Phoenix 03.15.2018

Marian Mellen

Rewind 10 years ago and you would have met a woman hiding behind the shadows, living through a shield of fake smiles and seeking self worth in the wrong places. I was a Type A- control everything out there- perfectionist seeking – uptight and unhappy human. There was no soulful flow or genuine energy. No glimmer in my eyes, no vibrant conversation, and no bounce in my step. Read more>>

Martha Navarro

I have lived in Arizona for 18 years, and have been a realtor for just short of those 18 years. I am a branch manager for HomeSmart in Goodyear, AZ. I have a BS in Education and a Masters in Special Education, I was an educator for 20 years prior to becoming a realtor. Read more>>

Kerryann Tomlinson

I am at Playworks today because my entire life has been about helping others and making a positive impact on my community. I have always had a heart for children because I have learned so much from them throughout my life. From my first godchild Tim who taught me the power of unconditional love, by choosing me to be his godmother at the age of eight. Read more>>

Rustin L. Odom

Like a lot of filmmakers, I started young. I made movies purely in my mind with toys and action figures. As soon I got my hands on a camera in high school, I recruited a few friends and made everything from zombie movies with homemade blood and guts to shoddily choreographed Kung Fu scenes inspired by Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master. Read more>>

Shahe Koulloukian

My story is embraced around connecting with all kinds of people from around the world and it is a long one indeed. I have been very fortunate to have lived in over 9 countries and blessed to speak 6 languages fluently. I was born in Beirut Lebanon and I am Armenian by nationality. Read more>>

Joanie Simon

My journey to becoming a photographer and educator wasn’t planned, but certainly was meant to be. After ten years in “the real world” in a job in technology sales, I came to two life-changing realizations. I was completely miserable and desperately craving a job that fed my creative passions. Read more>>

Dana Brown

I was always a bit of a tech nerd growing up. I was fascinated by the early internet and the connectivity and communities that it created. In high school, I became obsessed with music and started a handful of websites which I used as a tool to meet and interview some of my favorite bands. Read more>>

Margaret Merritt

Margaret Merritt is founding principal/owner of Margaret Merritt Productions, providing creative, technical and fundamental support required for flawless show execution and styling. Margaret has had a successful career as a talent agent as well as Fashion/PR Director for Saks Fifth Avenue. Read more>>

Adam Brooks

I grew up on the West side of the Valley and was a first generation college student. Once I decided to be an educator I went from teaching in the district I grew up in to educating students in Central Phoenix. After teaching for over ten years I began giving speeches to students, families, camps and conferences about a variety of topics. Read more>>

Christy Moore

Social Spin’s Founder & Owner Christy Moore use to go to laundromats with her mom and sisters. She hadn’t been in a laundromat for decades though. Her washer & dryer weren’t working last year, so she stepped into one. With fully developed social justice lens over her adult eyes, she realized just how boring, dirty and undignified laundromats are. Read more>>

Kylon Gresham

I was initially inspired to become active in my community in response to many of the injustices involving melanated people and law enforcement throughout the United States. After a series of heartfelt conversations with an old neighbor Ishmael Smith (now Co-Founder), we decided to embark on a mission to fill voids and enhance experiences for youths who come from similar backgrounds and face the many challenges that we are familiar with in our old neighborhood. Read more>>

Scott Biersack

Sure thing! I’ll try to keep it short and simple since it’s a rather lengthy story. I’ve always had a creative background. I took art class from elementary school all the way up until I graduated high school. I always thought I was going to be an “artist” but that quickly changed as I became more interested in the field of “design” during my Junior year of high school. Read more>>

Erin Fisk

I have always loved helping people and wanted to pursue a career where I could do so. I went to school for social work where I decided it might not be best suited to me, not to mention a little freightened I might say the wrong thing for people to really get the help they needed. Read more>>

Calvin Goetz

Calvin P. Goetz is founder and president of Strategy Financial Group, an Arizona financial advisory firm with offices in Phoenix and Tucson, a position to which he brings more than a decade of experience in wealth management and retirement income planning. Read more>>

Isaac Moore

I started buying and selling Real Estate in AZ in 2014. I started out as a sole proprieter and got my first deal done within 3 months of starting. After that I was hooked and wanted to create a business that could function with or without me present and still generate income. Read more>>

Holly Holm

My journey into the therapeutic massage was actually a total surprise to not only those around me, but even to myself. I left Corporate America after the birth of my second child and once the kids were older, I knew I wanted to do something outside of the home again. Read more>>

Wendy Hubbard

After earning my master’s degree in finance, I worked as a financial advisor for a large corporate firm. I really enjoyed helping clients with financial planning and wanted to focus more on that, but the firm I was at was not the right fit. That led me to launch my own Fee-Only financial planning firm, where I have enjoyed serving clients as a fiduciary. Read more>>

Angel Ayala

2007-2009 brought both our economy challenges and opportunities. During that time nearly half was lost in value that range from income lost, real estate value, pension plans, 401 K/ IRA/ 403B account values. Imagining going into your accounts today and seeing $10,000 than 18 months later $5,000 was current; how would that make you feel? You doing your part of saving and investing yet something out of your control dedicated watching your money get cut in HALF! Read more>>

Andy Gray, Bryan Lifshitz

We sometimes tell people that we met at a bar and while getting to know each other, we learned of each other’s last names (Gray & Lifshitz) and thought it would be crazy to do something with it… “GrayShitz” was born and now we needed to do something with it. Read more>>

Jennifer (Vistonie) Sheehan, Darris (ReX) Mikl

The FreaKiN Jester’s Court (Jester’s Court) is the Frankenstein love child of Vistonie’s daydreams of effecting social change via an artist commune and ReX’s active love of independent music. Vistonie is a lifelong artist and has been passionately studying photography since childhood; she is an active humanitarian, she regularly offers services and time to both passion projects and community outreach programs. Read more>>

Mark Mettes

Over 25 years ago, I started full time at the Herberger Theater Center as a Technical Supervisor. I’ve been blessed to be able to stay with this great organization and move up through several positions, including over ten years as Vice President before becoming the President & CEO about 18 months ago. Read more>>

Kristy Clay

After having my first daughter, just over 12 years ago now, I found myself feeling lonely, sad, and really struggling. The transition to motherhood was really hard for me. I found that fitness helped me feel more positive during the day, improved my mood and helped me find myself in this new role as “mom”. Read more>>

John Racer, Mike Mazzrotto

We are a grain to bottle craft distillery focusing on true hand crafted spirits. We are the first distillery in Phoenix since Prohibition. We produce vodka, gin and rum all of which are fermented and distilled in house. We started production in 2016 and at the end of 2017 opened out tasting room in the distillery focusing on craft cocktails that showcase out spirits and connect our customers to the process that goes into the production. Read more>>

 

Arin Finger

I am originally from Scottsdale Arizona. I studied Media Arts and Business at the University of Arizona. After college I moved to San Francisco to attend an Animation School. During school I decided to get a job in the industry to gain some hands on experience. Read more>>

Jennifer Thye

I was doing events in college for the president of the university. Once I graduated I wanted to continue to do them on the side. I loved watching people have fun and celebrate others. It made me happy and it eventually turned into a passion. Read more>>

Marci McDonald

Lucky Air Plant is our newest line that came from a love of air plants. Creator, Marci, bought a few and thought they were the cutest little things. She always wanted to do a business that had crystals in it. Marci’s aunt, Jane Ann, was a healer and a pioneer with crystal healing. Read more>>

Marshall Shore

Relocating from NYC all I heard about Phx was that there was no history. Though I was working in a library that had rich oral tradition of the community, realizing that modern history wasn’t been talked about. Plus, everywhere I went I kept stumbling upon amazing history stories that were unique to Arizona. Read more>>

Yolanda Lake

Makeup has always been my passion. My fondest memories are of my mother doing her makeup while I stood by her side and watched. She often let me give her makeovers. What at first was a little a girl playing makeup with her mother evolved into a serious effort to explore all kinds of styles and techniques, until the day I decided to become a professional makeup artist. Read more>>

Brandon Boetto

I started my professional career as a graphic designer in 2001. I bounced around to a few different sign shops before landing at a great company called bluemedia. I worked there for 8 years as a graphic designer and online marketing director. This is where I learned the ins and outs of running a small business. Read more>>

Ram Zarchi

We started Tomcar in Israel in 1991, primarily to supply vehicles to the the I.D.F (Israel Defense Forces) special forces. In 2005, I moved the company’s HQ to Phoenix and we’ve been building and selling our vehicles from here ever since. Read more>>

Shannon Lindner

We started with a 3 race trail series the fall of 2009. We’ve grown to a 5 race series and also added the Fat Turkey Trail run the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Smooth? Not exactly. Balancing a full-time job in additional to managing a small business producing events certainly has it’s challenges. It’s basically been a one woman show except for race weekends. Read more>>