Feb 3, 2025
Aniko Kiezel and I have something in common. We both hate to have our picture taken. But to Kiezel’s credit, I’ve never had more fun—or liked a photo of myself more—than when she photographed me for Inside Sacramento.
“Above all, I try to make the person I’m photographing feel comfortable,” says Kiezel, who photographs for Inside along with other publications and private clients. “I like to put them at ease and make them know I’m going to make them look good. If I’m having a good time, you’re going to have a good time.”
Kiezel photographs all kinds of people—artists, business owners, politicians, students, actors and more. She’s expert at striking up conversations with strangers.
Jan 28, 2025
Find out what is happening in Sacramento during the month of February!
Jan 28, 2025
For LuTisha McGregor, principal at Umoja International Academy in East Sacramento, it’s all about love.
“I lead with love,” says McGregor. “I tell my students and staff I love them every day and the parents every week. That’s the type of leader I am. I want to come on campus and feel and see the love.”
Leading with love led to the school’s name change. Long known as Kit Carson, the combination middle and high school was one of three Sacramento City Unified School District campuses renamed in what Sac City officials call a “commitment to address school facility names that do not support the district’s values.”
Jan 28, 2025
Matt King knows how to get creative. He was named 2024 Volunteer of the Year by the city’s Department of Youth, Parks, & Community Enrichment, thanks to his creative efforts to revitalize William Chorley Park in South Sacramento.
“Even the parks department didn’t want to go there,” King says. “It had been ignored for about 10 years. The grass was 7-feet high. There was graffiti all over the bathroom. There were feces and needles all over the playground, drug and gang activity. It was bad and just got worse.”
A longtime South Sac resident, King took matters into his own hands after he saw a post on Nextdoor lamenting the state of the park. He realized uplifting this asset in his neighborhood would align with his own “journey to uplift.”
Dec 28, 2024
“I was a young girl who never felt comfortable in her skin or content in my body,” Jesse Bennett says. “I was good at being positive and caring to others, but I wasn’t kind to myself.”
“When I started practicing Pilates and yoga in college, it was a gamechanger,” she continues. “I fell in love with how the practices changed how I felt in my skin. I want to give that gift to other people, to empower women to love who they are and where they’re at.”
