Magazine Archive
Magazine Archive
Lisa Lippiello Shows Grace Under Pressure
Downton Valley has a royal feel to it. A long, winding driveway leads to a stately home that rises over the Pioneer Valley. Inside, the “Dowager Room” and the “Isobel Room” nod to two of the most powerful female characters on the historical drama “Downton Abbey.” But the woman behind this bed-and-breakfast home is a contemporary queen.
She rules.
The best thing about Lisa Lippiello is that she is a humble monarch. Before she was a mother, wife and entrepreneur; before she was a managing partner at a law firm in Northampton, she was just a little girl drawn to the ocean. “I have photos of my father racing to the shore because I was crawling through the sand to the water,” she says with a laugh. The water was her happy place; it would be her steady companion as she navigated her parent’ divorce and was tasked with caring for her younger brother.
And So Our Lives Continue
It's a rainy Sunday morning in April. My wife is driving down to the city to meet her daughter, who flew in to take her mom to lunch and a show. We celebrated on Friday, her actual birthday – with a pancake breakfast in bed; followed by a leisurely day with our puppy, Milo; and capped off with a romantic dinner at The Blue Heron Restaurant.
I'm sitting on our daybed on the porch now, my computer perched on my lap. Somewhat reluctantly, I turned on the gas stove this morning in an effort to temper the chilly April air. All I can hear is the steady patter of rain on the porch roof, an occasional flutter of ducks fishing on the river, and a contented sigh from Milo, who is lying by my side. Suddenly I catch a whir of red brushing across the porch window: A cardinal has sent his blessing for a sweet day at home.
Risky Business
I recently received a panicked email from a potential client who told me that one of their competitors may be taking legal action against them. The reason? Both companies share the same business name in the same industry.
Brand identity is a critical aspect of any business, and it's essential to ensure that you're not infringing on any existing trademarks or brand names when starting a new company. My potential client’s situation could have been avoided if their company had examined their brand and competition from the start.
Here’s why it's crucial to work with a professional to safeguard your brand
House of Music
When he’s not working as an allergist and immunologist at AIANE in Northampton, Dr. Jonathan Bayuk runs One Roof, a nonprofit that puts on musical festivals to fund homes for the unsheltered.
Proudly Forward
Grace Moreno is a force, and she’s the force behind the ever-expanding Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Of its 465 members, more than a quarter are based in the western part of the state – and last November the chamber opened an office in Easthampton to take even better care of them.
Family Business: The Keiters Build a Legacy
Construction was his profession, not his destiny. Throughout high school and college, Scott Keiter was a natural builder and engineer – both were in his blood – but he had something else in his back pocket: his “Dream Book.” It was just as it sounds, a catalogue of possibilities, a reminder that one day the adventurer in him would helm an enterprise.
The Best-Laid Plans Aren't Left to the Commonwealth
If you don’t have an estate plan, you’re not alone. In fact, most adults die without one. Even notable figures like Kurt Cobain, Abraham Lincoln, Howard Hughes, Prince and Pablo Picasso died without a will.
Why do so many people – from former presidents and rock stars to your family members and friends – work their entire lives to accumulate assets but fail to spend mere hours deciding how their assets should pass when they die?
Guiding Light
Lighting is an essential element in any home or office, and it’s important to have functioning lights to create a comfortable and safe environment. Whether you're tired of an outdated or unappealing ceiling light or you need to replace a worn fixture, switching out your ceiling light doesn’t have to be a terrifying prospect. Replacing your ceiling light is a simple and cost-effective way to upgrade your home's aesthetic, but it's important to approach the project with caution. Electrical work can be dangerous if not handled properly.
Aimee Salmon: Jumping for Joy
Are you teaching today? It was one of the first English phrases she understood, even though she was the new girl in Zumba class. No one knew that Aimee Salmon had never danced, that growing up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, moving just wasn’t on her radar.
Money Talks
Inheritance is the third rail in financial planning. No one wants to go there. Yet when you think about your future financial circumstances, you need to estimate any wealth you might inherit. Without it, you’re flying blind when you consider these questions.
Hot Topic
Home is where the heart is - and where the heat is - if you take care of your heating systems. Berkshire Heating and Air Conditioning not only helps customers service their existing systems, but they also provide new alternatives to traditional systems. Invest your tax refund in the future of your heating and cooling systems and you’ll soon see the returns.
Game On: From Noho to the Majors
“This is the dojo here. This is all our stuff,” says Erik Ostberg, gesturing toward two open duffel bags stuffed with gear that spills onto the floor. He clears off two metal chairs for Jack Power and me, then takes a seat behind the desk at Complex Sports Academy (Plex) in East Longmeadow. Ostberg, 27, and Power, 20, settle in and sip their Reign energy drinks. Last night was a late one in the cage.
The two Northampton-born athletes have lived and breathed baseball since they could wield a bat. Now Ostberg is a bona fide Major Leaguer, Power a Division I rising star. When they aren’t playing with the Tampa Bay Rays or the Long Island University Sharks, Plex is their home.
What about Mom?
Funny how you can spend a quarter century raising kids with your blood, guts, tears and bottomless love. Then one day something changes and you don’t have a clue how to keep your family together. And then, finally, you begin to wonder if it’s your job anymore.
When my mom was 50 she was left with a daughter in her first year of college and three older sons who could be aimless at times. We were trying to figure out our young adult lives without Dad. But what about Mom?
Labor of Love: For Carlos McBride, Enlightenment is a Commitment
On the first day of class at Holyoke Community College, the teacher arrived early. He walked past rows of empty desks to the chalkboard, where he scrawled his last name, McBride, next to the title of the course, Introduction to Sociology. On the table in front, he put down his stuff, including the syllabus featuring readings by Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim. Then he adjusted his fitted cap, grabbed his hip hop magazine, and walked to the back row. His sneakers scuffed the floor when he took a seat. The pages of the magazine fluttered as he leafed through them. The people filing in barely glanced at the middle-aged man of color whom they assumed was a fellow student. Forty of his peers sat down and waited to learn.
Suddenly, McBride got up and eased his way through the rows. But instead of taking his place at the board, he walked out of the room.
Blazing a Trail: How a Local Realtor Cornered a Niche Market
My career has always centered on railroads – marketing rail freight and managing the operations of several transloading facilities in the northeast. In 1994 a regional publisher who admired my background in railroad history contracted me to write three books on the conversion of former railroad corridors into trails. The books were hits, but some people were still fearful or angry about trail conversions. I couldn’t understand why and wanted to help. I became an advocate for the conversions and helped to organize local “Friends of the Trail” groups. Eventually, I was hired by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) and worked for them for seven years in policy development at the state level. I like to say that I am a battle-hardened veteran of nearly every rail-trail war within 150 miles of Northampton. When RTC left the region, I became a realtor with a related niche: I sell houses near rail trails. The primary reason people opposed trail conversions was a decrease in property value. But I’m very successful in my specialty. You could say I’ve cornered the market.
Schools of Thought
If you have a child who will start elementary, middle or high school in the fall, you may be deciding on where they will go. Here are your primary options
Our United Way Makes History: For 100 Years, Northampton Has Been in Good Hands
When Holly Martineau joined the United Way of the Franklin and Hampshire Region last March, the first thing she did was celebrate. That’s because 2022 marked the organization’s 100th year of extraordinary service.
“The 100th anniversary of any nonprofit is a huge event,” says Martineau, director of development for the Northampton-based branch. “But the United Way is funding organizations that serve those most in need, and those needs are constantly changing. So that means we need to evolve as well.”
Holiday Hustle
‘Tis the season for big buys, frequent returns, and, we hate to say it: skeevy scams. We talked to tech expert Scott Haselkorn about what to note before you answer that urgent email from Amaz0n. (And no, that’s not a typo. It’s just more reason to read on.)
Doctor's Orders
Dr. Jonathan Bayuk, a board-certified allergist and clinic immunologist in Northampton, gets real with us about covid-19 vaccine injuries, pandemic tee-shirt slogans, and the good old days of Encyclopedia Britannica.
Brush with Grace: Zachariah Vaughan Gives Refugees a New Start
This is a story about grace. Not religious grace, per se, although there’s an element of spirituality. Not Grace Paint and Tile, specifically, although the company plays a large role. At its heart, it’s about a guy who lost his way for a while, who has become a mentor to Northampton High School athletes and Afghan refugees. It’s about his most recent crew of painters, football stars and former soldiers, who didn’t always understand each other but knew that when lunch rolled around, they would lay down a drop cloth, take off their shoes, and share a pot of stew. And it’s about his community, our community, that emerged from isolation eager to merge worlds.