Anthony Hernandez
December 10th, 1989. I was born in Pasadena, California at Huntington Memorial Hospital. I grew up in a town called Glendora located in the San Gabriel Valley. As a child, I loved to play sports, video games, and hang out with friends around my neighborhood. I loved performing for talent shows and entertaining others. Growing up, I always envisioned myself playing sports professionally or joining the air force. My father used to be a pilot so we shared the same love for flying and sports. I was fascinated with planes and I’d watch them fly over trying to figure out which model they were. After high school, I had no clue what career or future I wanted for myself. After a year of jumping community colleges, I realized I needed a fresh start. So, I moved to Long Beach where my best friend was attending CSU Long Beach. I knew I wanted to study film and who wouldn’t want to live by the beach? I began studying at Long Beach City College and toward the end of my time there, I changed my major to Theatre Arts. My goal was to get into Long Beach State, but my grades weren’t good enough to apply for the film program. So, with my future in the balance my advisor went over other majors that weren’t impacted. Read more>>
Christine Horn
I was born and raised in Bronx, New York, and have always wanted to be a performer for as long as I can remember. Even when other kids in class said they wanted to be an astronaut or a firefighter or a lawyer. I knew, from a very young age, that I wanted to be a performer. My response would always be, “I want to be a singer/actor/dancer.” Period. That’s it. So it was never really a question for me. I’m so grateful to my mother Valerie who allowed me to take dance class when I was about five or six years old. I started out in tap dance class, then I included ballet and modern jazz and African dance. My mother would always take me to see Broadway shows. And there was a show that really opened my eyes. It was called, “Mama, I Want to Sing.” And I remember looking at the little brown girl who was the star of the show and seeing myself in her and seeing and realizing that that could be me one day. And I got that confirmation at a very young age, and I’m forever grateful for that. My mother would tell you that I was always drawn to the narrator of any story. I have just been fully immersed in performing arts, and I’m so grateful for that. The summer before I headed to 10th grade, my mother decided that she no longer wanted to raise any more kids in New York. Read more>>
Elisenda Farison
My earliest memories of photography are walking around Yosemite National Park as a kid, with a bright red kid camera, taking photos of our road trip. I remember moments spent in our home office, looking at old photographs my parents took of us – cherishing memories I probably never would have remembered otherwise. I wanted to help capture more of those kinds of memories. It wasn’t until high school that I started to dive deeper into photography as both a way to relieve stress or anxiety and a way to force myself to find beauty in the everyday mundane life of a teenager. I was fortunate enough to have an incredible art teacher and friends who supported me deeply and encouraged me to pursue it further. I decided to study photography and make it my major at the college my dad worked at – California State University, San Bernardino. I learned quickly that landscape photography, as much as I enjoyed it, did not pay enough. I slowly started taking on weddings and other types of portrait sessions. Over the years, I’ve continued to take on more and more weddings and sessions, slowly finding what avenue of photography I love most. Most recently, my favorite sessions have been of families. Read more>>
Amelie Le-Roche
I design board games. I’m a creative person and an artist by trade. Born in France, we moved to California when I was eight. It was a tough transition, my sisters and I didn’t speak a word of English. I became the quiet student, always drawing in the margins of my notebooks. Art was always a part of me, but I never thought it could be a career. With the help of my parents, I found direction in my early 20s and went on to study animation at Laguna College of Art and Design. During my career, I got the chance to animate on some of the best video games of our generation, from the Uncharted series to several Call of Duty games. It’s definitely been an incredible ride. I had to change pace when we welcomed our daughter and we decided I would be the stay at home parent. I took on part-time jobs whenever possible, but I missed animating and creating art on a daily basis. I would have liked to create my own video games, but lacking technical skills, I couldn’t achieve what I wanted on my own. Just to do something fun, I made a board game for my husband’s birthday. It was just supposed to be something cute and special to play together, but I really enjoyed the process. Read more>>
Ash Delrahim
I was born and raised in Calabasas, CA in a Persian Jewish household. I graduated from University of Miami in 2016 and began working for my family business in Retail and Wholesale Petroleum. A year later, an opportunity came around to work for an investment bank in Beijing, China. So without knowing a single soul or speaking the language, I moved to a foreign country to begin a new chapter. I spent a year working in Beijing before moving back home with the intent to work for a local investment bank. When I finally moved back, I went to lunch with my Father and he had mentioned that there was this new venture he was thinking of starting and he wanted me to spearhead it. This venture would soon to become Bliss Car Wash, one of the most eco-friendly car washes in the U.S… Two years later, we are up to 8 locations with Bliss spread across Southern California and many more to come in the future. Read more>>
Vanessa Garza
I’m a 3rd generation Angeleno and had the privilege to attend an all-girls, private high school. Even then, I realized the positive impact that my single gender experience would have on my future. As an undergrad at Tulane, I participated in service learning projects at the local elementary schools. It was then that I began to understand the opportunity gap in low income neighborhoods. After graduating, I returned to Los Angeles and served as a public middle school teacher. As a student, I always struggled with math and noticed many of my students did as well. I was passionate about reducing math anxiety for students, especially girls who often were vocal about their math struggles. Later. I pursued school administrator roles and ultimately became the Founding Principal of Girls Athletic Leadership School LA. It was truly the intersection of my educational experience and my professional experience as a public educator. Finally, a single-gender education was no longer a privilege for a few, it was now an option for many families. Read more>>
Emily Meisner
My journey started all the way back to Canada, age nine, standing at the start line in my very first cross-country race wearing my mom’s flowered track shorts, with nervous sweaty palms, and one goal…. to win. I remember every thought running through the woods and that it was how I could keep going faster and faster. When I got tired, I remember thinking, “but what if I don’t stop? I could win!”. My deep curiosity of how far could I push myself and how far could I could forever set the pace (pun intended) of how I have approached the rest of my life. When I have Q&A’s on Instagram one of my top asked questions is, what motivates you? My answer is still “I want to see what happens if I don’t stop, I don’t give up, and I do go after everything in this life.” My running career carried into university where I studied Kinesiology and even extended as far as Kenya. My fascination with movement and the body had me obsessed with my physiology and anatomy textbooks, but it wasn’t until a series of career ending injuries that I actually realized what I wanted to do. Read more>>
Monica Holmes and Jeffrey Loyd
Our names are Jeffrey Holmes (CSUN alumni) and Monica Loyd, we are both Co-Founders of The Valley Community Fridges. We have both worked and served the homeless community for over six years in our free time while Jeffrey was a teacher, now Youth Counselor at Hope Gardens Rescue Mission. Quarterly we would partner with other organizations to minister and provide much needed resources to Skid Row and numerous encampments in Los Angeles County. Jeffrey (a minister) would lead Praise and Worship and give an encouraging word every First Monday of the month for the last three years at the Union Rescue Missions men’s shelter. I (Monica Loyd) worked with the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter specifically designed for families without housing. As time would unfold, we really wanted to focus on making sure the same resources that were widely available to those experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles reached the individuals here in the San Fernando Valley. With that being said, we started to engage the SFV community in a way that would encourage us a Valley residents to be leaders in community support. Read more>>
Jennifer Evans
For as long as I can remember, I have been passionate about helping people in need. I was raised in the Arizona sun serving homeless alongside my mother, and I often found myself daydreaming of traveling to Africa to help people in need there. In 2012, my dream was manifested when I landed in Ethiopia, my first of eighteen humanitarian missions to the beautiful continent of Africa! For nearly five years, I served thousands of people, not only in Africa but around the world (45 countries & 6 continents). Our mission team spread peace and understanding through hearing care… and I was blessed to see many wonders of the world! Private jets, 5-star hotels, rubbing elbows with celebrities like Johnny Depp and Ben Affleck, from the outside it looked like I had it all; but on the inside I was struggling. There was a deeper issue that needed to surface. I was an addict. A highly functioning addict, and one who eventually burned out with the perfect storm of drugs, alcohol, chronic stress, wrong thinking, and lack of proper nutrition and sleep. I was exhausted, unmotivated and struggling with depression and anxiety. I realized that if I wanted to reach my full potential in service of others, then I needed to serve myself first. I quit my dream job and spent three years dedicated to my recovery and healing. Read more>>
Jim Klipfel
James Klipfel, the 2021 California Teacher of the Year. While nurturing mental health, James Klipfel inspires young people to acquire dreams, drive, confidence, and skills. For three decades, Klipfel has used his position as a teacher, coach, and adviser to challenge all students to develop these foundations, and he works at the school and district level to implement research-backed reforms. Born in Nebraska and educated in California, Klipfel is the youngest of eight. During WWII, his dad was a SeaBee and his mom worked on the homefront. They were hard-working patriots who instilled education and the golden rule. Klipfel earned Bachelor of Arts degree, history and political science from the University of California, Davis. He conducted his graduate work at the University of California, Irvine. And he studied Spanish at the University of California, Los Angeles. Klipfel currently teaches eleventh-grade Advanced Placement United States history and coaches swimming at Saugus High School in Saugus, California. He has supported STEM via his Science Olympiad team, career paths with a journalism program, and struggling ninth-graders with a teamed intervention class. He attributes his education to his father’s access to the GI Bill—and the inspiring accomplishments of his older siblings. Read more>>
Feodor Boev
A few years ago, I never would have imagined that I would be running my own screen printing shop. I discovered screen printing in 2018 when I was helping my fiance with her own startup business. With no one to guide us, I took on the challenge of learning how to screenprint. For months I researched all about various printing techniques and the challenges that one could expect. In the meantime, I was also visiting screen printing shops in Los Angeles and asking questions to anyone who would listen. Finally, in late 2018, I took the plunge and began printing signs and wedding invitations. At the time, I was also an accounting student at CSUN, so I loved having a creative outlet where I could work with my hands after class. At CSUN, I was a member of many clubs that would give t-shirts to their members every semester. I was never satisfied with the quality of the shirts, and that’s when I decided to try printing on t-shirts! I had to learn to use new types of inks, invest in screens and equipment, and learn about the composition of many different fabrics. It was challenging because the startup required a lot of investment before I was able to even attain clients. After a few months, though, I began printing t-shirts for many local organizations and businesses. Read more>>
Cameron Hall
It all started in the summer of 2020. It was always a dream of mine to start designing clothes and have my own brand but I lacked the skills and the time. The COVID-19 stay-at-home order finally gave me time to perfect my craft and really start brainstorming and designing my brand as a whole. I spent a few months meticulously designing everything myself from the website, social media platforms, packaging, as well as handmaking all of the clothing pieces, so it really was a passion project for me. Finally, after months of preparation, I launched Dream of Jean as an e-commerce clothing store and have been loving every minute of growing and managing my brand ever since. I have received tons of support from friends and family and really couldn’t have done it without them. Reads more>>
Milton and Gina Hambly
Hambly Farms started in 2019 in San Miguel, CA. Milton’s great grandfather homesteaded in the Carissa Plains in 1886 making our family 5th generation in the Paso Robles area. The family grew crops and managed almond and walnut orchards. Gina’s family settled in Paso Robles where they had a dairy and farmed. The Mastagni ranch was where Firestone Brewery is currently located, in fact, the original grain silo is still standing there today. Both Milton and Gina work full time – Milton is an 8th grade and community college teacher and Gina works for the county. Hambly Farms began as a way to return to our family heritage- farming and ranching. Milton and I had no experience in farming except for growing our yearly vegetable garden, and our children were very active in 4-H and FFA growing up, raising hogs, goats and steers on friends’ properties. In 2017, we purchased 26 acres in west San Miguel. After two years of clearing the land, we were ready to begin our adventure. We connected with our local nursery, Natures Touch, and after a consultation with owner Melanie Blankenship, we came up with the plan for Hambly Farms. Our soil conditions and hot climate are perfect for growing lavender and raising honey bees. Read more>>
Monique Jones
I first started self-portrait photography when I was 13 years old and I had a lot of passion for it throughout middle school. However, during high school I became more focused on becoming a filmmaker rather than a photographer. The day after I graduated high school, I moved to Los Angeles where I very quickly began to fall in love with modeling and I was very determined to become a professional signed model. But being new to Los Angeles it was very hard for me to find local photographers to take my pictures, especially with a low social media profile. So that’s when I decided to pick up the camera again and take my own pictures so that I could get noticed by a Modeling agency and pursue my dreams. After seven months of consistently posting my work to as many platforms as I could, I began going viral on social media and Ended up getting noticed by my first modeling agency and got signed. Ever since then, I’ve just been continuing building my portfolio and following my dreams. Read more>>
Nkeiruka Igbonagwam
I was born and partially raised in Nigeria for 13 years. I’ve always loved dancing and acting since I was a little girl. I was part of the dance team and drama club in Nigeria. I felt the most happy whenever I had a chance to entertain people around me. I am known as the life of the party. In 2009, at the age of 13, I relocated to Los Angeles, California to continue my education. After high school, I started college in 2013 which I found to be quite challenging choosing a major because of what I wanted versus what my parents wanted for me. My parents, being your typical African parents wanted me to pursue a career in medicine, law or engineering while I wanted to dance. Therefore, all that, coupled with the fear of pursuing entertainment in LA and possibly being a “starving artist” and the thought of whether or not I’ll make it, scared me. In order to leave my options open, I chose to major in International Business with emphasis in Entertainment Marketing. However, I was still involved with dance. At the age of 22, I went to London to complete my final year in college where I discovered a much deeper passion for dance. However, after I graduated college in 2017 from Cal Poly Pomona, I decided to work at a sales company because it was the “responsible” thing to do while pursuing dance on the side. Read more>>
Dana Colby
I have been working in the jewelry industry since 2003. I started working for an incredible jewelry designer directly after finishing college. Her name is Cathy Waterman. I worked for her from 2003- 2011. It was the most unbelievable experience and was a bit like going to business school, as I learned several aspects of the jewelry business. I handled all of Cathy Waterman’s wholesale sales, public relations, celebrity placements, and private sales. After I left that job, I then worked for another wonderful jewelry designer named Andrea Fohrman. I then started consulting for several brands – helping with wholesale sales, branding, design ideas, public relations, and private sales. Ultimately I decided to start my own company in 2017. My favorite part of what I had done over the years was to connect directly with my clients and help them find special pieces and gifts. I took that and ran with it. I started hosting private trunk shows and representing really creative and wonderful fine jewelry designers. When I started my company, I represented about three designers, and I now work with about 30 🙂 . During non-covid times, I travel across the United States and set up private curated jewelry trunk shows in people’s homes. Read more>>
Debi Carlin Boyle
I started my company, “Fit By Design” over 25 years ago as a side hustle when I became a Spin Instructor and a Personal Trainer and realized no two people are alike when it comes to diet, exercise, and overall lifestyle. Much like snowflakes, we are unique human beings, we need to understand our individual responses to what we put into our bodies and how we treat them. I discovered at a very young age that lifestyle plays a vital role in how we look, feel, and react to everything that surrounds us. There are many things that feed us in life in addition to the food on our plate. As a young child, I watched as my family succumbed to cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases that left me feeling helpless and hopeless. I knew I did not want to go down this path for myself – or my future family. That is when my personal journey began from a processed kid towards wellness and when I truly realized that I could shift my family’s bad habits to good habits for a longer, healthier, and more joyous life. Read more>>
Kelly Jenrette
There are two very specific moments that stand out to me when I think about how I got started. The first is when I was in the 5th grade and we were going to put on a play, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I was to play the lead, Charlie! My teacher, Mr. Hornsby, asked me if I wanted to change the character’s name to Charlene. I quickly replied, “No! I can play a boy!!” The second is when my daddy took me to see The Five Heartbeats. I instantly fell in love with that film. I remember sitting in front of the tv and writing down the lyrics to the song No Matter How Hard It Gets. I would perform that song over and over again. Yep, I was a girl in love with acting. I continued to be in love with acting and singing although I was initially afraid to fully pursue it after graduating from high school. So, I went to Xavier University in New Orleans. I was planning on becoming a Forensic Psychologist but after seeing all the science classes I would have to take I thought it would be better to just play one on tv. I transferred home and got my B.A. in Theatre from Ga State University. I was also very fortunate and blessed to be a part of the Freddie Hendricks Youth Ensemble of Atlanta. Read more>>
Rebekah Czarnecki
Rebekah has been running theatre and educational Shakespeare programs for more than 20 years. She is owner of Shakespeare Kids (SK) and has a team of dedicated professional actors and directors, current in the business, that assist her in these programs and all share a passion for education. When Covid hit, SK had 13 groups of young actors preparing for production. Friday, March 13, as schools were closing, that morning she booked a theatre and performed 4 Shakespeare productions for parents only with set, lights and sound as the students were originally scheduled to perform just ten days later. The other nine productions transitioned to virtual and all performed in May and June. Since then, we have produced ten other productions virtually, performing live to friends and family worldwide. Sometimes with over 200 in attendance. All performances are free of charge and webinar format. We are currently rehearsing Macbeth and Twelfth Night along with over 20 other weekly theatre enrichment programs working with students all across the US and internationally. Eager to work with our students in person once again. We did manage to perform Much Ado About Nothing in Mammoth in July 2020 running a two weeks in-person camp with strict Covid measures and guidelines in place. Read more>>
Galit Strugano-Wigdor
Girlactik was born on the idea of me becoming a beauty reporter to report on makeup. I was trying to make connections and thought if I learn makeup and work behind the scenes, I could pitch my idea to producers in hopes I’d get a red carpet beauty show. Within learning makeup, Girlactik was born in the idea of developing a base for glitter but introducing a very fine sparkle creating a pretty sparkle liner that looked so pretty on, stayed in place and was easy to remove hours later. Girlactik started with my savings of $1800. Read more>>
Casey Oberhansli
One summer day, my brothers, best friend and I were happily playing a video game (it was summer break) when my mother came in and told us that our sister needed to go to the hospital. My sister had been walking around in pain for several days and at the hospital the doctors found that her appendix had burst. She and mom were at the hospital for a couple of weeks. Dad still had to work and being teenage boys, we naturally spent our alone time very wisely. We practically melted our brains playing videogames. Soon we had enough. We were all more creative minded and after we had gone mad with our freedom to goof off, we realized that we didn’t want to waste our summer. Together we decided to try making a video game of our own. The four of us spent the next year teaching ourselves to code, animate, and design levels. We were making great progress until we discovered that my mom’s windows 95 pc just wasn’t powerful enough to make the game we were planning. Instead of letting all that work go to waste, I suggested that making a movie might be a fun alternative. We had a blast! We spent so much time laughing that we barely were able to put the project together but in the end it ignited a passion that has lasted me through school and up to today working in Hollywood. Read more>>
Maria Cordova
I’ve been working since high school. First, it was jobs through the YMCA like house cleaning and babysitting. I also volunteered at a summer school for children with special needs. Before college, I had almost every job a young person could have, from cashier at a bagel bakery in Pasadena to an office job at City Hall. My mom was a single parent, so it helped to have the extra money, and it was a good way to get out of the house and stay (somewhat) out of trouble. Growing up, things at home were difficult and chaotic. My brother had multiple mental illnesses and struggled with drug addiction. My mother also grappled with her bi-polar depression and often couldn’t find the right balance of medication. She was also in an abusive relationship, so between them and my brother’s violent temper, the police knew our home well. I moved out of my mom’s house when I was 17 years old as I was trying hard to preserve my own mental health and knew I needed to be in a more safe environment. I had to keep finding ways to make ends meet and didn’t have much time to enjoy my youth. I worked full-time all through undergrad and grad school. Shortly after I started undergrad, I landed an executive assistant job at a firm in downtown Los Angeles where I supported the COO and CLO. Read more>>
Magdalena Spinelli
I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina a long time ago. When I was 12 years old, my mother remarried an American diplomat and two months after the sudden death of my older brother Damian, we moved to Brasilia, Brazil. The beginning of a brand new life didn’t leave much room for bereavement and all the changes were very exciting! New step-dad, moving from country to country, learning new languages and cultures, making friends around the globe. I thrived as a diplomatic brat enjoying to the fullest the traveling adventures. I graduated from Marymount University with a BS in political science and international relations. I spent sophomore and Junior years as an exchange student in Rome, Italy. An Argentinian of Italian descent, I felt right at home in Rome. Once I graduated, I decided that my dream was to get any job that kept me traveling. I did my internship with the CIA. They wanted to recruit me but I didn’t feel that was for me. Eventually, I moved to Miami and became a journalist working for the Hispanic television networks covering stories around the country. After a few years of frantic work schedules and living my life at the beck and call of the networks, I met my first husband. Read more>>
Samantha Souza
I am a Certified Nutrition Coach, earning my credentials from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. My journey with diet and fitness has been life-long. I’ve done every diet under the sun (seriously, name it, I did it). I’ve learned many fitness and nutritional lessons over the years, having maintained over a 75 pound weight loss for over a decade. I’ve bio-hacked and experimented with different weight loss and muscle building techniques over the years and helped many friends and family along the way. After helping many people transform their bodies through nutrition, I decided to get certified and transfer my knowledge and experience to clients all over the world! When it comes to diet, whether a client is gaining to add muscle, cutting to lose fat, or trying to change their body composition and not worried as much about the scale… it’s all a mental game. I am trained just as much about the mental side of trying to achieve a fitness goal as much as I am about the science. I’ve been where the client is, and I care about making this as SIMPLE a process as possible. My real specialty is helping people create a lifestyle for good– no more yo-yo dieting! I also train my clients to be able to eat intuitively at the end of their journey. Read more>>
Nicole Mejia
My family immigrated to Alaska from Honduras when I was six years old. It was very challenging for me to integrate with my new surroundings because I didn’t know English so I started reading like crazy. Books were always an escape for me but also a way to use my imagination. I used to come up with so many crazy stories but the arts were never attainable because of our socio-economic background. However, one day I went to see a play called ‘The Brothers Size’ at the Seattle Repertory Theater which was about people like me and I realized that I was able to create art in that way. I applied to Cornish College of the Arts and I got in with a scholarship. I studied acting, directing and playwriting. I quickly moved to L.A. after graduation and started off as an actor. However, I wasn’t very excited with many of the auditions I was getting so I chose to apply to the directing program at the American Film Institute. I was very honest and vulnerable in my essays about the sexual abuse that I had endured for years stemming from childhood and how that has affected the way I see the world. I want to stand up for women who are survivors and show them that even though the trauma that we face is very difficult to overcome, it doesn’t have to hold you back from fulfilling your dreams. Read more>>
Jake Thompson
I was a junior at the University of Minnesota in 2008 studying film theory, but knew early on that I’d never get the experience I craved unless I found my way onto a movie set. Growing up, closeted in the Midwest, I had a clear goal at a young age: to be a storyteller. And through the medium of film, I could make this dream my reality. Cut to the summer before my senior year of college wherein I began contacting a TV writer from “Ugly Betty” and basically emailed them until they essentially gave me a walking week on the show. After a week working with the iconic cast and crew, I was hooked. They offered me a position and I flew to the Big Apple with literally a dream in my two suitcases full of clashing patterns. I spent four seasons learning the “tricks of the trade,” moving around departments and finding out the ecosystem of set life and office culture, all before the age of 21. It was during this crucial life experience that made me want to pursue my dream of writing for TV more. When the show was canceled in 2010, I moved to greener pastures aka the city of Angels and the continued pursuit to hustle my way into a writer’s room was reignited, as well as, I’ve never stopped working. From writing digital content for “RuPaul’s Drag Race” at World of Wonder Productions to making original comedy shorts for HBO’s “Big Little Lies” Season 2, I’ve learned that nobody just hands you open doors. Read more>>
Hrachouhi Zakaryan
I have always been drawing since I was very little. I would design clothes and draw fairies all the time. In high school, I was persuaded by an art teacher to study fine arts instead of fashion design and I followed his advice. I studied at Art Center, Pasadena City College and graduated with a BFA in Illustration from Long Beach State University. The first years following my graduation were bumpy career-wise since my husband and I were trying to make ends meet, but gradually I learned more and more along the way. I opened my Etsy shop in 2011 and have been working as an illustrator ever since. Read more>>
Robb Pratt
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be an animator! Growing up in poverty, raised by a single mother that suffered from mental illness, cartoons were my favorite escape! I spent hours upon hours, every day, watching the classics – ‘Looney Tunes’, the Fleischer ‘Popeye’ shorts, and of course, Walt Disney animated features. What really inspired me was that it wasn’t simply drawing – it was story, color, voice acting, performance, BG art, music, sound effects, timing – it was all of these methods combined that made it super compelling. With limited resources, a great college wasn’t possible, but I was fortunate enough to grow up in North Hollywood, close to the Cartoonists Union Headquarters. At night, I took classes there, made connections, and learned from pros that were working at the Studios during the day, hearing about how they went about hiring and what I needed to do to prepare. After Disney’s string of massive hits – ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Aladdin’, and ‘The Lion King’, the Studio was ramping up production and looking for new artists. I took a test and got hired as an inbetweener on ‘Pocahontas’. Growing up poor was difficult, but it gave me a fierce work ethic and I learned to never take anything for granted. Read more>>
Debi Carlin
I started my company, “Fit By Design” over 25 years ago when I became a Spin Instructor and a Personal Trainer and realized no two people are alike when it comes to diet, exercise, and overall lifestyle. Much like snowflakes, we are unique human beings, we need to understand our individual responses to what we put into our bodies and how we treat them. I discovered at a very young age that lifestyle plays a vital role in how we look, feel, and react to everything that surrounds us. There are many things that feed us in life in addition to the food on our plate. As a young child, I watched as my family succumbed to cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases that left me feeling helpless and hopeless. I knew I did not want to go down this path for myself – or my future family. That is when my personal journey began towards wellness and when I truly realized that I could shift my family’s bad habits to good habits for a longer, healthier, and more joyous life. Read more>>
Qingyun Zhang
I was born and raised in a small city near a desert in China. Not knowing what to do for my future, I went for Architecture in college, where I found my passion in entertainment. I quit college and went to School of Visual Arts in New York to study film. I wanted to do production design for film, however it was not a major in SVA. I still self-taught basics of production design and obtained experience by doing projects for my friends. One thing I realized at the end of my undergraduate education was that design for film is a very fragmented experience. It is more about design one picture, and what I wanted to do is to create experience. After working in video post for a year, I decided to pursue further into what I really want to do. I am currently studying Scenic Design in California Institute of the Arts. Read more>>
Kally Khourshid
My story starts in South Florida as a gawky 12-year-old walking into the kitchen, plopping down a stack of pages printed from the F.B.I. website in front of my mother, then launching into my master plan for how I was going to become a secret agent. I had my first school play and some church and children’s theatre experience under my belt, but I also was really getting into karate, codebreaking books, and murder mysteries. My mom patiently waited for me to finish, looked me in the eye, and said calmly, “No. I want you alive. Go into acting.” The air between us was electric, and in that moment we both knew I was going to become an actress. I earned my Theatre Performance degree from Indian River State College, began working in professional theatre, and entered the student and independent film world before pursuing additional studies at Florida Atlantic University. I enrolled around the time the medical school there was seeking actors for their standardized patient (“SP”) program. Intrigued at the idea of acting different medical conditions for an “audience” that required acting as realistic as possible, I signed up – and instantly fell in love with the dual artistic and intellectual challenge of acting while evaluating them on their interpersonal communication skills at the same time. Read more>>
Christopher Montgomery
At a young age, I would assist my adopted father in the kitchen. He was a self-taught cook. He taught various cooking techniques and several secret family recipes. Chris later took on the role as the cook of the house after the untimely death of his father when he was just 14 years old. My journey to become a Chef was not a smooth one. Growing up in the Bronx, I wasn’t offered many opportunities outside of getting into trouble and I had my fair share of trouble. This for some reason didn’t stop me from pursuing my dream to becoming a professional gourmet Chef, despite all of the nay sayers. I was tired of the street life. I woke up one morning, headed down to the Art Institute of NY, and enrolled into the Culinary Arts and Food Management program; a decision that changed my life forever. Determined to succeed, I worked at my family’s local quick service restaurant after classes and during the weekends, I worked for free in notable restaurants to gain hands on experience and abundance of knowledge in the food industry. Post-graduation, I trained as a sous chef under the renowned Chef David Burke. For over a decade, Chris has worked professionally in many well-known kitchens throughout NYC and Tri-State Area. Read more>>
Jarvis Barnes
I started out playing music when I was around four or five years old. Like most kids, I started playing a wide variety of sports such as soccer, basketball, tennis and more. Found myself getting frustrated with them not because I was bad but the obligations attached to them weren’t enjoyable. Going into my 9th-grade year, I had to make a decision if I was going to pursue tennis, my primary competitive sport, or pursue music. Knowing they both required a huge time commitment, I went with the one that was causing me less stress, music. Music was my escape/happy place. Deciding to go all in on it, I started practicing and had a great musical staff at my local high school, Caesar Rodney located in Camden, DE that helped mold me. They placed me in a wide variety of music settings where I had to be a chameleon when it came to playing music. Became fluent in every genre ranging from Jazz, Funk, Latin, show music, orchestral, hip-hop and more. I was able to participate in my first student tour in my junior year of High School hitting five different countries in 2 1/2 weeks. After that tour, I knew exactly what I wanted to do the rest of my life. Play, create and ingulf myself in music that makes people happy. Read more>>
Katie Harbin
I was a military kid, so I spent most of my childhood bouncing from one East Coast city to the next. I have a laundry list of places where I could “be from.” But I’ve since adopted Tennessee as my home state since that’s where my family eventually landed. I studied Theater and Broadcasting in my undergrad and initially thought I wanted to be an actor. I had a few bit parts here and there and auditioned for a bunch of cheesy commercials. But I quickly discovered the real fun was behind the scenes and decided to apply to film school. So I kept on moving – down to Florida State University for grad school. To this day, I think that was one of the best decisions I ever made. I learned a ton about filmmaking there. And it plugged me into a tight-knit community of filmmakers and friends who gave me the push I needed to move out to L.A, where I’ve been working steadily for the past six years! I’m very active in the indie film scene out here and absolutely love collaborating with fellow artists and oddballs who like thinking outside the box. Read more>>
