Michigan native and Traverse area local since 1998, Angela Mary Macke RN, BS, has over 20 years of experience as a holistic nurse and horticulturalist. In 2004, she established Light of Day Organics, a popular small batch certified organic tea farm in Leelanau County.  Angela is committed to igniting inspiration and hope in our individual […]

Liz Kirkwood is a passionate protector of water and the environment.  Inspired by the complex interaction between water, health, community, and conservation, she is an international water law expert and is executive director of FLOW (For Love of Water) – a Great Lakes water law and policy center based here in Traverse City. “Water runs through […]

brotha James, a Michigander, is a marketing and sales entrepreneur turned musician who left the business world to pursue his destiny of creating inspirational music. Armed with a passion for making music and connecting people through his live performances, Jeremy (brotha James) Reisig brings non-stop enthusiasm and endless energy that leaves his audiences asking for more.  Combining […]

Andrea grew up in Kansas City. She wasn’t interested in cooking as a child, she fell in love with it after college and made it into her career. It took her first to Chicago and then up to northern Michigan. Currently she is butcher, charcutière, and co-owner at Raduno, a small delicatessen establishing itself in […]

Lindy is an artist at heart with a head for writing and business. She ran her own art gallery, Seed Studio in Elk Rapids and was the town’s Economic Development Director at the same time. She went on to expand into non-profit management, community development, marketing consulting and graphic recording. Today, driven with a passion for […]

Fred Sitkins grew up in Wyandotte, MI but moved to Traverse City at the age of 21 to attend college at NMC. It was at that time he began working on the schooner Malabar and was first introduced to Inland Seas. After being inspired by Inland Seas to enter a career in teaching Fred received his […]

Ben Davila is a co-founder of the Rock Stop and serves as the lead teacher. Prior to moving to Traverse City in 2014, he spent nearly a decade teaching at the Bird School of Music in San Francisco.  Ben is a prolific song-writer and multi-instrumentalist, having written and recorded a song every week for five years. […]

Christal  grew up in Benzie County and began her career locally at Boys and Girls Clubs of Grand Traverse, after completing a year of service with Americorps National Service. She started in radio in 2007, and feels as though she has finally found her broadcasting home with WTCM NewsTalk 580. Christal is involved with many community […]

Pete Kirkwood is The Workshop Brewing Co founder which stands for the motto: Nature, Community, Craft. Pete says he is not an investment banker, roofer, developer, disaster response specialist, farmer, dot-com guy, copywriter, barista, or lawyer (although he has been all of these things). He’s not even a brewer (although he has started two breweries). He’s a […]

FERNANDO MEZA is a first generation Mexican-American born in East Los Angeles, an advertising whiz who cut his teeth in Manhattan, Meza purchased the innovative digital marketing agency OneUpWeb in 2014 and moved it to a revitalized warehouse in the Grand Traverse Commons. Meza says he feels more proud of his Latino heritage here than he would in LA […]