Life in the Spotlight

An accountant by background, Kim Riley co-founded The Red Door Fire Kitchen + Lounge in La Porte just over a year ago. After a long career in corporate, she found herself needing a change. “I was ready to step off the corporate hamster wheel,” Riley said …

C.J. Owens did not start playing hockey until he was 18 years old. Now, he wants to make it accessible to kids of every age. Owens is the president of the Irish Youth Hockey League (IYHL) in South Bend. He believes that hockey is a philosophy that goes well …

Stephanie Letic has a 15-year background in marketing and communications. Currently, she serves as an account executive at Group 7even, a local integrated marketing agency with a range of clients from Members Advantage Credit Union to the South Shore Line …

The New Year is quickly approaching, and as the forward-thinking mindset of January takes hold, people’s motivations and intentions become clear. They often resolve to give back, strengthen the community, and honor those who made the previous years …

For the average college student, the path to securing a four-year degree is simple: find your focus, scour for programs that meet your goals, and crawl to the finish line. For first-generation Hoosier and Mishawaka local Alyssa Chartand, that simple route was …

Long before Veronica Jalomo became the Farm to School Coordinator for the Northwest Indiana Food Council, she knew what it meant to work for your food. As the youngest of 13 children born to migrant farm workers in South Texas, her childhood was spent in the …

Lindsey Miller was a 19-year-old college student pursuing a degree in exercise science when she attended her first yoga class. From that moment, she knew she had discovered something that would change her life forever. “I needed a one-credit class in my …

As a teenager, Wayne Antusas was wrongly accused of a crime and ultimately sentenced to life in prison without parole. Now at 47 years old, Antusas is helping men currently in prison and formerly imprisoned change their own lives.  “For 23 years and …

Wavie Bent isn’t one to give up easily. She’s also one to readily give. At 82 years young, Bent is living with Parkinson’s disease, and instead of submitting to the disease, she’s using her love of sewing to overcome it. This relentless spirit is …

At just three days old, Tessa Koepke was diagnosed with medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency, a rare inherited metabolic disorder that stems from a genetic mutation. The disorder inhibits Koepke’s ability to store fat for energy. As a …