The Valley 9.25.2017

Dr. Nimira Alibhoy

Since childhood, I’ve grown up with two seemingly opposing beliefs. On one hand, I have this spiritual belief that our bodies were designed perfectly. The we were created to last. On the other hand, I’ve always loved the sciences and I still get the chills every time I share with someone how cool I think it is when you have that realization that our bodies, the chairs we’re sitting on and the screens we’re staring at are ALL made of atoms – and that’s science! Read more>>

Laura Jesson

I’ve played violin and viola for most of my life and it’s been such a joy to be able to be a professional musician today. When I graduated from university with a music degree, I knew I wanted to pass along the joy of music to others through performing as well as through teaching. Read more>>

Jill Sugar

I’ve been styling and cutting hair since I was a teenager. Even from that early age, I was drawn to the impact a person’s image could have on their confidence, and the rewarding feeling it gave me to have a positive influence on their self-esteem in this way. Read more>>

Marcela Barretto

It’s simple…boredom. I was 15 years into a stay-at-home mom/wife career. Married to a generous man who wasn’t interested in my creativity or interested my ability to make a few extra bucks. He was one of those old school, “I’m the provider” men. While that was lovely made for a stress-free life, I was bored to tears and wanting something of my own and a way to release my creative juices. Read more>>

Jon Perkins

I never went to film school. Several years ago, I was working on a project and ran into a problem I hadn’t dealt with before (I think it was some visual effects related issue). I thought that all I needed to do was talk to someone that had been through it before, and they could give me the guidance I needed to proceed. That’s how it started. Read more>>

Guy Cusson

I moved to Southern California for school in July of 2005, 15 days after graduating high school in Billings, MT with $500 in graduation money to my name knowing absolutely nobody. Within three days I was serving tables in Long Beach making friends with my coworkers. Read more>>

Mike Killian

Since 2012, Corsair Aviation has been the premier Flight School in the Los Angeles area. As the sole Cessna Pilot Center at Van Nuys Airport we have partnered with the leading manufacturer of Flight Training Aircraft equipped with the latest technology including Garmin Glass Panel Avionics. Read more>>

Christian Noah

I am a traveler by origin. I was born in Cameroon and move to Europe at an early age where I pursue my education. Looking for new challenges, I picked Los Angeles to put my dream to work. Becoming a father really set my goal into motion, I realized that to be able to raise my kids required time that corporate America could not offer me. Read more>>

Ko Zushi

I am a Japanese photographer, serving mostly my portrait and event clientele in Greater Los Angeles area. My aesthetic for photography comes from Theatre and Cinema. Back in Japan, when I was a teenager, I was working as a film projection operator in a small art house cinema. Read more>>

Charles Wunder

I have 30 years of police and military service. The training and experience I’ve received over the years was a natural conduit into the security field. Over the years I’ve seen people and businesses victimized. They lose the things they love, have built and worked hard to achieve. I hate seeing people being taken advantage of. Read more>>

Marina and Alex Povolotsky

Alex and Marina are both immigrants in the 1st generation. We came to the United States when we were adults from 2 different countries, Ukraine and Russia. We have met each other through a dating site called “Match.com” in 2009. Both of us were married. Read more>>

Stephan Kazanchian

Vosh is a bold name, a bold idea to solve the simplest problem that can give us something precious and very limited. As a Californian, you are probably thinking the answer is water, but we’re actually talking about time. We at Vosh are a group of energetic and creative folk who set out to solve a simple need… getting a top-notch car wash anytime, anywhere, and on demand. Read more>>

Lacey Welker

I have been working with children, infants, and families for over 15 years. Immediately following graduation from CSU, Chico in 2005 with a Bachelors degree in music and minor in Psychology, I moved to Los Angeles where I began working as a behavior therapist for children. Read more>>

Vani Gundara

Born and raised in the Valley. Yup I’m a “Valley Girl!” I’ve always been drawn to color, shapes, design and all things creative. My parents say they knew they had a budding artist when they caught me with a crayon in my hand sliding up and down the staircase at age 2 marking up the walls to see what pattern it would make as I descended. Read more>>

Amy Wagner and Michael Hunter

It’s actually a riveting story about love, adventure, growth, change, and ultimately happiness. It’s been a wild ride! We both grew up on the east coast and if someone told us that one day not only would we live in Los Angeles, but also own a tour company and be a part of LA’s great creative and adventurous landscape; we would never have believed it. Read more>>

Houtan Hormozian

Houtan is an entrepreneur with over a decade of accomplish-laden experience in the real estate industry. Houtan’s expertise centers around brand development and recognition, product launch, market share, distribution, expansion and operations efficiency goals. Read more>>

Dr. Tammy Hunter

I sought help in traditional therapy for many years, with different practitioners. I was very motivated and worked hard, but was left without answers regarding my emotions. I eventually met a therapist who introduced me to metaphysical concepts, which helped me to better understand myself. Read more>>

Ed Hochman

When I first entered the field of property management 15 years ago, I started off as the person who was in charge of taking the work orders from the tenants and making sure that the maintenance technicians completed them. After about 4 months of doing that I noticed that while I was handling the complaining tenants, the leasing consultants were showing new tenants the apartments and getting a nice commission check for signing them up. Read more>>

David Shorter

After a year of chronic pain, and increasingly confusing diagnoses, I decided to give reiki a try. I had immediate relief after one visit, so started learning more about it. I found a great reiki master, Marla Mervis-Hartmann, in Santa Monica and started training with her. Read more>>

Melissa Pringle

I really didn’t set out to be a stylist – or a business-owner for that matter. I thought I’d get a business degree and enter the music industry – be a band manager or something equally cool. But my Senior year of high school I met a girl from a salon in Santa Monica (I was from Simi Valley), where she told me I could work as a shampoo girl after school. Read more>>

Tracy Longo

I started my guitar repair business in 1983, in a small music store. As I grew, I was able to be a certified service center for 16 different guitar companies. I have personally worked on or over 20K of guitars since starting. Some stores I worked in closed their doors so I would move and build another shop. Read more>>

Nicholas Anderson

Two and a half years ago, here in Ventura, CA, I began my journey as a specialized strength and movement coach through learning a system called TACFIT from its creator, Scott Sonnon, and its educational director Alberto Gallazzi. I have since deepened my practice of this system while also expanding my education of various strength and movement methodologies. Read more>>

Wendy Fachini

Wendy Fachini Piano studio was established in 1994 after I moved to Thousand Oaks and began piano teaching. Initially, I worked through a music store to build experience and then decided to open a home studio. I joined MTAC (Music Teacher’s Association of California) in 1994 and have been an active member ever since. Read more>>

John Ferdenzi

I started off as a waiter in the Paramount Commissary – which morphed into basic party set-ups for retirements and such- which grew into the Paramount Special events department – learning every aspect of event production from the ground up. In time, I became the resident designer for the Paramount special events department as well as manager for the onsite rentals dept. Read more>>

Roe Sie

After leaving my corporate HR job and moving to Los Angeles, I decided to take some time to help raise our two boys while my wife, Trish, launched her career as a film director. The plan was for me to go back to a regular job once the kids were older and she became more established. Read more>>

Patrick Day

I was a working child actor from Nashville, TN, and moved to Los Angeles to attend USC, where I got my degree in theatre with an emphasis in directing. After graduation, my agency referred me to Young Actors Space, which had been run by Diane Hill-Hardin and Nora Eckstein since 1979. Read more>>

Enoc Garcia

Honest Accounting Group, LLC was formed by Enoc Garcia in early 2014 after graduating from business school and as an executive managing multiple companies in multiple industries. Enoch Garcia an Enrolled Agent licensed by the IRS, formed HAG to service small business owners to help them manage and grow their business. Read more>>

Jared Karpel

I was practicing law, representing real estate investors. I was slaving away at the billable hour. And it was the thought of “if these guys can do it, so can I.” So back in 2004, I bought my first income property – small single family house. Then a year later bought a duplex, then a 4 unit apartment complex. Read more>>

Greg Wallace

After years of saving money, I acquired Instant Jungle in July 1980. At that point, it was primarily a wholesale plant nursery, specializing in interior installation and plant maintenance. I quickly realized the transformational potential that plants provide. Read more>>

Kitty, Bill, Terry, Ed, and Mickey Kissell

Fifty years ago, Ed and LaVerne Kissell started their dream by creating a unique and very special company. ALL-PACK-CO was born in the back of their garage in 1967. With Ed doing the sales and service on string tying machines, traveling throughout California, Arizona and Nevada, while LaVerne did the bookkeeping and answering of the phones. Read more>>

Craig S. Ross

As an 8-year-old Little Leaguer, I hurt my back so bad, my parents carried me into the doctor’s office. Dr. Smith told my parents, “He must have caught a chill in his back.” Even at 8 years old I knew there was no way in 102 degree weather in the Valley that the crippling pain I was having was from a chill. Read more>>

Craig and Nikki Herrera

As an athlete her whole life, Nikki played many sports including softball and soccer. However, Nikki found her real passion in the training room where she constantly worked and put time in finding her love for fitness. With 18 years’ experience in the fitness world, Nikki has done it all. Read more>>

Brian Carlson

Like many working marriage and family therapists, I have had a previous career. I was a successful and productive Los Angeles based interior designer for more than 20 years when I decided to go back to school. Though daunting in my 40’s, I was certain that my instincts would lend themselves to becoming a therapist. Read more>>