Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks had been interested in spirituality in an experiential way from a very young age. Raised in a home with no formal religion, Brian would get brief snippets of Judaism while visiting his uncle’s house for Passover and Shabbat. Then when he was 12, his father paid for the whole family to learn…
At the Scottsdale home of Sonia and John Breslow, it’s reigning cats and dogs. From her earliest childhood memories in Omaha, NE, Sonia says she had a passion for any animal, but especially “puppies and kittens and rabbits,” and was always bringing home strays. “My parents tolerated my dedication to a point,” she recalls, “but…
Four years ago Matt Gottesman experienced great loss – both personally and professionally. The advice his father gave to him during this tumultuous time “spoke to my soul,” Matt says. “He said to me, ‘You come from an entrepreneurial family, we all do our own thing, we are very independent. I’m not going to tell…
There will be three seats up for election this spring on the seven-seat Tempe City Council. Sarah Kader hopes that on March 13, 2018, she will be elected to fill one of those positions. A native of Tempe, Sarah has been working the past seven years as an attorney at the Arizona Center for Disability…
Like most entrepreneurs, Jon Roig was trying to solve a problem he was encountering when he came up with the concept of Emoji Domains. He was trying to register a domain using emojis (those little images on your phone that you use to express emotions) for an application that he had written. He was working…
Linda Cohn has spent the last 25 years behind the desk as a sports anchor on ESPN’s SportsCenter. She has hosted more than 5,000 shows, more than anyone, male or female, and was inducted into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame this year. Her love of sports has been a constant factor throughout…
Eric and Jackie Gichner enjoy a good martini, but when they went looking for a pre-made, premium vodka-based version at the store, they soon realized such a beverage didn’t exist. “There was nothing on the shelves that was a ‘true’ cocktail like you would get from a bartender,” explains Jackie. “They were all either malts…
Melissa Fink always wanted to own her own business. In May 2016, she finally got her chance when she purchased Girly Girlz in Scottsdale. As its name implies, Girly Girlz is a store for girls who like things blingy, sparkly and bejeweled. “We have a lot of local designers [all moms] with items in our…
A few decades ago, firefighters did just that: fought fires. Today’s firefighters wear more than just the proverbial fire hat. They serve the community in a highly trained, highly technical capacity that includes medical and other non-fire emergencies, disaster response, hazardous-material calls and yes – firefighting. Phoenix Fire Captain Bobby Dubnow is the face of…
Cindy Carpenter was faced with a challenge 10 years ago. Her daughter, Cortney, was getting ready to “age out” of special education in the public school system. Cortney was born with a neurologically based disability that has no specific diagnosis. “The government will educate you up until the age of 22, then at that point…
