Portraits of Hollywood

It’s more important to understand someone than to judge them. We think the first step to understanding someone is asking them the fundamental questions about who they are and how they became the person they are today. Understanding and empathy are essential building blocks for a better, more compassionate world. We’re incredibly fortunate to be able to ask these questions each week through our interview series. Below you’ll find inspiring interviews from in and around Hollywood.

Tamara Kumbula

I am a singer/songwriter/producer, dad specializes in mainly pop, rap and hip-hop. I do love all genres of music though, and recently gotten into future base ,hyper pop and alternative/indie music. As of right now, I think I am most proud of both my single “2021” and the music that I composed for the Celine in women’s fashion collection in Paris. Mainly because those were the first two projects where I felt the snowball affects of having commercial success at the time and I think what sets me apart from others is my distinct sound I know that might sound cliché but I think that the way I use the vocal layering combined with the wrap is definitely some thing that at least I personally haven’t heard before. Read more>>

Chelsey Kaye

When I moved to Los Angeles, I didn’t have a plan. Just a car full of stuff and a vague belief that if I kept showing up, something would happen. I haven’t had a big break. It’s been indie roles, friends’ films, background work. But I kept training. Kept learning. And there were moments that confirmed I was on the right path, like doing 16-hour days of background work and going home the happiest I’d ever been. I found fulfillment being on set in a way no remote gig or office job ever gave me. I found my community in acting class and on creative teams, and that kept me going. Read more>>

Anaida Mailian

Today, I’m photographing and looking for clients who want to preserve themselves as they are. Those who are ready to feel alive, beautiful, and real. I offer fair, honest pricing and create an atmosphere where everyone feels seen.
I shoot with respect. With warmth. With soul. Read more>>

Daria Khil

Growing up in Ukraine, I was that kid always making stuff up, creating imaginary worlds, characters, and stories. I didn’t even doubt my path as an artist until my grandpa said that art wasn’t a real job. To prove I could make it work, I started freelancing, illustrating children’s books when I was 14. My career path was all over the place — illustration, 2D animation, game concept art, even directing commercials. Each gig helped me realize I was meant for animation, like when I kept sneaking animation even into my concept art for games. Read more>>

Brie Childers

The road to opening was slow. We bought the building during the tail end of covid when the construction work was slowed due to the abundance of other projects during covid, and the delayed delivery in every material. The other slow process was getting ourselves seen on Peerspace on Giggster and spreading the word of mouth. Having people come and see the property was the goal and it isn’t something we could fast track in 2022. Read more>>

MAUREEN KEDES

Now I find myself at another impasse. To to get to the mainstream level, I’m up against actresses who did not take off more than two decades and have already built bodies of work. And the top agents want to represent those people. (Most of my work I get myself). So now rather than focusing on getting work or signing with a power agent, I’m focused on creating work, for myself and others through my screenwriting. I’m lucky enough to have partnered with Keli Price of Price Productions on five of my original screenplays and we are in the midst of packaging them for investors. Read more>>

Herschel Croswell

I’d say no road is smooth or easy but you have to make sacrifices, pray and 100% of dedication to get your destination. Some of the struggles I faced along the way was funding, finding a safe place where people wanted to come out and learn, finding a platform where people would be able to find me to learn and getting noticed. Some of these struggles are still my struggles to this day but I try my best to navigate through them and pray I get into the right circles to make my dream come true. My dream is for everyone to see my light, energy and skill set and be able to teach all ages on a high volume platform all over the world. V

Avery Williams

Transpersonal can be broken down to mean “beyond the self”, this includes various states of being and levels of consciousness. I studied Sociology in college and Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling in grad school. These two paths definitely inform my work as a therapist. I believe in anti-oppressive, loving care and actively work to decolonize myself as I build my practice in an inherently unjust system. I attempt to hold systems accountable for their mistreatment of and violence against individuals, who are too often blamed for the sickness of this society. I redirect the blame to the system and encourage my clients to do the same. Read more>>

Eva Marie

Around the same time, I competed at the 2024 iPOP Convention in Los Angeles, where I was awarded 1st runner-up in the singing category – an experience that gave me both the confidence and momentum to pursue an international career. By the end of that year, I had released my debut single, Hate You, followed by my second single, Adrenaline, in 2025. Together, they jumpstarted my career as a recording artist, racking up over 80,000 streams, more than 100 radio spins, and millions of views across social media platforms in just a few months. Today, I’m writing, recording, and building toward the next chapter of my journey, and one thing’s for sure: this is only the beginning. Read more>>

Mike Fury

It has not been a smooth road; from trying to navigate social dynamics in the music industry while being on the spectrum, to a tour that fell apart after one show in 2020 due to the pandemic I have faced a number of setbacks. However, I’ve made it this far, and have continued to practice and hone my craft as a guitarist because I am in love with what I do. Music is what I contribute to the world and I hope to inspire people the way Ozzy Osbourne inspired me. He taught me that those of us who are different should be ourselves unapologetically, in a society that doesn’t want us to. He detested hate and I also want to spread the message that greed and the desire for power is a soulless pursuit. Read more>>

Wendy (Jean) Wilkins

As a city girl at heart, stuck in the country of Upstate NY, I soaked up the three NYC channels on our TV and decided at ten I would move to NYC as soon as I could. Then a month out of SUNY New Paltz college, my friend needed a roommate in LA (and all my college friends moving back in with their parents after graduation, I didn’t have any roommate choices), it was my only option. I knew no one, not a singe contact in the business and landing in a city recovering from the Rodney King riots in 1992, I felt like I was drowning most days but I didn’t let the lack of friends, opportunity or money stop me. Because, for me, the worst day in LA is still better than the best day back home. Read more>>

Sonya Chelombieva

Throughout my professional years I created billboards, animation assets, comics, and 3D cinematics. I storyboarded for film, animation, and trailers, and even took on my first leadership role, overseeing a team of junior storyboard artists. That experience taught me how to work in larger teams and give people an opportunity to highlight their artistic strengths as we worked together on an animated short. Read more>>

Priscilla Chavez Scott

With the help of a photographer friend and the internet I learned how do that. I would go on to shoot creative portraiture for various bands and artists. They would use the images for promotional purposes, promoting themselves, their new music or touring. Some bands/artists I would work with regularly like the band Failure. I shot live images, portraiture, behind the scenes of them in the recording studio, and touring images. Through the band Failure I would go on to work more with video. Most recently I co produced and co edited my first feature film, a documentary about the band Failure called Every Time You Lose Your Mind which was released in June of 2025. It is currently streaming on Hulu and Disney Plus. Read more>>

Deja Fabro

Outside of stand up comedy, I work full-time as an educator, so I am learning how to balance it all out or I’m going to burn out real fast. It’s not easy working full-time and then having stage time in the evenings. I love what I do on both ends, and when I love something, I go for it at full force. I had a few health issues going into my second year of stand up comedy, which was a sign that I needed to slow down and reframe my mindset: I am blessed to have a full-time career while chasing my dream and honing in on my craft as a stand up comedian. Read more>>

Steve Janbahan

Daniel Ochoa founder of Toth 660 clothing began developing his brand thru our stores and since has become a staple of the Los Angeles fashion community. Many other individuals have found our space to be a place for their creative output developing their identity thru fashion and arts. We have dressed hundreds to thousands of people the past ten years, and we hope to continue for a lifetime. Some notable individuals who wear our designs are: Machine Gun Kelly, Demi Lavato, lil Wayne, Avril Lavigne, Halsey just to name a few. As of now both Sahar and I look forward to the future and continue to hand make every piece with a personal touch infused with our love and personal energy, so those who visit always get something fresh and new. Read more>>

Chris B Haylee Cook

Both Chris and Haylee came from difficult backgrounds marked by emotional trauma, manipulation, and a painful lack of family support. These challenges, while heavy, became the foundation for their unbreakable connection. They turned pain into power — channeling their struggles into their art, their brand, and ultimately, their success story. Read more>>

Sequoiah Blaire

I can still hear her saying “hold your core!” to this day. Upon reaching graduation, I had grown into a confident leader and performer, catalyzing the beginning of my undergraduate career at Stanford University. While in undergrad, I continued growing my artistry at the intersection of film and Black Studies, very intentionally learning through creation. I had the opportunity to be a member of Prison Renaissance Zine, a collaboration between students and incarcerated artists, as well as a mentor in Women and Youth Supporting Each Other. My peers and I founded Restorative Film Collective to amplify Black and brown filmmaking on campus, and in 2022 I completed my honors thesis on developing a Black Womanist Cinematic Gaze. Read more>>

Sophie Wade

but knew it would be harder to cope financially and emotionally if I waited for someone to take a chance on me rather than taking a chance on myself. So I decided I would create my own opportunity because I still saw my potential in myself, even if an exciting company did not. I reached out to my friend Derrick Hinton about recording at his studio, and officially released my debut video podcast “andsoph” in February 2024, which has allowed me to bring my love for storytelling, visual aesthetics, editing, and authenticity life. Younger Sophie would have never imagined herself as a podcast host, but I believe she’d be proud of my boldness to share my creativity to the world. Read more>>

Allison Pittel

I moved to New York City and enrolled in a two- year conservatory program at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where I learned Meisner technique under James Brill. At this time, COVID had hit, so the entire program was taught over zoom! It was certainly and interesting experience! After graduating, I began auditioning, and eventually worked on a proof of concept for a Zombie horror film produced by the same team that created the box-office indie hit “Terrifier.” I worked on several films with this company, and ultimately booked the lead in Screamboat, a horror re-imagining of Disney’s Steamboat Willie. The film enjoyed a wide theatrical release, and is nominated for a Fangoria Chainsaw award for best public domain horror film. Read more>>

Veronica Vitale

I’m in Los Angeles to bring a shift in the stardom, a new change in the music industry. As the architect of the “Liquid Pop” and author of its Avant-Garde Manifesto, I don’t just break genre, I dissolve it. My voice is a manifesto, for the women who build empires in rooms they were never invited into, for stories that don’t beg to be liked, for artists who refuse to compromise vision for validation, for those who were born in the wrong place, but still built the right life. I stand for the voice I was never supposed to have. Read more>>

Kama

After 20 years of working for great partners in the TV & Film industry, I recognized the need for something different. So we started Prodigy, a full service bespoke production company and consulting firm. And where we are carving a new path is with our fractional services. With costs rising and budgets diminishing, Prodigy is the solution to producing compelling content. Read more>>

Sonya Marchand

Growing up, I didn’t have a blueprint for this path but I was raised in a family of entrepreneurs who ran a drycleaning business for over 50 years in upstate NY. I had ambition, curiosity, and a deep desire to create something bigger than myself. Not long after graduating from Howard U, a friend from college encouraged me to move to LA to pursue my dream of becoming an entrepreneur and event producer in Hollywood, but I didn’t always have a clear sense of direction. Like many people, I started by simply saying “yes” to opportunity — even when I wasn’t sure where it would lead. Read more>>

Dana

Most people don’t come to therapy thinking they have trauma, but there are almost always underlying beliefs or behavioral patterns, developed from moments of adversity, that complicate the way one views themself and the world around them. The way someone engages with these beliefs and patterns cause most of the mental health symptoms people wrestle with. I help clients uncover these hidden beliefs and identify relational patterns, so that they can begin healing and ultimately increase their sense of authenticity and life satisfaction. Read more>>

The Conscious Outlaws

e’ve all written and performed music since we were in grade school; individually everyone played in multiple other bands before forming The Conscious Outlaws. We met at The Musicians Institute in Hollywood about eight years ago. We’ve written, recorded, and performed together ever since. We love creating music and experiencing our lives together as a group. Our music has a symbiotic relationship with the life we’re building together. We’ve gone through multiple line up changes, but are currently exceptionally excited about our current lineup and the new direction of the band. Read more>>

Allysa Lisbon

In college, I got my first paid work doing portraits and videography for my classmates, and also during that time I began to study film as my minor. Studying film theory really allowed me to understand how to take the stories I was telling with my photography into a larger space and time. I took an incredible class called Black women filmmakers and that was my first real exposure to Black filmmaking as a canon, and I was super affirmed by the work of people like Zora Neale Hurston, Julie Dash, Kathleen Collins and Toni Cade Bambara. I also saw the movie Moonlight around that time, which completely floored me. It was a whole new level of emotional impact, and so much of that was due to the cinematography. Read more>>

Helga Fontánez

But life will do what life does, and after high school I stayed home and went to college. I tried to settle, conform, and contort myself into a corporate nine to fiver, and failed miserably. Then what started as a part time job in a nightclub turned into 9 years of letting the currents take me where they wanted, because somewhere along the line I had forgotten where I wanted to go. Somewhere in between a huge wedding and an embarrassingly quick divorce, I woke up and remembered the little girl that had begged her parents to move to Orlando, FL so she could audition for the Mickey Mouse Club, and I promised myself I would do right by her. Read more>>

Jayden Stern

what sets me a part from others is that I have a good understanding of how music performance works. I like working with other instrumental performers, becuase of this I have built a lot of relationsihps with that side of the music business. I was always told that the best way to become successful is not to just make music, but to make music with others. the chemistry between the people you work with becomes very powerful and addictive to the listener. I think that this is my key to becoming successful. Read more>>

HAL0 STATION

We also like to add an extra layer of experience design to our events. For example, we recently hosted an event called “Timeshift” in a repurposed army bunker with an immersive time travel theme. We encouraged our attendees to dress in attire from different eras and enjoy a carefully themed and curated club setting, along with the most advanced lighting and sound system at any of our events so far. Read more>>

Vinnie Morey

Well I was a barber and at that time in 2008 there was not a ton a barber shops that were “cool” I guess and I decided I wanted to take a swing and see if I could make something for the people I knew. The Proper Barber shop was born from love of cutting traditional hair, punk and hardcore music, art and tattoos and a love of community. Without the support from day friends and clients the Proper would not still be standing strong as it is today! We started during the worst depression, made it through a global pandemic and riots and still our doors remain open for any and all to come and be a part of this community. We love our city of fallen angels and we are proud to be a staple in LA street culture all these years later! Read more>>

Lucia Urrutia

It hasn’t always been easy to find myself along the way. Throughout this journey, I’ve had to constantly revisit and redefine who I am. Over time, I’ve come to understand that growth is a lifelong process. I consider that a privilege: the ability to keep growing, to keep building, and to navigate the crises that, in my view, are an essential part of the human condition. For me, those moments of crisis have been what inspire me to keep going. Read more>>

Rose Knight

After beginning my career at Paramount Legal in 2018 doing Script Clearances, I transitioned into freelance work in 2023 as a Set Dresser, Assistant Director and Producer. My time in the freelance world has been so rewarding both personally and professionally because of the freedom to be as imaginative as possible in my ideas, set work and time spent on stories needing to be told. It’s the scariest decision to move away from the desk but when it’s for something you believe in doing, there’s no other option than to take a chance on yourself. Read more>>

VEDANT DAVE

Relocating to Los Angeles added another layer of complexity. I had to rebuild from the ground up with new city, new system, new culture. There were language nuances, different set protocols, and an entirely new network to form. It wasn’t just about knowing the craft anymore, it was about learning how to be seen, heard, and trusted in a highly competitive environment. I’ve taken on every opportunity, big or small, not just to grow creatively but to survive and stay rooted in this industry. Read more>>

JP Siruno

They wanted to put on a whole concert and play, my first major production, and it was held in my living room. We were VHS kids, so we grew up on Rankin-Bass holiday features, so we emulated a lot from that. I recall we even had a book and script, much like a musical, and we had zero theater experience. It was through this game of play and holiday make-believe that we first got to use our storytelling chops and our love of art. That was where my love of acting, improv, writing, and creating came from, and only snowballed once high school came around. Read more>>

Owen Lawrence

High school was also when I got into competitive ballroom dancing, kind of by accident. My parents had started taking lessons at Fred Astaire Southport, and I tagged along before a school dance but never stopped. I trained hard, competed often with my partner Tori and my teacher Monika, and ended up winning Best Junior on the East Coast in the Bronze Division. Dance took me to Vegas, San Diego, Disney, and all over Connecticut for competitions. Read more>>

Ramin Sohrab

I was born in Tehran and raised between two worlds, Eastern traditions and Western aspirations. My father introduced Shaolin Wushu martial arts to Iran after training in China Shaolin Temple. I grew up deeply immersed in movement, discipline and performance. At a young age, I moved to Finland and later to the United States, where my passion for film, action and storytelling truly came alive. Read more>>

Pooja Menon

Today, I work at an EV company that designs and deploys fast chargers across Southern California. Working in Los Angeles has been an eye-opening experience—it’s a place where innovation, sustainability, and diversity intersect in exciting ways. Being immersed in this environment has pushed me to think beyond just solving technical problems. It’s inspired me to dive deeper into sustainable design, equitable infrastructure, and how engineering can shape more livable, future-ready cities. Read more>>

Yaxiong Shao

Yaxiong Shao moves between China and the United States, using the medium of images to search for possibilities of expression in the fractures between cultural structures and visual language. He founded Bearland Studio, a comprehensive art studio that integrates film production, commercial photography and videography, video installation, podcast programs, independent bookstore operations, and publishing projects. The studio is devoted to building connections between art and society, daily life and mythology, personal experience and global narratives. Read more>>

Nina Childs

I have been very blessed the last 2 years to have produced 4 projects. A feature that was shot in Chicago and was definitely top-tier training ground, a Mercedes commercial, and 2 very critical short films that will be released at the top of 2026 and I have more projects in the pipeline. I think I’m most proud of the fact that with all the challenges I have faced in my personal life I’ve stayed down and dirty and the ball is finally rolling uphill. Read more>>

Eduardo Lezcano

I have so much love for the culture and the profession that I really also consider myself a freak or a geek because I know everything, because I love everything, because when I watch a movie or a TV show I pay attention to absolutely everything, the acting, the direction, the photography, the music, the shots, the text, what that actor and that director did before. I know and I am very detail-oriented in everything, you can imagine, I grew up and trained watching the best artist in history like MJ. Also, after finishing high school and continuing to study acting, I also studied magic, mime, and also received a bachelor’s degree in TV Production at Channel 7 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to become more professional and complement my acting career. Read more>>

Jessica Lynn Johnson

Before my company Soaring Solo Studios was born, I was a solo artist myself. I toured internationally with my 2 one person plays “Oblivious to Everyone” and “Ze” for over a decade. During that time I began having people ask me to teach them how to write and perform a one person show and before I knew it, I had a full-time career coaching, developing, directing and producing one person plays all over the world. It wasn’t what I set out to do, but it was clearly what I was meant to do. I am grateful for every single day that I get to help someone tell their story from stage. Read more>>

Marléne

I actually got into photography pretty early. My dad was an amateur photographer, and he gave me a Polaroid when I was a kid. I think that was the moment something clicked—it felt like magic to take a picture and hold it in your hand seconds later. I also modeled and lucky to travel and be around so many creative people early on. I always had a camera with me—I’d shoot backstage, document the in-between moments, and take portraits of my friends. Over time, it evolved into a real practice.” Read more>>

Jessica Hernandez

I started playing for fun and after playing a few friends parties i slowly started getting gigs and some clubs in LA. I describe the style of music I like to play as fun high energy dance, house, pop. My love of the pop girlies got me into dance so they are heavily infused into the sets I play. I now play at a lot of the clubs in LA and have traveled to play in different cities around the country for parties and prides. My next goal is to get into producing my own music and take the next step in my dj career. I hope to dj more around the world as I’m dancing on tour for katy and I’m excited for what the future has ahead. Read more>>