Philanthropist Kymberly Rapier is conflicted: She wants to encourage others to give, but she isn’t comfortable talking about herself. “I wasn’t brought up to brag,” she says. Inside and out, her house — built around the turn of the last century for a West Texas cattle...
There’s a lot more to Girl Scouts than camping, crafts and cookies, says Anna Maria Chávez, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas. Though she is often asked if Girl Scouts still make sit-upons (homemade cushions) and cook coffee-can casserole — yes...
When Kimberly Finder, M.D., first decided to become a doctor, her present subspecialty didn’t even exist. While growing up in El Paso, she says, “My grandmother lived with us, and I used to tag along to her doctor visits with my mother or my aunt. I knew that becoming...
When Suzanne Wade visits an H-E-B store, she’s apt to be greeted several times a visit – even when the store is a hundred or more miles from home. As president of H-E-B’s San Antonio Food and Drug Division, she’s in charge of all retail sales for the company except...
Janet Holliday says her career began with a turkey — literally. “My grandmother was an awesome cook,” she says, “and one year, we were all gathered around the table at her house for Thanksgiving when the lady who worked for her came out with this big, beautiful turkey...
Although Elisa Chan’s roots are half a world away, she’s not surprised to be representing her adopted city as a member of City Council. “San Antonio is this special place to me,” she says. “Everything important in my life has happened here: I met my husband here, we...
Growing up, I never wanted to be in the restaurant business,” says Sandy Cerna, whose parents ran a small breakfast-and-lunch eatery called El Jarro. “I thought it was just too much hard work.” But it was in her blood. Despite her early misgivings, little Sandy grew...
The very first car I bought with my own money was a Porsche 928,” Abigail Kampmann recalls fondly. She had to get rid of it when she had a family — “Porsche didn’t make an SUV at that time,” she laughs — but that first choice would prove to be prophetic. Currently...
A black and white photograph of a young girl in a strapless full-skirted white dress, posed against a garden gazebo, hangs over Lynda Alston’s desk at ChildSafe. The viewer may think the young girl’s back is to the camera for artistic purposes, but it is primarily to...
Speaking to a group of fourth-year medical students at UT Health Science Center about HIV diagnosis and management, Dr. Ruth Berggren reviews basic knowledge about testing, therapy and disease transmission in different parts of the world, frequently interrupting...
It may be a rainy September evening outside, but inside the McNay Museum’s halls a festive crowd of about 300 has assembled to celebrate the 80th anniversary of one of San Antonio’s oldest CPA firms, Carneiro Chumney. In the Stieren Building lobby people crowd around...
San Antonians may be unfamiliar with Ruby Tuesday restaurants, but thanks to Cathy Amato and her partners, the brand may soon become a household name. The first local incarnation is already up and running on the corner of 281 and Evans Road, pleasantly perched above...
When Janie Barrera first applied for a job with a fledgling enterprise called Accion Texas, she was rejected. This was back in 1994, when the concept of micro-financing was just beginning to take root in the United States and a group of civic leaders and bankers had...
No cowboys are galloping around, but the 130-acre Rio Cibolo Ranch, just 25 minutes northeast of downtown, is a bucolic site where longhorns roam and huge pecans tower over the landscape that the owners describe as "a little bit of Texas and a whole lot of fun."...
Plaques and awards are not an unusual sight in executive suites, but Pamela Bain has a very special one in her office: an unobtrusive little trophy designating her business as one of the Best Places to Work in San Antonio in 2008. Given by the San Antonio Business...
implementing changes to benefit City Hall and San Antonio Back in October, just a couple of weeks after the financial markets crashed, the City of San Antonio received some really good news: The Standard & Poor’s Rating Service, one of the top bond-rating agencies in...
One thing that comes up repeatedly in conversation with psychologist Susan Mengden is her preference for teamwork: "I look back at my life, and I realize that everything I did and everything I've accomplished has been as part of a team. I really like that. I don't...
In the early 1990s, Tracy Frank was working with autistic children and living in an Austin subdivision with a dozen dogs and several cats, all of which were rescued or adopted. Having that many animals wasn't suitable — or practical — in that neighborhood, so Frank...
