Sara Williams
As a teenager I hosted radio shows at Maynard High School’s station, WAVM. I remember playing alternative, hardcore, and punk music for my friends and family who tuned in weekly. I have always found pleasure in sharing music with others. Read More>>
Kimberly Mancini
I have always loved party planning. I have my Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality and Event Management and my Master’s Degree in Business Management. I started doing candy buffets for family and friends in 2007 when candy buffets started to be a new thing for events. Everyone loved my candy buffets. My husband created a website for me so I could start my business. Read More>>
Helaine Marie Balboni
Years after my extensive training with some of the top salons in the Boston area I decided to go out on my own opening Helaine Marie in 2004. Sick of the hustle and bustle of the bigger salons, I decided she would open up a smaller salon that would cater to each individual client on a more personal level. Read More>>
Valerie Alessandro
Growing up I was always creative. When I discovered I was good at doing my friends hair for prom, I knew I had a lead into my future and went to beauty school after high school. From there I busted my butt assisting at a couple different salons in Boston until I officially became a stylist on the floor. I traveled to New York and Los Angeles to take cutting, coloring, and styling classes determined to learn everything I could. Even to this day I think it is so important to educate yourself on upcoming trends. Read More>>
Kevin Horner
In 1995 I was working in western MA do adventure therapy with youth at risk. In 1998 I decided I needed a change and got a job teaching first canoeing then kayaking for Charles River Canoe & Kayak. There I learned to kayak and eventually got to where I was running their guiding program. Read More>>
Elaine Sullivan
I started off as a physical therapist and a personal trainer. I then got my massage license and took my knowledge of the anatomy to focus on the therapy end of massage. Not only making you feel good but also to help the body feel good and prevent injury. I started off with a small one room massage location and expanded into 3 massage rooms, facials, manicure and pedicure and hair. I wanted my clients to have it all in one place. Read More>>
Nikki An-Levi
Nikki An-Levi, founder and head stylist of The Parlor Salon and Apothecary, is a renowned and respected hairstylist with over 22 years of leadership in the industry. Nikki’s extraordinary skill and trendsetting taste has made her a highly sought-after artist in New York where she has helped to realize the vision elite clientele, including some of the biggest names in fashion. Read More>>
Alex Brown
I started taking interest in the entertainment industry about 10 years ago, learning to play different instruments and attending concerts, I knew from a young age I wanted to be involved in this kind of work. When I was about 10 my Mom actually bought me a sound board (which I still have). I wanted to become a sound engineer at this time and was pursuing that career path, but there was really no business for such a young kid, so I began to DJ some of my friends’ parties, I kept getting asked to do events and people where asking how much I charge. Read More>>
Rob Savino
Started in 1999. Passion for fishing and decided to share it with others who wanted to experience everything Boston Harbor has to offer. C.J. Victoria Fishing Charters will show Visitors to Boston Massachusetts an exceptional deep sea fishing experience. Boston Harbor is the center for Striped Bass, Bluefish, Flounder, Cod, Haddock, Tuna and Shark. As full service charter fishing business, your catch is completely cared for as soon as it leaves the water. Read More>>
Mary Ellen Fairbanks
My background stems (ha!) from the fashion industry, starting as an assistant designer in NYC. I made my way to Boston in the early 90’s and have been working at a large retailer in Framingham as a product manager/senior technical designer for the last 21 years. I’ve traveled the world, worked side by side with my team, planning the next “ladder plan” for style, color, and fabrications. Read More>>
Taylor Singh
Many of my life experiences have led me towards creating this company—starting with the elaborate parties my mother and Aunt Sue would throw, at which I would be called upon to help decorate, prepare meals, serve hors d’oeuvres, and cleanup – all with a smile. In my teens and early twenties, I worked in food-service as a waitress, bartender and caterer for weddings. In my twenties and early thirties, I worked as an executive assistant in venture capital and private equity, where I coordinated the firms’ annual meetings, portfolio launches, charity events and holiday parties as well as private parties for the partners and founders, including birthday parties and Harvard University reunion functions. Read More>>
Scott Rosenthal
I’ve had a passion for music for as long as I could remember. When I was 10 year old, I used to take my parents albums, throw them on my blue Fisher Price record player and pretend I was a DJ. By the time I was 13, my friend and I used to record ourselves on 8-track introducing songs and making up commercials. In college, I interned at our radio station. After college, I started assisting a friend who had a DJ company. When I moved to Cape Cod in 2006, I developed a marketing plan, invested some money in equipment and advertising and it took off from there. Read More>>
Alicia Theodorakopoulos
In 1962 Emanuel Destefano opened Man Dee’s Pizza up on Boston Street in Salem. In the seventies, Emanuel sold the shop to Joseph Stasio and his father. In 1983 my dad, John Theo, began working at Mandee’s making dough at around 14 years old, but he yearned to learn more. He worked under his mentor, Chuck, learning to craft the best pizzas in town. Read More>>
Jo Kaplan Lee
Dave was born the youngest son in Saigon, Vietnam at the end of the war. His family had been thriving. When the communists took over, everything changed. As ethnic Chinese, there were additional disadvantages. Dave’s dad sought ways for his family to escape. With a determination I can’t begin to imagine, he managed to get all of his children and their families out of the country. Read More>>
Shelley Matthews
Growing up in Southern California, fashion was fun and easy. I loved thrift and resale shops so much! All of the resale shops out there gave you instant gratification by either offering you cash or trade on the spot for your gently worn items. The idea of a “consignment shop” and waiting to be paid when your items sold was so foreign to me. I loved the idea of bringing the concept of “Buy, Sell, Trade” to the area. But, alas, this was just a dream. Read More>>
Whitney Boyle
Our store opened up in 1986 by my father Bob Boyle in the times where the scuba diving industry was booming. I started working for my father back in 2010 after graduating from Endicott College with a Business Degree. I learned everything I could from my father with the plan that I would one day take over the family business. My father was sick for many years and passed away in June of 2015. I took over the business and have been the owner ever since. Read More>>
Maureen Gitner
After 35 years as a corporate professional, I reflected back on what I enjoyed most about my career, and there was a lot! Mainly because I constantly learned, listened, helped with solutions, built skills and knowledge and helped improve the quality of life of my workplace and my colleagues. Read More>>
Amanda Bruno
I got where I am today because of my parents. My dad owns a business in Boston, which my grandfather once owned, so I was exposed to what it meant to work hard at a young age. Growing up, I watched as my dad went off to work at the crack of dawn, only to come home, eat dinner, and begin his paperwork in his office to prepare for the next day. He gave me a great life because of his hard work, and I knew I wanted that for myself. Read More>>
Sarah Fox
The idea started when a friend of mine was sick and in the hospital for a long period of time. Her sister and I were lamenting that it would be nice to be able to do something for her that would cheer her up, like ordering her a manicure. Shortly after that I had a conversation with my friend who was pregnant and had two small children at home. She joked that she hadn’t seen her feet in months and would love a manicure but couldn’t make it to the nail salon with her two children in tow. Read More>>
MyLinh Nguyen
Since I was elven years old, I would always hang around my mother nails parlor. I would help her clean the pedicure tubs, pick up the phone, remove nail polish when she’s behind schedule. It was always my “happy place”. I decided to obtain my manicurist license at sixteen years old and continue to make nails my passion to this day. Read More>>
Laura Potter
I started at Gulu-Gulu Cafe as a server about a month after the Salem location opened. I was in graduate school and also freelancing in higher education publishing which had been my career for 10 years. Freelancing is feast or famine, so I was looking for some work waiting tables to fill the gaps, and I figured the cool new restaurant in town might need some staff. About a month after I started the owner asked me to be a manager. Read More>>
Marissa Kong
As a young girl, I always loved playing with makeup in the mirror, copying what I saw in the magazines. I always paid for esthetic services thinking, “I want do this!” But growing up I was guided to going into college and getting a 9-5 job was what you are “supposed to do” and that a trade school was not sufficient. After 3 years of college I decided that I had enough and wanted to follow the career I wanted. Read More>>
Feda Masoud
I was 7 when I began to dream about owning my very own top-notch beauty salon. I knew it would be in my future, I just didn’t know when. Sometime had past now, and I was working as a stylist on Newbury Street. Dedicated to my career, I decided to take courses by people who trained with the Vidal Sassoon program. I just wanted to learn everything my industry had to offer. Read More>>
Dave E. David, M.D
Having been raised in Hollywood, Florida, I received my Bachelor’s Degree from The University of Florida in 1974, graduating with Honors and on The President’s Honor Roll. I then attended The University of South Florida College of Medicine from 1975-1978, where I was president of my medical school class, finishing in 3 years. I then received my Internship Certificate through Harvard, and completed my residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology in 1982 through the Harvard and Tufts Hospitals, after which I moved to California and was in private practice in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, California. Read More>>
Tim Dreher
Tim Dreher graduated from Northeastern University in 1988. Tim was on staff at the University of California Medical Center, specializing in neurology and orthopedics. Later, he was the Senior PT at Kentfield Rehabilitation working in Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain. He was on faculty at NU and now offers an internship for the PT program. Read More>>
Zachary Rioux
As an entrepreneur, I began DJing at the young age of 13 when I started to play music for friends & family with nothing but an mp3 player. (In fact, when I first started DJing, a close family friend told me that I will be “a true entrepreneur” and, although at the time I didn’t know what that word truly meant, I now look back and realize that her vision of me was spot on.) I later landed my first official gig at White’s of Westport using dual CD players. Since 2005, South Coast Entertainment has been providing professional service at events across South Coast Massachusetts and nearby Rhode Island. Read More>>
Stephanie Marrero-Wilson
Beneath the Beauty came together because of my love for makeup and mental health. Having worked in Human Services for 10 years and modeling/makeup artistry for almost 10 years as well, I wanted to bring to two worlds together. I’ve battled with depression and anxiety for 16 years and both fields have taught me how to cope and utilize makeup artistry and photography as a coping skill. My goal is to work with people of all ages and help them find the Beauty underneath their everyday battles. Read More>>
Andrea Sealey
I was born and raised in the Roxbury area of Boston. I started doing hair as a little girl, as young as 10 years old. I braided everyone’s hair from my family, school classmates, my neighborhood friends and even their moms (lol). As I got older, my referrals began to come more frequently and I have to say I was pretty well off for a young kid! Shortly after I turned 15, I started working part time at a hair salon in Mattapan. I braided hair at this salon all throughout high school. Read More>>
Elis Mimmo
I am the mother of three (Emma 9, Ava 4, Dante 4months) and the proud franchise owner of Fit4Mom Wakefield Lake. Fit4Mom was started out in California in 2003 and slowly began to spread across the country as new moms looked for ways to continue their fitness as they entered motherhood. I was born and raised in Brazil and came to the USA in December of 2003. In April of 2004 I met my husband and we got married in October. Read More>>
Carly Vernon
Having practiced yoga since 2001, fascination with anatomy and how the body moves came quickly during massage school. After graduation in 2011, I immediately trained in orthopedic massage and opened my own practice. Though my practice was doing well, I felt that the standard treatment protocol from my training just didn’t cut it. Inquiries to colleagues left me feeling as though my field had plateaued in helping deal with, or better yet eradicate, chronic pain. Read More>>
Krista Papagni
Almost three years ago I was living in Boston working a full time job taking cycling class throughout Boston when I realized we did not have anything like these boutique studios on the North Shore (where I grew up). I quit my job left my apartment in the city to pursue my dream. We broke ground in April 2014 and opened our doors August 2014 and here we are almost three years later and I just want to keep growing. Read More>>
Leslie Miller
WellBarre Studio opened its doors in 2015. Opening the studio had been a dream of mine since taking ballet lessons when I was five-years-old. Our primary goal was to make the space warm and welcoming, so that anyone wanting to do Pilates and Ballet Barre feels comfortable, and that they don’t feel they need to be an accomplished ballerina walking in the door. When I finally did open my dream studio in 2015, I had a lot of experience as someone who had taught exercise in NYC for many years while auditioning for roles in Broadway and Off-Broadway plays. Read More>>
Lloyd Wilson
Growing up in Marblehead on the water I learned and gained respect for the ocean at an early age. After owning Independence for several years people would always ask if she was for hire. Eventually I turned my passion into a career by gaining my captains license and setting the boat up for charter. Read More>>
Stephanie Moniuk
I’ve had back pain since high school. I remember asking my then boyfriend to hold me upside down by my ankles to relieve the pain and pressure I felt in my lower back. Fast forward to my early 20’s – the first time I really “threw my back out”. I was sent to an orthopedist who put me on bed rest and prescribed heavy duty muscle relaxers (which was typical in the early 90’s). Read More>>
Geo Villegas
GZ Productions was the outcome of a passion we have for telling stories with cinematic impact. Geo Villegas originally pursued film making after he went to his home town in Maryland to participate in a fundraiser for a friend with Stage 4 cancer. During this event, he re-connected with a high school friend who shared with him that seeing his posts on social media about his Ironman triathlon journey, had inspired her to pursue her own personal health goals. She then encouraged him to film his triathlon experiences and share them on YouTube so that he could inspire others as well. Read More>>
