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.

Dominick Domingo

I was born with a paintbrush in my hand. I got my first typewriter for Christmas at the age of seven—around the same time I took my first oil painting class at Burbank’s Creative Arts Center. Though the instinct was unexamined at the time, I was clearly a storyteller at heart. Read more>>

Breyonna Grant

It’s safe to say I’ve always known I wanted to do it big. Being from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I had never seen anyone with a career trajectory that I envisioned for myself or felt I could follow. From a young age, I knew I would have to carve out my own path to pursue my dreams of being a part of the hip-hop and entertainment media industry. Read more>>

Soumya Nair

I am a multilingual singer/songwriter/performer from Mumbai, India.I have been a disciple of Indian classical music for over 14 years. My singing and songwriting styles are deeply rooted in my years of training and exposure to Indian classical and Indian Film music which also reflects in the other styles of music I practice. Read more>>

Pornsak Pichetshote

I was born and raised in NYC, but when I was around 12,, my parents told the family we’d be moving to Thailand for a year. So we moved and then one year became two years became three years, and my sisters and I realized, oh wow, we straight up live in Thailand now! Our parents just didn’t want to hear us complain about moving.  Read more>>

Giacomo Thillet

When I was a kid, I would watch this show on Disney Channel called “Movie Surfers” where other kids went on set of big Disney movies and interviewed the filmmakers and actors, that was the first sign that I wanted to do something in front of and behind the camera.  Read more>>

Mana Tinkerhess

I was born and raised in Iran and first started learning the piano around the time I was eight. My family decided to move to the US when I was eleven and we settled in mesa, Arizona. The orchestra at the middle school I attended needed a pianist and with the encouragement of my mom, I auditioned to play piano with them. Read more>>

Alaina Stark

My journey with the harp has really been lifelong – I actually learned to read sheet music before I learned to read English. My training wasn’t traditionally classical; instead, I grew up learning through a series of mentors, shadowing performances, playing by ear, and even performing for tips. From early on, music didn’t just feel like something I did. It felt like my purpose. Read more>>

Nader Mowlaee

I was born in 1984 in Iran, and a big part of my early life was shaped by war, instability, and fear. I was raised during the Iran-Iraq war, survived two natural disasters, and over time ended up living in five different countries. Those experiences forced me to grow up fast. They also gave me perspective. Read more>>

Grace Dierking

Music has always been a part of my life. As a kid, I started doing plays with my best friend at our hometown’s college, and we ended up taking guitar lessons together. That naturally turned into me learning piano, bass, and drums—but it wasn’t until we started a band that I realized how much I loved singing. Read more>>

Mandisa Duperval

I began my journey as a hairstylist in 2015. Early on, a mentor encouraged me to get my cosmetology license so I could stay competitive in an ever-evolving industry—and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made. Read more>>

Christopher Szamosszegi

I got into skincare through the product side of the industry. It was around 2014, I was helping my boyfriend at the time, now husband with his skincare line, which helped me learn a lot about product formulations and the chemistry behind I.. We had some disagreements on the branding and some of the product formulations. Read more>>

Didi Fleisher, Anne McGregor, Annie O’Rourke N/A

We believe that community service isn’t just about the work—it’s about showing kids they have the power to make a real difference in their community. As three Los Angeles moms with long careers in the non-profit and community engagement sectors, we’ve always prioritized bringing our children along to volunteer. Through those experiences, we realized there was a need for more accessible, family-oriented service opportunities. Read more>>

Izzy Rivera

Where do I even start? My friends call me Izzy, and I’m the CEO and founder of Weird N Wired Creatives. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally starting to take off. It’s essentially an event and talent agency—at the core, it’s about building community and giving artists a real platform. Read more>>

Kya Knudsen

Believe it or not ever since I was little I actually wanted to be a chef and peruse a career in the culinary arts industry. During high school I began to doubt that that was all I wanted to do. I had always enjoyed photography and would watch movies every night with my parents. Read more>>

Treyology

I started acting in 2012 from being an extra in a movie called Because I Love You produced by Thada Catalon (my cousin) I never thought or wanted to be an actor, but being on that set and being in that movie gave me an itch that needed to be scratched. Read more>>

Olivia Junholm

Olivia Junholm is a Swedish soul pop singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, known for her soulful vocals and dreamy pop sound with subtle jazz influences. Her music has reached international audiences, receiving early recognition from major publications such as Rolling Stone France, alongside airplay on European radio, and she continues to build a strong live presence in both Europe and the US. Read more>>

Alex Iles

I’m a Southern California native. I grew up in Arcadia, California where they have a very strong music program starting in elementary school and going through high school. I started playing the trombone when I was in fourth grade I decided to go to UCLA to get a liberal arts education. Read more>>

Mohamed Soltani

I started my career as a visual designer driven by a deep curiosity for how design shapes perception, how something can feel elevated, emotional, or instantly recognizable without saying much at all. That curiosity led me to spend nine years at Yahoo, where I worked across large-scale digital campaigns, blending storytelling, strategy, and design across multiple platforms. Read more>>

Milan Bailey

I began dancing professionally at 18 years old, straight out of high school. Dancing and movement direction has always been a craft that I held in high regard since my youth, so I did not hesitate to begin training as much as I can. In 2015, I started to develop an admiration for KRUMP dancing, even though I was familiar with the style since 2008. Read more>>

Brian VanGeem

I auditioned for Denice the Menace when I was eight years old and from there on I was hooked. My whole family loved going to the movies or renting them when growing up which fascinated me in being in entertainment. Acted in plays in grade school and highschool while making short films with my older brother Jason. Read more>>

Pari Esmailsadeh

Born and raised in Germany with Persian roots, she is fluent in German, Farsi, and English. She started acting at age 14 and later trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles and New York. Parinas Esmailsadeh – IMDb Parinas Esmailsadeh is a German-Iranian actress, model, and writer based in Los Angeles. Read more>>

Rumy DaBeast

I started off as a consumer and lover for music and film at the young age of 8. I was very deep into poetry and kept a poem book that I would carry around with me, Those poems shortly transitioned into lyrics for songs. Read more>>

Adam Fiske

I’ve always wanted to make movies. When I was eight years old, my mother was an actor and I got to visit the set she was working on. From that day forward, I knew I wanted to be involved in filmmaking, no matter what it took. Read more>>

Joshua Samra

It started with my love for practical FX when I was a kid. I grew up on horror, and I always looked up to creature actors like Doug Jones. The way they embody characters through presence, body language, and tone. They didn’t just wear a costume, they made those creatures feel real. I knew early on I wanted to capture that. I wanted to act. Read more>>

Alec Perez Gonzalez

I was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, based In Los Angeles, California at the moment, Ive been dancing now for about 10 years! Read more>>

Casey Revkin

In 2018, when I heard that the Trump administration was separating families, I just knew I had to do something. I’ve been finding ways to help migrant children ever since. The first little girl I helped get released from detention was 4 years old when she separated from her grandmother at the border. Read more>>

Malek Hanna

I’ve always been drawn to storytelling, but it really started with music and voice. Even before high school, I was naturally pulled toward singing and performance. By my freshman year at Xavier High School in New York, I was performing in plays and shows, often singing solos, which eventually led me to become a cantor at church. Read more>>

Nathan Turner

I was raised homeschooled in a Christian household as the youngest of 5. Music and theatre were a big part of my life growing up, and at the same time, coming from a lower-income family, college always felt uncertain to me. So, wanting to find purpose and prove I could figure out my own way, I joined the Marine Corps infantry. Read more>>

Isaiah Velez

I started out recording with a few people early on, just experimenting and finding my sound. But in 2019, after coming back from military training, I really locked in and started recording aggressively. Read more>>

Addy TPC

Born and raised in India, I was always fascinated by the power of music and how certain songs could invoke a feeling in me since I was a kid. My parents were also fans of non-film music and western music apart from the Bollywood scene, which exposed me to different sounds and styles of music from a young age. Read more>>

Matt Riley

started out in Australia as a DJ, playing local shows and working my way up through festivals and club circuits across Australia and Asia. Early on, I became obsessed with not just playing music, but creating it, and building something that felt distinctive as an artist and producer. Read more>>

Kiera Morris

I am originally from St. Paul, MN and moved out to LA with my mom in 2021 right after graduating high school. I moved to LA to pursue a career in acting both on screen and on stage. Since moving here I have been a part of several regional theater productions. Read more>>

Omer Mansano

I was born in Israel, when I was 23 I got excepted to Stella Adler Academy of acting and moved to Hollywood to chase the dream, with a full scholarship I graduated from there and made LA my home, now I work as an actor and a model , I wrote and produced an audio drama that now is exploding- The Order of Chaos With a K , I volunteer in a wolf rescue , Apex, an hour away from LA and I enjoy every second of it. Read more>>

Steve Nelson

I am originally from Edmonton Albe rta Canada, and came to the US in 1985 on a Tennis scholarship to the University of North Texas. After graduating with a marketing degree, I moved to the San Francisco area and began to teach country club tennis. Read more>>

Ralph Merant

I’ve always loved to entertain. One of my first memories was putting on a dance show in the living room for my family in our Manhattan apartment. I was born to immigrant parents, so an entertainment career never felt like a realistic path. It wasn’t until the beginning of the pandemic that I chose to start living for myself and follow my dreams. Read more>>

Jamari Colbert

As a small kid from Atlanta GA, I was always interested in the creative arts, but could never find one that I wanted to do, so I decided to try them all from cooking to graphic design to clothing brands I finally landed on photography after being forced into the craft I realized my love and passion for creative imagery in both photography and videography. Read more>>

Denali Huff

I’m a contemporary dance performer and choreographer based in Los Angeles. My dance journey began when I was six years old. Like many kids, I was put into dance classes, but for me it was an instant connection. I was the kid asking every day if it was dance day, even trying to fall asleep in my leotard so I could get to class faster. Read more>>

Taryn Luquin

I’ve been a professional spray tan artist & educator since 2005. Back then there were a few sunless solutions to choose from and I then decided to create my own solution, but make it better than what was out on the market, therefore Paradise Sunless & Beauty was born. Read more>>

Josef Rau

I currently work at LA28, the Organizing committee of the next Olympics. I am in the meantime in the process of launching my own 1 on 1 Wrestling Coaching business here in Los Angeles. I also am a struggling comic doing stand-up open mics around the city. Read more>>

Samson Akinola

My journey started in Nigeria, growing up in my family’s small businesses. At just 9 years old, I was already selling and negotiating with customers in my mother’s convenience shop and hair salon. By 14, I was managing my father’s building materials store. Those early experiences shaped my foundation in business, responsibility, and problem-solving. Read more>>

Brett Sewell

I grew up in London, and from a young age I loved to dance, being on stage, listening to music, and watching music videos, constantly inspired by artists. That early passion quickly became my purpose, and to now be working with some of those same artists has truly been a dream come true. Read more>>

Christopher Chen Wei

Hello! I am Chris, and some of you might know me as Chen Wei. I am a professional session guitarist and a solo artist. I was born in Taiwan and went to Singapore to study when I was 10-year-old. Read more>>

Sean Cully

I grew up in Bulgaria, where my interest in storytelling and performance first started. Moving to the U.S. to study Media Studies at the University of Missouri was a turning point—it gave me a deeper understanding of both acting and the creative process behind it. The journey hasn’t been straightforward. Read more>>

Massimo Chiti

My name is Massimo Chiti and my journey as an artist began in the heart of Tuscany, in Pistoia. I have always been driven by the need to express my vision through art, but the real turning point came when my work crossed paths with the world of international fashion. Read more>>

Beorht Lewinski

I was born in Ghana and moved to the U.S. when I was 9, and from there my life was pretty much constant motion. I lived in a lot of different states—New York, Florida, Chicago, Texas, Atlanta—so I never really had the chance to grow roots in one place. At the time, it felt unstable, but looking back, that’s actually what shaped me the most. Read more>>

Jalen J. Gibbs

I’m originally from Memphis, Tennessee, raised by two military parents, so structure and discipline were a big part of my upbringing. For a long time, it felt like my path was already decided for me and after high school, I followed that path and served in the Air Force for eight years. During that time, I started to feel increasingly disconnected from myself. Read more>>

Nicole Alston

Acting was my first love from a very young age. I loved to perform, to sing, to dance. Acting always made me feel like I was in my truest form. My mother was always supportive of my dreams as a performer. She took me to dance class nearly every night. She brought me to my first casting call for Disney. Read more>>

Boyonset Taylor

I’m an Afro-fusion artist from Benin City, Nigeria, known as Boyonset. My journey into music started at a young age in church, where I played drums. That experience helped me understand rhythm and gave me a deep connection to music early on. Read more>>

Skyla Lynne

I grew up in Dallas, Texas, as an only child in a family that always encouraged creativity and fully supported my love for the performing arts. I started taking acting-for-film classes when I was four years old, and from that point on, I never really imagined doing anything else. Performing was never a phase for me, it was always the plan. Read more>>

Blessing Gooh Nkerbu

My name is Blessing Gooh, I am the Founder & Creative Director of Gooh Grandeur, a full-service fashion brand specializing in custom garments, creative direction, and design education. Gooh Grandeur was started February 23.2022 originally as a fashion styling and creative initiative. I wanted a way to showcase my passion to others, so i started an instagram page. Read more>>

Rome Ya’FavoriteRapper

Rome Ya’FavoriteRapper (Jerome Romeo Clanton) is an independent recording artist, actor, director, and entrepreneur known for gritty storytelling and bars, with projects like The Twilight Zone 2.0 and Ya Favorite Rapper II. Based on ReverbNation, he has been writing music since age 12, focusing on authentic hip-hop. Read more>>

Luke Vella

Since I could talk I always said I wanted to be a music artist, I tried a variety of sports and extra circular activities and none stuck, until my mum finally put me in dance classes and that’s where it all changed. Read more>>

Alejandra Graf

I was born in Mexico City, grew up in Monterrey, and in 2010 my husband and I packed up our lives and moved to Austin. He is American but grew up in Mexico, so we were both arriving somewhere new and figuring it out together. The real turning point had actually started earlier. Read more>>

JR DA HUSSLA

I started NSWS (No Success Without Struggle) from a real place—life experience. Before it was a clothing brand, it was just a mindset I had to live by. I’ve faced a lot of ups and downs, and at one point I realized every level I was trying to reach came with some type of struggle attached to it. Read more>>

Kaylahn Jones

I got where I am today through a lot of faith, resilience, and refusing to give up on myself even when life got hard. I was born in Nashville, and when I was around three years old, my mom was pregnant with my younger sister. My dad had a dream that something was wrong with the pregnancy and rushed my mom to the hospital. Read more>>

JT Bethea

I’ve always seen myself as a storyteller first. My foundation started in performance. This shaped how I see creativity. It was never just about making things, but about creating a feeling people could step into. By the time I was a kid, I was already experimenting with music, remixing songs, and figuring out how sound could shift a mood. Read more>>

Chef Joe Gatto

I was a filmmaker in LA but was always cooking. Making everything from scratch. Feeding my crews and loving the kitchen. I realized just how big a part of life culinary was. It was then I decided to start teaching out of my house. Just on the weekends. The classes would sell out and I’ve loved every minute of it. Read more>>

Camille Colon

Back in 2021, I was in Puerto Rico doing my bachelors in Secondary Education. I had 2 years left of finishing my bachelor’s when I realized I was doing something I wasn’t passionate about. It felt crazy to even thinking of taking that jump, but it was something I had to do or I wasn’t going to be true to myself. Read more>>

Victoria Laurey

Victoria Jacqueline Laurey (born June 16, 1990) is a versatile African-American talent originally from Baltimore, MD. A natural performer, Laurey’s foundation in the arts began with intensive studies in contemporary dance and ballet at the Augusta Fells Savage Institute for the Visual Arts, where she graduated as Valedictorian in 2008. Read more>>

Stivens Trujillo

From a young age, I’ve always been drawn to art and drawing, especially character creation. I’m from a small town called Buga, in Valle del Cauca, Colombia, where opportunities in the arts are quite limited. Thanks to my mother’s support, I was able to move to Cali to study Graphic Design at the Fine Arts University. Read more>>

Ethan Smith

I grew up watching movies and wanting to be in them. I wanted to be an actor after i graduated high school and didn’t know how to start. My dad got me a life coach and he helped me find a school. I researched and found the Motion Picture Institute. Read more>>

Raymond Fortunato

I have always wanted to be a creative person. I have a vivid imagination which comes up with so many interesting observations which make me laugh. I’d often tell them to others. Their reactions varied from laughing themselves to saying “You’re sick.” Eventually, I started writing the ideas down, began to write stories, which I found to be a very enjoyable process. Read more>>

Daniel Gonzalez

So, my story really starts at home. I grew up in a family full of music, my brother played guitar, my sister played piano, and my parents were big into classical. I was lucky to be exposed to so many genres from a young age, everything from classical to punk rock. Read more>>

Olivia Popejoy

I got into electronic music in middle school. My older sister was always on music blogs showing me stuff and rap and electronic music was what I gravitated towards. I would make experimental electronic music from field recordings and samples I’d make or find, and then went through phases of making beats and dance music. Read more>>