The heart of our mission at VoyageLA is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our city. In the recent weeks, we’ve had the privilege to connect with some of East LA’s finest artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble-rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with our city’s incredibly deep talent pool. Check out East LA’s rising stars below.
Marion C. Vasquez
I lived in Paris and Berlin during my twenties, and moved to California in 2020 with my husband. We spent a couple of years in Joshua Tree, where I created my first oracle and tarot decks, and launched my publishing business Little Darkness. Eventually, we moved to LA, and then tragedy struck: my husband passed away in 2024. The desert called out to me as the best place to heal from this huge loss, and I’m grateful for it. Moving back here has unlocked many creative blocks, and allowed my art to become a priceless outlet for emotional processing – more so than ever before. Read more>>
Kevin Flores
From hearing records I worked on playing on the biggest radio station in LA, to recording the son of a Hip-Hop mogul in a San Bernardino town home bedroom closet. I produced music for middle-weight boxing champion, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and have also done a beat set at a USC apartment for 8 drunk kids. Making music and being creative, even if it’s just for myself, is therapy for me. I even revived a child-hood dream of writing a movie that my friend and I later turned into a book titled, Love Hertz, which was published on Kindle in 2022. Big shout to Aaron Mostow aka Sum-In-1! Every achievement would not have been possible without god and the support of my family and friends. Read more>>
Monique King
We used to make Pastales for Christmas- dozens of us would get together- for this huge production where every family would take dozens of these Puerto Rican-style tamales with yucca instead of corn, green plantains, olives, and pulled pork for their families to take home and freeze. That unknowingly sort of, through this, I became a lover of home cooked food and a perpetuator of people’s home cooking. It definitely influenced the beginning of my career. Things change in the restaurant business, but that’s always been an underlying current- to always find the soul of the dish. Read more>>
Kevin Grace
Through collaborations with numerous high-end and celebrity clients, I have meticulously researched and selected products that align with the overall look and feel of spaces I design. Grace Home Studio, my new store, proudly showcases a specially curated and affordable collection of these products. The collection includes candles, pillows, art, pottery, housewares, books, gift items, and more. A native of Chicago, where culture, climate and geography collide, my unique design sense seamlessly blends my love of color, fashion and pop culture. Mesmerized by Bob Vila’s This Old House as a boy, I have always had a passion for transforming spaces. My early work, bridging both fashion and design, was seen by millions peering into Marshall Field’s iconic State Street windows. Read more>>
DiMarq Smith
I would say that our journey has been a lot smoother than many people would have anticipated since most of our “struggles” are things we were aware of going into this journey. Time management and date planning is the tallest task we have faced thankfully. I believe this lack of struggle can be directly attributed to the support system behind us that helps us in all other fields. This isn’t to say it has been perfect but the levels of adversity aren’t anything we weren’t able to solve before they became a notable issue. Read more>>
Pita + Johnny
Definitely not! We’ve had to adjust our strategies along the way. One of our biggest challenges has been understanding our client base, figuring out how to market to them effectively, and setting the right price point. Another challenge has been showing the true value of what we offer, because we genuinely provide high-quality, thoughtfully designed experiences that go above and beyond the typical photo booth. Read more>>
Lynette
I was 22 years old when my parents hired a realtor to help with the sale of the house to me, but the experience wasn’t a positive one. He wasn’t very helpful, often asking us to sign documents without explanation. When we asked questions, he struggled to provide answers. Everything about the process felt off. I asked my parents to pause the transaction so I could do some research. That’s when I discovered that, in our case, we didn’t actually need a realtor. We were able to complete the sale through the bank and escrow company alone, saving my parents a significant amount of money in the process. Read more>>
Thomas Haderlie
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but I don’t think very many people in this world can navigate it without some struggles. Some of the struggles I’ve had were trying to separate war from normal life when I got home from deployment. I also made a few poor personal choices that continued to hold me back until I met my wife. She has made all the difference in surviving to thriving and having a real partner to help out our team in this world. Currently, my biggest struggle is trying to get my travel agencies name out there to help people achieve their traveling dreams without breaking the bank. Read more>>
Ariana
When the world was at a complete standstill in 2020 and everything seemed to be so uncertain day to day, I found ways to stay connected to my friends across the states through small care packages. I started making the gem socks as a gesture of love for my friends and sneakerhead girlies. My hope was that my friends would smile and feel good about what I made special for them. Then I began to notice people complimenting them and showing interest in wanting a pair of their own. This has now transcended to what I do now with Her Sneakers Her Way. Yes, they’re socks, but the most important piece is how you feel when you put them on and the compliments you receive when others see you wearing them! Read more>>
Hayley Himmelman
Creatively, I also got into modeling after a friend introduced me to the thriving modeling and photography community in Chicago. Eventually I decided to move to LA to focus on screen acting (and get some sunshine!), where I worked in the tech and cannabis industry as a social media manager while pursuing my acting. After leaving that industry, I struggled to find work and the industry was super slow, but a brand new job started cropping up that encapsulated everything that I’ve been passionate about — intimacy coordination! Currently, I’m almost fully-trained by Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, have multiple professional jobs under my belt, and continue working as an actor and model :). Read more>>
Alexis Spears
My creative journey began when I was in high school. In my junior year, I felt called to create and started drawing anime characters. At this age I believed that being good at drawing was the status symbol of a great artist, which I now feel is far from the truth. I am an artist that values art as everything rather than as a skill and aim to create work that has a pulse. The touch and feel of everyday objects is intriguing to me and that characteristic of myself translates into my work. I predominately work in sculpture, collage, and analog photography. I tend to rock back and forth between creating conversational works about my identities, works that embrace aspects of childlike play, and the merging of these elements. Read more>>
Ashley
In 2020, my older sister got her own ipad and started teaching herself procreate which intrigued me to go and purchase my own ipad. It didn’t take much time for us to fall in love with this new hobby and turn it into a business. In Aug of 2020 we launched our first etsy shop and sold primarily stickers and large cold cups. Read more>>
Christina
These experiences instilled in me a deep commitment to giving back and ensuring that others, especially our youth, have access to opportunities that can change the trajectory of their lives. As I navigated my own journey and went through my own healing process, I saw how systemic barriers often kept people in cycles of hardship, but I also learned that with the right support, guidance, and resources, change is possible. This understanding fueled my passion for community work and ultimately led me to dedicate my life to advocacy, mentorship, and creating spaces where individuals can heal, grow, and thrive. Today, my work is a reflection of the community that raised me—a commitment to lifting others up and providing pathways to success, just as I once needed. Read more>>
David B. Weaver
Everything that I screen in the Tiny Cinema is projected on Super 8 film. I believe there is a certain magic to this medium, an ineffable sparkle to seeing super 8 film projected. The titles I screen are a combination of oldie movies that I’ve collected over the years and original films that I have produced and directed for the Tiny Cinema. There are 3 original Tiny Movies to date- LOW NOON (2014), MOONGLOW (2016), and UP, UP AND AWAY (2023), all of which can exclusively be seen in the Tiny Cinema. A fourth original Tiny Movie is currently in preproduction. Read more>>
