Downtown LA

Marie Freschl

I’ve always wanted to be in a field that contributes to change, no matter how small or big that change would be. My relationship with therapy and the idea of being a therapist was a soulmate-level match! As much as I hope to bring to the mental health world, I am constantly grateful for the role it has played in my life. When I started my journey, however, I was beginning to learn the flaws within the mental health system. I learned quickly that therapy, at least in America, was rarely beneficial for marginalized populations. Furthermore, the population of therapists were limited in diversity, often creating a divide. Understanding these limitations through both personal and professional endeavors, I wanted to cultivate a practice that focused on spaces that were safe for everyone. One where clinicians understood multicultural impacts, sexuality, gender fluidity, etc. I knew that doing it under someone else’s space would give me limited control in this. So my best friend and I decided to open our own practice. Read more>>

Tracy Cruz

I started singing at the age of two and performing when I was twelve years old. My mom and my grandmothers were both singers and performers and they inspired me to become a singer. I started joining numerous talent competitions as a teenager and took music classes from grade school to college. I released my debut EP “Illuminate Love” in 2005, first full-length album “Feel’osophy” in 2008 and sophomore album “Universoul Symphony” in 2011. In 2018, I released my trilogy which consisted of “H3artifacts”, “Art of Facts” (produced by Grammy-nominated producer Brandon Williams) and “Purple H3artifacts”. In 2020, I released my single “Your Love’s Everything” and on Friday, August 27, 2021, I released “Find A Way”. Read more>>

Tremaine Barnes

Tremaine T Barnes was born June 18th, 2007. Tremaine T Barnes grew up in Mount Olive, Mississippi. As of today, Tremaine T Barnes is still alive and he is 14 years old. Tremaine grew up in the house with two of his parents, Patricia Barnes and Harold Adams. He also stayed with two other siblings in the same single house known as Tradarius Haynes and Keirah Barnes. Tremaine first discovered his career by doing singles in other Productions as a background actor until he got his first lead role. Tremaine is now working on his upcoming film Fate and Destiny which has already given him popularity. Tremaine is known as a caring, intelligent,and understanding person. Tremaine took two years of acting classes at That’s a Wrap Studio. Tremaine T Barnes also took Performing Arts classes at Performing Arts Studio in Chicago, Illinois. Read more>>

East LA

Akvile DeFazio

I was born in Lithuania, emigrated to Toronto during the Cold War, and have been moving west non-stop until I landed in SoCal, where I have truly called home for the last decade. I have a BS in Exercise Science as I pursued work to be a physical therapist, but realized after graduation that it’s not what I wanted to do and always felt a desire to work in something more creative as I jumped on every marketing related task at the clinics I worked for. I officially began working in online marketing 13 years ago, starting off in Seattle doing ecommerce for an outdoor/sports gear and apparel company called evo, then moved to a pet health insurance startup where I learned how to online advertising and built our campaigns from the ground up. Next, I moved to Long Beach where I worked remotely for a global marketing conference and publication company as a marketing manager. Read more>>

Khari Rhynes

I started making music at the age of eight. My mother is a singer, so I have been around music my entire life. I remember always liking music, but I didn’t really take it seriously until I got a guitar. I wanted to be a rapper when I was about 7, but everything changed when I heard good Charlotte. I was enamored by the rebellious sound they produced. I became obsessed with being a rebel even though I had nothing to rebel against. I wanted to play guitar loud and fast and didn’t really have a taste for tone or anything other than mainstream pop-punk ahaha. However, my mind was altered once again at around the age of 12. This was the first time I had heard Jimi Hendrix! To see someone who looked like me up there doing his thing was the greatest gift I could have ever asked for at that time. I remember my dad showing me his music at Barnes and Noble and me instantly getting obsessed with his ability to control his instrument. More importantly, his ability to express his emotion through his guitar playing. Read more>>

Brenda Heredia

I am the owner of Quherencia. I was born in Mexico City and I immigrated to the United States back in 2014 when I was 15 years old. I currently go to Cal State Fullerton, and I am pursuing a double major in Business Marketing and Spanish, along with a Translation Certificate. I am a first-generation, low-income woman passionate about the advocacy and liberation of marginalized communities. The transition between living in Mexico and moving to the United States has affected my personal development and mental health, but ever since I opened my shop I have been going through a process of healing, blooming, and self-embracement. Quherencia provides me with hope, love, support from my community, and it makes me feel seen and capable of achieving my dreams. I started my shop in November 2020. Prior to Quherencia I co-owned another shop which unfortunately had to be closed, but it did provide me with a great insight which I continued implementing on Quherencia. I started making beaded jewelry such as bracelets, rings, earrings, anklets, and necklaces, which later on turned to be made by my mom. I also have stickers, paracord bracelets, and wire-rings made by my dad. Read more>> 

 

Hollywood

Jmsey

I currently am in Hobo Johnson + The Lovemakers. The past three years have been amazing, during which time I was able to craft my own sound and style. Now I’ve started to release my own music as well as to continue being a member of the group. I relocated to Los Angeles in February 2020!. Read more>>

Chris Motley

Growing I was all about sports, football primarily. Although sports occupied most of my time, I had a huge passion for the Arts. Music, Fashion and Film all had heavy influence on me throughout my childhood. Growing up in the 90’s I was able to see Artists uniquely express themselves and be proud of their individuality, nobody was trying to mimic or be like anybody else. I loved seeing that as a kid. I took that with me and applied it to my own life as an athlete, bringing my own steez to the field or being in the school halls lookin’ fresh in an $8 outfit I pieced together from goodwill before it was cool to wear thrift clothes. Seeing a variety of different Artists be so comfortable with who they were gave me a lot of confidence to express myself the way I wanted to. I understood early that it’s cool to be who you are. After finishing up playing Division 1 football in college, I was pressed on the question of what it is I want to do. Getting into the fashion industry was at the top of my list but I had no idea where to start. It wasn’t until about two years after I graduated college that I decided to go all-in and pursue a career as a model, starting with moving to LA. Read more>>

Trell Love

I grew up watching my brother rap with his friends & it sparked my interest. I guess I was trying to follow in his footsteps but I really wanted to be better than him. So when my brother & his friends would cypher & I would try to hop in, they would say my rhymes weren’t good enough. That motivated me to keep studying the craft & get better. Eventually, I spit a rhyme around 14 years old & they were shocked at my improvement. That built my confidence so I kept working on my craft & started making songs with my friends in high school. Then, I decided I wanted to make a project when I started college so I did & I titled it “Rap Or Go To School”. It was a success amongst my friends, neighborhood & fanbase. I began playing shows in places such as LA, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, college universities, SXSW, A3C Music Festival & more. I then followed up with another project titled “Waiting on Forever”, which showed a totally different side of me. Currently, I am releasing singles & videos still building my audience & perfecting my art. Read more>>

Milan Costich

My fitness journey began at the age of four when I saw my first Bruce Lee film. My mother is from Taiwan and my dad used to box, so when I expressed interest in Martial Arts both were extremely supportive. I began with Jhoon Rhee Tao Kwon Do, and after four years of training, I received my first black belt. From there, I started to compete and showed some early promise. Around the age of ten a new head coach, Arlene Limas came to our school. She was a Tae Kwon Do gold medalist in the 1988 Olympics and she introduced me to Olympic-style Tae Kwon Do. I spent the next four years training at a whole new level…and I was loving it. Under her guidance, the support of my family, and an awesome team to train with, I went on to win a silver medal at the Junior Olympics and become a state champion twice. Unfortunately, shortly after that I got injured and could not kick for about a year. Read more>>

Marisol Rascon

How does one even start to explain how you’ve arrived at being a healer? Is it cultivated or is it innate? In a way, I’ve carried this all my life and also life has taught me many beautiful lessons that shape my work. I’m a first-generation Mexican who has always been an empath and intuitive. I come from a lineage of female healers, although their gifts were limited to sharing amongst themselves over coffee – not opening up shop to discuss mystic visions. That wasn’t such an acceptable option for them, there were historical and practical reasons which prohibited that. I used to love hearing all the stories which coupled with my young imagination strengthened my inner knowing that we have the ability to create our reality in collaboration with a universal (co)creator!. Read more>>

The Mysterics

We are the Mysterics: Saturnalia, Tiger Girl and White Seed – “Maniacs of Reverb, Fetishists for Instro-Surf”. We met for the first time at the 2019 Surfer Joe Summer Festival in Livorno (Italy) and after two weeks, we met again at Festival Beat in Salsomaggiore Terme (Italy) and decided to start a band. Right away, we found each other passionate about the same type of music, horror, mysteries, sci-fi, creepy obscure aesthetic and the same vintage instruments. This was the context with how we decided on our band name – The Mysterics: a little bit of mystery mixed with a healthy dose of hysteria.We practiced in our home aka Crypt Studio in Lodi (Italy) and started recording with DIY analog tape (Tascam MS-16) and Fender Jazzmaster, Fender Jaguar, Fender Reverb Unit, Danelectro Longhorn Bass, Rogers Drums, Fender Starmaster, Davoli Baby Bass, & a Fender Princeton Amp. We started practicing rare obscure instrumental covers from the sixties, after this we worked on our first song “The Pleasure of Pain”, a trip to a bizarre bondage session into the world of instro-mania – the demo of it (“007”) was released on “Ultimate Summer Hits” in Istanbul by Kafadan Kontakt Records, September of 2020. Read more>>

Jess Varley

Been a fan of the magazine since it first launched! I’ve been writing and directing commercial horror/sci-fi genre movies for a few years now. After working on a ton of film crews, I wrote, directed, and produced the horror movie Phobias alongside the Radio Silence team (V/H/S, Ready or Not, Scream 5) which was released by Vertical Entertainment earlier this year. My next film The Astronaut which I wrote and am directing is currently casting our lead role and I couldn’t be more excited!! I grew up in Brooklyn and moved to LA after signing to an agency and working as an actor in commercials and TV throughout my time at LaGuardia High School and NYU Tisch. Despite a desire to work in film, my first foray in the industry out here was in the comedy world, developing original shows with networks including ABC & FX. As a huge fan of the classic Twilight Zone and genre greats like M. Night Shyamalan, James Wan and more recently Jordan Peele, I finally dove head-first into writing and directing and discovered a whole new world of creativity where my background and experiences could be put to use. Read more>>

Bernie Bernardo

You never know where a conversation is going to lead, especially when it’s between a mother and her 18-year-old son. My story started June 2020 with the comment, “I don’t really know much about being Filipino”. My sons had moved from city to city several times because I was adamantly determined to move up in my career. What I did not realize was that with every move, I took away my sons’ opportunities to share in the valuable conversations about the richness of our Filipino culture that I constantly heard as a child. Growing up, I was surrounded by my family who shared stories after stories about everything and everywhere. “Kuwento”, as my grandmother would call it; These stories shaped me They made me proud of who I was and still am- A kid who stood in a separate line to get free lunch andwent to her grandmother’s house after school I’m Filipina. I’m a strong Female. And I have an Immigrant story that I am deeply proud of. I left my West Coast Executive Director for the largest beauty brand in the US to start The LA Art Box. I was corporately exhausted and I looked for meaning in what I do every day. So I decided to give back and educate my way. I wanted and needed to tell stories of people like me. Read more>>

Monica Mamudo

I started creating content for the internet back in Brazil in 2008, 2009… with blogs. I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that we could share things and learn online. But it was just for fun. Back in 2016, when I fractured my patella I went back to creating content on youtube and really hit it off. Then I kind of drifted away from it to focus on work and study and my program exchange. Fast forward to 2020, having finished school and leaving one year working in LA, I started TikTok in the pandemic. But it really hit it off. I talk about cultural differences, funny stories as a Brazilian in the USA and fashion content. I was TikTok Latinx trailblazer of 2020 and that was a huge deal. I feel really lucky in having a platform who embraces me and helps me grow. Read more>>

Jack Cook

Jack Cook (born Jack Andrew Cook: February 28, 1989) is an American motion picture and theater director, producer and actor. He is also a singer and songwriter for the band Hello Lady. Cook is noted for his ability to get the best out of the artists he works with no matter their experience or craft. Cook is also a business entrepreneur and investor. Cincinnati Cook was born at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati Ohio to Jack Stevens Cook and Carolyn Marie Cook. His only sibling is younger brother Bobby Benjamin Cook. Cook began his entertainment career in the 1990s as an actor, with his local theater company in Cincinnati, OH. He then teamed up with his fellow actors and friends, Chip Mitter, Taylor Cowan and Graham Raabe (later substituted by Sam Cowan) to start the rock band Sheffield. During Cook’s stint of acting and singing for local Cincinnati venues he furthered his career by joining Ashley Talent Agency, which is now PCG Talent Agency based in Sharonville, OH. Shortly after Cook was hired to act in a Procter and Gamble corporate video and several other local commercials. Read more>>

Solmyra Araiza

I got my first taste of acting in the 6th grade. I attended Madison Elementary school in Pomona, CA, and although the city’s schools don’t get much funding for the arts, we did have a program where either a music, drama, or art teacher would come to the school once a week and teach for an hour. My favorite was when Ms. O (O for Olsen, but she had us call her Ms. O) would come and teach drama. I remember I always wanted to be a surgeon growing up because the sight of blood never freaked me out (I watched A LOT of horror films as a kid), but one day while Ms. O was teaching drama, she asked for volunteers to act out a small scene of a Greek play, I forgot which one it was, but I remember no one raised their hand to go up and act. As a kid, I always loved reading out loud in class during group readings, so I raised my hand and volunteered to read for Aphrodite. Eventually, more kids got up, but I remember distinctly that when we finished, I thought to myself, “I could do this!” meaning acting because I was not afraid to be in front of a group of people. Read more>>

Dr. Robby Gordon

I started doing art when I was about eight years old–however, I pursued my career as veterinarian and then in the financial planning and mortgage business. After the financial crisis of 2008, I downsized my businesses and I devoted myself full-time to the arts. I had a dream of creating my house as a gallery and have a sculpture garden around it. It took two years to find the house of my dreams, which had a lot of requirements and especially on a very large lot. I started putting my own sculptures in the Hollywood Sculpture Garden, and then slowly other sculptors, when they heard about it, they contacted me. Now in The Hollywood Sculpture Garden there are more than a hundred sculptures created by more than 60 different sculptors from all over the world (Italy, France, Chile, Argentina, Belgium, Mexico, among others). The sculpture garden is a place where I let others sculptors come and create their own sculptures or come and show their own creations since the place is set up as a gallery. Read more>>

Melanie Martyn

I was born and raised in Rockville, Maryland. I started dancing at the age of 3 and continued to perform with my community ballet company until I graduated. In high school, my interest in acting was piqued in English class, of all places. We had to put on little performances of whatever Shakespeare play we were reading at the time and that opened the door for me. I dreaded speaking in public, but it turned out, having other words to say that weren’t mine somehow made it easier to speak. By the time I went off to Boston College, I decided that I wanted pursue acting and officially declared myself a theater major by the end of my first semester. During those years, I not only performed and choreographed with the very prestigious Dance Ensemble but studied abroad at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in my junior year. After graduating with honors, I went back to London to be closer to my beau until we moved to New York City a year later. Read more>>

Phonephet Troy Sayakumane

My background is in interior design/architecture. During the pandemic, I had time to reflect and realized I wanted to use my skills to do good. I thought about the strengths of communities and the almost impossible feats accomplished daily by essential workers, most of whom are immigrants. And I thought about the Lao community. From 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on Laos during the secret war. The bombings destroyed many villages and displaced hundreds of thousands of Lao civilians during the nine-year period. This and the political strife happening in Laos led to my parents fleeing to the US and settling in Amarillo, TX. Within a decade, and despite speaking little-to-no-English, my parents and their community of Lao refugees were able to establish a thriving Laotian community in the middle of the Bible belt consisting of restaurants, grocery stores and a Buddhist temple. Read more>>

 

Mid Wilshire

Jacob Chattman

When I was eight years old, I was approached by a family friend at a Thanksgiving gathering. I was watching him perform mime tricks across the table and I was emulating him – miming a mime is apparently a faux pas, but I had no idea. His name was Nicholas Johnson. He had studied under Marcel Marceau in Paris and was starting a local mime school in Cave Creek, Arizona – the town where I grew up. I soon became one of his students and had my first stage performance shortly after. In retrospect, being approached by an older, flamboyant Greek man who hated clowns about my future in pantomiming was not, by any stretch, ordinary. However, the pure creativity of it enraptured me. I studied mime every summer until I left for college, forgoing the opportunity to begin touring places like Russia and China – I legitimately look back on this moment with a fond “what if” and a tinge of regret. Read more>>

 

Orange County

Brenda Hernández Jaimes

It all started with my podcast, Ellas. I amplify the empowering voices and stories of Latinas who are living their professional dreams, creating an impact in our communities through their work and opening the doors for the next generation. Since sharing our first conversation in March 2019, the work has always been to share these vital conversations of trailblazing Latinas. We’ve been inspiring our listeners of what is possible from these success stories of empowering Latina figures. Fast forward to August 2021, Ellas Media is an audio media company dedicated to amplifying empowering Latina voices to motivate our communities and continue creating an impact. We’re growing our mission and expanding on the necessary work we’ve done in the past two years. Read more>>

Tiffany Chi

Before I met Alex, my husband, and before I became a mother to my children, Aimee & Ellias, I had already done more than most could say they’ve done at 26 years old. I had gotten my BA degree at UCLA majoring in Fine Arts with a concentration in Painting and minoring in French Language and Culture. I had studied documentary analog film photography, art, and French language in Paris, became fluent in French so that I could pursue my dreams of one day living with my family in France. I had traveled the world straight out of college via The World Race: a year long Christian missions journey, partnering with nonprofit organizations on five different continents. I had lived in the south of Spain as part of a Christian Leadership Community for a brief time. I had applied and been accepted into a prestigious International Pastry School in Paris to pursue a career in pastry. I had then apprenticed at various bakeries and pastry shops in Paris to advance and master my craft. Read more>>

Michael aka Mikol Jelks

I am a Hip Hop artist. A Father. A Husband. A black man with Latin roots. A believer & Music lover. My love for music and my faith spill into every aspect of my life. I started writing lyrics as a way to escape and deal with my upbringing in the foster care system. It was therapy for me to write. I was in it my entire life. So music and God was all I had to hold on to. All the trouble that came with being in the system could’ve sent me down a dark path but music and faith kept me from it. I grew up moving from home to home so I struggled with finding who I was because my environment always shifted. Turned out to be a blessing because I learned how to adapt. That’s something you hear in my music now. I’ve been writing for 10+ years and pursuing artistry for eight of those years. I want to inspire people with my story, and I want to challenge people through my art. I always find myself in between the two and it’s helped me to breed innovation… My purpose is to continue to break the generational cycles on my life and motivate others to do the same. Read more>>

Alexandrea Leigh

Formerly a barista turned portrait photographer turned student turned wedding photographer in OC. How did I get here? Honestly, it’s a whirlwind. I first picked up a camera back when I was 15 and it was where I felt most free and creative. But whoever really knows if they’ll be doing what they’re doing for the rest of their life? I decided to put the passion on hold while working and being a full-time student. Fast forward to last year, I turned 21 & graduated school in the middle of this pandemic. (Before I continue, lemme just say how much I value security & peaceful decision making.) I honestly felt lost throughout those few months, but eventually just decided to take a step back from work and see if this was still something I could see myself doing. I took an LOA at my job and focused 100% on traveling, learning about myself, and teaching myself photography in different elements and industries. I’d never done a wedding until last year- they seemed intimidating, especially considering the introvert in me! All of that being said, I was blessed with people willing to take a chance on me and decided to leave my ‘security’ in January of this year. Read more>>

Leslie Medley

I truly believe it all began when my soul chose the life it did from birth until now. That includes every hardship, trial and tribulation that has molded and made me into the healer, leader and HUMAN I am today.After surviving a stroke at birth and knowing from a very young age, my life was a story of what is possible from being adopted to losing both of my parents and overcoming adversities that led most statically to addiction, homelessness, or a very shut off lonely life. I always KNEW I was meant for so much more in this life. I never knew exactly what that was and I definitely could NOT have predicted I would be living the life I do now but I did know I was a natural-born teacher, leader and meant to share my story in a big way. A way that moves mountains not just in my own life but in a way that becomes a permission slip for others to move the mountains needed to live a liberated, free EPIC, adventurous life. I knew I was meant to be a reference point for what is possible NO matter what cards you are dealt. I always say it isn’t about the cards you are dealt but how you choose to play the game. Read more>>

Pasadena

Lois Frankel

I’ve learned over the years that our lives aren’t linear and that if we focus too much on a life “plan” then we miss what’s on the periphery that could far exceed what’s in the plan. From the time I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to be a psychotherapist. So, I got a Bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in Counseling and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. Along the way, I worked as a residence hall director and in human resources for a big ten oil company to pay for that education. When I finally opened my private practice, I thought I had achieved my dream. There was one little problem. After about a year, I realized I wasn’t well-suited to be a therapist! I missed the opportunity to collaborate with others and to introduce and bring new ideas to fruition. Then something happened that changed my life. I received a call from a woman who asked me to “coach” someone in her company. This was 1988 and business coaching was in its infancy. Read more>>

Maybel Kyin

I’ve always had a passion for all things dessert. I enjoyed baking them as much as I enjoyed eating them. Anyone that knows me knows I love and appreciate food, especially desserts. But pursuing my career as a Doctor in Physical Therapy along with part-time jobs, teaching and research in addition to training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has kept me busy these past few years. Until 2020 happened. For a short moment, life slowed down a little. Like everyone else at the peak of the pandemic, I found more time to experiment in the kitchen. One weekend, I decided to sell cookies to fundraise towards Black Lives Matter. Then, I made my first layered cake for Mother’s Day. I had such a positive response from family and friends that I decided to turn this into a business. In August of 2020, I launched my menu and I did not expect the response I got. Fun fact- I decorated three cakes before I sold my first one. I’m a self-taught baker and cake decorator. Read more>>

Alina Deng

I was born in Guilin, a southern small town in China that is famous for its unique natural scenery and local customs. Guilin has become a valuable symbol of China through the quintessential photograph of an old man with a cormorant fishing on the Li River. China has been developing rapidly since the 90s, but Guilin city has continued to remain the same, with no plans of industrialization. Since I was young, I have always liked drawing and making little zines. The color and shape of Guilin’s mountains and rivers enlightened my aesthetics; nature and local culture are rooted in my creation conceptions. As many Chinese families have around the time a child is able to enter college, I was met with an internal struggle between my parents, who wanted me to have a stable career in the field of engineering, and myself, who wanted to major in art. I eventually chose to pursue urban planning, which surprisingly gave me a lot of insight into design. For example, I got to understand how the local community affects and is affected by design decisions. Read more>>

Shounuck Patel

I am a double board-certified Sports Medicine and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation physician and the founder of The Patel Center for Functional Regeneration. We are a top non-surgical sports and spine specialty practice located in the heart of Pasadena and Arcadia. I am also a published author, medical illustrator, and speaker, and I travel regularly to teach at conferences around the world. As a globally recognized educator, I have had the honor to train fellow physicians and medical school students on my advanced techniques. My passion for anatomy was initially sparked by my background in art. My mother was an art teacher who wanted me to focus on still life, but my vivid imagination drew me to the dynamic and exaggerated proportions of comic books. It was interestingly through the imagery and mythos of superheroes that I was ingrained with the drive to help others. Ultimately this drive, coupled with my inclination towards musculoskeletal anatomy, led me to become a physician specializing in non-surgical sports and spine medicine. Read more>>

Rita Liu

I grew up in Beijing, China. The big city gave me an idea of what I like; but I always wanted to go abroad, see the world, and soak myself into a mixed cultural melting pot. I went to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA to major in Illustration. At that time, I was not sure if I wanted to be an illustrator in the future, but I know I’ve always been leaning towards visuals. I was lucky during the first two years in school with strictly foundation courses, drawing, printmaking, and design. Each of these courses was incredibly hands-on, without any computer application. It was my first course in design in which we painted color swatches with gauche and trained our eyes by intuitively identifying hue, saturation, lightness, and darkness. Paper cutouts were used to create abstract compositions to resemble nouns and adjectives–resulting in a wide variety of art coming from a classroom full of people with different creative backgrounds. Read more>>

Amy Kan

Before becoming an executive coach and leadership consultant, I had a long career in marketing, working in non-profit, airlines, and for nearly eleven years, in digital video distribution. In addition to working across industries, I experienced different corporate cultures in both the US and UK – those of large global corporations, small privately-owned companies and start-ups both here. In 2015, I was laid off from the company that I had been with for more than ten years. After more than 20-years in marketing, I was uncertain what to do next. While it was a difficult time in my life, I recognized for the first time that my next step was not pre-ordained, and I didn’t have to continue doing what I’d been doing. After a great deal of soul searching, I opened myself up to new possibilities. I devoted time to “figuring it out” by looking at what truly fulfilled me, the parts of my career that I consistently enjoyed and identifying what I was no longer interested in doing. Read more>>

 

South Bay

Ruhi aka Rohini Hak

All life stories get molded during our childhood. Sometimes one wonders if we did not learn from our early experiences – would we be what we are today. Where I am today for me is not measurable by any achievements or titles the world and its ways bestow on me…but the peace that I have & a sense of satisfaction with who I am. A sense of calm in knowing it’s where I am meant to be… well at least for now… I feel immense gratitude for having parents that left doors open to the world for me to live doing whatever gave my being a sense of happiness, purpose and contentment. As someone who in school got severely bullied, I ran to music and family to hide in the love for both. My mother always gave me stories of courage and values that had my head running in so many imaginary planes and realms that everything always seemed beautifully magical – Come What May!. Read more>>

Nam Ho

When I was 16 years old, I received an internship at a tech company in my hometown, San Jose, CA. I spent my entire summer in a grey 8’x8′ cubicle entering accounting information and filing papers. About halfway through the summer, I witnessed a mass layoff happen and watched many of my adult colleagues leave the company. It was at that moment that I decided I would not leave my fate in the hands of others. I spent the rest of my summer in my cubicle researching how to start a clothing company, learning different embellishment techniques, and reading up on the differences between various fabrics. One year later, I took the money that I saved up from my internship and launched my brand, Oh Man! Clothing. Read more>>

Toni Wiley

I have always loved hospitality. When I was a teen, I taught myself how to make balloon animals & paint faces for children’s parties. As a young adult, I started working at the Carson Center as a receptionist, which led to many opportunities with other departments. One being a recreation coordinator, another being a salesperson booking the event space. Both of these positions gave me so much knowledge and pleasure while assisting with events. I then took a position with a large catering company and that is when I was able to tap into my passion. We (15 salespeople) we responsible for full-service events, providing everything from the Venue, the meal, the staff, rentals and much more. I’d spent many years working for Venues, restaurants and the like, it was time I took a leap. Read more>>

Lisa Aihara

I had built a marketing career I was really proud of, with a brag-worthy resume with names like Disney and Hulu and Experian on it—but always felt the itch to do something creative as well. I started my own design studio in 2016 and have not looked back since. Read more>>

 

South LA

Najah Roberts

I have been an entrepreneur for over 25 years in numerous industries. Beginning my career in nonprofits leading the fight in prison reform and transporting children to prisons to visit their incarcerated parents. After many years of helping in the nonprofit sector, I realized that what I was doing was not enough. My favorite saying “If you know better, you do better.” In the mid-2000’s I became a financial advisor and began teaching financial education within my community along with my husband Dimitri. While very successful, something was missing for me. I realized financial advising was helping my clients individually but it was a very small subset of my community. I understood that the financial instruments I was selling were only for a select few. Coincidentally, I was introduced to blockchain and cryptocurrency and immediately realized the potential of the industry and the opportunity for financial freedom. I went all-in on cryptocurrency & blockchain leaving my financial advising business and creating Crypto Blockchain Plug. Read more>>

Zaakiyah Brisker

Community Services Unlimited has its roots in the New Black Panther Vanguard. When the NBPP dissolved, a few members decided to continue their work of building a sustainable, equitable and community-driven food system in South Central Los Angeles. In 1977, CSU was created to continue this work starting from pop-up produce stands and small gardening workshops to now having a brick and mortar space called the Paul Robeson Community Wellness Center, previously owned by Paul Robeson’s family, owning a small grocery social enterprise called the Village Market Place as well it’s own mini urban farm called the CSU Mini Expo Farm which is located not that farm from USC. Today, CSU services the community by working with the community to maintain the CSU Mini Expo Farm, working with local farmers and makers to bring quality foods and products to South Central, as well as hosting gardening, wellness and youth program aimed to promote the wellbeing of the community. Read more>>

Sean Clinton

As a kid, my mom would have me to get up late at night Or early in the morning to massage your hands and feet. Growing up doing this, my mother told me that I should become a massage therapist, at the time I didn’t know what that was. As I became a senior in high school, I was asked to map out my career plan so I wanted to become a massage therapist. I did an intern at Long Beach Memorial Hospital and was racially profiled, encouraged by staff not to become one because it would be hard for me to gain the trust of the people due to me being African-American. After hearing that, I became discouraged so I didn’t go to school for years, then my mother encouraged me to go to school. Went to Bryman college for massage therapy. Graduated in 2005, my first job is working at a spa in Hollywood California stayed for 11 years and then I worked at a chiropractic office in the city of Long Beach, California for over 15 years. Developed and mastered my skills as a massage therapist. Read more>>

Comaneshi Boudreaux

Growing up as a kid, I’ll say about 9 or 10 years old, dolls and baby dolls were always on my Christmas list! I remember taking down the original styles from my doll’s hair and transforming them out to some kind of chopped hair cut, a nice sleek mold down or whatever cool look popped up in mind! I was 12 years old when I discovered this is really who I am and my talent of being a potential hairstylist. It all started from me taking down a ponytail and while sliding the rubber band down, I started shaping, forming and tucking my hair until it was tucked into a bun. I yelled out to my mom about this creative do I had just designed without being trained! I was super excited and from that day, I knew I was destined to be a hairstylist. At this point in my eyesight, I was a “Beautician”. No one could tell me that I wasn’t! I would do my school friend’s hair, at school, my mom, sister, women in the neighborhood and I would gain new clients just about every week. I was amazed at how they believed in me at such a young age. Read more>>

Shinah Chang

My creative business story started in 2013. I had just quit my prestigious job as a corporate attorney at a top international law firm. I was burnt out, and I KNEW I had creativity inside of me. So, I started exploring all sorts of creative fields, hoping to find a more fulfilling life. In 2015, after trying woodworking, knitting, baking, blogging, figure drawing, you name it… I discovered CALLIGRAPHY. Something about it just clicked, and I started practicing every single day. After two months, I got good enough that I thought maybe I could make some money with my new skill. So I started Crooked Calligraphy in January 2016. At first, I sold greeting cards that I designed, printed, folded & packaged in my bedroom. I went out to pop-up markets and networking events and started to get clients for custom calligraphy projects and design work. Read more>>

 

The Valley

Sean Thompson

I was born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Dublin, Ireland. At 23, I moved to Phoenix, Arizona to study Biochemistry. I’ve always had the dream of building a successful tech company and in my Junior year, I took a leap of faith, sold everything to travel and learned about businesses firsthand. I found myself traveling to business hubs such as (San Francisco, Japan, etc.) and learning as much as I could along the way. I saw that most successful businesses, economies, etc. had a strong bond with numbers and data and I also saw how important artificial intelligence was becoming in our modern world. After over a year of traveling, I came back to the US and joined a tech startup so I could get more in depth knowledge and experience with data technology. After a few months of soaking up as much as I could, I began working on KnwnAi (pronounced known-a-i) full time and I moved out to LA to continue building. Read more>>

Taylor and Jordyn Jackson

At just ten years old, my 5-year-old sister and I founded our own non-profit charity named Soaring Samaritans Youth Movement. We wanted to make a direct and positive impact on marginalized children. We are a child-sister team providing children the opportunity to develop an entrepreneurial mindset for social impact and sports balls for a healthy outlet. We’re passionate about using our ability to bond to empower kids to create, innovate, educate and discover their potential. That’s why we educate, engage in beading therapy, donate sports balls, play sports together, grant scholarships, and have created a fun BizSense 4 KIDS entrepreneurship program. Our purpose is to provide healthy outlets & vehicles of change to children living in difficult circumstances. Soaring Samaritans Youth Movement improves a child’s quality of life by providing education, sports, community, and positive play. Read more>>

Shahrzad

I was a heroin addict in my 20’s. That’s the short version. So, I had to do a lot of rebuilding in my 30’s– in the sense of scraping pieces of a life back together from nothing – but also rebuilding who I thought I was. I started using hard drugs at 19 and at my lowest, I was a college dropout with a family who wouldn’t speak to me, no job, health issues, no car, no place to live and with mounting legal issues. I became the lower companion and as they say, my standards fell faster than I could keep up with. So, when I turned 29, I was dragged into a seven months stint at Tarzana Treatment Center in beautiful Tarzana, CA. And something clicked. After my time there, I showed up to a sober living in Reseda with my food stamps and two trash bags of clothing and started to put my life back together. So much so that I remember getting hit by a car on my bike trying to cross Reseda Blvd between Sherman Way and Wilbur and when the ambulance came. Read more>>

Noreen Green

I was born in Los Angeles; my mother was actually a native Angelino, growing up in Boyle Heights. My father was born in Brooklyn. Music was very integral to our childhood. My brother started violin when he was three and I started piano at five.bI loved accompanying on the piano and guitar and I loved being in the choir at both school and at my temple. I would sing solos at services every Friday night. Music was also my social outlet; I was elected President of the school choir and would organize social musical events for the group. In my last year of high school, I learned how to conduct a choir rehearsal and was the student music director of the musical – Fiddler on the Roof! I remember thinking, “Oh, this is so cool! I want to do this!” and so I ended up doing it! I went to college at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. The choral director there was Dr. William Dehning, who was a star in his own right. He inspired a lot of great choral conductors. After graduation, I got a teaching job at a Catholic high school in the San Fernando Valley. Read more>>

Caleigh Hernandez

I never thought I’d own an accessories business! I was always interested in travel and giving back in some way. I was living in East Africa working for a nonprofit when I first came across our primary sandal supplier, Lydia in Kampala, Uganda after weeks of shopkeepers in the city telling me to look for this woman. “Not the skinny Lydia, she’s a big woman, the Kenyan. You’ll know her when you see her”. So after hours of searching, three motorcycle taxis taking me to the wrong part of the city, and several minutes of me cursing my inability to speak Lugandan and Swahili fluently, I finally found her. I can only imagine the sight I presented upon arrival – a disheveled, overwhelmed young person, trying desperately to explain to her how much I loved her shoes, wanting to learn more, to understand why she was in Uganda, etc. And yet we clicked right away. My Swahili and Lugandan might not have been up to muster, and her English wasn’t perfect, but we made it work. Beautiful shoes are universal. We sat on tiny wooden stools in one of her pop-up craft shops speaking for close to two hours. Read more>>

Stacii Floyd

The Brainstorming Epilepsy Festival Foundation and subsequent “Brainstorming Epilepsy Festival” campaigns were founded by Stacii Floyd, located in Los Angeles California, USA. Stacii Floyd has suffered with Epilepsy himself so has deep insight into the condition and subsequently has a strong passion for advocating Epilepsy Awareness and Support to the community. His 1st person approach of being a figurehead who uses his own experiences and face to tell stories using video media so that the public can relate – and empathize with – Epilepsy on a more human basis has been one of his great successes in developing an international reputation and following. Read more>>

Kayley Hamilton

I was mesmerized by the magic of Hollywood since I was a little girl — probably because it’s in my blood, sprinkled throughout my family history dating back to my grandfather who worked in the music industry at Capitol Records. The fascination of celebrity imprinted on me from an early age, growing up watching Entertainment Tonight with my mom after dinner, perusing the celebrity tabloids that were strewn across my grandmother’s coffee table… throughout childhood, the Hollywood obsession in me ran deep. The moment I graduated high school growing up in Colorado, I headed out west for college to attend the University of San Diego — with my sights set on Hollywood. Growing up, I always wanted to be an entertainment news reporter. I wanted to be on red carpets next to Giuliana Rancic interviewing the biggest stars at the biggest Hollywood awards shows. I wanted my name to be in Us Weekly magazine under the list of journalists in print. Even though this dream consciously intimidated me, I felt subconsciously that it was what I was meant to do — and that I was going to make it happen. Read more>>

Brian Greif

I worked in the television business for 34 years but painted and created art as a hobby. I lived in San Francisco from 2006 to 2014. At that time, San Francisco was a major destination for the world’s top street artists. I was very active in the San Francisco gallery scene and met major artists like Blek Le Rat, Ben Eine, Roa, Doze Green, Herakut and Rone. I was fortunate to become friends with many of them. Beginning in about 2010, when street art started to move into galleries, many artists would call me for advice or guidance on contracts, business plans and exhibits. In 2013 I decided to leave the TV business and start my own company. That company 2:32 AM Projects is now one of the largest management companies for mural projects, gallery exhibits and brand activations in North America. Since 2016 my business partner Eva Boros and I have coordinated over 80 mural projects including three of the top ten largest murals created in North America. We have curated 60 Gallery Exhibits including major exhibits in Miami, Toronto, Nashville, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin TX. Read more>>

Phillis Stacy-Brooks

I was working long hours for a well-known automotive manufacturer when I found that I was going to be a single mom of twin two-year-old boys. I knew I had to make a change because I wanted to always be part of their lives. But I loved what I did, I’d wake up every morning looking forward to working. I had to find a happy medium and that was starting my own business. Here’s what my day looked like; I’d wake up around 3:30 in the am and start working until 6:30 then I’d get the boys ready for daycare. Once they were in daycare, I’d have about 5 hours of uninterrupted work. Then I’d picked them up and it would be our family time. My clients were serviced and happy and so was I. It worked. This schedule lasted until they graduated from High School and funny enough, I still keep that schedule. Once again, you have to adapt to what works for you and your clients. Designing has always given me great pleasure. I’m very blessed to have been able to do the two things I love the most, raise my boys and design. Main Street is primarily now a branding and marketing studio. This is what I do best. I hope I’ll being designing for clients for a very long time!. Read more>>

Ksenia Valenti

I am from a very small town in Russia called Nakhodka! I grew up dreaming about coming to Los Angeles, I watched a lot of BAY WATCH, and I thought it was going to be me someday, on the beach.. in slow motion. And it worked out. I am in Los Angeles now, following my dreams. Read more>>

Mickey Kravitz

I moved to Los Angeles from Kansas City in the late 80’s, my band Harlow had got a record deal. I have always been a musician and started out in glam rock and as you know hair is a big part of that scene. I continued doing music in and out of lots of Hollywood bands (Baby Strange, The Smash, etc.) I’m also the type of person that likes to make my ideas happen. I opened up a pizza restaurant Rock N Roll Pizza just because I wanted the box to look like a record. I started one of the first internet radio stations to have live audio and live video rocknrollstation.com also did a radio show on KRLA here in Los Angeles and interviewed some of the biggest bands in the world and had so much fun doing it. I even spent five years directing and doing voice over for the EBRU TV network so as you can see if I get an idea, I will figure out how to make it work. 2012 I was searching for something and after getting asked everywhere, I went if I was a musician or a hairdresser, I got the crazy idea of starting my own product line. Read more>>

West LA

Dr. Nell Smircina

I grew up comfortable. Middle class, with parents who worked hard and emphasized the importance of being a good person and being educated. I never thought I’d wind up in LA, let alone Beverly Hills. I came out here with someone I was with at the time who forced me to really grow up. It was my first time dealing with grad school, paying my own way, and dealing with someone close to me who had serious issues I needed to navigate. I spent my first year of grad school in LA so poor (and trying to hide it) and trying to make it through a rigorous medical program. Rigor and hard work I had experienced. Being poor and having such influential personal matters going on that I wanted to hide from everyone was something I had not experienced before. Actively choosing to change my situation was difficult, but moving past the guilt of letting myself get into that experience was much harder. Read more>>

Todd Goodman

I grew up in Schenectady, New York, in a very musical family and community, so my primary artistic influence has always been music. I’ve been playing drums and percussion for over 30 years. Other than playing and listening to a ton of music growing up, I was a constant doodler. I left NY to attend the University of Vermont, where I earned a BS in Environmental Studies, then moved to Colorado to be a snowboard bum, but after a couple of years went back to school to earn a Master’s degree in International Development from the University of Denver. Then I moved to Santa Monica in 2007 to work for a nonprofit, which lasted almost two years when the global financial collapse left me out of a job at the end of 2008. After six months of looking for a job, I found myself working with a friend on Venice Beach, making and selling jewelry and art. Read more>>

Juliette Lin

I had never taken any risks in my life until I quit my stable, well-paying, full-time job in December of 2019. My father had cautioned me, saying, “The best time to get a new job is when you’re at your current job.” But at the time, I had no idea what I wanted to do. So I saved up over a year of living expenses and granted myself the luxury of exploring various creative interests. At the time, I was working on my YouTube channel, doing a combination of vlogs and bullet journaling videos. I committed myself to “Vlogmas”, a challenge where creators release one video every day in December. In that process, I discovered the cold, hard truth that I did not love making videos. My next project was an interview podcast called “The Remarkable Leap.” I was eager to hear from people who had made radical changes in their lives and could share their wisdom and shortcomings in order to lend me some courage. Read more>>

Bauer Wann, Eleanor Trinh, and Rupa Patel

GEST, short for inGEST, was formed by three best friends on a mission to create thoughtful supplements that make our world healthier and wealthier. Like many people reading this right now, the three of us struggled with skin issues and approached the concept of aging skin with a vague sense of anticipation and confusion. In our path towards wellness, we attempted clean diets and bought nearly half of the product catalogs at Sephora and Target; and of course, ventured into the realm of skin supplements. After two years of experimenting with skin supplements and many dollars spent, we had little to show for it other than bad reactions with acne flares and even digestive issues. Supplements really do suck, we thought. But, our minds changed when we stopped searching for miracles cures and instead learned to ignore false marketing and focus on studying the science behind the supplements. Read more>>

Ramiro Rodriguez Zamarripa

I started playing guitar at an early age. I slowly started to fall in love with music and began to take it more seriously. I played in bands with friends but also decided to study jazz guitar. Studying jazz introduced me to the complex world of music theory, music notation, and harmony. I then began taking piano lessons with my grandmother, a retired music teacher. After high school, I decided I wanted to study Music Composition and Music Production and enrolled at UCA (Universidad Catolica Argentina). Once I graduated, I started off my career composing music for commercials working as a composer for Ona Sounds, a music and sound design production studio for clients such as Netflix, National Geographic, and ESPN. My love for different kinds of music genres and my diverse background and influences made film scoring the perfect profession for me to explore. My passion for film music led me to move to Los Angeles to attend the Film Scoring Program at UCLA. During this time, I interned with Tim Davies (La La Land, Frozen, Ant-Man, and the Wasp) where I contributed to the soundtrack for DreamWorks’ Trollhunters, created by Academy Award Winner Guillermo del Toro. Read more>>

Lisa B

My background is in fashion. Years of retail, then as a sales rep of all LA Based lines, eventually opening my showroom in the California Mart then becoming a designer and having a brand of my own. I love designing and the whole process of and idea becoming an actual thing you can use or wear or touch. Shortly after remodeling my family home, a real estate agent and good friend asked if I wanted to do one of her client’s gardens and prep the property for the photoshoot and eventually for sale. I did it, very well I might add and loved it! I closed my company and the rest is history. It’s almost seven years and hundreds of properties ago. Read more>>

Bradley Long

I started off dishwashing at various places in Long Beach, and I had no real intention of doing anything in restaurants. It was just a job I could easily get, so I could have time to skateboard and make art. It always felt really natural working in restaurants though—like I fit in there. I got into a lot of trouble in my younger years and cooking ended up being my escape. I was working at a restaurant in Orange County that was known for housemade sausages, and one of my coworkers was going to culinary school down the street. He showed me his copy of The French Laundry cookbook and I was blown away by it. I had no idea you could do that with food. To me, at the time, working in restaurants was just a paycheck. I’m a bit of an obsessive person, so that began to be my main focus. I would read so much, would watch endless YouTube videos and any cooking show I could find. I ended up getting a line cook job at Playground, a pretty acclaimed restaurant in Orange County. Read more>>

Casey Weisman and Mika Lim

The whole thing started when we were freshman in high school. By then, we’d been close companions for a solid two-‘n’-a-half years. As creatives, we loved bonding over our shared love for music and art, and we’d floated around the idea of collaborating on something before. The inspiration for our first real song and what would eventually become the entire “lame kids” project arose suddenly and unexpectedly during that freshmen October. We were at the Hollywood Bowl’s “We Can Survive” concert, listening to Shawn Mendes’ “Lost in Japan.” The instrumentation immediately reminded us of the lo-fi music we’d been exploring at the time. As the song ended, we serendipitously turned to each other and exclaimed, “This would make a great lo-fi song!” It was sheer inspiration in that moment, and it sparked a genuine desire to truly follow through. Read more>>

Lori Bregman

I first started as a massage and bodyworker and I was always drawn to working with pregnant women and new moms so I specialized in prenatal and postnatal bodywork. 22 years ago, I took a doula training and at the time, I was also studying all different kinds of healing modalities and spiritual coaching that I now bring into my doula, coaching practice as well as my online pregnancy classes and new mom and doula mentorship programs. Read more>>

Marco Pelusi

I’m blessed; I grew up on the East Coast in Pennsylvania, where my family has a chain of hair salons since 1965. Very early in my 20s, right after college, I was lucky enough to work in house at an Italian haircolor company based in Pennsylvania and then worked with them in Italy! I took this expertise and took a job as an educator here in Southern California in my early 20s and I have been here ever since. I was blessed to have met the right people and being at the right place at the right time; slowly building my entertainment clientele while simultaneously continuing to teach at hair industry shows and events. Methodically and painstakingly, I worked to build my brand of hair care products: Marco Collagen Color Guard Haircare. It’s the first and only line for color-treated hair with collagen. So thrilled it’s done so well; my leave in conditioner is the signature hero product! Over the past year or so with a pandemic, I began to expand my teaching virtually! I reached a new audience of hairdressers virtually, and now we have salons throughout the country passionate about and caring my product as well. I also love teaching! It’s my passion!. Read more>>

Tim Caron

I was a college strength and conditioning coach for over a decade. I worked at Springfield College, Georgia Tech University, University of Southern California, and Army West Point. My time at USC, I was able to connect with two of our athletes on the football team and form a connection with: Cody Romness and Steve Blackhart. A common thread I experienced was working with athletes in college raised their expectations of training only to met with nothing in commercial fitness market that could compare. Cody and Steve reached out to me with a proposition to solve this problem. We wanted to open a gym that could compare to their experience they had in college as D1 athletes. This spawned Allegiate in 2017. We opened our first facility in Redondo Beach which has been going strong ever since. In this past year, we are able to open our second location in Santa Monica. Read more>>

Derek Taylor Kent

I’ve been writing children’s books fairly seriously since I was 15 years old. At that age, I got re-obsessed with Dr. Seuss (I loved him as a child) and thought I could incorporate his lyrical rhyming style into more epic stories. With the help of an amazing creative writing teacher in high school, who taught me about rhythm and meter, I wrote an epic tale with the intention of having my mom do the illustrations, who was a well-known artist for Disney and Warner Bros. Unfortunately, those original stories (called The Wow Dome series) never went anywhere as my mom couldn’t finish the illustrations and the stories were MUCH longer than most children’s books. In retrospect, they were a bit misguided, but at the time I thought they were daring and innovative. My days at UCLA’s School of Theater pushed me more toward the realms of acting, playwriting, and directing. In my early 20s, I was surviving by working at a management/production company in Hollywood, which gave me a much better grasp of the entertainment business and solidified my need to be someone on the creative end instead of an agent or executive. Read more>>