Inspiring Stories from South LA

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 LA’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 South LA’s rising stars below.

Parnell Damone Marcano

Finally, got my first break as a contestant on “Scrabble”. I won $8500 and that helped me get my first car and an apartment with a friend from college. While pursuing my artistic goals, I worked as a special needs operator for the hearing impaired, a health educator with Minority AIDS Project, and as many of us artists do, I worked as a server, and a rideshare driver! Read more>>

David Mesfin

David Mesfin is an award-winning creative leader, Vice President & Creative Director in advertising, and the director of the acclaimed documentary Wade in the Water: A Journey into Black Surfing and Aquatic Culture. His work bridges strategic brand storytelling and independent filmmaking, shaped by a lifelong commitment to creativity as both craft and catalyst for culture and equity. Read more>>

Devan Terry

My introduction to real estate began at age 11, when my mother owned an apartment complex in Baldwin Village—a community many know as “the Jungles.” Watching her manage the property gave me an early understanding of what it means to own, maintain, and provide housing. Read more>>

Janae Green

My name is Janae Green, and I am the founder and operator of A Great Day in South LA, a Black-owned, woman-owned cultural tourism company that has been operating in South Los Angeles since 2023. I am originally from Chicago, but I have called Los Angeles home for nearly 12 years. South LA, specifically, is my neighborhood. Read more>>

Simeon Miller

I started this Journey in 1992 at the SBDO Public Library with a Talent Showcase and Fashion Show. Form there we kept doing showcases at different locations all over the IE areas, we became popular for showcasing well known talent on the Verge of Record Deals. Read more>>

USC Musicians Club

The USC Musicians Club started with a simple idea: create a low-stakes, welcoming space where students of all backgrounds and skill levels could come together to make music onstage. We wanted to break down the pressure that often comes with performing and instead focus on community, collaboration, and having fun making music. Read more>>

Brandy Florence

Honestly , I didn’t start painting because I saw myself becoming an artist, I started because I was trying to find a way through grief. In May of 2022, after learning that a close family member had only a few days to live, I felt a heaviness that I didn’t really know how to carry or express. Read more>>

Dwiti Rao

It hasn’t been a smooth road. Like most creative paths, it’s been shaped by uncertainty, long periods of learning, and having to constantly prove myself in new roles. Transitioning from performer and choreographer to director meant starting over in many ways- earning trust on sets, finding my voice, and navigating industries that don’t always make space for multidisciplinary artists. One very real challenge was the shift in language:  Read more>>

Sheila Galmat

I believe that everything starts in my childhood, I really believe that the support of my family during my growth and the interest on art was the principal support of my career. During my teenage years I work on a indepent magazine or zine as a photographer and I work in a side more creative as a ‘art director’. Read more>>