Lots of people tried to dissuade Jen Barnes from opening Rough & Tumble, among the first women-themed sports bars in the United States. She didn’t listen. “Quite a few tried to talk me out of this because at the time it was crazy,” says Barnes, a fourth-generation Seattleite and a huge sports fan who spent…

Rico Quirindongo received an email from then-Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan in August of 2020 in the throes of the pandemic with the subject line, “I want to talk to you about the future of the city.” “I thought it was spam,” Quirindongo recalls with a chuckle. “Then I realized this is actually her email and…

Amy Tipton is nothing if not resourceful. In 2013, shortly after opening her now-shuttered Belltown boutique Sassafras, she decided to resurrect the neighborhood’s monthly art walk, which had fizzled after Roq La Rue Gallery moved south to Pioneer Square. “I found an old map of the locations that used to participate, then reached out to…

When Bob Davidson visited the Seattle Aquarium 22 years ago as newly appointed CEO, he brought his three college and high school-age sons along to tour the facility. Little had changed or been invested in the city-run Aquarium over the past decades, and it showed. Aging exhibits and informational signs did little to inspire or…

Five men are responsible for changing Amy King’s perspective permanently. These men, the first five employees of her husband’s construction company, all had a “pretty significant criminal history” and had spent time in prison. King admits she had been sheltered her entire life, but learning the backgrounds and journeys of these men opened her eyes….

Restaurateur Yasuaki Saito rolls the dough at three locations  in Seattle. And, the financial dough keeps rolling in, with a fourth location set to open in 2025. Saito owns and operates Post Alley Pizza in downtown Seattle, Saint Bread in Portage Bay, and Tivoli in Fremont. Wayland Mill is expected to open this spring on…

There were two distinct and opposite reactions when Amazon President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy announced the company’s controversial return to office policy in September. Amazon employees balked. Downtown Seattle business owners and commercial real estate professionals cheered. Like it or not, there’s no denying that Jassy has had a major influence on Seattle….

Valerie Segrest’s elders and her community are the reason she dedicated her life to food systems. Segrest grew up a part of the Muckleshoot Tribe, located just south of Auburn, in a community where the closest grocery store was nearly 10 miles away in an area considered “food insecure.” Her elders often told her, “If…

When Girmay Zahilay arrived in Seattle as a 2-year-old refugee, his family lived in public housing and homeless shelters. He was born in a Sudanese refugee camp to Ethiopian parents fleeing civil war. Now, 35 years later, Zahilay is leading the charge to fund affordable housing in King County for working class families to the…

David Bateman, a lawyer at K&L Gates who spent his time “finding people who were doing bad things on the internet,” didn’t fully know the concept of revenge porn until he met Holly Jacobs. Jacobs sought help from K&L Gates after explicit photos of her were nonconsensually shared on the internet. Jacobs’ case, Bateman says,…

Chef Ethan Stowell knows good food can change lives. You probably recognize him as the force behind more than 20 Seattle-area restaurants and cafes. Now, he’s taking on a new challenge: transforming what kids eat in public schools as a member of Eat Real’s chefs council. America’s school cafeterias serve 7 billion meals a year…

When Spice Waala opened in 2019, husband and wife team Uttam Mukherjee and Dr. Aakanksha Sinha had two goals: bring authentic Indian street food to Seattle and give back to the community. Now, with three locations, Spice Waala is known for its flavorful chaats, kathi rolls — and its impact. Recently named King County Small…

Hamdi Mohamed arrived 30 years ago with her family, refugees fleeing war-torn Somalia. In 2024, the 34-year-old port commissioner became the first Black woman to chair the Seattle Port Commission, the public authority that manages Sea-Tac Airport and the Port of Seattle. Mohamed was not quite a year old when she fled Somalia with her…