Inspiring East LA Stories

The heart of our mission at VoyageLA is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our city. In the recent weeks, we’ve had the privilege to connect with some of East LA’s finest artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble-rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with our city’s incredibly deep talent pool.  Check out East LA’s rising stars below.

Tracy Marcellino

Independent artist Witch Cabin (Los Angeles / NY) steps into 2026 with a powerful new release, “We Want Connection,” available now. Written at her secluded woodland creative space known as The Witch Cabin, the track was born after a heartbreak-fueled trip to New York that revealed just how fragile human connection has become. Read more>>

Cassandra lee Hamilton

I inadvertently combined this question with the one after, hope that’s okay! I grew up in the Hollywood hills in a house made by a sandcastle winner. When the 94’ earthquake hit the house started slipping down the mountain. When I was young I deeply related to the movie ‘Slums of Beverly Hills’. Humor in times of abject despair became an ethos. a super power. Read more>>

Kristina Karner

singulier began on depop in 2018 with myself and my roomate/bff anna. we drove around southern california shooting on location with ikea bags full of bins gems which we sourced each week. we had never been to a wholesaler but frequently roadtripped to climb mountains and camp and stop to grab any pieces we saw value in. Read more>>

Peter Mosiman

Pretty normal kid, from the suburbs of Chicago. I didn’t realize movies were made by people until I took my first film class in college, which I initially took because I thought it would be sweet to watch movies for a class (typical freshman). Read more>>

Cassie Kramer

Absolutely. I started out in Chicago studying acting and improv at places like Second City, iO Theater, and several local acting studios before continuing my training at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and several other programs over the years. Read more>>

Chris Merrell

Born and raised on a 12-horse ranch in Woodcrest, California, Chris grew up learning how to train horses from his dad, catching crawdads in the creek, and ripping dirt bikes through the orange groves. He snuck his dad’s guitar from a closet in the eighth grade and taught himself how to play, sing, and eventually produce music. Read more>>

Chelsea Roland

I started writing when I was a freshman in high school. Read more>>

Jordan & Carli Kreisberg

I’ve always had a passion for cooking, being raised in a house where most meals were made from scratch by my parents. Their interest in the culinary world showed me the importance of cooking, not just from a human necessity, but from a cultural and societal standpoint. My parents also watched lots of Anthony Bourdain, and I just thought he was the absolute coolest. Read more>>

Gabriela Venegas

I’ve always considered myself an artist since I was a child. I spent highschool being the ‘art kid’ and then went straight to art college right after. During college, I really leaned heavily into digital art. Before that, I was only painting and drawing traditionally, and I had a very different style and mindset than I do now. Read more>>

Salvatore Cassato

I began screen printing for bands I played for to make some money on tour. Then i started working in print shops when i wasn’t on tour. Then i stopped touring and opened my own print shop as a way to stay tonnected to my road dog homies, near and far. Read more>>

Arturo Cuellar

My name is Arturo Cuellar from Whittier Ca, I started cutting fair when I was 15 years old, I’m 42 years old now. I learned on my own hair and started getting compliments from friends and teammates on my basketball team. I been licensed for about 15 yrs now and started my business Tradition Barbershop in 2015. We just got our 10yr Anniversary Read more>>

Jahmil Jones

I started getting my pictures takin since I was a little kid by relatives and my parents. I started taking my own pictures at 13 years old. But had professionally at 21 years old. And walked my first fashion show in 2023 and 2024. During those two years I started creating content by doing lifstyle,fashion,trending, and ranting videos. I have went viral over the years. Read more>>

Hanna Silva

I come from a beautiful blended Latino family. My parents originally from the north of Mexico, Sinaloa and Chihuahua. I was born in Bellflower, California, however, was raised in the city of roses Pasadena. I got married fairly young and my husband and I struggled to have a family having issues with infertility. Read more>>

VICTORIA Theodore

I’ve been a professional pianist since I was 14 years old, playing in an Oakland based band called ‘The Strip’. We were primarily a Prince cover band, playing all of the hits we could learn. We had modest success, even playing for large audiences, and opening for Janet Jackson on her tour of high schools when promoting her first album. Read more>>

Kim Wilson

Hi, I’m Kim! My business partner, Ash—Strum’s head brewer—and I took over Strum Brewing Co. about a year and a half ago. We were immediately drawn to the music and cat-inspired theme, along with its inclusive, “all are welcome” atmosphere, and we’ve proudly continued that spirit. We have a resident kitty who is our brewery cat mascot, Fritz. Read more>>

Aria Diana

I didn’t plan to become a relationship coach—especially not in the world of non-monogamy. Like a lot of people, I started inside a very traditional framework of love and partnership, carrying assumptions I didn’t even realize were there. In my early relationships, I found myself repeating patterns I couldn’t quite explain—getting pulled into dynamics that felt meaningful but also destabilizing and unsustainable. Read more>>

Anna Wallace

Hello! I am a mezzo soprano, experimental artist, and educator based in Los Angeles, California. I have been working on my solo musical project, Annie Wonder, for the past couple of years and I am currently working on my first solo record. ‘Annie Wonder’ blends operatic voice with space echo, Moog, samples, and vocoder, creating psychedelic, ritual-leaning performances. Read more>>

Anaya Medina

Paper Hearts was started in 2024—one of the hardest years of my life—and honestly, I had no idea what it would become. I was navigating some really tough personal challenges, and amidst all of it, my Grandma passed away in May. After that, I felt completely lost and alone. Grief became the catalyst for my growth. Read more>>

Bryan Torres

I grew up in a strict, religious household where music wasn’t really allowed, especially anything secular. For a long time, I didn’t have an outlet for it. That changed when a cousin secretly showed me a burned CD of The Strokes. I instantly connected with it and wanted more. Read more>>

Daniel Bini

I took up photography at the ripe age of 11 with a Polaroid I borrowed from an aunt. It quickly became my sketchbook as I worked to capture stills of the world and people around me. Those images have continued to pay emotional dividents throughout my life, helping me better understand what I have now come to see through a new scope. Read more>>

Erika Villegas

I’m a self-taught artist, and my journey with art started at a really young age. Growing up, I was always drawn to creating it was something that came naturally to me. I didn’t overthink it back then; I just knew I loved art and the way it made me feel. Read more>>

alyce saad

I’m first-generation Lebanese-Palestinian American — raised in Southern California, but shaped by a heritage that never let me forget where I came from. Growing up, home was never just one place. It was the fig trees in my aunt’s village in Byblos. The smell of tanning oils on warm skin by the beaches of Beirut. Read more>>