Portraits of the Valley

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.

Gareth Jones

I grew up making home movies with my older brother. We didn’t always get along, but he would always cast me as one of the bad guys or henchmen in the stuff he would make so he could justify beating me up without our mother getting too upset. We would choreograph fight scenes and film them. Read more>>

Rory Schmitt

Rory’s story? I like this question. Well, I’ve always been curious about storytelling, whether through education, books, or film. I’m fortunate to balance academia as a faculty manager at University of Southern California and a Visiting Fulbright Scholar with creative production. What sets my work apart is my interdisciplinary perspective. Read more>>

Mike Axe

My story, like so many, has definitely not been a straight line, but every part of it has led me exactly where I am supposed to be and for that I am very grateful! I grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and I was always drawn to creativity, storytelling, and figuring out how to make things work better. Read more>>

Randy Brady

It’s wild that it’s almost been 10 years since my first Voyage LA interview and I am so honored to share bits of my story that I hadn’t yet in the past. Last time I mentioned my up bringing but really my love for actually throwing events stemmed from the first ever house show I threw with an event company called 840 Productions. Read more>>

Jontel McIntosh

I was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Newport News, Virginia by both of my parents. From an early age, I loved sports and music, but as I got older, music became my true calling. I was drawn to every part of it, the sound, the creativity, the songwriting, the fashion, and the culture. Music gave me more than inspiration. It gave me purpose. Read more>>

Jennifer Tatimatla

My story with A Mother’s Haven actually began as a customer. During my first pregnancy (which was in the middle of the COVID pandemic), I was looking for support and connection like so many new parents. My first experience with the store was joining a prenatal yoga class over Zoom. Read more>>

Millla

I started my journey in the entertainment industry as a runner and then production assistant for a local artist named Javi E Tribal. I handled a lot of the behind-the-scenes support such as studio task, running errands, things to keep the session going. Read more>>

ImJustDane

Well I would be what is considered a transplant, even though I moved here when I was 12. It all started in the streets of Chicago my hometown. I was raised in the church. Seven-day aventist is what most call it. I didn’t go to church on Sunday my family and I went on Friday’s and Saturday’s. Read more>>

Francene Selkirk

I’m originally from Astoria, Queens,New York. As a teenager I worked at the 1964 Worlds Fair in the New York Pavilion (Teen Carnival). I took ballet, tap and acting classes, and acted in plays in school.. Read more>>

Dezső Molnár

My infatuation with inventors began when I started to read, almost exclusively absorbing biographies of Westinghouse, Edison, Wrights, Bell, Leonardo and any others in the library. My curiosity is broad, and efforts often focused on aviation, private rocketry, jet cars and the nuts, bolts and rivets that connect them. Read more>>

Leila Rafiei

For years, my husband and I shared the feeling that life had to be about more than the corporate grind. But life can become very comfortable once you’ve established yourself, and breaking away from that comfort is one of the scariest things you can do—especially as you get older and have a family depending on you. When COVID hit, my husband became very sick. Read more>>

JoJo Williams

I started my own business during Covid when suddenly was faced with the loss of the beautiful day spa I had worked at for several years. I began providing Birth Doula & Postpartum Support as we transitioned through Covid. Then when it felt right I decided to take a big leap and open my own massage studio for the first time! Read more>>

Victoria Keum Jee

When I was little, I remember going to see the Nutcracker every Christmas at the Boston Ballet. Just seeing the whole spectacle of a production at a young age lit some creative fire in me. Read more>>

Summer Roden

Photography started as a creative outlet, but over time it became something much deeper. I realized I wasn’t just documenting moments, but preserving memories that people would return to for the rest of their lives. That realization completely changed the way I approached my work. I built Eleutheria Photography with the belief that wedding photography and films should feel honest, cinematic, and deeply personal. Read more>>

Toni Jannotta

I began as a dancer but wasn’t strong enough to become the ballerina of my dreams. I then started acting in small local projects, along with musical theater styled dancing. For many, many years I was one of a bazillion struggling actresses. It was at this time that I worked as a cocktail waitress in North Hollywood at the then-famous jazz club, Donte’s. Read more>>

Joey Supratta

My music journey started at a young age. I’ve always loved the way music amplifies our moods. Whether we’re feeling sad from heart break, to the simple things in life we’re grateful for, all the way to hyping ourselves up before going out to a party or event. I love the way music controls the tone and feel of a scene in a film. Read more>>

Gail Brumfield

People see what I do today, but they don’t always know the road it took to get here. I’ve had to rebuild my life more than once. I’ve survived stage 3 multiple myeloma, a bone marrow transplant, a 7 yr divorce, financial setbacks, and moments where I wasn’t sure what my next chapter would look like. Read more>>

Taylor Mitchell

I am born and raised in LA, specifically the San Fernando Valley, and went to a performing arts high school where I befriended people in almost every section of the arts, which I think is where my love for all things artsy came from. I was always an artsy kid. Read more>>

Christine Hatch

My father, Gary Hatch escaped communist Bulgaria in 1975 with nothing, no money, no English, no family in this country. He talks about it now like it was simple, he just knew that in America, hard work is actually rewarded. So he worked. Jobs in New York, then in California, then real estate in the 80’s, then eventually his real estate license. Read more>>

Xeres Villanueva

My journey as a writer, spiritual activist, social entrepreneur and supporter of culture care and social change was rooted with my own journey grow up. I was born in the Philippines in Angeles City. My maternal side is made up of creatives, boxers and entrepreneurs and my paternal side is made up of a lot of high level professionals, attorneys, judges. Read more>>

Victoria Santibañez

I’m a Los Angeles-based Special Effects (SFX) makeup artist in the film industry whose passion for trail running took an unexpected turn after being diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND). While training for my second attempt at a 100-mile ultramarathon in 2025, I suddenly began experiencing seizure-like episodes and progressively lost my ability to walk. Read more>>

Michal Grattan

After earning my Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 2022, I began my career in clinical research, participating in studies that advance new therapies and medications through the FDA approval process. Knowing that this work saves lives has been rewarding and has supported my passion for science and healthcare. At the same time, I longed for a creative outlet to express another side of myself. Read more>>

Jenna Beltran

I grew up in Modesto, CA and began dancing when I was 3 years old. The first studio I attended was across the lot from my mom’s former workplace. There, I trained in jazz, tap, and ballet. Around the age of 9, i transitioned to 5678 Dance Studio where I broadened my training in different styles such as contemporary and hip hop. Read more>>

Relo Navarrete

I started DJing when I was 14 years old. After school, I’d head over to my childhood friends’ house to jam out on a pair of belt-drive Numarks. Those afternoons were where it all began. My friends, Brian Martinez and Jerry Martinez. Funny enough, despite having the same last name, they weren’t related. We were all just close friends. Read more>>

Scott Milam

I moved to Los Angeles in 2006 from Seattle, where I worked in digital production after selling my first screenplay, WICHITA, to Dimension films. That was a journey in itself since I’d never written a script that I was comfortable showing. A friend I was working with at the time had a connection to an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles and we became friendly. Read more>>

Layla Luna

My journey has been anything but traditional. Before becoming an autism advocate, I spent more than two decades as a professional dancer, choreographer, and entrepreneur. I owned one of the largest Middle Eastern dance companies in Los Angeles, taught hundreds of students, traveled the world performing, and even hosted my own international television fitness show. Read more>>

Julia Libo

I am the proud mother of an amazing seven-year-old boy, wife, and owner of three successful businesses and my journey began on the other side of the world. I was born in Moscow, Russia, where I lived until age 11, when we immigrated to Jerusalem, Israel. I then immigrated to the U.S. at age 17. Read more>>

Sonia Barrett

I have spent my life exploring how perception shapes the reality we experience, what gives rise to our sense of limitation or possibility, and how neuroscience, lived experience, and conscious awareness can help us create new ways of thinking, feeling, and being. Read more>>

Zeke Alton

I’m in my own personal renaissance period. Following a long and successful career as a Naval Officer, Test Pilot, and National Security Strategist; I chose to follow my passion by embarking on a career as a professional actor. Read more>>

Jen Waters

As a child, I spent most days playing the piano in my parents’ Hershey, Pennsylvania, home. It sat in the basement next to the woodstove. I started playing the piano in the second grade. An extended aunt on my maternal grandmother’s side of the family taught piano lessons. Read more>>

Mike (DJ CallMeMikey) Carrasco

whoa, were do I start. well my name is Mikey, aka Mike Murdah. I’m originally from ElPaso TX, and moved to Las Vegas straight out of high school to pursue a career as a professional competitive hip hop dancer and B-Boy (Breakdancer). Crazy I know. imagine how my parents felt about it? I spent the next 10 years on the international battle scene. Read more>>

Joshua Young

I received the bass guitar as a birthday gift from my father when I turned 14. I didn’t have the faintest idea of what a bass was because I had only played classical piano since I was 12 yrs old. Read more>>

Erica Garay

As a kid, I spent hours drawing Warrior Cats on Scratch, playing piano, and watching animated shows like Over the Garden Wall. Those experiences sparked my love and curiosity about art and how stories are created. I was fortunate to have an incredible high school art teacher in Arizona, Mrs. Greenland, who encouraged me to pursue animation professionally. Read more>>

Carol Patricia Paquet

Born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), I moved with my family to Johannesburg, South Africa, at the age of nine. My childhood was defined by a constant urge to create—I was rarely seen without a paintbrush or sketchbook in hand. Read more>>

Elijah Avalos Vane

My journey has been anything but traditional. Before I found my place in the beauty industry, I served in the United States Marine Corps. A few years later, I reached a point where I realized I was living a life that no longer felt like my own. I packed up what I could fit in my car, drove back to California, and started over. Read more>>

Jazmine Bell

Before I Wake was founded by Jazmine in 2025 after a personal search for sustainable, thoughtfully designed sleepwear that combined luxury, comfort, and longevity. Recognizing a gap in the market, particularly among Black female-owned brands in the category, she set out to create the brand she wished existed. Read more>>

Joseph Rios Aguirre

I’ve been surrounded by music pretty much my whole life. When I was 12, I was in my middle school drumline and played the second biggest bass drum in the percussions section. With that small stint, I Learned a lot about basic rhythms and different drum variations that I would later implement in my production. Read more>>

Erik Deutscher

You might be wondering how a 6’4′, tattooed, vegan from Wisconsin ended up making movies and loving his life in LA. I blame George Lucas. I was born in a small town close(ish) to Milwaukee to parents who loved movies. They took me to see Star Wars in the theater when I was only one year old, not once but six times in a row. Read more>>

Steve Tardio

People often think I started in voiceover, but my career actually began behind the scenes in television. I spent years as a writer, producer, and editor creating on-air promotions and marketing campaigns for major television networks, including NBC in New York. That experience taught me how to tell stories, connect with audiences, and bring scripts to life. Read more>>

Alexandra Swisa

Real estate has always been part of my life. Growing up, I watched my father invest in properties and develop a passion for the industry. Seeing firsthand the impact real estate can have on people’s lives sparked my own interest and eventually led me to pursue it as a career. Read more>>

TiJanae LaFleur

I grew up in East Oakland, California, and in 2016 I made the decision to move to Los Angeles to attend FIDM and create a different life for myself. I didn’t know exactly what that journey would look like, but I knew I wanted to build something meaningful and challenge myself to grow. Over the years, I’ve worn a lot of hats. Read more>>

Suzy Kloner

I’ve always believed that the spaces we live in have a profound impact on how we feel. I thrive when my surroundings reflect a sense of peace, calm, and beauty—spaces that inspire, soothe, and bring a feeling of order to the everyday chaos of life thus, looking back, it’s no surprise that interior design became the perfect career for me. Read more>>

Heather Harvin

Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Baltimore, I always knew I wanted to sing, and that dream eventually led me to take a leap of faith and move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. Like many people who come here with big dreams, I quickly learned that success rarely happens overnight. Read more>>

Austin Paz

Briefly, yes. I grew up in an unstable childhood. My father was not present most of my childhood due to drug use. My mother was also using drugs, lots of partying, drinking, and more. All the way up to 6th grade I kept moving around, living with different families, numerous different parts of my family. This caused a lot psychologically. Read more>>

Joshua Maddux

It’s kind of a funny story, and it starts with me not even trying to build a company. I was in college pursuing a degree in a completely different direction, and there was a local web company around town that had a habit of taking on projects and just not finishing them. Read more>>

Nick Page

Hi I’m Nick Page and predominantly a mastering and mix engineer. I also write music for documentaries, music libraries, reinterpret songs for use on ads, tv and film as well help developing new artists obtain their goals of how they want to sound. Read more>>

Kathy Tan

My story started of course in childhood always. As someone who studied and was fascinated by developmental psychology specifically, psychology was the basis for that. Understanding people on an individual yet also macro level. That’s why I was drawn to it. Understanding human development and mindsets, emotions, behaviors. Why people are the way that they are or do the things that they do… Read more>>

Marcela Lobos

My story fits well in the archetypal heroic journey. Grew up in dictatorship times in Chile and at age 20 felt the Call to Adventure Landed in California and had great epiphanies. Met my first husband and hit bottom as a young mother with two young children (Dying to my old identity) Found the elixir of life in the shamanic path. Read more>>

Afshine Emrani MD

I was born in Iran, and I grew up there until the revolution rearranged everything. My family left, and I finished growing up in England — which is its own kind of education, learning a second country the way you learn a second language, by making mistakes in public. Eventually I made my way to America. Displacement does something to a child. Read more>>

STEWP KiDD

People know me as Stewp KiDD, an independent rapper, singer-songwriter, and performer from California’s San Fernando Valley. My music blends hip-hop with soulful melodies, but more than anything, it’s rooted in honesty. I write about vulnerability, perseverance, self-reflection, community, and taking pride in where I come from. Read more>>

Doug Wolfe

My journey in entertainment marketing started in the local newsrooms of Athens, Georgia, working at a local TV station while falling in love with the craft of visual storytelling. In the mid-90s, I made the leap out to Los Angeles to chase that passion on a bigger stage. Read more>>

Luca Zadra

When I was 12 my parents gifted me a guitar, a small Martin acoustic. That was pretty much what got me started. I used to play all day every day, relentlessly bending strings in ways it was never designed for but having a blast doing it. That’s pretty much when I decided I wanted to do music. Read more>>

Aashray Harishankar

My story begins from a very young age, when I began to learn music from my grandmother, and from the age of seven when I began to learn Carnatic music on the keyboard from local teacher N. Muralikrishnan. I spent years learning traditional music from South India, and upon reaching my graduating concert (aka ‘Arangetram’), I had developed an immense appreciation and love for music. Read more>>

Ezra Parter

I studied History in college and really didn’t know what to do with it after graduating – I tried writing for magazines and newspapers, temping around different businesses in Seattle, and teaching, but nothing felt as satisfying as delving into the stories in my textbooks and sorting out people’s motivations, connections, and what made them intriguing as historical figures. Read more>>

Jill Dressel

My journey in aviation started in Louisiana, where I was teaching court ordered juvenile offenders and attending graduate school for school psychology. I knew that it wasn’t what I wanted to do in life, and a friend suggested I become a flight attendant. I was immediately hired by Delta, and that’s where my passion for aviation safety began. Read more>>

Ayelette Robinson

I like to say I’ve taken the scenic route professionally. Nothing has been a straight line. I studied dance from a young age and performed in my high school plays, but being an artist never seemed realistic as a career. The world I grew up in steered you toward traditionally reliable careers like law, medicine, and academia. Read more>>

Paige Parsons Roache

My road to becoming a full-time activist for the planet, animals and people began when I had a spiritual awakening. I call it the Evolution of my Soul. Read more>>

Meredith Moersch, PsyD

I genuinely love being a neuropsychologist. I feel fortunate to have found a profession where my love of neuroscience and psychology comes together in a way that can make a meaningful difference for children and families. One conversation with a research participant ultimately shaped the course of my career. Read more>>

Jessica Rodriguez

SNAP began as both a dream and a vision: to create an inclusive, adaptive aquatic program where every child could experience the joy and confidence that comes with being in the water. From the beginning, the goal was to bring together pediatric medical professionals, adaptive swim instructors, and parents to work collaboratively in creating a supportive, safe, and engaging environment. Read more>>

Marci Polzin

Growing up, I always wanted to be an actress and majored in Theatre in college. In my junior year I realized I wouldn’t make it as an actress. I was terrible. But I didn’t want to change my major that late in the game – not unlike college studens today! Read more>>

Daniela Mazal

I didn’t come to Pilates because I wanted abs. I came because I needed a bigger paycheck. In 2013, I was a broke college student, teaching yoga teacher and just trying to support myself through school. Juggling restaurant shifts as a full time student while teaching heated classes at big-box gyms for about not much more than minimum wage. It wasn’t sustainable. Read more>>

Sterling Stumpahuzer

I grew up in Dallas TX, but from a young age I knew I always wanted to move to LA to become a professional dancer. At 14 that dream became closer to reality. I sighed with MTA and started online school to have more free time for dance and travel. I graduated early so as soon as I turned 18 I moved out to LA. Read more>>

Nadia Mueller

When I was around ten years old I asked my parents how animation was made, and they told me that people spend months just to animate one minute because artists have to draw every single frame. Read more>>

Rosa Shetty

Long before I had the clinical language for trauma, I understood that people could carry deep wounds while continuing to care for everyone around them and appear strong. I came to this work not only through formal education and training, but, most importantly, through my own lived experience with trauma, intergenerational wounds, and the silence that can exist within families. Read more>>

Lynne Newton

I left Kansas City, Missouri with $700.00 in my pocket from furniture I sold out of a storage unit. Moved to Phoenix Arizona to finish college. Once I got my degree, a friend at that time asked me what I had always dreamed of doing. When I really gave it some thought, I kept coming back to a career in film acting. Read more>>

Vanessa Vasquez

My career path has definitely been non linear and I have definitely done a lot of “side quests” to get to where I am now but that is exactly what has led me to this moment. I think to be creative you truly need to be a jack of all trades and master of none (maybe some? but definitely not all). Read more>>

Jennifer Ball

My filmmaking story began in elementary school in Arizona, where I grew up. I was the kind of kid who didn’t just read stories or watch movies—I felt as though I stepped inside them. I became fascinated by the characters, their inner worlds, and the idea that a story could transport someone somewhere completely different. Read more>>

Natalie Moore

I have been acting and singing pretty much my whole life. As a little girl, I loved to sing, which inspired by parents to put me in musical theatre summer camps. That is where I caught the acting bug. Read more>>

Valerie Vega

I love this question because, looking back, it’s neat to see how everything has come together. My name is Valerie Vega, a bilingual speech-language pathologist and the founder of Ilumina Bilingual Speech Therapy, a small private practice in Covina, California. Like many speech-language pathologists, I started my career working in the public schools while also serving families in early intervention. Read more>>

Delius Doherty

Everyone says their story is atypical, so I’ll cut the fat: The journey started because being an artist was the only thing that gave me hope. That’s still what fuels this Houston native, 10-year New Yorker, now Los Angeles-based artist. These days, it comes from my students. Read more>>

TigerLily MacMenemey

My dance journey started in a small town in Ontario Canada where I began dancing and performing at a young age. I moved to the city of Toronto at 14 to continue my dance training at a preforming arts school and actually ended up dropping out of high school at 16 to focus fully on my art and put all my energy towards my dreams. Read more>>

shuai jiang

Shuai Jiang is a Los Angeles-based Makeup Artist, Hair Stylist, Creative Director, and Founder of LIZI STUDIO. Her work combines beauty artistry, cultural styling, editorial photography, and traditional Chinese aesthetics. She has received international recognition through beauty competitions, served as a judge for national cultural pageants, collaborated with entertainment productions including Netflix’s Bling Empire, and has been featured in multiple fashion and beauty publications. Read more>>