![Christee Owens, co-owner and president of Icing on the Cupcake, has sent cease-and-desist letters regarding branding issues. Christee Owens, co-owner and president of Icing on the Cupcake, has sent cease-and-desist letters regarding branding issues.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/img_a6.jpg?1577874531)
Brand of Others
When it's time to protect your company
Don’t mess with Icing on the Cupcake. The two-year-old specialty bakery in Rocklin has trademarked its name and isn’t shy about protecting it. Go open your own boutique bakery and sell cupcakes if you want, but steer clear of that brand name if you don’t want to hear from a lawyer.
![Andrew Cook, assistant manager, Utrecht Art Supplies Andrew Cook, assistant manager, Utrecht Art Supplies](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_mg_4656-2.jpg?1577874530)
Browsers & Shoppers
Retailers check consumers' pulse with social media
As shopkeepers have done for thousands of years, Andrew Cook talks with his customers about what he ought to carry at the Utrecht Art Supplies store on Howe Avenue. The difference is that Cook, Utrecht’s assistant manager, holds the conversations on Facebook. The store had nearly 800 fans as of late November.
![Whitney Rhodes, Smart Chicks program coordinator and former foster youth. Whitney Rhodes, Smart Chicks program coordinator and former foster youth.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/salm_0576.jpg?1577874531)
School of Opportunity Knocks
Businesswomen help foster youth succeed in education and life
Nearly 70 percent of California’s high school foster youth dropped out last year. Of the 10 percent that make it to higher education, just 3 percent are likely to graduate.
![(Photo illustration: C.J. Burton) (Photo illustration: C.J. Burton)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/sip2012543.jpg?1577874531)
Organizational Misbehavior
Are you grooming or stifling tomorrow's leaders?
With the national economy stumbling along like a wounded animal, the only steady growth these days is in the number of workers being shown the door. But while layoffs can be demoralizing, those workers who remain on the job may find “the Great Recession” to be a huge career booster.
Overdue reform
Out of money, out of time
California is running out of money, pure and simple. As we go to press, the state is finalizing the budget and lurching from one financial crisis to the next thanks to elected leaders who put politics above fiscal responsibility.
![](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/mg_2212.jpg?1577874531)
Lady of the House
Doris Matsui on what is takes to build a better Capital Region
When most people think of action heroes, they do so in Hollywood terms: big, brawling, muscle-bound guys for whom compromise is always a dirty word. But in politics, brute force rarely holds sway over the art of the deal. In that regard, Doris Matsui, who represents much of Sacramento in Congress, may just be our very own action star.
![James Diepenbrock, senior vice president of Citi Institutional Consulting, is planning a sailing trip in 2010 that will take him from San Francisco to the Caribbean via the Panama Canal.
(Photo courtesy of James Diepenbrock) James Diepenbrock, senior vice president of Citi Institutional Consulting, is planning a sailing trip in 2010 that will take him from San Francisco to the Caribbean via the Panama Canal.
(Photo courtesy of James Diepenbrock)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/diepenbrock-001.jpg?1577874530)
Extreme Executives
Out of the office and where the wild things are
While some business people are perfectly content golfing or playing tennis in their time off, others apply their competitive spirit to more extreme pursuits. These high achievers share several characteristics: They search far and wide for challenges, they’re competitive, they have uncommon amounts of energy and they have the financial means to travel, whether to climb Russia’s Mount Elbrus, kite surf in Brazil or hunt rare black impala in South Africa.