Inspiring Stories from Hollywood

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 Hollywood’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 Hollywood’s rising stars below.

Torianna Jacque

Like many artists, my kindergarten art class was the most productive period of my career. During a time when many kids still struggled remembering the alphabet- drawing was our primary means of communication. Being good at art was like being an Olympic athlete. Then 1st grade came along and suddenly kickball was all the rage. Read more>>

Natalia Prieto

I started acting when I was seven years old. To my second class, I brought the most beautiful clothes I owned — I was already deeply in love with this art. That same year, my theater teacher asked if I wanted to compete, and I started entering children’s theater festivals. I won Best Actress or a Special Jury Prize every single year of my childhood. Read more>>

Bob Scott

Hi Bob, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. Hi! I’m Bob Scott, and I have been fortunate to have made my living as an artist in both the animation and cartooning worlds. I mean, finding a spot in either field is a giant stroke of luck, but to have been successful in both is a true dream come true. Read more>>

Ellen Goldsmith-Vein

I took a somewhat unconventional path into the entertainment business. I actually started my professional life in finance at Merrill Lynch before making the leap to William Morris Agency, where I worked in television packaging. I didn’t come into Hollywood with a master plan; I was curious, ambitious, and willing to follow the things that genuinely interested me. One of those things was animation. Read more>>

Peanut

I’ve been performing since I was a little kid. It started with dance recitals and plays in elementary school. As I got older, I became interested in punk music and counterculture fashion. I also started taking inspiration from cult classic films like Rocky Horror Picture Show, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Bride of Chucky. Read more>>

Babatunde Afolabi

I am a DJ, Singer, Producer, and photographer. I was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and grew up in the UK. I came to the US for college, attending both Michigan State and the University of Southern California. When I was a kid, I was big on musical theatre; I loved to sing and dance, and being on stage gave me life. Read more>>

Nalavi

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved messing around with music gear — from our home stereo to the tape player in the car back when cassettes were still a thing. Read more>>

Kil Joi

Well…Kil Joi a stand up comedian, actor, director, writer, and battle rapper out of Omaha Nebraska named after the 2000s horror movie “Kil Joy” for his sharp and comedic battle rap style, hosting his own rap battle league Kil or be Killed in his hometown which brought the top comedians and battle rappers together for the events. Read more>>

Luis Garcia

When I first started comedy I hated it, because to be honest with you, I wasn’t very good at it. But, after two catastrophic accidents(getting run over and then later rear ended by a semi truck) my dad finally had of be moping around and said ‘do you still want to do this acting and comedy thing? Read more>>

Tasha Holderman

My story really started as a young child, maybe 10yrs old, walking through Height Ashbury with my mom. We saw a production company on the street shooting a show or movie. One of the woman on set saw me and invited me to walk over and watch for a moment. I knew from that moment I wanted to work in tv/film. Read more>>

Demetra Kane

I was born in Russia but moved to Los Angeles when I was five, so LA is really the place that raised me. Growing up here, I was surrounded by the entertainment industry, but acting wasn’t necessarily this obvious, straight-line career path for me. I actually went to school for kinesiology and got my bachelor’s degree studying anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and the human body. Read more>>

Earvee Cruz

I started my career in beauty pretty young, doing makeup for friends in high school for proms, graduation photos, and events. After graduating, I focused on becoming a full-time makeup artist while working part-time at Lancôme, and eventually started sharing my creativity online through beauty, fashion, and personal style. Read more>>

Aaron Owen

Come from an athletic background, played all sports growing up. Played baseball in college and professionally. Had a stint of odd jobs after baseball concluded, even was a cake decorator for a bit, Then moved into modeling/acting. Been doing that now for 8 years. Read more>>

Richard Magyan

My journey has been anything but linear, but looking back, I can see how a lot of the pieces have connected. I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and spent most of my childhood and teenage years as an athlete. I played baseball from about age nine through 19, and for a long time I wanted to take the sport as far as I possibly could. Read more>>

DJ WZRD

My journey with music started from simply being drawn to the energy that music creates. I’ve always loved the way a DJ can completely change the atmosphere of a room and bring people from different backgrounds together through one experience. I started DJing and over time began experimenting with different sounds and styles, eventually finding my own lane by combining Latin music with electronic music. Read more>>

Gilley S.

Love Street really started with a great friend of mine. We were looking for social clubs, and I personally just couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. I had considered places like Soho House and some of the newer social clubs popping up around LA. Read more>>

Sih Yu yang

I was born in Taiwan, and I originally studied medical applied chemistry and healthcare management. At that time, I thought my future would probably be in a more traditional field, and I was also considering studying abroad for something related to digital marketing or data science. However, I always remembered that there was another path I was interested in. Read more>>

Wasim Anwar

My story has always been about transformation. I started behind the chair as a hairstylist, but I never saw beauty as just hair. I was always interested in the complete image — the way a woman looks, feels, and carries herself. My career has taken me through different countries, cultures, and chapters of my life, and each one influenced the way I see beauty today. Read more>>

Jadon Medina

I’ve always known I wanted to work within fashion and entertainment. I went to fashion school where I studied marketing and business, and after graduating in 2016, I started my career in the industry as a fashion publicist. My first experience in PR was very The Devil Wears Prada. Read more>>

Kiko Yanagi

I’ve loved singing for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Los Angeles with Japanese roots, I was surrounded by different cultures and styles of music. Over time, jazz became an especially important part of my musical foundation. My experiences at the Stanford Jazz Workshop have had a huge impact on me. Read more>>

Elena Nicorici

I’ve been writing since I was little, growing up in Moldova. My mom will tell you I was leaving my ‘autographs’ on the walls before I could even read. Writing was just always there — in Romanian, in Russian, and eventually in English. Over the years I filled notebook after notebook with poems and thoughts. Read more>>

Catherine Navarro-Lee

I’ve always loved stories. Growing up with anxiety, writing became one of the ways I processed what I was feeling. I remember writing stories, poetry, and spoken word as a kid to make sense of emotions that sometimes felt overwhelming. Writing helped me work through what I was feeling while expanding my sense of what was possible. Read more>>

Annie Han

I’m originally from the UK and I spent my pre-art life in London, where I used to work in an entirely different industry. As a kid I always drew, and learnt a great deal from my brother who was more or less the only artistic person in my family. Read more>>

Alycia Bhatti

It all started like most new products, a need for something that couldn’t be found already on the market. When our first daughter was young, she was having skin issues and we couldn’t figure out why. I found myself reading every label, researching every ingredient, being horrified about what was in our products and then slowly started cutting out anything that didn’t feel safe. Read more>>

E.B. KOGAN & JESSICA SILVETTI

J: If we go to the very beginning, we started as theatre actors who later became filmmakers. Combined, we’ve written, directed and produced for indie film, TV and theatre. Our work spans across ultra indie productions to studio level projects. Read more>>

Liza Katsman

‘Even without seeing the final image first, you can still put the puzzle together yourself.’ I will never forget those words from my coach as I was stepping off the ledge into running my business full time in 2021. They have echoed and pulled me forward ever since then; however, my journey into coaching unknowingly began far before my business did. Read more>>

Tim and Lauren York

We started Neon Palm Ice after a road trip to Lauren’s hometown of Philadelphia where she introduced Tim to Italian Ice for the first time. We knew we wanted to start a business and that trip sparked an idea that led us to building what Neon Palm is today. Read more>>

Anastasiia Pakhanova

My journey as an artist began long before I ever picked up a tattoo machine. I was born in Kazakhstan and grew up in Saint Petersburg, Russia, after moving there at the age of seven. I attended two art schools and later studied graphic design at the Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design. Read more>>

Marcus Swampy

I started writing music in 2018 but never made anything until 2021 but under a different name. i started making music with the sound im using right now in like 2023 under the name Swag Souljah but switched over to 3200soulja just last year (2025). i started making music cause of people like Luci4, Playboi carti, Homixide gang ect. Read more>>

Jade Fiona

I moved to Los angeles with no job, friends, or plan so i started posting content for the love of it and thats when everything started to take off! Read more>>

Joedian Faith

I started in Atlanta. Without a doubt, New York put the battery in my back to expand and allow me to believe that there’s always more to the story. But at the age of 17, I was blessed to leave everything that made me comfortable and go somewhere where I wasn’t sure how the journey would go. Then it just went. Read more>>

Anastasia (Marina) Romanov (Goncharova)

I grew up in Russia and like any little girl, I dreamed of getting into Hollywood and becoming an actress. I’ve been watching the cartoon ‘Anastasia’ since childhood and I also wanted to know that I’m a real Russian princess. I didn’t pass the movie castings and decided to choose myself. I created a blog and started making movies. Read more>>

ANGELA HALL

My story has taught me that life doesn’t always follow the plan we create for ourselves, but sometimes the unexpected chapters reveal a strength and purpose we never knew we had. I’m Angela Hall, also known as Mrs. LadyHollywood, and my journey into entertainment began behind the scenes, helping with my brother’s career and gaining early experience on Disney sets. Read more>>

Zoesthesia

In 2016, at 25 years old, I found out I had synaesthesia, a rare neurological trait where my senses cross. I was speaking to a music producer back then, talking about how Adele’s song are greyish blue, and that my singing voice is purple so they match really well. Songs that have complimentary colours to purple would suit me. Read more>>

Abby Wolf-Weiss

I moved to Los Angeles from New York originally to work in the film business which I did for many years working for production companies at Warner Brothers, Universal and Disney. My last job was running George Clooney’s TV company which was truly a dream job but during that time i had been through a challenging health crisis. Read more>>

Jane Jupiter

Being Jane Jupiter/dreamgrljane is like being the girl that never outgrew the playtime pretend scenario of being a super star or a being a big mix of different quinessential it girl bombshell archetypes. I want to give vintage Hollywood pin up doll , beer poster girl in an 80s college dorm, the Y2k pop star who signs CDS at a local mall. Read more>>