Kelly Barr

Back Photographer

(Photo by Christina Best)

Kelly Barr is a creative professional and MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) Certified Practitioner. She specializes in helping introverts like herself build and launch their personal brands. 

Kelly has been a part of Comstock’s since 2007. She served as the art director until 2019 and continues to work as a contributing designer and writer. She has also earned professional recognitions for her work, including both MAGGIE and California Journalism awards.

Kelly spends most days trying to balance parenthood and work from her home in Orangevale, where she lives with her husband, three daughters and one oversized puppy. You can find her online at kellytheintrovert.com

By this person

The Comeback of the House Call

House calls are convenient for the patient and can give the visiting physician or nurse a big-picture idea of the environmental factors affecting the patient’s health.

Apr 12, 2021 Eva Roethler

Artists, is Your ‘Personal Brand’ Eating Your Paycheck?

Making a career as an artist is rarely easy, sometimes impossible and usually totally worth it. Sometimes we catch a break and get to skip ahead more quickly than anticipated. Other times we have to put in (very) long hours. Here are a few pitfalls I’ve learned to avoid:

Jul 31, 2017 Kelly Barr

Mysteries of the Gut Instinct

Unraveling the science of the body’s ‘second brain’ offers insight into the role the stomach plays in our mental health

We’ve all been there: You’re waiting to give a big presentation, maybe you dread public speaking, and you feel your stomach twist itself into a pretzel. Or maybe you meet someone new, someone interesting, and when they make eye contact you feel your stomach do a joyful little flip. It happens all of the time. We feel things before we have time to mentally process.

Jul 27, 2017 Jeff Wilser

From Vine to Glass

Sitting on the deck of his family’s tasting room, Warren Bogle looks out over the vineyard his grandfather planted in 1968 in the low-lying land of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. That first planting of 20 acres of vines in Clarksburg transformed the Bogle family from row crop farmers to one of the region’s most successful winemakers.

Apr 17, 2017 Samantha Young

Joy Ride

At Lincoln’s equestrian-based therapy program Ride To Walk, riders with disabilities gain strength, knowledge and skill

The Ride to Walk program has been in operation since 1985, and they have been improving their ranch since moving in 18 years ago. Use of the property is available to the public from dawn to dusk. To keep up with costs, the ranch also boards non-therapy horses, and the lake on site is also open for catch and release bass fishing for a $5, recommended donation.

Apr 7, 2017 Danna Sweidan

Local Loomis Unveiled

Placer County town has cultivated a niche food scene frequented by locals

An idyllic, family-farm community in south Placer County, Loomis is proud of its small-town heritage and quaint downtown dotted with unique shops and cafés. This rural village of about 7,000 residents caters to outdoor enthusiasts looking for a slower pace. Loomis has managed to keep its hometown feel for decades, jealously guarding its open space and passing on chain stores and malls.

Jan 9, 2017 Laurie Lauletta-Boshart

The Internet of You

Cutting-edge technology brings sensors into every aspect of our daily lives, making them safer, more convenient — and a little scarier

Imagine a piece of technology the size of an aspirin. It can go anywhere, be embedded in anything and keep track of any action, movement or sound — imparting huge amounts of data, like tiny puzzle pieces that can be correctly fitted to form the picture of your life. It sounds Orwellian, the ability to monitor your habits at all times.

Jul 19, 2016 Robin Epley
Slow-growth advocates, like members of SaveOurCounty, urge residents to support Measure E and Measure G on the June ballot. / Kevin Nagle, co-partner for the El Dorado Hills Town Center (pictured), says he’ll push for affordable housing to generate a tax base to attract the employers and small businesses that will fund services in the growing county.

Two Sides to Every County

Business creation and job growth are usually positive things for a growing county, but some El Dorado County residents are vehemently opposed to building over the rural land they love

For the past 48 years, Mike Doran has watched El Dorado County evolve— slowly. He recalls the days when the county was a peaceful, low-density community — long before the Home Depot came to Placerville, before the Dollar General  got the greenlight for Georgetown, back when Highway 50 was nothing but a two-lane road.

Jun 2, 2016 Russell Nichols

Status Check: Crüze Control

Food truck master makes plans for brick-and-mortar restaurant

Last July, we reported on Chef Keith Breedlove — the quirky food truck owner driving authentic brand development in a congested mobile scene with his one-of-a-kind Culinerdy Crüzer (“Crüze Control” by Andy Galloway). Now, Breedlove and his wife and partner Amy have since decided to open an 1,800-square-foot brick-and-mortar restaurant by August 2016. 

Feb 1, 2016 Kelly Higdon
(photography: kelly barr and sheryl trapani)

Feast Your Eyes on This

True gourmet dining starts with the plate, a canvas for culinary art

“There is an old adage that we eat with our eyes,” says John Weatherson, co-owner and co-chef, along with wife Nyna, of Restaurant Trokay. In his experience, the brain is conditioned to pre-determine the quality of a dish’s taste by the way it looks, and how a dish is plated ultimately helps to maximize the diner’s gastronomic experience. Located in the historic district of downtown Truckee, the couple’s culinary creations at Restaurant Trokay take center stage, but the presentation is no afterthought. 

Dec 21, 2015 Laurie Lauletta-Boshart

So, You Want To Be the Next Big Thing?

5 tips for launching a successful product

Sometimes, a real no-brainer, problem-solver of a product can crash and burn spectacularly upon entering the market. This isn’t limited to the Pepsi Clears of the world, where sheer ridiculousness doomed the idea from the start: According to Nielsen data, 85 percent of new consumer packaged goods will fail within two years. Marketing snafus, bad luck and timing aside, pitfalls in the process of product design are often to blame. Catching oneself before blundering into them takes a conscious effort, as several local designers and makers illustrate.

Dec 8, 2015 Andy Galloway

The Marvelous Mentor

Chris Johnson’s massive success affords next-gen business leaders the opportunity to grow

In the coming months, Chris Johnson will ask a lot of his employees, whose average age is just 24 years old. He expects to do $30 million in retail sales this third year of manufacturing, recently signed a powerful licensing deal with Disney’s Marvel, and plans to expand from the four products currently on shelves to more than 100 next year. But Johnson’s hiring strategy emphasizes passion over experience, something he says his team has in spades.

Nov 17, 2015 Andy Galloway

Welcome to the Neighborhood

Cask & Barrel brings approachable dining to Del Paso Boulevard

At Cask & Barrel in north Sacramento, there are no entrees. The restaurant has a small kitchen staff and high-end food at low prices. Chef Gabriel Glasier and his pastry chef, business partner and fiancée, Kristel Flores, are bringing something different to a corner of Del Paso Boulevard that’s proved to be enigmatic, to say the least, for two decades.

Nov 16, 2015 Rick Kushman

Skate with Friends

Cool nonprofit ramps up support for Sacramento kids with special needs

SkateMD connects youth with special needs with volunteers to learn how to skateboard. The Sacramento-based nonprofit was created by Melanie Tillotson (the “M”) and Andrea “Drea” Bibelheimer (the “D”), who saw a need in the community for a cool program in a safe space that would spread kindness to children facing developmental, physical, emotional and family challenges.

Russell Nichols
Shelves at Oto’s Market off Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento brim with Japanese imports and local produce

Global Flavors Next Door

The rising popularity of ethnic grocers is impacting everyday dining

Where in your local supermarket do you find the curry leaves? How about dumplings filled with red bean paste, or maybe smoked duck. Does your local grocer have fresh menudo, warm tortillas right out of the oven, or miso broth prepared that morning on-site? Independent grocery stores focused on specific ethnic cuisines are thriving in Sacramento, enjoying a boom in customers from beyond their base cultural markets.

Oct 12, 2015 Andy Galloway
(Shutterstock)

Pull Up a Chair

Restaurateurs are feasting on expansion opportunities across Sacramento

Around the Sacramento region, the Mulvaney’s attitude is rare. So many other chefs and owners are taking up those offers or have their own plans to expand. 2015 is proving to be a banner year for restaurant expansions, and as Sacramento’s new Golden 1 Arena rises, 2016 will surely continue the trend. Here’s just a partial lineup of what’s shaking down around the region:

Aug 17, 2015 Rick Kushman