About Around Shea
The story behind your new neighborhood newsletter.
Around Shea is a local publication about the people, places and everyday things that make this part of the Valley feel like home.
We're Vanessa and Brad Kuenn, a husband-and-wife team raising our family in Phoenix. Vanessa was born and raised here, and Brad grew up near 32nd Street and Shea. After a short stretch away from Arizona, we came back to the Valley and built our life here — close to our families and in the neighborhoods we've known for most of our lives.
For us, Around Shea grew out of a pretty simple feeling: there's a lot happening close to home that deserves more attention.
The restaurant someone quietly opened down the street. The family behind the business you've driven past a hundred times. The park worth taking your kids to. The construction project everyone keeps wondering about. The meal that's actually worth ordering. The neighbor doing something remarkable without expecting anyone to notice.
Those are the stories we want to share.
A familiar kind of project
Around Shea isn't our first project built around creativity and community.
In 2022, we opened Brightside Studios in central Phoenix, an art studio, café, music venue and gathering place for local artists and creatives.
What we remember most about Brightside are the people who made it what it was. The artists, musicians, small-business owners and regulars who filled the space, shared their work and trusted us to help tell their stories.
We loved getting to know those people. We loved photographing their work, making videos, sitting down for interviews, putting on events and finding ways to give interesting people and ideas a little more attention.
Around Shea is a very different project, but that part feels familiar.
We're excited to bring that same curiosity, attention to detail and storytelling to the Shea corridor — and to the people, businesses and places that make this area feel like home.
Behind the Lens and the Byline
Vanessa has had a camera in her hands since she was a kid. She first learned photography in middle school, later earned a degree in psychology, and eventually turned that longtime interest into Vanessa Kuenn Photography. Her eye for people, small moments and the way a place actually feels will shape much of how Around Shea looks.
Brad's background is in writing, content, marketing and storytelling, but he's also simply someone who has spent a large part of his life around this stretch of Phoenix. He grew up near 32nd Street and Shea before eventually building Brightside with Vanessa and working alongside local artists, small businesses and community members across the Valley.
Together, we want Around Shea to combine those two perspectives: pay attention, ask good questions, take good pictures and tell people about something worth knowing.
Why we're doing it
Around Shea is for the people who live, work and spend their time in the neighborhoods surrounding Shea Boulevard.
We'll cover what's changing, introduce you to people worth knowing and help you discover more of what's right outside your door.
You can expect original stories, local reporting, practical guides and photography that captures this part of the Valley as we actually experience it. We want to give you a reason to explore a little more, support the people and businesses around you, and stay informed about the place you call home.
Because the more we know about our neighborhood and the people in it, the more connected we become.
Real places. Real people. Real connection.