Life in the Spotlight

Sean Tomei is a third generation tree arborist who took over the Tree Bee Arborists business. The Tree Bee Arborists are members of the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) and the Indiana Arborist Association, and are Indiana Society of...

Clarissa Espinoza has always wanted to define her own reality. While many of her peers have chosen to make impacts in traditional jobs, Espinoza wanted to chart her own course. As a professional in the media industry, she simultaneously makes an...

Melinda Metz bought the Minuteman Press on Willowcreek seven years ago and has not looked back. She started as a graphic designer 20 years ago and was able to work her way to buying the franchise. As the owner, she now gets to interact with a...

Longtime Michigan City Resident Paul Konrady is now a co-owner of his family’s Portage-based Konrady Plastics company that distributes and machines plastic. After graduating from John Carroll University, Konrady worked for several years on his own....

Rachel Jablonski has worked as the secretary for Aylesworth Elementary School for six years now, but had been working at the school since 2006 as the school nurse. When she was in high school, Jablonski wanted to be a nurse and studied nursing at Ivy...

Stephanie Naumoff has been the Home School Advisor at Wallace Aylesworth Elementary School since January of this year. Naumoff was born in Arkansas and while she went to school in Lombard, Illinois, she hails from Phoenix, Arizona. Before working at...

A long time resident of Portage, Mary Martinez took the lessons she learned from her own mother, and it sparked a passion. She changes lives every day with her work in the hospital.  “Her success was all heart and hard work. I learned so much...

Alicia White has worked at the Portage Township Schools as a behavior specialist for three years now. She grew up in Portage and went to Portage High School. White went on to attend Purdue University, majoring in health and human sciences with a...

Carrie Biggs always knew that she wanted to be a teacher. Born in Seoul, Biggs was adopted and raised in Portage where she played school with her friends, which is how she came to find her life’s calling. Today, Biggs has been a title one teacher...

Deonadrae “Dre” Brumfield has been with the Portage Youth Basketball for three years and is now a board member. Brumfield grew up in Gary where he went to Roosevelt High School and later studied Criminology at Indiana State University on...