The digital age of photography makes just about anyone with a camera a photographer. But it takes someone special to create images, and Christine Gribble of Grand Rapids takes it one step further as a photographic artist for children and families with special needs....

Sometimes epiphanies come slowly. Jana Hall, the new chief operations officer at the Van Andel Institute of Science, experienced this first-hand as she came to her epiphany right after finishing graduate school.  Jana has a Ph.D., an MBA, and...

There's a little something about the Midwest that outfits those in the hospitality industry with innately accommodating personalities. But it takes someone with compassion to really excel in the profession, and Jenifer Cutter has that in spades. Jenifer was recently...

In 2007, Katherine and Mike Schoenborn got the news of a lifetime: They were going to have triplets! But in the months leading up to the due date, Katherine described her pregnancy as an up-and-down roller coaster ride. "We had one to two doctors appointments a...

Looking at herself in the mirror after receiving her new hairdo and freshly painted nails, tears gathered in her eyes as Barb Andrus took in her new look. After spending three years helping her daughter Ellie through chemotherapy and other treatments for leukemia, as...

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? At Bengtson Center for Aesthetics & Plastic Surgery, a specialized team makes it their utmost responsibility to ensure each person portrays and enjoys the best version of herself. "We really believe in a natural look,...

Ellie Rogers has endured set backs in her life. But to her, failure does not carry stereotypical negativity. From failure, she has learned. And because she has learned, she has the courage to share. That's what the 2013 Failure-Lab is all about—bringing local men,...

When Jane Lovett celebrated the proverbial ribbon-cutting of Peaches Bed & Breakfast in Grand Rapids' Heritage Hill neighborhood, she was either up-and-coming or out of her mind.  "I don't know what the heck I was thinking," said Jane, who was one of the few...

Lori Precious has been directing for twenty years. But up until now, her projects consisted mainly of commercials, documentaries, music videos—basically everything but long-form narratives. As Lori puts it, it was time to cross over. Curse of the Sunset Starlet is a...

Kristin Revere says she has a Type A personality—and in her former career, she had to. Working for more than four years in politics as a fundraiser required skill in organization and prioritizing, not to mention a lot of travel. But when Kristin was nearing the due...