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 South Bay’s finest artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rebel rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with our city’s incredibly deep talent pool. Check out the area’s rising stars below.
Aniko Szatmari
I was born in Hungary, where from an early age I explored every form of self-expression—dance, singing, drawing, poetry recitation—but visual art was always my true home. I also loved books, especially folk tales and mythology, which continue to feed my art today. At 18 I reached a crossroads: pursue art professionally or take what felt like a “safer” path. Read more>>
Olivia Pucci
I’m originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, and growing up there really shaped my love and respect for music. Being from NorCal, I was surrounded by jazz, R&B, and hip-hop, and I learned early on that even hip-hop can be appreciated in the most sophisticated settings—because at the end of the day, music and nostalgia make us feel good. Read more>>
Matthew Torres
I’ve loved Horror and Folktales ever since I was a kid. Jurassic Park was the first movie I ever saw in theaters, and I was hooked. At home, my mom and dad would tell me stories from their child hood (My mom is from Mexico, my dad is from Puerto Rico). They’d talk about all the monsters and folktales and I grew up loving that. Read more>>
Elena Filatova Kendal Hudspeth
Gallery 66 was born out of friendship and a willingness to go with the flow. One fateful evening we spontaneously decided to go on a micro gallery art crawl that we heard about from a friend. We were not expecting anything, it was just two friends enjoying an evening of art. Read more>>
Angelica Cruz
My love for the field of psychology came at a difficult time in my life. In my first year at my undergraduate university, I was away from home for the first time, and I felt an immense pressure to succeed in college as a first-generation, low-income, Latina student. Read more>>
dana wall
DANA WALL – Psychology/MBA/CPA/MFA powerhouse who managed Hollywood chaos before becoming full-time writer in 2022. Daughter of psychiatrist father and PhD English teacher/lawyer mother—basically raised in a think tank where Freud met Shakespeare met legal briefs. Turns industry insider knowledge into sharp fiction, poetry, and short screenplays, full length screenplays, TV pilots that audit souls and expose power’s true cost. Read more>>
Johnny Borda
I started the company 15 years ago, mainly shipping smaller parcels out of my garage. We moved into a 1,000 square foot warehouse, then 8,000 and now we have 30,000 square feet at our headquarters in Gardena and 35,000 in San Francisco. We have evolved to handling high end furniture for interior designers and manufacturers, serving all of California. Read more>>
James Sweigert
Some people have asked, ‘How did you guys come up with Barlz?’. Well, here’s the story. Jake Kirschenbaum grew up in Cocoa Beach Florida with parents who were surfers. Being surrounded by water, watersports, and activities were a daily thing, it was part of life. Read more>>
Luis Gonzalez
Limone Mediterranean started with 3 coworkers who worked together in luxury hospitality. We knew there was a lot of Mediterranean offerings on the market but we wanted to bring a more elevated, refined product to a new wave of ‘modern’ Mediterranean food. Read more>>
Dr. Edden Agonafer
I was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and moved to the U.S. with my family when I was about 12 years old. We settled in Texas, where I grew up learning to navigate new cultures, languages, and social norms. As a young immigrant, I was always fascinated by people—their patterns, behaviors, and the ways culture shapes how we see the world. Read more>>
JohnJames Urata
My story has been about growth. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve learned from them, and I’ve kept pushing to better myself. I do this now for my son, my family, and the people around me. I want to be the kind of person who leads by example, who shows that no matter what you go through, you can turn it into something positive. At the end of the day, I just want to be a bridge, the glue that brings people together, creates understanding, and hopefully leaves behind more peace than there was before. If I can do that, that’s all I can ask for. Read more>>
Zoë Council
In 2018, I released my first single “July on Film” and signed to my first modeling agency in New York. Modeling happened accidentally. I cold-emailed photographers I admired, in hopes of assisting but instead landed campaigns. My first modeling job was a Forever 21 X Kodak collaboration shot by Jorden Keith that ended up in Times Square. Coincidentally, Jorden was shooting Shay Mitchell at the time and had played my song to her. She reposted it on her Instagram story, which helped the song gain traction. Read more>>
