Health + Wellness

Take a Hike

Wellness advocate and Recess Club founder Melissa Coulier digs deep on chronic illness, caregiving — and helping women reclaim their recess. Article by Lynne Konstantin | Photography by Brooke Brzoska, Brooke Elizabeth Art Growing up in Livingston, Mont., Melissa Coulier always felt most at home outside. So she went for walk — and invited everyone. Joyful, exuberant and ever-ready to pluck life from a tree and share it with everyone in her path, she launched Recess Club to share her passion...

Real Estate

Summit Seeking

Living the elevated lake life on Little Traverse Bay. Article by Susan Thwing Northern Michigan has long been a favorite escape for Metro Detroit families seeking cooler summers, waterfront beauty and a slower pace of life. But in recent years, destinations like Bay Harbor and nearby Petoskey, Charlevoix and Harbor Springs have evolved into something even more coveted: luxury lifestyle communities that rival resort destinations across the country. Now, a new development called The Summit...

Local Services

In Bloom, Year-Round

Building a business based on beautifying homes through each season. Article by Susan Thwing Rachel Carroll doesn’t remember making a conscious decision to become like her grandmother. It happened quietly. Her grandmother lived in a small house and had a gift for making a home feel special. There were seasonal decorations for every holiday, flowers in the yard, houseplants in the windows and a sense that beauty didn’t require extravagance — just care and intention. Years later, Carroll...

Real Estate

Home on the Lake

A father-son duo helps clients achieve the best of both worlds in Metro Detroit real estate. Article by Susan Thwing In Oakland County, lakefront living offers something increasingly rare: the feeling of an everyday escape just minutes from the energy of Metro Detroit. For father-and-son real-estate team Jeff and Matt Barker, associate realtors with Max Broock Realtors in Birmingham, helping clients find that balance has become both a specialty and a passion. The duo has built a reputation...

Food + Beverage

Sip, Sun, Repeat (All Summer Long)

Five Michigan wineries within 90 minutes of Birmingham where the views are stunning, the pours are generous, and summer tastes even better among the vines. Article by Jennifer Lovy Lori Herron never thought of Michigan as wine country — especially not Southeast Michigan, where she grew up and lives now. Yet her passion for wine inspired her to change careers in her 40s and become a professional vigneron , the French term for a grape grower and winemaker.  The West Bloomfield native used the...

Home + Design

Outside the Ordinary

Former streetwear designer Jeff Piper built his career dressing icons. Now he’s designing the spaces they come home to. Article by Lynne Konstantin Jeff Piper is a bit of a renaissance man. A former VP of design at Pelle Pelle, a Detroit-based frontrunner in ’90s hip-hop streetwear, he dressed clients with swagger, from Destiny’s Child and 50 Cent to Deion Sanders. He spent decades traveling the world, staying ahead of the trends through Japan, China, Germany and France.  At the same time...

Beauty

A New Man

Inside the quiet revolution of men and aesthetic surgery — what they’re getting done why they’re doing it.. Article by Lynne Konstantin The plastic surgeon’s waiting room looks a little different than it used to. More men are seeking cosmetic procedures than ever before — and the reasons why might surprise you. We sat down with board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Julio Sosa, owner of Bloomfield Plastic Surgery, who specializes in aesthetic and reconstructive procedures for the face, breast and...

Finance + Legal Services

Advocacy Around the Clock

Matthew Bitonti is just a phone call away when clients need him most. Article by Patti Zielinski “Do you know your insurance agent’s name?” Matthew Bitonti asks. It’s a simple question — yet one many people can’t answer. Bitonti, president and CEO of Bitonti Insurance Group (bitontigroup.com) in Bloomfield Hills, believes that says everything about the state of modern insurance. “When you work with us, and you have a real problem, you don’t call an 800 number,” he says. “You call me — 24/7.”...

Life + Culture

Passion, Curated

Two best friends turned a shared connoisseurship of the rare and luxurious from a lifestyle to a Downtown Birmingham destination. Article by Susan Thwing | Photography by Aly Darin In a recent reel on their Instagram, longtime best friends Calvin Kashat and Brandon Murad stand anxiously at their Downtown Birmingham window. The object of their attention: The FedEx delivery truck. “This is us,” Kashat laughs. “We’re waiting around like kids on Christmas morning.” Finally, after stacks and...

Professional Services

The Case for Style

Birmingham attorney Jeffrey Lance Abood brings purpose, precision  — and sartorial sensibility — to every detail. Article by Patti Zielinski | Photography by Aly Darin Attorney Jeffrey Lance Abood oozes movie-star charisma. Never forced — it’s simply who he is. As a litigator with the venerable Abood Law Firm (aboodlaw.com), founded by his extended family in 1956, his high-energy go-getter personality blends with honest-to-goodness integrity and placing a priority on community action. With a...