We reached out to some of the rising young professionals featured this month by Comstock’s to find out what one book has made a major difference in their personal or professional journey. Here is what they said:

Though the Railyards venue may have been chilly, the runway was red-hot during the two-night designers’ showcase at the 11th-annual Sacramento Fashion Week in late February. Not typically thought of as a fashion destination, our state Capital was right in line with some of 2017’s biggest trends: 

I would encourage all of you to make a concerted effort to have difficult conversations in the weeks, months and years to come. Have unusual conversations. Ask lots of questions. Take stock of where your boundaries are, but pay attention to where there might be room for growth and compromise. What opportunities are currently masquerading at your fingertips as unaddressed problems?

Generally speaking, an ecosystem describes how different, complex organisms work together. How could a deeply biological term have invaded the usually-technical jargon of business? According to Google Trends, searches for “business ecosystem” and “innovation ecosystem” first entered the lexicon in the late ’90s and hit a peak within the last year.

Rogers has hung up her fork and picked up a grocery basket. She will be Nugget Markets’ first director of marketing and communications, serving stores in 12 cities in the Northern California region.

When you gather a group of people interested in bettering their neighborhood, I am pretty confident good things will come your way. While most neighbors are interested in preventing crime, some are interested in clean public bathrooms or more street lighting. All of these personal agendas make for a diverse to-do list. When it becomes personal, the vested interest grows stronger within the group.

So how does one go from making claims as a 5-year-old, to stumbling onto a trend, to becoming a mobile boutique owner that sells jewelry, gifts and home goods? 

Lampkin recently accepted a new position as the vice president of restaurant operations at Oak Park Brewing Company. We sat down with Lampkin to see what motivated her to make the move. 

Gail Bornhorst, an assistant professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Food Science and Technology at UC Davis, is trying to get to the bottom — or at least the bottom of the stomach — to figure out just what happens to food once it’s reached the belly of the beast.

When only 10 Girl Scouts nationwide are chosen for the National Young Women of Distinction award, “it’s a big deal” when two of those recipients come from the same regional council. “I don’t know if it’s ever happened before,” says Dr. Linda Farley, CEO of Girl Scouts Heart of Central California.

But it has happened now.

Jason Poole accidentally came across what would become his next career by way of a national contest. Poole submitted a Bloody Mary recipe, and before he knew it he was making his way to New York City as a finalist for the 2012 Absolut Best Bloody Mary in America contest.  

Sievent is a social experience app that helps event organizers and attendees stay connected with information before, during and after an event. The app is an end-to-end platform that handles all facets of an event such as promotion, ticketing, payment, event analytics and social media management.

In response to Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s new investment in the arts and creative economy, this is my open letter to Sacramento as a whole. To the creators. The developers. The decision-makers. The people.

What’s the main difference between the Art Hotel installation, held at the Marshall Hotel a year ago, and Art Street, opening Feb. 3 in a former lumber mill near Broadway and 1st Avenue? 

TrueNorth reflects the growing trend of studios and gyms offering stationary cycling — or spin, as the workout is also called — with dozens of these classes available throughout the Sacramento region.

Arlene Mordeno is a cyber security consultant by trade, who has also written a pair of pop songs that became major hits in international markets. Mina Alali is a 19-year-old musician from Davis, a precocious singer who organized and managed a girl group that performed the national anthem at Sacramento Kings games when she was only in junior high school.

Fifty-one percent of professionals have had a workplace romance, according to a 2015 survey from Vault.com, a career resource website. This includes couples like the Obamas and the Gates. In an online poll of Comstock’s readers, 80 percent admitted to having mixed business with pleasure.

Owners Julian and Ashley Perrigo-Jimenez opened their new business this month in Folsom, Julian’s hometown. The couple says they want to provide customers with a welcoming atmosphere, in an elegant interior, where they can enjoy the smells of baked goods and fresh coffee.

In 2012, Valenzuela Garcia helped form the Sacramento Urban Agriculture Coalition to change laws that impede urban farming by first identifying the political barriers to growing food in this environment. The long list included issues such as holding farm stands on residential sidewalks, raising chickens and keeping beehives.

Roseville City Manager Rob Jensen oversees the Capital Region’s only full-service city, a task that comes with managing a $500 million budget, 15 departments and over 1,200 employees. We sat down with him to talk about the challenges and opportunities facing one of the area’s fastest-growing cities.