26 NOVEMBER 2026 By Sherry Sklar This holiday season, enjoy a distinctive shopping experience: browse racks of beautiful garments at a spectacular private residence while taking in the views and sipping champagne. Kelly Rickard founded Arcadia Sample Sale two years ago with the idea that Phoenicians deserved an insider sample sale like those in New York, Los Angeles, and other major cities. Rickard pursued a career in technology sales for a decade before she started her family. While on maternity leave, she explored her resale interest, starting with her own closet, selling clothes in the secondhand market, and rekindling her love of fashion and connection. Her resale interest eventually became a full-time career and laid the groundwork for Arcadia Sample Sale. The pop-up sales offer designer fashion, with most current-season inventory at 70-90 percent off retail. Headliner labels include PatBO, Agua Bendita, dRA Los Angeles, NKN Nekane and others. “For a moment you get to step into this world,” Rickard said, describing the event as an experience that lets shoppers socialize and enjoy fashion savings. “All the major cities have a sample sale presence. We’re the fifth-largest U.S. city by population, and we didn’t have anything like that.” Rickard read that designer Mara Hoffman was closing her fashion label in May 2024 after 24 years in business. She loved the designer and knew her online customers loved her, too. On a lark, Rickard obtained Hoffman’s email and reached out. “She called me from the streets of New York City five minutes later,” Rickard said. “Fast forward two weeks, and I had her final 5,000 units on my doorstep.” Rickard knew she could sell the garments on Poshmark, parking lots to shop her car trunk. “I knew I was on to something,” she said. The sample sale evolved into rotating pop-ups in Arcadia, Paradise Valley and Scottsdale that draw an estimated 300 attendees at each event. Arcadia Sample Sale buys overstock or canceled orders and sells at a discount. “The business model is exciting for smaller brands too, as it gives them exposure in a new market,” Rickard said. She works directly with brands and sources fashion that she wants hanging in her own closet. The merchandise is on-trend and seasonal. She explained that most items sell for less than $100, with $59 to $99 as the typical sweet spot. Beyond the pop-up, Rickard and her team host twice- weekly Instagram Live shopping events, Tuesday and Thursday Instagram Stories merchandise drops, and sell merchandise through Shopify. Rickard and her friends model the garments. “We drink a little wine, laugh a lot, and let our true personalities come out to our audience,” she said. The December event will support Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s Sage Committee, which focuses on children’s mental and behavioral health. Proceeds from VIP night ticket sales will benefit the initiative, along with 100 percent of sales from a participating jewelry vendor’s children’s jewelry collection. Looking ahead, Rickard aspires to expand her business without losing its magic. “Seeing familiar faces shopping regularly is such a thrill for us!” she said. “We’re bringing discounted designer into homes with views, cocktails, and a party-like experience, and I don’t want to change that as we grow.” Learn more on Instagram @arcadiasamplesale eBay, or through livestream sales from her storage, but thought that the line deserved to be showcased. Arcadia local Katrina Barrett offered her showroom for the first event. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and afterward customers offered to meet her in By Robin Sewell At 10, Jeremy Keck wondered whether he would live long enough to graduate high school, own a home, or have children. Years later, when he shared those childhood thoughts with his wife, Ana, they stayed with her. At that age, her biggest concern had been finishing homework in time to watch her favorite cartoons. Jeremy accomplished everything he had wondered about and left Ana with a story she now shares to help other families find hope. Born with a complex congenital heart condition that Ana describes as a single ventricle and transposition of the great arteries, Jeremy underwent six open-heart surgeries over his lifetime. His care included a pacemaker and a Fontan procedure. “He never wanted his heart condition to define him,” Ana said. Instead, Jeremy pursued the future he imagined. Ana still has a high school assignment listing his goals: a wife, two children, a dog, a home, and a successful business career. He graduated from Arizona State University with honors and became a partner at Chasse Building Team. A scratch golfer, he also found time for a sport he loved. He never set limits for himself; he set goals and achieved them. Jeremy and Ana’s first date was Valentine’s Day in 2011. They married in 2014 and welcomed daughters Emilee and Kaylee. Their family included a dog named Ted and the Arcadia home Jeremy built. Ana remembers his patience with their children and the encouragement he offered her on difficult days. His mother, Terri, had long been his advocate and protector, and Ana came to understand the care and vigilance woven into their family’s life. But there was also laughter. During an early hospital stay, Jeremy urged Ana to leave and celebrate her birthday with a mimosa. After another, he wanted brunch and a hike on Camelback Mountain. In June 2020, Jeremy suffered a cardiac arrest during a golf trip to Pebble Beach. A security guard performed CPR before paramedics arrived. Jeremy spent a month in intensive care before returning home. On September 2, he died at work. He was 37. People have asked Ana why she married someone whose condition could leave her a young widow. She says loving Jeremy was reason enough. “I hope that people realize some love stories are not always forever, but that does not make them less special.” As the Phoenix Heart Ball approaches November 21, Ana’s work on its committee connects that love to a purpose. She thinks about the procedures that gave Jeremy more years and hopes research will give other families more time, including the chance to watch children graduate from college and get married, as he had hoped to do. Being part of the committee has also connected Ana with kindhearted women who share her commitment to giving back, an experience she describes as an honor. She also carries forward Jeremy’s commitment to service. He helped raise money for Phoenix Children’s alongside his mother and supported the Boys & Girls Club through the 20-30 Club. “I love telling his story because it brings awareness to children who are born with CHD,” she said. “These children can grow up and have full lives.” Ana calls sharing his story an honor. Through her grief, she has also found the resolve to create experiences with their daughters. Jeremy wanted to visit all 50 states and reached 40; Ana hopes to visit all 50 with the girls before they leave for college. “I make an effort to wake up every day with a purpose, big or small.” She wants their daughters to know how deeply their father loved them, how hard he fought to come home, and how much he believed in helping others. Her own involvement gives them a way to see those values in action. That is what Ana is doing each time she tells his story. Sharing stories about a life that keeps giving Jeremy, Ana, Emilee and Kaylee. PHOTO COURTESY OF ANA KECK Kelly Rickard, founder of Arcadia Sample Sale. PHOTO: ASHLEY ORR Pop-up fashion events bring designer names to closets

27 NOVEMBER 2026 By Sherry Sklar Joe Costello is an Arcadia-area entrepreneur who runs an entertainment company with a roster of more than 1,200 performing artists. What’s more, he built that business on the professional skills he learned as a touring blues and jazz drummer. As a young man, Costello was devoted to a performing career, studying and practicing intensely to reach his 10,000-hour practice goal and achieve fame as a musician. “I loved it. I loved everything about it,” he said. Costello, who grew up just south of Albany, New York, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in jazz ensemble from SUNY Fredonia and moved to the heart of the jazz and blues scene in New York City after graduation to pursue his ambitions. There, he joined a blues band that played throughout the city and traveled the upstate circuit, playing festivals and clubs, living out of a van, eating bad food, and getting by on little sleep. “I’m glad that I survived; that’s all I can say,” Costello said with a laugh. His entrepreneurial drive grew from watching his parents run a restaurant and from his own experiences as a touring musician. Stepping away from the uncertainties of music, he built a successful technology business in New York. After several trips to Arizona for trade conferences, Costello decided not to wait until retirement to make the move. “I was like, ‘you know what? I’ve done my time,’” he said. “I’m ready to go and do this. Why would you go out to Arizona when you get too old to enjoy all of what it offers?” Costello relocated to Arizona with his wife and stepdaughter, and they fell in love with the state’s natural beauty and lifestyle. The family settled in Arcadia Lite, drawn to the neighborhood’s character and sense of community. He eventually launched a home automation company during the housing boom. As the housing market collapsed, he shut down the business and made a very clear decision about what came next. In blues, a turnaround is the phrase that brings the progression back to the beginning. Costello’s career had reached one of its own. “Every day I wake up, if it doesn’t involve music, I’m not doing it,” he said. “Booking, playing, recording, whatever it was, but it had to be music.” Costello formed a group that became the house band at Montelucia Resort. As outside corporate events and destination weddings began coming in, he had to find replacement musicians for nights when his band couldn’t play. Costello realized that instead of simply sending someone over, he could manage the entire process. “I was the filter, making sure that whoever I replaced us with was seamless and transparent,” he said. “That was kind of like the light bulb moment.” From there, the business grew into Onstage Entertainment Group. His touring and hospitality experience gave him an advantage. He could walk into a room and quickly understand the acoustics, staging, clientele, and logistics. Today, Onstage Entertainment provides talent for many of the Valley’s resorts, country clubs and corporate events, with a roster ranging from musicians and mentalists to A-list entertainment. Costello once struggled to find gigs on his own. Now he creates work for other musicians and entertainers. He admits that even today, when he watches a concert, part of him still imagines what it would be like to be the drummer looking out at an arena filled with people. He admits, though, that chasing fame requires an all-consuming commitment, and there are no guarantees. “If you’re going to do it, you have to be 110 percent in it ... and in the end, you still might not make it.” Costello’s path ultimately brought him back to music, not as the touring drummer he once imagined, but as someone creating opportunities for other performers. onstage.biz On stage or sidelines, this jazz artist always goes back to music Joe Costello is the owner and founder of Onstage Entertainment Group. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE COSTELLO Every day I wake up, if it doesn’t involve music, I’m not doing it. All are welcome! X A V I E R C O L L E G E P R E P A R A T O R Y MADE FOR MORE Faith. Learning. Leadership. Opportunity. Admission/Placement Exam Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026 or Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026 at 7:30 a.m. Affording a Xavier Education Financial Aid Workshop: Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026 Visit xcp.org for more information. Xavier College Preparatory is a Catholic community that strives to prepare young women of faith with knowledge, skills, and integrity to meet the challenges of a changing global society in a positive and productive manner celebrating unity.