By Kamala Kirk Throughout the years, Rebecca Owen has helped a significant number of clients reach successful outcomes with divorces, child custody and other family-related legal matters. Named one of the top 50 attorneys in Arizona by The Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education, Owen has been practicing law since 1997 and founded her Phoenix-based law firm in 2007. “I enjoy helping people get t ...

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Whether it was through her work as an attorney or as a true crime author, Kerrie Droban has made her mark. As a former Maricopa County attorney, Droban has been a criminal defense attorney for 27 years, litigating major felonies, complex white-collar fraud cases and death penalty matters. Her capital appeal, State v. Timothy Ring, was heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. The de ...

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Dr. Julie Lam shadowed an optometrist as a youngster and one thing struck her: Patients aren’t afraid to see their eye doctor. “I’m a people person, and that fits with the profession,” Lam says. “I communicate with people. It’s a rewarding profession, and that was my goal.” In 2013, Lam founded Eye Care North in Cave Creek to treat patients like her grandfather, who suffered fr ...

By Carol Pener At age 42, CarolAnn Tutera felt she had the insides of a 92-year-old woman. She had all the classic signs of menopause. “I don’t know how I was putting one foot in front of the other,” she says. She turned to her now-late husband, Dr. Gino Tutera, for help with feeling better. She wanted to get her life back as where all others who were receiving pellet therapy. She is now the co-founder and ...

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Kristi Morrow likens her job as a financial adviser to a puzzle. She and her partner in InReach Wealth Advisors, Jason Ayala, help clients make sense of their financial situation using pieces of their lives. “I like to do puzzles and play games in my free time,” Morrow says. “I take a million little pieces and see how they fit together. A lot of creativity goes into being a fin ...

By Alison Bailin Batz Hohokam Elementary School is undergoing a year-long update to revitalize an important piece of Scottsdale’s history. “Hohokam Elementary School was originally constructed in 1959 and designed by renowned architect Ralph Haver,” says Vicente Terán of CHASSE Building Team, which is working with the school district and SPS+ Architects on the build. According to Modern Phoenix’s Ralph Have ...

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Vince D’Aliesio has, admittedly, done a little bit of everything. He’s worked with the courts, hosted radio shows and coached high school and college football. Now he’s the Cave Creek Museum board of directors president. The Cave Creek Museum recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. “Vince brings a combination of academic and civic experience that shapes and guides our institu ...

By Connor Dziawura The effects of the coronavirus have been felt by many, from the closing of movie theaters and the pause on live music to the halting or limiting of operations by businesses like gyms, restaurants and bars. Those at the Musical Instrument Museum know all too well, as the venue closed this past spring to mitigate the spread of the virus. To remain connected with and involved in the communit ...

Southwest Shakespeare Company hosts Naked Shakes at Taliesin West By Niki D’Andrea William Shakespeare’s history plays dramatize five generations of Medieval power struggles. If someone were to watch stagings of all of them in a row, they would be sitting still for almost 24 hours straight. That sounds like Medieval torture. Thankfully, professor Irwin Appel has taken eight of the Bard’s historical plays an ...

Spartan Home Services offers interior and exterior cleaning By Eric Newman When David Hartman moved to Anthem from northern Michigan with his fiancée Carmen Jordan, they had one goal: Keep the north Phoenix area beautiful. They aim to do it one property at a time. With children already living in the area, and wishing to find warmer weather, the pair settled in the Valley in July and opened Spartan Home Serv ...

Five of the North Valley’s hottest neighborhoods By Sherry Jackson Union Park at Norterra It’s no secret that the real estate market in the Valley is booming. New business announcements, corporate headquarter relocations and expansions have been fueling this growth for the past several years. New home developers can barely keep up with demand. Everyone, it seems, wants to move to the North Valley. More than ...

A-Authentic Garage Doors builds solid reputation and plans expansion By Lauren Wise A garage door is one of those things that tends to reveal its true necessity only when it’s not working properly. Whether broken, damaged by a wayward emergency break – or the illusion that the garage is already open, as has happened to this writer – or squeaks so loudly you put mousetraps in the garage corners, you’re in a ...

Owner of KW Styling Studio finds fulfillment in helping clients look their best By Alison Stanton Kristy Wallace knew from a very early age that she wanted to go to cosmetology school and get into the beauty industry. “Growing up, I was always into makeup and hair,” Wallace says. “Between painting my dog’s nails and always being the friend who styled everyone’s hair and did their makeup, I knew it was my ca ...

Jake Potje and Susan Morrow Potje connect artists and collectors By Lauren Wise For almost 30 years, the Valley has hosted one of the country’s premier art events: the Celebration of Fine Art. Sprawled under white tents in Scottsdale from January to March, this juried, invitational show and art sale showcases over 100 artists from around the country, who continuously create and sell their pieces from within ...

R. Carlos Nakai Quartet brings Native American fusion music to MIM By Lauren Wise Arizona is a melting pot of musical influences, with the sounds of Native American, Western, and Americana heritage melding with the styles of jazz, hip-hop, rock and country. Music enthusiasts do not have to look far to discover new sonic flavors, bending the wavelengths between traditional and modern. In fact, it’s one of th ...