Phoenix 02.01.2018

Loren North

My personal journey to becoming a personal stylist started with shopping at thrift stores and consignment stores. I used to work in an area that had a lot of big box stores that were convenient to run to over lunch or after work. I kept returning to these stores due to their proximity to my workplace and price point. Read more>>

Kristine Vowles

At a very young age I expressed an appreciation for beautiful things, I would be occupied for hours as I discovered every little detail of whatever caught my eye. Some of my first words were “That’s Pretty” and “Don’t Touch”. I have begun decorating and arranging furniture as early as seven years old and my sweet grandmother and mom never seemed to mind. Read more>>

Haley Coles

There are few moments more humiliating than asking for help and being told that you don’t deserve it. That’s exactly what happened to me when I tried to buy syringes at a pharmacy in Phoenix in the early 2000’s. I was a teenager addicted to heroin, and I was going to inject drugs regardless of if I had a new syringe or a used one. Read more>>

Ethan Foxx

I began performing professionally as a vocalist at age 15 with Gadzooks. Since then, I have produced and released music as a recording artist with Sweatin’ Blood, Afterlife, Rokyn, Foxx, and as a solo artist. I am a lead vocalist as my primary focus, but I also play guitar, bass, and drums. Read more>>

Jean Laninga

I have been a professional photographer for 10 years, starting out in families with lifestyle, and evolving to opening our own opulent studio in December of 2017 to work with a passion for women and glamour. I have found that I love working one-on-one with women who are not photographed often and don’t have recent photos they love, women who feel un-photogenic, the mature women, and women who want a day all their own to feel pampered and their most beautiful. Read more>>

Carlos Elizondo

My idea came about while I was in school to become an automotive technician. I started noticing a gap between the customer and the shop. The only thing bridging that gap was a tow truck. Over time, you could tell that the majority of tows were because of a bad battery, flat tire, or some ridiculous repair that could’ve saved a lot of time to the consumer. Read more>>

Steve Valkenaar

I was first licensed in 1992 with over 25 years of sales, marketing and management experience and extensive experience in understanding real estate markets as well as intimate local area knowledge. My experience reaches across resale homes, marketing of new construction to building custom homes. Read more>>

Gregory Sutliff

Alcal became a part of Pacific Coast Building Products in 1971 and has had a presence in the Western US for almost 50 years. After the Great Recession of 2008, we diversified our product offerings to include installed insulation services for homeowners, with a dramatically increased focus on helping them improve their homes’ comfort and energy efficiency. Read more>>

Courtney Warren

AZ Open Water started over 10 years ago, providing opportunities for individuals to race open water swim events in the beautiful lakes of Arizona. Any athletes wanting experience in the open water from triathletes to open water focused swimmers had an opportunity race in the Arizona lakes. Read more>>

Sam Schikowitz

Medical Marijuana Card Certification Center of Arizona was founded by a Dr. Sam, a holistic primary care doctor who was working in an internal medicine office. He was seeing 20-30 patients per day and was routinely prescribing, as part of the full standard of care, opiates and benzodiazepines. Read more>>

Shane Cory

Shane Douglas Cory, owner/operator of Aerogelic Ballooning, is a third generation pilot; and second generation owner of one of the first commercial Hot Air Balloon Companies to emerge in Arizona in the mid 70’s. Shane’s parents, Phillip & Angelica Cory, both commercial pilots, had their first hot air balloon “adventure” in 1973. Read more>>

Angela Pinholster and Rebecca Halonen

Create Academy was co-founded by Angela Pinholster and Rebecca Halonen in 2013, to provide an opportunity for students from all backgrounds to participate in an arts integrated curriculum focused on social justice. Both founders were teachers prior to opening Create, and we saw the injustices of students being pulled out of their artistic courses to focus on academic subjects that were deemed more important. Read more>>

Karen Mason

In the 60’s; my dad, Earl Mettler, found himself in a administrative position with an insurance company that required a lot of traveling, it also meant we had to relocate from Arizona, the only state our family lived in, to northern California. Read more>>

Desiree Martinez

I had lost the job I had gotten after college in 2009 due to cutbacks, and like most young millennials, I had to move in with my parents. I spent a lot of time lost trying to find work of any kind to pay for my student loans and general living expenses. At one point I was working as a hostess and swim instructor making less than $10 an hour. Read more>>

Cari Fonseca

I am the CEO & Co-Founder of The Next Step Foundation Team Brandon, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness about the life-altering effects of drinking and driving. I take full-time care of my son, Brandon, who suffers from a severe traumatic brain injury due to a choice he made in 2001 to drive drunk at the age of 21. Read more>>

Erika Edholm, Kate Mellow

Bloom + Blueprint was born from a 16 year friendship between Kate and myself. In 2015, after styling and designing weddings and events for family and friends as a hobby, Kate asked me to coffee during our lunch break to “talk”. Read more>>

Mary Fennello

At 17, I graduated a year early with a high school diploma and a 2 year certification in commercial art, I was very young, and even younger looking. I was studying to be an Architect, a longtime dream and passion. My 3 older sisters owned a hair salon in Phoenix for years. Read more>>

Lee Laris

Moved to Phoenix in 1991 after my dermatology residency to open up practice in Medical, Surgical and Cosmetic Detmatology. Over the years as Phoenix grew, we grew. Adding more office space until we arrived at where we are today. Read more>>

Kevin Saleeby

Like many of our stories, mine did not begin with this end in mind. I was born and raised in NC and after high school I worked construction and warehouse jobs while skateboarding and playing in a punk rock band in the late ’80’s/early ’90’s. Read more>>

Martha Reamy

I was working in a small ladies gym teaching stretch classes. I took a Thai Massage class to learn interesting ways to incorporate assisted stretching into my classes. I found that I really enjoyed the hands on work with clients so i decided to go to massage school. Read more>>

Julie Gilbert Pollard

Most artists I know will begin their story the same way: I always thought of myself as an artist, even as a child. We all seem to have much in common and the road for most is not particularly smooth. But as much as we are challenged by all that “art” entails, we love it! Read more>>

Jamie Korus Pearce

I began my career in the mortgage industry in 2002 as a Mortgage Loan Originator. I quickly fell in the love with the industry because I saw the incredible direct effect we have on peoples’ lives and our communities by providing financing for them to build equity in a home of their own as a place to create their families’ memories. Read more>>

Amy Vander Linden

I went to the University of Arizona then on to Boston Univeristy for graduate school to become a physical therapist. I graduated and got married in 2000 and moved back to Arizona, which has truly always been home to me. I have been a physical therapist for more than 17 years and have worked with all ages in many different settings. Read more>>

Ray Bennett II, Javier Rosa

Javier and Ray both veterans of the United States Marine Corps who scuba dive, where diving at Lake Pleasant. During a surface interval (which is a break between dives) Javier made a comment to Ray about how he is so different when he is diving. Read more>>

Annie Billings

I discovered my love for photography with the birth of my first child 6 years ago. I found myself wanting to capture every bit of him from his chunky toes to his long lashes! Motherhood inspired me to freeze each milestone he reached & he soon became my little muse. Read more>>

Heidi Bolton

I went to hair school because I was a previous waitress. I didn’t want to wait tables anymore but I still loved the customer service aspect. I sort of coasted for many years, and then because of Instagram, I had a whole new Love and appreciation for doing hair! Read more>>

Jeremy Daniel

Since I was a kid, I had a passion for music. I grew up with two older brothers and an older sister, so I was exposed to all different types of music as a child. In the early 90’s I fell in love with alternative music and more specifically, “grunge” bands. After high school I began experimenting with computer recording software and electronic music. Read more>>

Annette Yates

Annette Yates is the Owner of SETAY Dance and Fitness and the President of the National Sales Network. In May, 2014 Ms. Yates took a leap of faith and opened SETAY Dance and Fitness Event Center in Phoenix, AZ. The vision was to offer clients the opportunity to use dance and fitness routines to maintain a healthy lifestyle through movement. Read more>>

Diego F. Muñoz

In 2002 I graduated from MTI College in San Bernardino, CA. I majored in architectural and mechanical drafting. After years of working for a couple of architectural firms and construction companies friends started asking me if I could create for them construction documents to be submitted to the City for their home additions or remodels. Read more>>

Tom Simon

I grew up in Scottsdale I played in various bands and developed an interest initially in British fashion. I began in luxury menswear in 1977. I eventually opened my own stores called Hub which I owned and operated for 20 Years.6 years ago I started at the Clotherie which I now manage and do the sportswear buying. Read more>>

Jose Gonzalez

The roots of The Torch Theatre are in the Phoenix Improv Festival. The first edition of PIF was in 2002 and over the years, the local improv scene grew and more people got involved with the production of the annual festival. Read more>>

Megan Koopman

Ever since I was a child, I had an interest in savings, earning money, and the impact we can have with spending our money wisely, supporting businesses that have ethical outlooks for our future. I started investing when I was a teenager while working for my father’s tax firm. Read more>>

Barb Heite

To answer that question, it is probably best that I share with you a defining moment, and a resulting “compelling story”, that brought me where I am today- coaching people like you on exactly what to do to heal from within so you can shine out and create a life you love. Read more>>

Linda Hoffman, Beth George

In 2003, I came to Freedom Academy as a 2nd grade teacher. The owner of the charter at that time, Dr. Michael Matwick with Pinnacle Education, made a great connection in how we see educating young children. He hired me as his principal in April of 2004. He mentored me for about 3 years. Read more>>

Tom Hatten

It all started with an idea. An idea to be the friendliest gym in town. To know our members’ names. To offer free towel service, even if that meant I was doing laundry until two in the morning. This was the beginning of Mountainside Fitness. Read more>>

Dionne Washington

I started planning events for friends and family over 8 years ago. When I began planning these events I had no experience but I was a very organized person and that was my saving grace. After these events I was approached frequently with feed back from the attendees that I was very good at event planning and that I should do this for a living. Read more>>

Josh Ingram

In 2004 I started a landscaping company with my family not really having any direction or goals in mind, I was just hoping for success. After many trial and errors, I actually left my company to go work for one of the largest Landscaping companies in Arizona. Read more>>

Lisa Fontaine

I am an interior designer by trade. At age 38, I have over 14 years of industry experience and have been self-employed for the last five, with the most recent 2 years as 100 percent owner and lead designer. Entrepreneurship for me, came after years of accumulating a local design portfolio and as my projects, brand and market knowledge expanded. Read more>>