“If you had told me 30 years ago I would be a professional photographer, I’d be professionally working with dogs, I would have laughed,” Halbert says. “Now that I’m here, this is the only place I should be.”

While the general American drinking public prefers lagers over ales, craft breweries often give these cold-fermented brews the cold shoulder. Yet some area brewers believe the balance is starting to shift.

Sparrow 5 owner Marsha Taylor, who has a background in interior design and art, has operated her 2,100-square-foot shop in Roseville for seven years. Besides selling furniture and home accessories, Sparrow 5 carries the work of more than 70 local artists.

These days, the Sacramento region’s beer scene is so large and bustling that a consumer may find it hard to keep tabs on it without a scorecard and roadmap.

The famed Buckhorn empire stretches across the country, with 12 restaurants from the Bay Area and Capital Region to New York City.

The new Slice Beer Company in Lincoln features a big name in the local beverage scene. 

Angie Franklin’s Afro Yoga in Sacramento incorporates elements of social justice and inclusiveness with yoga’s shared values of wellness and health.

Operated by a local nonprofit, the Alchemist Microenterprise Academy is a business training course geared toward food entrepreneurs from underserved communities.

Merle Axelrad says she fell into the medium of fabric collage 27 years ago when she was nine months pregnant, on maternity leave from her job as an architect, and made a baby quilt. Now, most of her works are public art, corporate and private commissions.

Kevin Schimke Jewelers is one of 171 businesses in Stockton’s Miracle Mile Improvement District.