Phoenix 02.08.2018

Larry Ortega

My two brothers and I started our retail careers selling art and picture frames at flea markets in So Cal in the early 60’s. By the early 70’s we changed from art to selling women’s clothing at the same flea markets. Early lessons provided “street smarts” and honed our practical instincts. Little did we know that our early experience of merchandising would lead to the creation of a national publically traded retailer under the Clothestime banner with 600 stores across the US. Read more>>

Lisa Sette

I’ve always been a visual learner, so the arts are a natural way of understanding the world. The gallery was founded in 1985. It has allowed me to continue to see and respond to the issues of our time through curation of exhibits. Read more>>

April Howland

I was born and raised in Sedona, AZ and began drawing at the age of 4. My father was on the search and rescue team and took me on many hiking adventures throughout the southwest which taught me my love of the outdoors and nature. I began looking at art as a career while in high school with the encouragement of my high school art teacher, David Lash, who is still a wonderful painter today. Read more>>

Leah Theodosis, Matt Theodosis

Matt and I got engaged in 2013, and during our planning process we realized that what we wanted to rent for our wedding day was not available in Arizona, so we decided to build and thrift for our own wedding. After a few months of building benches and collecting vintage tableware like medicine bottles & books, we said our “I Do’s” in April of 2014. Read more>>

John Lee

I started my LLC in 2005 at one of my bedrooms, now Pacificspan is performing over twenty projects in five States: AZ, CA, NV, UT, and ID. Pacificspan was a half million business for quite some times, but last year we realized almost nine million revenue. Read more>>

Stephanie Shields

My name is Stephanie Shields and I’m a 32 year old mother of two and I started my blog about extreme weight loss in 2013 after the birth of my son. Shortly after graduating high school I had gained a large amount of weight and had tried multiple forms of dieting everything came short never really achieving my goals. Read more>>

Pita Juarez

Pita Juarez is an award-winning multimedia journalist based in the border state of Arizona. Pita, a Guatemalan-American, is inspired by social issues affecting underserved and Latino communities. In her current role as Director of Communications at One Arizona, Pita supports the issues that matter to the immigrant community by highlighting Arizona’s stories of resilience in international, national and local media outlets. Read more>>

Tristan Gandolfi

After undergrad at ASU I started teaching 4th grade in Chicago, Illinois. While teaching I was taking classes at The Second City and using improv activities in class. I found that improv allowed my students to brainstorm in a limitless world. We began using improv as a war, up for writing activities. Those practices are the core of our curriculum today. Three years ago I took my idea to SEED SPOT in hopes of developing a business plan. Read more>>

Tyler Butler

Tyler Butler is a dynamic leader and creative thinker known as an expert corporate social responsibility practitioner, fashion zealot and community activist. Her childhood was spent moving frequently as she was brought up in a gypsy nomad like family, moving each time her parents’ government construction firm landed a new contract. Read more>>

Colton Barry

Growing up in Arizona, I always had a creative nature and was an entrepreneur at heart. My first business was a lawn care and carwashing company I started during the summers in grade school. My dad had a landscaping business so that’s where I got all the equipment from and my mom let me use her computer to design/print out business cards. Read more>>

Zane Berry

I grew up really far away from all the schools I went to and had artists for parents. Because of this I spent a ton of my life in front of the tv rather than with friends. I felt like a lot of the life lessons I learned were from movies, and are still important to me today. Read more>>

Kyle Larkin

The national AIGA organization was founded in 1914 as the American Institute of Graphic Arts, but today, AIGA is known simply as “AIGA, the professional association for design.” AIGA Arizona was established in 1989 and is one of now 72 local chapters representing 25,000+ members throughout the United States. Read more>>

Craig Coppola

I started as an office broker leasing office space in 1984. I am still doing that today. But just like it says in the incredible poem The Dash, the difference is in the dash, the space between then and now which represents 33 years’ worth of experiences. In that time or “dash” I’ve been married to my wife for 28 years, raised 4 incredible children, hiked some of the most incredible trails in the world (including Everest and Kilimanjaro), won a world championship in Tae Kwon Do, ran over 80 marathons, and I’ve built a successful career in brokerage and investing. Read more>>

Keith Higgins

Essentially it all started back in college. When I began my education at ASU for a degree in Business Law is around the time I started smoking cigarettes. Just about every New Year I would attempt to quit by some method, but nothing ever lasted. Read more>>

Heather Hunter

I had always experienced what would be considered “psychic” and unusual phenomena since childhood–but my family just told me I had a very “active imagination”, or that the visits I received at night weren’t visits by anyone or anything, but rather nightmares—so naturally, I believed that too. My family was conservative, although not religious. Read more>>

Nancy du Tertre

Nancy du Tertre is an attorney who became a trained psychic detective, working with law enforcement, medium, trained in military style remote viewing, paranormal investigator, medical intuitive and ufologist specialized in alien languages. Read more>>

Rachelle Kleimon

I’ve been a group fitness instructor since 2011 and certified Health Coach since 2013. I decided to go out on my own at the end of 2016 and focus on small group training. Initially, I was going to sub-lease a single room for a few classes a week and work for a variety of other fitness facilities the rest of the time. Read more>>

Suzanne Matsumori, Min Skivington

Since 1973, the Epilepsy Foundation of Arizona has been dedicated to the welfare of people with epilepsy. The Foundation has developed public education programs that foster community awareness to improve the health care, and have made community support programs available to all persons affected by epilepsy free of charge. Read more>>

Brandon Maxwell

It began in the mid-nineties when Chef Michael DeMaria and I met as part of the team redeveloping Lon’s at the Hermosa Inn and T. Cook’s at the Royal Palms Resort. In September 1997, Chef Michael and I struck out on our own to open our first stand-alone restaurant, Michael’s at the Citadel in north Scottsdale. Read more>>

Andrea Tuck

Growing up in an Italian family is what truly inspired me to become a bakery owner! The shop offers old recipes from my grandmother, like our Sicilian Cheesecake and Ricotta Cookies to new trendy items like Parisian Macarons! We also pride ourselves in providing Phoenix with some of the most delicious and stunning wedding cakes in the Valley! Read more>>

Evette Minns, Mel Bridges

Kawambe-Omowale African Drum and Dance Theatre was founded in 1995 as a second generation performing arts company presenting folk arts of West Africa and the African Diaspora in music, dance, song and storytelling. The original company, Kawambe Drum and Dance Ensemble, was founded in 1984 with eight members—two drummers, five dancers and one storyteller. Read more>>

Marissa O’Connor

Hi! I began my career in entertainment working for E! Entertainment in Los Angeles. While working for E! I also had the opportunity to freelance for the United States Olympic Committee during Sochi 2014 assisting their social media team. Read more>>

Bonnie McMahon

My husband and I had been involved with youth sports for many years and felt a lack of great quality programming. Saturday’s were our favorite day of the week, as we would awake early to get to the field to coach our kids and visit with our teams. After much frustration with the programs we were participating in we said, it can’t be that difficult to provide a better quality better organized youth sports experience. Read more>>

Nancy Hetrick

I’ve been a financial advisor for almost 20 years and in 2007 went through my own divorce in a less-than-optimal way. I was disappointed when the resources I needed just weren’t there. We didn’t want to waste thousands of dollars on attorneys and were basically amicable so did a do-it-yourself divorce where I filled out all of the necessary paperwork. Read more>>

Yolindi de Gouveia

I have always had a fascination with Decorative Throw Pillows. They are such an amazing way to quickly change up your decor and liven up a space. I’ve had my fair share of pillows stuffed in closets as I change out different ones for holidays and such. Read more>>

Todd Kane

I’m an Iowa boy. Youngest of five sons.. We we’re a carny family – county and state fairs mostly. We learned the value of a dollar and the importance of a handshake. That beginning shaped the man I am today. I spent 12 years in the Army. A captain that served in Desert Storm and Bosnia before leaving to run my father’s company. Read more>>

Sarah Bingham

Annamarie Sanchez (my business partner) and I have been best friends and thrifting buddies since high school. We loved hunting for cheap treasures that others have cast off. We amassed quite a collection of vintage clothes that wouldn’t fit either of us. Read more>>

Jaime Paul Lamb

MOONLIGHT MAGIC consists of veteran Phoenician musicians: Jaime Paul Lamb (composer/guitarist), ex-Van Buren Wheels, current member of Thee Faded Pyctures and Mighty Sphincter; Andrew Jemsek (organ/accordion/composer), an alumni of local faves the Andrew Jackson Jihad, Father’s Day and Serene Dominic Band; Ruth Wilson (electric and upright bass), ex-member of Flathead and Acapulco 5-O; Eddy Detroit (percussion), a storied Phoenix icon and “tiki outsider/cult weirdo”; and Steve Asetta (saxophone/percussion), a frequent collaborator of Jaime’s from NYC’s jazz & avant garde music scene. Read more>>

Emilee Spear

Rusty was my first rescue, I adopted him at the age of “ancient”. He was pulled from the euthanasia list at the local county pound. He was skin and bones, deaf, going blind, had a mouth full of rotten teeth and so lost and scared. He taught me that animals don’t deserve to die alone after loving us for all their lives. Read more>>

Mary Luchini

Simply Mary is a Singer, Songwriter, Musician and Composer in Phoenix, Arizona. She was born and raised in Kersey, Pennsylvania in Elk County. Simply Mary was forced to relocate to Phoenix by an unexpected and life changing experience with Domestic Violence. Read more>>

Julie Mayer

Ever since I was a little girl and could say the word veterinarian I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I loved animals and would bring home strays and try to hatch bird eggs that had fallen out of the nest and squirrels who were hit by bicyclists, etc. I had the desire to help animals. Read more>>

Sarah Stadler

In 1910, Lutherans from California saw the need for a Lutheran church in Arizona. At the time, there were no Lutheran congregations in Arizona at all, and Phoenix was a small city of just 11,000 people. After engaging a retired missionary pastor, the congregation worshiped for the first time on June 8, 1913 and then officially organized on February 22, 2014 with 25 charter members. Read more>>

Alison Chandler and Marsha Mardock

In 2003 I (Alison) got my first dog and wanted to feed a raw food diet. At that time there was only one store that sold raw diets and that was in North Scottsdale. One day while driving home from the store I thought “why isn’t there a natural pet product store in Central Phoenix”? Read more>>

John A. Reyes

While I was getting my bachelor’s degree at the University of Arizona, I worked part time at a western art gallery. That was my first experience in the art market. After I completed my degree, I attended Christie’s London to study the auction business. I again returned to Arizona and New Mexico, where I have been the director of several art galleries. Read more>>

Adrienne Bryant

PHOENIX, ARIZ. (August xx, 2017) – Bryant Commercial Real Estate (BCRE), a woman/minority-owned company, has expanded its services, added staff, and moved into new headquarters at 5555 E. Van Buren St., in Phoenix. BCRE is a diversified company focused on providing integrated commercial real estate solutions to businesses throughout the Valley. Read more>>

Dr. Eula Saxon Dean, Dr. La Vern Tarkington

This could be along story bu ti think I will respond to by beginning with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. while a student at Barber- Scotia College in Concord, NC, I was was honored to become a member of an organization where I could develop leadership skills and provide service in my community. Read more>>

Ben Boulware

The late Steve Baum was an inventor, boat builder, and offshore racer. He had a vision of building a faster, lighter boat out of wood. As the boat industry began to try to build lighter, strong boats they began to utilize fiberglass. Baum, an aficionado of the classic look of wood boats, wanted to find a way to combine the look and feel of wood with state of the art advances in the aerospace industry. Read more>>

Noelle Salinas

Fresh from the Kitchen catering is a company driven by one woman’s passion for delivering the best food, service, and experiences. Emphasis on natural, high quality ingredients, ‘a taste of perfection!’ is the company motto and is the ideology behind the passion. Read more>>

Sharon Downing

About 6 years ago, I was looking for a healthier option to replace fast carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes and traditional pasta. Primarily because fast cabs spike blood sugar. After doing some research, I found that quinoa was the perfect food. Quinoa is a resistant carbohydrate that stabilizes blood sugar. Read more>>

David Jarvinen

I came to the mosaic industry through ceramic tile contracting and a couple of clay artists. Our business was remodeling kitchens and baths with ceramic and glass tile, and doing tile jobs most other contractors wouldn’t. This led to a reputation for being creative. Read more>>