Despite what the dictionary says, sales isn’t really about selling — it’s about connecting. Connecting people with products, services, and stories that make life a little better. And in this issue, we’re celebrating those connections by spotlighting the businesses you voted as the Best of Santa Barbara® — the ones who’ve earned your loyalty, gratitude, and applause.
These awards aren’t just plaques on the wall; they’re proof of passion, persistence, and the power of community.
The Best of Santa Barbara® process spans months of readers nominating and voting for their favorites. Behind the scenes, our unstoppable sales team — with more than 50 combined years at the Independent — reaches out to more than 900 nominated businesses across 216 categories. Yes, it’s a marathon. Yes, there’s caffeine involved. But ask anyone on the team, and they’ll tell you this is their favorite project of the year. Why? Because it’s all about connection — with you, with local businesses, and with the stories that make Santa Barbara shine.
And let’s not forget the rest of the dream team: our sharp-eyed editors, tireless writers, brilliant designers, and everyone who helped bring this issue to life. It’s a labor of love (and a few late nights), but the payoff is huge — sharing your picks for the very best our community has to offer.
We hope you enjoy flipping through this issue as much as we enjoyed creating it. After all, if sales is about connection, then this issue is our favorite way to stay connected — with all of you.
Sarah Sinclair, Advertising Director
My favorite thing about Best of Santa Barbara® is the smiles, cheers — and yes, even the occasional happy tears — when winning clients get the news.
I landed my first “real job” right after graduating from UCSB, working in newspaper advertising at the local daily paper. From day one, I was hooked. I loved the variety, the people, and the stories. One hour I’d be helping a restaurant spread the word about its new happy hour; the next, a company looking to hire more employees, or a family ready to sell their home. It was storytelling through ads — and I knew I had landed in the right place.
Fast forward forty years (how did that happen?) and I’ve been leading the sales team at the Santa Barbara Independent — a talented crew of people whom I’m lucky to call both colleagues and friends — for the past twelve years. Together, we work hard to support our company’s mission of bringing local news and information to the community we love. Even after all these years, I still enjoy what I do — deadline scrambles, elusive clients, lofty goals and all.
And when it comes to the Best of Santa Barbara® issue? It’s the one time I actually enjoy making people cry — happy tears only, of course.
Suzanne Cloutier
In my 23 years of being an ad rep here at the Indy, this year’s Best of Santa Barbara® was one of my most streamlined and enjoyable yet. That’s thanks to our ace wrangler, herder, deadline taskmaster and ad director, Sarah Sinclair, and our creative design team, Bianca Castro and Leah Brewer, and our marketing and Best Fest extraordinaire, Richelle Boyd (not to mention the entire Indy crew). Thank you all for keeping us on task. Of course, we couldn’t do any of this without our loyal advertisers, many of whom I’ve worked with since the beginning. They’ve made this year’s issue such a success and are truly the shining stars of the greater Santa Barbara area and are an essential part of what makes our community the best of the best. Also, a huge thank you to our readers. I hope you’ll read through this entire issue and visit the establishments of both our winners, runners-up and all our weekly advertisers as often as you can. And please let them know that you read about them in the Independent!
Tonea Songer
2013 was my first Best of Santa Barbara®. That year we decided to add a twist to BoSB and create the issue in 3D, with the necessary glasses to read it, inserted in the pages and everything (I still have mine). Watching readers all around town that October morning in their 3D glasses was a fun sight! In 2017 we added Best Fest — the party celebrating winners, runners-up & finalists. Which added a whole new component to the selling process. What was once busy … just got busier! 2025 marks my 13th Best of Santa Barbara®. Still SELLING, still BUSY and STILL waking up in the middle of the night on deadline days, worrying about a client’s logo for their ad. But, to see that hard work all come together once the issue is on stands, from the editorial write-ups about the winners, to the artwork of the year’s mascot throughout the pages, and the incredible ads created by our production team, is a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and pride and makes it all worth it!
Graham Brown
This will be my 7th Best of Santa Barbara®, and no two years have been the same. It is so fun to be able to get a behind the scenes look into all that goes into the making of the Independent’s largest issue of the year, and to gain a thoughtful look into the people, places and businesses that received recognition in an incredibly competitive field. Congratulations to all the nominees!
Richelle Boyd
I have been with the Indy for a little more than 2 years now handling the Marketing, Promotions, and Events, and it is my third time venturing into the world of Best of Santa Barbara®! Though my first year was a lot of assisting in the work that goes into handling the Best Fest event to celebrate all of our winners, runners-up, and finalists, I have been able to fully emerge and enjoy every minute of pulling together ideas and bringing them to life to have a fun, entertaining party. I’m especially excited about this year’s Best Fest — we’ve added so many cool new elements and I have enjoyed every minute of brainstorming and collaborating with our team to make it all happen. Without the sales team, there wouldn’t be a party!
Bryce Eller
Best of Santa Barbara® is always one of the most exciting times of the year for the Indy. While we see many familiar faces and businesses in the running each year, but it’s rewarding to watch new local businesses being nominated, recognized as runners-up, and even taking home the win. That’s my favorite part — helping these emerging businesses gain the recognition and community support to become number one in the future.
Scott Maio
I have been in sales for nearly two decades, and I joined the Indy team about six months ago. My experience so far has been rewarding and energizing. Working on Best of Santa Barbara® was a highlight for me this year considering it was my first. I was pleasantly surprised by how much local businesses value this recognition. It was inspiring to see winners, runners-up, and finalists express genuine pride and gratitude. One challenge was managing the high energy and expectations, but seeing the positive community response made it all worthwhile.
Ariana Hugo
As a new sales representative who joined the Santa Barbara Independent in June 2025, working on the Best of Santa Barbara® issue was such an incredible experience. It gave me the opportunity to connect with so many local businesses — both longtime partners and new advertisers, while introducing myself as their new rep. This issue really showcases the community’s enthusiasm and pride, and it is exciting to be part of something that celebrates the very best of our town. Seeing how much local businesses value this edition made the experience both inspiring and rewarding as I continue to grow my relationships here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.