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 the Valley.
Mistral Davis
In my early 20s a boyfriend asked me the old cliched question – What would you do if you had a million dollars? I said, I would sail away from Australia on a beautiful sailing ship. Two months later, that is exactly what I did. Read more>>
Timur Almazov
Around this time, ten years ago I was sitting where I sit now – in my parents’ kitchen – scouring the web-pages of various think tanks looking for an internship. I was doing my undergrad in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and was deadset on becoming an economist. Read more>>
Jamie Aronson
How I started: I got my Bachelor of Science in Psychology from University of Central Florida. I didn’t know I wanted to be an actress until age 20, and I began acting at 22. At 25, I learned that I need to hone other skills of filmmaking so I can make my own opportunities. Read more>>
Tori S. Klempa
The prime of my story started when I moved here to Los Angeles from my hometown in Boston. It was on a complete whim, I moved here with my cousin. God put it on our heart to move to California and at the time, we couldn’t even tell you why. We booked the one way ticket, landed and figured it out from there. No job. Read more>>
Carolyn Lemos
Started in 2008. As a non profit to bring awareness to the community specifically those affected by kidney disease. The intention is and has always been to educate and provide preventative solutions, supportive services, resources, advocacy and outreach programs to kidney patients, and to those at risk of developing the disease. Read more>>
Jonathan Goldhill
When I look back, my relationship with business started more as an observer than a participant. My grandfather had largely exited the family business by the time I was growing up, so I never worked in or around it. Read more>>
Sheena Leigh Graves
Well, I’m an actor as well as a horse girl, which was confirmed on my most recent trip home. While going through old boxes of school papers I found a booklet my classmates made for me after a show and tell. Apparently I brought my entire Breyer Horse collection and talked endlessly about horses. Read more>>
Jaiden Randolph
I always wanted to showcase my influence on the world, I feel like this brand ultimately helped me do that, while also finding a purpose in myself. Noticing that college students cannot afford quality pieces from brands, and I wanted to assist in any way I could. I started my brand with sacrifice. Read more>>
Morani & Yoav Weiss
We both grew up in homes where dogs were family. They weren’t “pets” in the background, they were there for everything: childhood milestones, hard days, celebrations, and quiet moments on the couch. As we became parents ourselves, that bond took on a new meaning. Read more>>
Weruché Uzoka
I immigrated from Nigeria to the United States 20 years ago with my children and began the meaningful, often challenging process of building a new life and integrating into American society. Through that journey, I witnessed firsthand how immigrant voices, especially those of families and children were too often missing from decisions that directly affected their lives. Read more>>
Sohail Nathani
I started my journey in Mumbai, driven by a deep interest in creativity, culture, and self-expression. Over time, I was drawn to both fashion and music—not just as industries, but as powerful tools to tell stories and create connection. That belief led me to start my clothing brand, Reside In Being, built around self-worth, authenticity, and being comfortable in your own skin. Read more>>
Chelsea Newman
I’ve always been a creative. When I was three, I watched my grandmother perform in a play, and that moment planted the seed for everything that followed. By ten, I was taking singing and acting classes and throwing myself into anything artistic. After graduating college in New York, I felt ready for a new beginning and made an impulsive, on-a-whim move to LA. Read more>>
Dmytro Kotenok
I was the founder of an influencer marketing agency. During COVID, I realized that creators needed simple monetization tools—not paid ads. That insight led me to dedicate my life to Waylight. We started with a small MVP, pivoted multiple times, and learned from our mistakes. Today, Waylight has served over 50,000 users and generates more than $2 million in annual creator earnings. Read more>>
Kristina Perez
I came to Los Angeles back in 2021 to attend a two year conservatory acting program called the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Through my experience there I was able to really learn and respect the craft of acting. I had the privilege of meeting so many other talented actors during that program and discovered more things about myself as well. Read more>>
Katie Nenneker
My journey began with a love of horses. At five years old, I started taking riding lessons at Foxfield Riding School in Westlake Village, California, and my passion for the equestrian world ultimately inspired my interest in veterinary medicine. I went on to earn my Bachelor of Science in Pre-Veterinary Medicine with an emphasis in Animal Science from California State University, Fresno. Read more>>
maddy agopian
I didn’t leave the corporate world because I lacked ambition—I left because I wanted a life. After years in senior marketing roles, including a VP position at Sony, I realized success shouldn’t require a soul-crushing commute, chronic guilt, or missing out on my kids’ lives. Read more>>
Kamar Elliott
I didn’t do so well in my freshman year of college. I was looking to take a couple of classes to help bring up my GPA when I came across an Intro to Acting class. I enrolled and had a blast so I decided to take another class. I soon chose to make theater my minor. Read more>>
Jack Serra
My journey into filmmaking started really early. My dad bought me a camera when I was a kid, and from that point on I was always making stuff. I made short films in elementary and middle school with friends, just figuring it out as I went, and by high school I was actually showing my work to people and taking it seriously. Read more>>
Dr. Lorne Lavine
I was a practicing periodontist for 10 years in Vermont. I never loved the clinical side of periodontics, patients usually don’t have great oral care and surgical success depends on the patient taking care of their teeth, it wasn’t just a matter of doing surgery but also changing habits, and I got frustrated seeing patients return after a short time with the same problems. Read more>>
Aiman Khan
I’ve been a musician for most of my life – I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember, and I picked up the french horn when I was 9. I continued down the path of studying brass playing for a long time, all the way through getting my Master’s in music from USC Thornton. Read more>>
Haley Weidenbaum
Everhem began with a very real frustration. As an interior designer, I could never find window treatments that were both beautifully made and easy to buy. Everything felt overly complicated, overly expensive, or just not thoughtfully designed. This was a constant struggle as an interior designer, and I knew there had to be a better way. Read more>>
Julio Hernandez
From Selling donuts in Tijuana Baja California as a child. to working in the fields in Mendota CA. then selling merchandise at the swap meet. While pushing Amway and also working at restaurants & nightclubs. Followed by becoming an insurance agent to now owning my own mobile bartending business! One thing is for certain, and that is that I’ve never been scared to work. Hello! Read more>>
Daniela Spagnolo
I was raised in an Italian household. On Sundays, the smell of my grandmother‘s cooking perfumed the air, and Italian music played on the radio station. I began to go to the upright piano that my father bought for us, and try to play what I heard. He was a singer and guitar player, and understood the love of music. Read more>>
Franchesca Danino
In 2024, after a transformative personal journey, I founded a unique body-sculpting studio in the heart of Los Angeles. My mission was to empower women and men on their path to confidence and self-love. Read more>>
Brent Weinbach
Once, I was a boy with two boils on my body. They were beacons from which scoundrels could feed. But eventually, I was completely drained of food juice and I was of no use any longer. I had to think of a new way to provide to the world. Read more>>
bug hunt
Originally, this band started off doing a lot of covers. We had a lot of fun playing some Alex G and Smashing Pumpkins songs until we slowly accumulated our originals. We got a lot of help from our friend Diego Feliciano, and all the local SCV bands who let us tag along with them on shows. Read more>>
Hannah Jaeger
I’m Hannah, but my friends call me Honey. I was born in 1993 in Northern California and raised in Hollister CA. and For as long as I can remember, art has been my language. Creating is how I process the world around, the creative process is where I explore my thoughts, emotions, and my environment. Read more>>
Chaz Russ
It all began when I was introduced to the benefits of yoga as an adolescent. As an academic, over-achieving 14-year-old model rife with perfectionism and body image issues, I found peace on my yoga mat. I graduated from Rutgers College with Highest Honors with a degree in Genetics and high hopes of a PhD. Read more>>
Dylan Hyde
I was born and raised in Bakersfield, California by my mother and grandmother. I’ve always been a creative person growing up, whether it was building with Lego bricks, drawing, or writing stories on my grandmother’s typewriter. I was very much into acting in my high school years thanks to my teacher, Lawrence Orr. Read more>>
Rose Claire
As a natural psychic and medium, I grew up with these gifts and didn’t really understand that I was different until I hit the middle school years. You know, those years when you’re ready to hide as deep in your hoodie as you can because you feel different! Read more>>
Jadula Freydank
I’m Jadu, a musician from Berlin, Germany. I’m in Topanga Canyon, a place that holds a very special meaning for me, it feels like it found me when I needed it the most. I released my first album in 2019 and toured extensively across Germany and Europe. Read more>>
Savanna Trujillo-Poelma
Ransacking my family’s DVD collection it was clear I always wanted to make movies; to be a part of the ‘BTS Filming’ sequences that I’d watch in the special editions tab on DVDs. I started writing my own tales and showing them to anyone who could try to read them. As time went on I had a plethora of different short stories, larger unfinished ones, and sentences written on scraps. Read more>>
Carolina B
I completed my degree at Penn Foster Career College in Wedding and Event Planning and Design and was certified by the Association of Bridal Consultants. During my last semester, I created my brand as CB Event Planner and went straight into planning destination weddings. I knew it would take some time to secure consistent clientele and work full time, so I did some internships to improve my work ethic and gain experience the first couple of years. Read more>>
Curtis McGann
I got into acting and filmmaking in a way that still feels a little surreal to me. I didn’t grow up planning to be an actor; I actually thought I was going be in the military. But, I started making films with friends in high school and then followed it up with a play. Read more>>
Dr. Azita Sayan
I was born & raised in Tehran, Iran in a Jewish family. Growing up I was hurt by the religious and gender inequalities & prejudice I experienced. My parents chose to send me to Europe & then USA to provide me with opportunities for equality and freedom from persecution and abuse. In the my boarding school I was date raped. Read more>>
