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Kelly Kermode still has the small pinch pot she made in kindergarten. It’s a reminder of where she started and where she’s going when it comes to life and her pottery skills.

Mark Washington, Grand Rapids’ next city manager, is a busy man.

Mr. Sandman might be out of a job. The legendary figure who’s been putting people to sleep and bringing good dreams has some competition in town with a woman who’s got her own bag of tricks for overnight fun and rest, and she’s a hit with the kids.

There’s an old phrase, “Home is where the heart is.” To many, family members mean a full heart. To some, great friends often become as close as family. For the Grand Rapids Women’s City Club, members found both family and a sense of home at the historic 1860s Heritage Hills home, the Sweet House, which the club had occupied since 1927. This past April, due to financial reasons, the club said goodbye to its long-term home and entered into uncharted territory.

Once Valerie Burkholder retired early this spring, after working for 28 years, she decided to follow her lifelong dream of opening a bookstore.

Best friends since the third grade, Amy Calvert and Kristy Dipiazza started a business together simply out of need.

A few years ago, Jim Torrey started reaching out to new breweries in Grand Rapids offering his woodworking services. “I started cold-calling them on Facebook and asking to make their cheeseboards and beer flights.”

Debbie Harry (not to be confused with the lead singer of Blondie, who will be in Grand Rapids next weekend at Frederik Meijer Gardens) got new feet after a bout of frostbite left her footless.

Whether you are a female entrepreneur with a brick and mortar business to your name or a woman with a great business idea but not a clue how to launch it, SHEvents is here for you.

The old adage, “write what you know” served Eric Scott Johnson and Eric Machiela well. The pair recently completed Camp Manna, a coming of age film that takes place at an Evangelical Christian summer camp.

Jordan Fisher first dreamed of opening a flower shop several years ago, but he was unable to find the right location and his career ended up taking him and his wife, Faten Fisher, to Seattle for two years.

“No one expected my life to be as normal as it is,” said Rockford athlete, Johnny Agar. While Agar simply views his life as normal, most would view it as extraordinary and inspiring.

The Urban Institute for Contemporary Art (UICA) is switching things up this year with the first annual Off the Wall fundraiser. For 20 years, the UICA hosted Live Coverage—an event that invited artists to create in a live setting while spectators mused, hoping to win auctioned art.

Anne Marie Carson has an obvious soft spot in her heart for animals in need. “I’m kind of drawn to the pathetic creatures,” she said.

Write 616, formerly Great Lakes Commonwealth of Letters (GLCL), aims to be a helping hand to all writers in the Grand Rapids area. While its name has recently changed, its initial mission of providing resources, building skills, and creating connected, professional platforms for writers, has not shifted since its inception in 2013.

Sometime back in the mid-1990s, Dr. Luis Tomatis initiated a daily ritual of hosting tea at 4 p.m. in his downtown office. For the 20 years since then, Tomatis has welcomed colleagues, friends, college and hospital presidents, and students, many of them medical students, for conversation, tea and cookies.

Before 2000, Lisa Cockrel had never heard of the Festival of Faith & Writing – a biennial celebration of literature and belief at Calvin College. Living in Chicago and attending college at the time, she was given the opportunity to travel to Grand Rapids and attend the festival. After an unforgettable weekend, she came away with an encouraging thought: “I found my people.”

Orchids. Those delicate, multibloomed delicacies of the botanical world. So desirable, orchids are smuggled globally as devotees seek out incredibly rare varieties.

As a full-time student and athlete at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and the founder of her own company, Locker Lifestyle, Katarina Samardzija is living her dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Investigative reporter Marisa Kwiatkowski was working on a story about the failure to report sexual abuse within Indiana’s schools when she received a tip from one of her sources suggesting she take a look at USA Gymnastics. The tip led to the uncovering of a massive scandal by the organization and the discovery of the widespread abuse young girls had faced for decades at the hands of Larry Nassar.