. I love making magic. And I do have a few clients that hire me for their family photos every year. Actually, I have a number of clients that hire me every year to do their family photos. But a few of them, we start out with something formal, and then they want me to create something magical. I think photography is magic. And your photographer lies. People don’t realize it. But we’re showing you a very carefully curated view. You’re not thinking about when you see a photograph, you’re not thinking about everything outside of that photograph, but there is a whole world outside of that image.

 

[00:12:06.270] – Adrienne Maples

Just like today, we’re filming in here, and people aren’t seeing the lights and the several cameras and all the background work that’s happening. Photography is magic. You can’t just snap a photo and make it magic. It happens occasionally. I mean, you get that rare shot on your phone, you’re like, Wow, how did this happen? But it takes precise planning. It takes knowledge of light and how the camera works. And even as we move into this new age of AI where we can generate all sorts of things, I think that the true photographers still have to have the base understanding of light, how it works, and how it can be flattering or how it can be demonstrative. Light is a really powerful tool, and the camera is a very powerful tool, but your photographer is in every photo. You don’t think about that. But I am in every picture I take. You don’t see me, but I am there.

 

[00:12:59.710] – Virginia Huling

Well, we’re seeing your vision captured in a moment and displayed for the world to see. Right. And that’s something that I think when you talk about portraits, especially with your kids or as a business owner, how you want your perception to be received, you need somebody who can key into how to visualize those stories.

 

[00:13:25.910] – Adrienne Maples

Right. It is. It’s a visualization. It is creative problem solving because I can’t tell you how many times I show up on set, the client has this very specific idea of what we’re going to create. They’ve sent me pictures on Pinterest and I show up on the scene and there’s nothing at all that looks like the Pinterest scene that they want me to create. I have to extrapolate. All right. So this was the scene that they wanted. What’s the idea that they want to present? And hone in on that idea and try to creatively problem-solve to still create that idea without necessarily mirroring everything that they’re finding in this image on Pinterest. Okay. You mentioned children. I just want to say real quick. Children are my favorite.

 

[00:14:06.350] – Virginia Huling

Oh, really? Okay.

 

[00:14:07.080] – Adrienne Maples

I love photographing children because they’re so unaware of themselves. Adults, the moment you put a camera in front of them, we get all weird

 

[00:14:14.700] – Virginia Huling

-pulls us out of the moment.

 

[00:14:15.930] – Adrienne Maples

But children, I mean, they’ll pick their nose in front of you. They just don’t care. They run around. Toddlers are so expressive. And even though it doesn’t pay like commercial shoots do, it is the most fun for me. And it’s exhausting. I’m not going to lie. It is exhausting chasing children around. But those are still my favorite thing.

 

[00:14:36.420] – Virginia Huling

To do. And those are very limited windows of time to capture.

 

[00:14:39.890] – Adrienne Maples

Some of those things. Oh, my gosh. Absolutely. There was a saying on the wall growing up that had this whole, it was a poem about cobwebs can wait and dust your sorrows. Babies don’t keep. That was the end of the babies don’t keep. As a child, I read that over and over and I thought, I don’t understand this. Now as an adult, I get it. Nothing keeps. We’re constantly aging and changing and entering new chapters in our lives. We think about it more when we have children. But the truth is we’re constantly different people. You don’t wake up tomorrow the same person that you were today. It’s just the fact change is inevitable. Growth is optional. I like to think about that with my photography. I think that’s another thing that really got me into this was I want to capture fleeting moments. I see the world with rose color glasses. I have since I was a child. I can’t change it.

 

[00:15:34.740] – Virginia Huling

Well, I mean, that’s what makes you you. That’s your unique outlook on things.

 

[00:15:37.690] – Adrienne Maples

It’s true. I think it’s gotten me into trouble sometimes believing in the wrong people. But I think we all do that to a degree, but I wouldn’t change that about myself.

 

[00:15:48.260] – Virginia Huling

Right. So graduating from SCAD, you jumped right into the entrepreneur world before it became a thing. You started your own company.

 

[00:15:57.900] – Adrienne Maples

I did. I actually started my business while I was still in school. My senior year at Savannah College of Art and Design had a wonderful teacher who encouraged me. Everyone else in the class was doing animation. And he said I could build a website. So I built my own website. I launched my business. I very quickly built a name for myself in the Southeast. I got a magazine cover my first year in business, which-

 

[00:16:21.730] – Virginia Huling

That’s right. You were on the cover of Southern Living.

 

[00:16:24.130] – Adrienne Maples

It was Southern Bride magazine, actually.

 

[00:16:25.620] – Virginia Huling

Southern Bride magazine, I’m sorry.

 

[00:16:26.820] – Adrienne Maples

But it was a huge honor for me. I won the the Pilsner Awards. I got a third place in the Pilsner [Pilsner Urquell International Photography Award], which is an international competition. That was the first or second year I was in business. And that really helped validate that I was doing something worthwhile. And then I chose Kansas City. I visited Kansas City, and I swear it wasn’t more than a half an hour in the city before I thought, this is where I want to be. I love this town. The people were amazing here. I felt like I was home. This is home. I grew up in the south, born and raised, but this is, Kansas City is home. I don’t consider myself a southern girl anymore. I consider myself a Midwestern Kansas City lover. And there’s so many reasons I’ll try to whittle it down for you. First, I’m going to say the people that I’ve met here are some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. The values that they hold, their loyalty, their honesty, their tenacity has been a godsend for me because I didn’t experience that when I lived in the south.

 

[00:17:34.540] – Adrienne Maples

I built my business down there, but it was like pulling teeth. It was very hard to get the labs to do what they said they were going to do. It was hard to get… It was just challenging. It was a different world. And also slow. It felt like it was slow, and I move fast. I talk fast. I get things done I want. Let’s move fast. And Kansas City answered that for me. I was also really impressed with the fact that they give one % back to the arts in Kansas City. That was really impressive to me. They were supportive of their artists. So I felt like it only made sense for me to move somewhere that was going to support me as an artist, but also offered me a really great place to grow as a business.

 

[00:18:12.160] – Virginia Huling

So being here now, what unique opportunities or challenges do you see for Kansas City in the coming years?

 

[00:18:20.520] – Adrienne Maples

Well, since I moved here in 2005, I knew that Kansas City was going to be a Mecca. I just knew it was up and coming and like a hidden gem. People when I say Kansas City, they imagine Tumbleweed. I’ve had a number of people like, What are you? No. I would like to keep it – We have buildings. I know it’s amazing here. It’s strange. I vacillate between wanting to share it with the world and also wanting to keep it hidden because I don’t want it to be ruined by the world. I’ve heard.

 

[00:18:48.760] – Virginia Huling

That from.

 

[00:18:49.180] – Adrienne Maples

Other people, too. It’s true. But I see us becoming the next big tech hub for a number of reasons. One, I think that the people here, the diversity we accept in our community is parallel to none. It was something I never experienced in the south. So a number of really great things are coming to Kansas City. I’m sure a lot of your listeners, if they’re Kansas Cityans, they know that the World Cup is coming in a couple of years. Ted Lasso really put us on the map as well. Ted Lasso is one of my favorite shows. It’s awesome. I think it’s quintessential Kansas City. But we were also just listed on a federal list for one of the 30 tech hubs in the United States, which means that we’re getting funding. We’re growing in momentum. Technology is taking off here. It sounds stupid, but technology is building. There’s momentum in Kansas City. There’s been momentum since I arrived in the city, but it’s only been growing.

 

[00:19:44.710] – Virginia Huling

There’s a lot of communities in this area for different things. And I know there’s a big AI and tech community here, too.

 

[00:19:51.180] – Adrienne Maples

Right. And that’s where I’ve turned my sights moving forward because AI is something that we can’t pretend doesn’t exist. It’s here. All the things that we watched on Star Trek when we were kids, I’m waiting for the Hollodeck. That would be amazing. Oh, yeah, I think everybody’s waiting for the Hollodeck. It will be so great. And also the food, the synthesized food that’s just created. I mean, we’re already 3D printing houses.

 

[00:20:16.130] – Virginia Huling

The minute I don’t have to make food again, it’s going to be like-

 

[00:20:18.960] – Adrienne Maples

It’s going to be amazing.

 

[00:20:19.850] – Virginia Huling

So talking about how much you love about it, you mentioned a few things. What’s one thing that you love the most about Kansas City? And what makes it stand out from other cities that you’ve lived in or been in? Because you’ve been around. That’s a really good question. You’ve visited a lot of places.

 

[00:20:34.590] – Adrienne Maples

Big puffy clouds. Okay. There was a list of things that I wrote down when I first visited the city, and I still go back to that list. Big puffy clouds was something on the list. Really? Yes. It’s green. There are lots of green spaces here, which I think add to mental health, seeing there’s not parking lots and buildings. You’ve got green spaces that are well thought out. That’s just a physical thing that you can see as you go throughout the city, but it is the people. It is the people. I think that there are… Just when you go into a gas station or you go to a restaurant or you’re just walking down the streets, people are genuine here. I feel it’s so much different than somewhere like New York. I don’t think that people are necessarily rude in New York. I think they’re just busy. They’re in a hurry. They don’t have time. In Kansas City, people make time for you.

 

[00:21:28.580] – Virginia Huling

Do you think you, as an artist, does that make it easier for you to connect with them and get to those stories quicker? You like to move fast. And if people are… It seems to be more open or receptive, perhaps.

 

[00:21:42.540] – Adrienne Maples

Right. And that’s a good point. I’ve been here so long now that I don’t know if that’s isolated just Kansas City or if it’s just my clients. I know that I feel at home here no matter where I go. It brings out the best in me.

 

[00:22:01.520] – Virginia Huling

Well, that’s great to be in a place that brings out the best of you and recognize it.

 

[00:22:07.950] – Adrienne Maples

I try to convince everybody that I love that I think is amazing to move here.

 

[00:22:13.860] – Virginia Huling

That is true.

 

[00:22:14.800] – Adrienne Maples

Because it’s such a great place to be.

 

[00:22:16.960] – Virginia Huling

So how do you stay informed and connected with the Kansas City community? How do you engage with it?

 

[00:22:23.150] – Adrienne Maples

So currently, the best way for me to engage with Kansas City community is through these organizations that I’m involved with, the Kansas City Artists Coalition, the AIGA, and doing this work for Kansas City Design Week has really given me an opportunity to have conversations with people that I wouldn’t otherwise have had an opportunity to talk with. Okay. Kansas City Design Week has really given me an opportunity to be more involved in the community to think about how to give back to the design community. I would say that specifically, I’m involved with arts and design communities. There are so many different communities to tap into here in Kansas City. I’m also passionate about mental health. There’s so many great places, so many vehicles for you to find somewhere you’re passionate about and meet people, meet others that are just as passionate about the things that you are. So for anybody who is looking to get more involved in the Kansas City community, I suggest following your passions, find an organization, find a group, use Facebook, use Google, and find organizations that are speaking to the things that you want to be involved in, that finding other individuals that have the same passions that you do.

 

[00:23:30.930] – Adrienne Maples

I have heard from some of my clients that are moms. After they’ve become a mom, they’ve said it’s so hard to meet people.

 

[00:23:37.670] – Virginia Huling

You get really isolated.

 

[00:23:39.510] – Adrienne Maples

You get isolated. And I think that’s easy to do in any city. And since I’ve heard it about Kansas City, I know that this is not just a Kansas City thing. This is a worldwide thing. I feel like it’s a lot easier to be more involved in Kansas City. I think that if you join a group or you find a community, I think that at least in my experience, I’ve been welcomed with open arms.

 

[00:24:00.940] – Virginia Huling

That’s great advice. I was going to ask you what’s one actionable piece of advice you would give to our listeners about getting involved. And I think what you’re saying there about just going and just doing it, a lot of people have a resistance to that. It’s scary!

 

[00:24:19.300] – Adrienne Maples

I had people advise me to just go to networking events. Just go to every networking event that you can find. That makes sense for some people. It doesn’t make as much sense for me because it needs to be very catered to the passions and the communities that I want to be involved with. So I think that if you hone it down more into, well, what’s my passion? What do I want to talk about? What people do I want to meet? How do I want to grow myself in the next direction? Right now, it’s tech. It’s AI. I want to learn everything that I can learn about it. I want to learn how to use it, the opportunities that are out there. And I want to be an advocate for the fear that people are putting out about AI because everybody that I, all of my friends that aren’t really involved in it, the moment I mentioned AI, they’re the doom and gloom terminator, some apocalyptic scenario. I want to change people’s attitude. I don’t want people to live in fear. Fear can drive you to do great things, but it also can keep you isolated.

 

[00:25:30.540] – Adrienne Maples

It can keep you from reaching your potential. I see that with AI. I see so much potential, so much opportunity, so many positive things that can come from it. But people are focusing on the fear factor, and I think that’s just because we’re inundated with it. We’re inundated with the fear.

 

[00:25:48.840] – Virginia Huling

So maybe they need Adrienne’s vision and what she sees the future could be get some of that mojo going on-

 

[00:25:58.280] – Adrienne Maples

The positivity.

 

[00:25:59.340] – Virginia Huling

– instead of just going right to the Terminator outcome.

 

[00:26:02.030] – Adrienne Maples

I think it makes it a lot easier to exist if you keep a positive mindset. I’m not always positive. Don’t get me wrong. I have to fake it a lot of times. There have definitely been days that I have a photoshoot, and I’m just thinking, oh, I don’t feel like… But the moment I get there and I get into my zone, the real Adrienne comes out. I think that it’s really easy to hear fear, things that make us afraid, and to latch on to that and bring us down. And that keeps us from moving forward. That stalls our momentum. And what I see in Kansas City is all this positive momentum that’s building, especially when it comes to AI and the tech industry. I see us becoming a leader, and I want us to be a positive leader, and I would love to contribute to that. I want to be part of anything positive Kansas City that I can be.

 

[00:26:57.320] – Virginia Huling

What steps would you suggest to somebody who wants to make a difference in Kansas City like you do? What could they get involved in? Somebody out here is listening to this podcast right now, and they’re like, Man, she’s got it figured out.

 

[00:27:12.220] – Adrienne Maples

Well, I pretend really well.

 

[00:27:14.800] – Virginia Huling

But what do you do? If I wanted to get started in something.

 

[00:27:18.780] – Adrienne Maples

So I’m going to talk to the artists because I think as a group, artists are isolated a lot. And the Kansas City Artists Coalition is the first step that would take to be more involved in the art community. The membership is minimal, but it gives you a network of all of these other artists and events you can go to. You don’t even have to be a member to attend events. But as an artist, surrounding yourself with other artists is imperative. The thing that I miss most about art school is the critiques, is having other peers look at my work and say, Hey, that sucks. I don’t know why you love this so much, or hey, I know you don’t like this work, but it’s really powerful. We need that. We need that feedback to help us grow and push us as artists. So I definitely would say any artists out there that are listening and artists that are afraid of the AI revolution, first of all, you should definitely come to Kansas City Design Week. Next year, we’ll be able to go to the Keystone, the Keystone, and talk about the AI talk next year and check out our AI talk in April.

 

[00:28:18.000] – Adrienne Maples

April 24th, I believe, will be our AI talk. You should definitely check that out. But be involved in any of these things. Throughout Kansas City, in all areas of town, there are a myriad of events that you can attend. The Keystone Innovative district is just something that I recently learned about, and they have events happening every Wednesday. It’s usually a pretty small group, but there’s a great talk going on. It’s a great place to meet people that are involved in the tech industry that are moving forward. So the key to that, and you can use Facebook to search for things, too. I know there are all sorts of groups on Facebook that you can get involved in and do meetups, but keying into what you’re passionate about. So let’s say you’re an auditor, that’s your job. To me, that sounds like one of the most boring jobs there is. So that’s why I’m throwing that an auditor. That’s awful. Yeah, it just sounds. But let’s say you’re an auditor and you like art, but you’re not an artist and you think, I don’t know anything about it. Well, join the art community. You don’t have to be an artist to join the Kansas City Artists Coalition or to be part of the community.

 

[00:29:27.040] – Adrienne Maples

We need people that aren’t artists to share their opinions to see something that we don’t see. That’s really, really important to help people grow. We need variety. I would also say to the Kansas City Artists Coalition in particular, we don’t have a lot of young members. Really? Yes. I don’t know why that is. As I’ve joined the board, this is something that I am going to be proactive about, is to try to get younger people to be involved because we need young people getting involved in the arts. We can’t have all of the old guys dying off like the photographers who learned on film. Some of the guys that really inspired me in art school, they’re old or they’re no longer living. And we need that constant flux of young people coming in to bring in new ideas.

 

[00:30:16.340] – Virginia Huling

And they need.

 

[00:30:16.750] – Adrienne Maples

The community. They do. Because you think about how isolated the younger generation is now with their phones, with the.

 

[00:30:23.060] – Virginia Huling

Social media. We’re in an isolating age.

 

[00:30:24.650] – Adrienne Maples

It’s very true. And that’s something else that I’m really passionate about that I think as I go into these other areas in Kansas City, I try to bring all that stuff with me. All the things that I’m passionate about, I try to bring to every organization, every event I go to, I try to get people involved.

 

[00:30:41.900] – Virginia Huling

So talking about these different communities that you found in Kansas City and the home that you’ve made it here, are there any particular local leaders or influencers in Kansas City that inspire you? And if so, who are they? Okay. And what is it about them that inspire you?

 

[00:31:03.200] – Adrienne Maples

There are a few. And I would say that these people are now my friends. Camry Ivory is one that I would mention right away. She was actually voted top 10 most influential people in Kansas City recently. And I find that she’s just so fresh, so inspirational, so well-read and involved in technology and moving forward that I really enjoy our conversations because we just seem to power each other and lift each other up. I think anybody that lifts you up is a really valuable asset. I also want to say that somebody that’s really got me involved in AI, I’m a little hesitant to mention my brother. I don’t want him to get a big head. He’s totally going to see this and be like, Oh, yeah. But growing up, he’s my older brother, and he’s always been just so brilliant. He’s so well rounded. He researches everything. As a kid, I thought it was ridiculous. It was exhausting how well informed he was about everything. But I wouldn’t have started to tackle AI if it hadn’t been for him. Really? Really. He just knows so much. It blows my mind away. And he’s constantly interested in learning more, in growing his knowledge, in being accurate, in making sure that he’s well read and well-versed on these things.

 

[00:32:29.340] – Adrienne Maples

And he’s the reason why I decided to spearhead the AI talk for Kansas City design week. I know. I don’t want him to know that. He’s going to know it. I know he’s going to know it.

 

[00:32:38.380] – Virginia Huling

We’re recording this in several ways.

 

[00:32:40.210] – Adrienne Maples

I know. Well, it’s like when you’re the little sister, you don’t want to give your brother props. Yeah, but- But it is true. And he probably knows it deep down.

 

[00:32:51.230] – Virginia Huling

Yeah, but that’s awesome that you acknowledge it.

 

[00:32:53.180] – Adrienne Maples

Yeah, and he moved here because of me.

 

[00:32:57.450] – Virginia Huling

Yes, I have heard that. What is it that you’ve been trying to get him to move here for the past –

 

[00:33:03.200] – Adrienne Maples

For 15 years, yeah.

 

[00:33:04.510] – Virginia Huling

I’m pretty sure it was within the first month or two that you were here.

 

[00:33:08.060] – Adrienne Maples

Yeah.

 

[00:33:08.670] – Virginia Huling

Full disclosure here for anybody who’s listening or maybe new to our podcast, full disclosure, David Maples is Adrienne’s brother, and he is a co-host on this podcast. So yeah.

 

[00:33:24.640] – Adrienne Maples

So it’s just the truth. But yeah, David Maples does inspire me a lot and he has my whole life. He’s pretty inspirational guy. Yeah, he can be.

 

[00:33:34.440] – Virginia Huling

I’m sure you’ve got some good stories on that, too.

 

[00:33:37.140] – Adrienne Maples

I do, but I’m not going to share that with you. Not all this podcast. Okay.

 

[00:33:39.590] – Virginia Huling

But I do want to keep this around you, Adrienne. Can you, for everybody out there, could you share a personal experience or a lesson, just a quick one that significantly shaped your career or perspective?

 

[00:33:53.700] – Adrienne Maples

I got a good one for you. My intro to photography teacher told me I would never be any good. Yeah.

 

[00:34:00.350] – Virginia Huling

She told me.

 

[00:34:00.990] – Adrienne Maples

I would never be any good. And it was because I’m not great with numbers, and photography is numbers. The first camera that I shot with was actually overexposing everything by a couple of stops. And I had no idea because I was using the meter in my camera. Everything’s manual. And when I went in for our quarter review for her intro to photography class, she told me, You’ll never be any good at this. And she may not have said those exact words, but everything that she was telling me, yeah, that’s what I heard. And she was essentially encouraging me to find maybe another art career that I could pursue. And that really hurt, but it also lit a fire in me because I wanted to prove to her that she didn’t know what she was talking about. Then, lo and behold, a few years later, when I was a senior and I started my business, she called me to photograph her wedding. Get out. Really? Yeah, she did. And she-Did she know it was you? She knew I was a student, but she didn’t remember that… Of course, she didn’t remember this conversation. And, of course, I told her I was busy.

 

[00:35:04.290] – Adrienne Maples

I wasn’t about to shoot her wedding. But that really said something to me, and I think it should say something to everyone else. We’re told that we’re not good at something. We’re never going to be good at this. But think about the people that rise to the top. It’s failure that makes us better. It’s failure that teaches us how to succeed.

 

[00:35:26.520] – Virginia Huling

And what were you saying earlier about fear?

 

[00:35:29.110] – Adrienne Maples

Yeah, the fear holds you back. You shouldn’t let the fear hold you back. And Lord knows it holds me back all the time. I’m going to say Lord, the fear holds you back.

 

[00:35:37.490] – Virginia Huling

Hang on. But it didn’t that time.

 

[00:35:39.540] – Adrienne Maples

It didn’t that time, but it almost did. I did think about dropping out, but there really wasn’t an option.

 

[00:35:46.360] – Virginia Huling

So that’s a massive… Yeah, that’s a great… Okay, so that would have a massive effect on the trajectory of your life. It did. And you listened to that or, I guess, let – I.

 

[00:35:57.280] – Adrienne Maples

I to it, but I – get the better of you. Of you. Maybe if I didn’t have the push externally, I didn’t want to fail at Collier. I said I wanted to go to this really expensive, prestigious art school. I didn’t want to fail. I didn’t want to quit. I’m not a quitter.

 

[00:36:12.530] – Virginia Huling

With that, what role do you hope to play in the future of Kansas City?

 

[00:36:18.250] – Adrienne Maples

I just want to be part of it. I don’t really know. I probably need to manifest that a little bit more. But I do see myself as a very positive person, a go a go I just want to be part of it. I think that it takes an army to make something like this happen. It takes a village to raise a child, they say. And this is absolutely true. And I really believe that Kansas City, as a community, has everything it needs to take us to the next level to be on the map as a tech community. I really fundamentally believe that. And from the day that I came to Kansas City and decided I wanted to move here, it’s only proven me right over and over and over and over it just continues to get better. That’s awesome.

 

[00:37:06.510] – Virginia Huling

What’s your favorite barbecue in Kansas City?

 

[00:37:09.340] – Adrienne Maples

Oh, this is Sacker Ridge because I don’t like barbecue. I know, but you’re here, you have to eat it, right?

 

[00:37:18.210] – Virginia Huling

What’s your favorite place.

 

[00:37:19.060] – Adrienne Maples

To eat? Bobby Q’s. Really? Bobby Q’s on Q’s Mission Parkway.

 

[00:37:23.340] – Virginia Huling

Okay. So for somebody who’s.

 

[00:37:24.960] – Adrienne Maples

Not a huge fan of barbecue. I don’t like barbecue. Bobby Q’s is the place to go. Yeah, and it’s “Bob B Q’s” and it’s It’s a little hole in the wall place, but it’s great. And great. Never had the fried corn things. I know you would think from the south you would have, but I never had that before. And the first time I had it was at Bob B Q’s

 

[00:37:40.110] – Virginia Huling

Was at Okay, so you do like do.

 

[00:37:42.890] – Adrienne Maples

Only from that place. Okay.

 

[00:37:46.210] – Virginia Huling

Adrienne, I wanted to thank you for being on the show. Anybody who wants to follow Adrienne, see her work, see what she’s been up to, or get involved in the communities that she’s a part of, hop on hop on We’ll have all our information up there for there her website. If you’re looking to take lessons, that’s something that something can also offer. So hop on the KC Leaders Podcast website, and we’ll have everything written up for you. And make sure to take the lessons to heart. It’s a scary thing to be an artist. You really have to put yourself out there and be vulnerable in a big world. So don’t be afraid, join your join and get involved. Thanks, Adrienne.

 

[00:38:33.170] – Adrienne Maples

Thank you.

 

[00:38:34.790] – Producer

Thank you for listening to the KC Leaders Podcast. Please remember to like, share, subscribe, and leave a review wherever you listen. For more information about this podcast, you can visit ‘kcleaderspodcast.com’. Don’t forget to check out our other great podcasts like The Buck Stops Here, streaming now on all major platforms and at ‘thebuckstopsherepodcast.com’.