Inspiring Stories from the OC

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 Orange County’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 the Orange County’s rising stars below.

Nazia Malik

I’m a dentist and the founder of SMYL OC Dental. My journey into dentistry started with a passion for healthcare, but I quickly realized I was drawn to the hands-on, artistic side of dentistry and the ability to build long-term and meaningful relationships with patients. Read more>>

Nick Cholula Cruz

This leather craft journey began in my childhood, starting in the early 2000s, I was part of an after school program called The Ranch which was located at the OC Fairgrounds. The program taught us about gardening, raising livestock and how to work the land, and equestrianism, but my favorite class out of all of them was leatherworking. Read more>>

Kay & Parker Dale

Port & Proper really began as a natural extension of both of our lives. My husband Parker was born and raised in Newport Beach, he’s third generation on the harbor, and grew up immersed in yacht club culture, from learning to navigate these waters at a young age to eventually building a professional career as a licensed captain. Read more>>

Madison Wooters

Wooters Design Co. didn’t come out of nowhere—it’s the result of a lifetime around creativity, combined with a fast-paced start in agency life and the decision to build something more intentional for myself. I grew up in a deeply creative home. Read more>>

Eliana Rotunno

I first discovered my interest in design in high school when I took interior design courses. That’s where I began to see that art wasn’t just something isolated to fine art—it could be integrated into business and serve as a meaningful, strategic asset. Read more>>

Araceli Hernandez

After my husband, Oscar Castillo, passed away following a two-year battle with cancer, I found myself searching for ways to occupy my time in a more meaningful and productive way. It was an incredibly difficult period in my life, and I needed something that would help me move forward while still processing everything I had been through. Read more>>

Eric Barocio

The backstory behind starting Paradise Patio Covers began when I first entered the construction industry. 10 years ago I was an insurance agent, working for a large national insurance company. Dissatisfied with my career path, and upon support of a close friend of mine, I decided to enter a union apprenticeship. Read more>>

Mark Irwin

I am a former bare knuckle boxing world champion and three time Hall of Fame award winner. But over the course of my career I incurred countless traumatic brain injuries. My coach and mentor, Ian McCall, founded a TBI research group but needed funding to get the research underway. Read more>>

Christina ramus regan

Alright, so let’s start at the beginning— I’m the Head Pickleball Pro at Coto Pickleball Club, owned by Abe Muheize—but this journey has always been about people far more than it’s been about pickleball. It really began during COVID, when I started to realize just how much people needed connection. Read more>>

Ella Fortini

My name is Ella Fortini and I am an artist, surfer, writer and probably a billion other things, living in Laguna Beach. I grew up on the Central Coast of California and was lucky enough to have two extremely creative parents who really nurtured my artistic mind. Read more>>

Makoto Kariu

I started from zero. I began by cooking for small parties, then moved on to pop-ups at local breweries and big events. Step by step, I opened a tiny take-out shop in Santa Ana. For three years, I poured my heart into every dish to grow my business to where it is today. Read more>>

Shendona Cole

My journey is defined by the statistics I shattered. At 14, I became a teenage mother, and by 17, I was responsible for three children. While my peers were focused on prom and graduation, I was navigating survival, relying on social assistance, and enduring domestic violence. For years, hopelessness felt like my only constant. Read more>>

Jose Martinez

My story began as a kid who loved playing with hot wheels, legos, and noticed the cars driving around me. I grew up around lowriders, muscle cars, 4x4s, and customized daily drivers with shiny wheels and loud sound systems. My father worked my entire life as a machinist and I developed an appreciation for industrial shop environments. Read more>>

Miguel Gonzalez

My path into hospitality actually started out of necessity. Right after high school, I was looking for any work I could find. By a stroke of luck, I landed my first job as a line cook. Here at this particular spot, we were line cooks in front of guests. Similar to Chipotle style ordering. Read more>>

Rachel and Jackson Anderson

Rachel and Jackson first met while in the Marine Corps back in 2019. Since they have dated, gotten married, have two amazing fur babies, and have had many adventures both within the Marine Copra and across the world. Runaway with Ray & Jay started pretty organically. Read more>>

Shelby Iniguez

My Story Ever since I was 12 years old, I knew I wanted to do hair. In 2014, I graduated high school and went straight to Toni & Guy for cosmetology. By November 2015, I had my license and was ready to start my career. But life had other plans. At 19, I found out I was pregnant while in an abusive relationship. Read more>>

Cindy Sforza

Hi! Thanks so much for this opportunity! My name is Cindy Sforza, CFP®, CRPC®, and I’m a born-and-raised So. Cal. native (grew up in Santa Clarita, went to UCLA for college, and then ended up in Orange County, where I’ve been living and working ever since). I’ve been a financial advisor since 2007, and a CFP® professional since 2016. Read more>>

Angelica Querubin

I started my journey in aesthetics as a nurse practitioner with a passion for beauty, wellness, and helping people feel confident in themselves. But honestly, becoming a mom, especially navigating postpartum with my youngest son, was a huge turning point for me personally and professionally. Read more>>

Whitney LaMonda

I spent nearly 20 years in corporate fashion, working my way from production coordinator up to Director of Production at BB Dakota. Read more>>

Julia Shelley

I grew up in France, where food was always a huge part of life, family, and culture. I studied culinary arts there and developed a passion for traditional French cooking and fine dining. About ten years ago, I moved to California and spent years working in restaurants in San Francisco before eventually building my own private chef business in San Diego. Read more>>

Bryan and Juan Rayas and Gomez

My partner and I grew up around barbershops, so we’ve seen how the atmosphere can make or break a place. Some shops feel welcoming, others feel uncomfortable and we knew we wanted to change that. We built a shop where anyone can walk in and feel comfortable, no awkwardness, no pressure just good energy, affordable cuts, and a real community vibe. Read more>>

Abimael Acuña

I started tattooing at 23 years old, and honestly, it wasn’t an easy beginning. I was working from home, trying to learn from YouTube videos — lol! At that time, my skills weren’t good enough to work in a professional studio yet. I tried to get an apprenticeship, but nobody wanted to give me an opportunity. Read more>>

Brittany Yang

I grew up knowing two things about myself: I had this strong desire to create, and the feeling of autonomy was important to me. I spent a couple years in entertainment right out of college— Disney, NBCUniversal— and the work was interesting, but something always felt lacking. Read more>>

Aaron Acapella

My name is Aaron Acapella. I have been playing music as long as I can remember. I specifically remember when I learned in high school how to sing a play guitar at once, I knew that it was something I would always be doing. I went through some dark times with addiction, and once I came out of it, I started writing my own songs. Read more>>

Stephanie Sun

I never planned to work in landscaping. I was an artist first. About ten years ago, I had my first solo gallery show, and the woman who owned the gallery also owned a sustainable landscaping company. She offered me a job, and I took it without realizing it would completely change my life. Read more>>

Dovy Magician

People know me mostly for being a magician I like to tell people that I specialize in leaving a strong positive impact on people while performing magic tricks what I most proud of is that I had a dream and a vision and I’m able to actually live it what sets me a parts of others is I truly think I don’t treat my magic show as a magic show meaning I don’t just treat it as an hour of entertainment I treated as a Time where memories are created for a lifetime and that is way more powerful than just a hour of entertainment Read more>>

Jun Han

Haus Lounge started as a small family-run spot. My wife began by creating food and menu items from the kitchen, while I focused on the front of the house and building relationships with customers. Little by little, we started building a community of regulars in the neighborhood. Today, we see different types of people throughout the day. Read more>>

Jin Heo

The idea for my business came from the major shifts I observed in the restaurant industry after the pandemic. One of the biggest changes was in customer preferences, with a growing demand for convenience and healthier options. Even as things returned to normal, the habit of ordering takeout and delivery remained. Read more>>

Queena Hoang

I started calligraphy back in 2016 when I moved to LA for work. I was living in a new city and needed to pick up a hobby that didn’t exactly require me to go out because I’m a total home body. Then, in 2021, I wanted to see if this could be an actual business. Read more>>

Larry Hampton

Many years ago, I frequented the House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. In the Foundation Room, there was an outstanding ’70s cover band AM/FM that would tear through the era’s greatest hits. Their talent and energy left a deep impression on me and planted the first seeds for what would eventually become The K-Tel All-Stars. Read more>>

Eddie Palmer II

I started in the Biology and Health arena. I graduated East Carolina University where I teach a few classes every semester to students. My clients began bringing all aspects of life to me health, wealth and various other socioeconomic opportunities. So I began to rededicate myself to other fields furthering my psychology base from college, taken MIT, Stanford courses in economics, Venture capital, etc. Read more>>

Tawny Pollard

Hi there! I’m Tawny—a performer, content creator, and modern-day fairytale enthusiast based in Las Vegas. Originally from Orange County, California, I began singing and acting professionally at a young age, with a foundation in both classical voice and commercial pop. As a teenager, I competed in and won numerous vocal competitions, and by 18, I had secured my first record deal. Read more>>

Jessica Ramirez

I started baking during one of the hardest seasons of my life—after losing my son at 6 months pregnant. What began as a way to cope and find comfort during such a painful time slowly became something much bigger. Baking gave me peace, purpose, and a creative outlet when I needed it most. Read more>>

Grace Kim

I didn’t start The Fold as a business… It actually came from a pretty personal place. I realized I was constantly consuming things like videos, podcasts, and even content about faith, but I was not really slowing down enough to process any of it. Read more>>

Grace Nguyen

As the founder of the jewelry brand LOUPN, I really struggled to share myself and represent my own brand publicly — I didn’t feel enough. I felt like I’m not pretty enough, cool enough, or well spoken enough. I thought I didn’t match the aesthetic of the brand I envisioned. So I just kind of hid. Read more>>

Carlos Torres

My journey began in the late 2000s, sparked by a Virtual DJ session and the rising ‘Dirty Dutch’ era. After a five-year grind playing weddings, quinces and house parties, I pivoted to production in 2016 under the alias HUSKI. This led to a 2018 festival debut at Lost Lands and support slots for heavyweights like Virtual Riot, Eliminate, FuntCase and many more around North America. Read more>>

Nia Bozeman

I have always felt different. I always somehow knew things without knowing how I knew them, and sometimes I didn’t even know what the things I knew meant. It was like I was tapped into a different radio frequency than everyone else. My psychic abilities and experiences reached new heights when I moved into a haunted house when I was 7 years old. Read more>>

Tyneisha King

I started my journey with a simple goal: to create something meaningful for myself while building a better future—not just for me, but for my son. In the beginning, I didn’t have everything figured out. I was navigating life, handling responsibilities, and learning as I went. Like many people, I faced challenges that made me think differently about income, stability, and independence. Read more>>

Kasey Talarek

POETRY DANS LA RUE started as an indie music blog and media outlet in 2019. The passion project ignited from many years of concert going, record collecting, and growing up surrounded by music. Read more>>

Jessica Chaves

My journey took so many turns. Let’s start with the fact that I was born and raised in a small town in Brazil, loved music and was always playing with Barbies, singing and dancing to my favorite music, and creating random stories with my cousins at my grandmother’s house. Read more>>

Matteo Giussani

I grew up in Argentina and studied architecture. Coming from a family of professional tennis players, travel and exposure to different cultures were always part of my upbringing, which shaped how I see space and context early on. During my studies, I did an exchange in Spain, and that experience shifted my perspective. Read more>>

Jenny Halstead

We are a Southern California-based wedding planning focused on creating elevated, detail-driven celebrations that feel as seamless as they are unforgettable. What started as a genuine love for hosting and celebrating life’s biggest moments naturally evolved into a full-service business. Read more>>

Biba + Alyssa Glaser

Our business story began long before we ever started Be Blyss… it started with our love story. We met through a mutual friend who brought Alyssa to one of Biba’s sound baths at the wellness center we both worked out of. From the moment we locked eyes, there was a spark…a quiet knowing that something meaningful had just arrived. Read more>>

Cynthia Melendez

For seven years, I worked at the San Roque Post Office in Santa Barbara. It was stable, it was consistent — but it wasn’t my dream. Then Covid hit. Masks became part of our daily uniform, and with them came something I had never experienced before — acne. Read more>>

Katrina Brcic

I first experienced permanent makeup back in 2005, when I had my brows done. At the time, it felt like such a small change, but it made a profound difference. I’ve always had very fine hair (on my head and in my brows), and before that, I spent every day penciling them in, trying to create something that wasn’t naturally there. Read more>>

Elena Vazquez, RN

I originally went to nursing school because I genuinely wanted to help people and be a source of comfort during vulnerable moments in their lives. Early on, I thought my path would be in labor and delivery because I’ve always been drawn to supporting women through major life experiences. Read more>>

Kristi Shah

I’m just a gal chasing a dream. I grew up in Modesto, CA and as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to music. I would write my own songs and poetry after school. As I got older, I started to become afraid of my dream to do music. I was just… scared. It felt beyond me. Read more>>

Madeline Freeman

I started figure skating when I was four years old, and as I grew into my teenage years, I really fell in love with ice dance. Over time, I became a U.S. Figure Skating Gold medalist and a National Solo Ice Dance Gold, Silver, and Pewter medalist. At 15, I faced a major setback when I needed hip surgery due to an on-ice injury. Read more>>

Madison Hiney

I found my way into this work during a time when I was just trying to feel more grounded in myself. Yoga started as something personal – an outlet that helped me reconnect to my body and quiet everything going on in my mind. Over time, it became something much deeper, and I felt called to share it. Read more>>

Ileana Giles

I am the founder of Lily Sweet Cakes, a home-based bakery that began with something very simple a genuine love for baking and the joy of sharing it with others. What started as quiet moments in my kitchen slowly turned into something much more meaningful as friends, family, and customers began to connect with what I created. Read more>>

Tessa Lazalde

In 2018, I was working as a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry with no awareness of my intuitive and psychic gifts. What I did know was that I was incredibly unhappy in my career and needed to explore what I was passionate about. Read more>>

Jamal Roland

I got started from a place a lot of people can relate to, I knew I wanted more, but I didn’t have a clear roadmap on how to get there. Growing up, I was always around clothes and presentation. My family made sure we were put together wherever we went, and Sundays were a big thing—everyone dressed their best for church. Read more>>

Rania Chami

My journey really began when I moved from Lebanon to the United States in 2004. Like many immigrants, I experienced a major culture shock—especially around lifestyle, food, and the pace of everyday life. I noticed how different eating habits, stress levels, and routines could deeply impact health and well-being. Read more>>

David Boehne

Caspian Coast Coffee was born from a longing for a place I have never been able to visit myself. My connection to Iran has been shaped through my mother’s stories—her memories of life in Tehran before the revolution, and the regular trips her family would take to the Caspian coast to gather with relatives and friends, share meals, and be surrounded by nature. Read more>>

Kristen Thomasino

My career has always lived at the intersection of revenue, technology, and real-world execution. I didn’t start in a lab or a boardroom—I started in the field, working directly with customers, contractors, and operators. That hands-on experience shaped everything. It gave me a front-row seat to how money actually moves, where it breaks, and where opportunities are consistently missed. Read more>>

Humberto Briceno

I began food blogging in 2022, shortly after moving to Orange with my partner. We started exploring new restaurants in the area and shared pictures of the food we tried on my blog. I also focused on baking and created a separate account for my baking creations. Read more>>

Kaveh Newmen

I’m a first-generation Iranian-American. My family came to the U.S. before I was born, I grew up in Southern California, and I’m fluent in Farsi. That bicultural piece has shaped pretty much everything about how I think about law, business, and community. I went to UC Irvine, studied Criminology, Law, and Society, graduated cum laude, and was a scholar-athlete while I was there. Read more>>

Hiroko Hsieh

I’m a Marriage and Family Therapist and the owner of an online therapy practice called Restingsheep Counseling. My work has been shaped in many ways by my experiences growing up between cultures. I was born in Tokyo, Japan, and spent part of my childhood in Germany before returning to Tokyo. Read more>>

Jamil Afzal

I got into the business during COVID when I partnered with a friend who had already been doing this for about 10 years. I reached out to him, learned the ropes from the ground up, and just started going for it. Read more>>