Local Services

Flipping Mythbusters

Two Max Broock agents are done watching good homes ruined by bad flippers — and not shy about saying so Article by Marshall Zweig | Photography by Amy Gillespie Before they were Royal Oak Realtors, Matt Bazner spent 25 years as a licensed contractor, and Justin Bercheny was an interior designer. Together, the two Max Broock agents bring something most real estate professionals simply can't offer: they've seen inside the walls. Literally. That backstage access makes them unusually...

Finance + Legal Services

Trust Over Trends

Michael Cayen brings aloha spirit and steady hands to investing Article by Marshall Zweig | Photography by Amy Gillespie At 13 and Campbell in Royal Oak, there’s a hula girl silhouette on the side of a building, complete with palm tree and sunset. It’s the kind of image you don’t expect to see alongside the practicality of Little Caesars and 7-Eleven. Michael Cayen put it up. His goal is simple: make something bright enough to maybe change a stranger’s mood at a red light. “That’s the whole...

Wellness

Reconnecting With You

Following her voice led Susanne Scott to a miraculous reunion — and a calling. Article by Marshall Zweig | Photography by Amy Gillespie "There's something familiar about that belly." It's a strange sentence to hear in your own head. Especially when you're walking along a seawall in San Diego, searching for an uncle you haven't seen in decades. But Susanne Scott heard it anyway. Clear as a bell. And she followed it. The man with the familiar belly was leaning back on the seawall. When he...

Home + Design

Right Plant, Right Place

Less lawn, more life: Erica Zador helps backyards do more than look good Article by Marshall Zweig | Photography by Amy Gillespie The wind is a character in Erica Zador’s story. Not metaphorically. Literally. The kind of wind that rips across the Great Plains with enough force to rearrange your mood—and, if you’re unlucky, your car. In Erica’s Kansas childhood, growing up 27 miles from the nearest town, tumbleweeds weren't charming symbols of the Old West. They were the wind’s weapons...