Local business owner Alesha Bowman recently appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and received $10,000 for her boutique, unLESHed+. In September, U-News sat down with Bowman to highlight her business, an upcycled plus-size boutique. A month later, she got a big surprise...

Kansas City is home to many upcycled fashion boutiques, but not many cater to plus sizes or are Black-owned. Alesha Bowman, owner of UnLESHed+ (pronounced “unleashed”), is working to close that gap. UnLESHed+ focuses on body positivity. The boutique’s brightly-colored...