Downtown LA 7.19.2017

Cintia Dana

I’ve been taking pictures since I can remember… since film was expensive and pictures couldn’t be easily edited!!! My first “official” photo shot was around 2001, when my Grandparents celebrated their 50th Anniversary. By the way, my grandma used to hate her pictures… all of them!… until that day, when we spent couple of hours outdoors and she felt like a princess in a fairy tale… I still remember my grandpa’s smile, a treasure I’ll always keep in my heart. Read more>>

James and David Mirabal

Mira Studios was created by brothers David and James Mirabal who share over 20 years’ experience in the Fashion and Luxury Eyewear Industry. We have represented and worked alongside world-class brands such as Chanel, Prada, Persol, Giorgio Armani, Bulgari, Versace, Burberry and more. Traveling the world with these brands, we have seen a side of the Fashion Industry few have the opportunity to see. We played Rock and Roll in Seattle for a number of years and had an Art Studio in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Read more>>

Melodee Solomon

My path as an intuitive healer and photographer started with being really uncomfortable in my own skin. I was angry, sad, and depressed because I felt I was being judged for not “fitting in.” I was a professional at self-rejection and self-sabotage. As a brown, first-generation, queer/two-spirit artist, I had an internal battle, a silent war, a longing to belong, and difficulty accepting everything that I was. I kept looking outward for something, anything, to give me the love, acceptance, happiness and success I longed for. Read more>>

Ryan and Jasmin Manning

Each of us independently had a passion for photography specifically since we were about 15 years old. Ryan picked up his first serious camera while in the midst of launching his career as a sponsored skateboarder and Jasmin, having grown up in a family of artists, always had a camera in her hand. Sometimes Jasmin even felt like she was the girl people would invite to their events just because they wanted it documented. While attending the same high school we separately took a film photography class where we both started our journey with photography and we both gained a passion for shooting and developing imagery in the dark room. Read more>>

Josh Heidebrecht

I am a nature and landscape photographer from Orange County, California. My fascination with photography started at a young age, as I was fortunate enough to spend the majority of my youth traveling with my parents. While visiting locations such as Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, Alaska, I would see professional photographers with their massive lenses trying to photograph the Grizzly bears or trying to capture a moose or wolf in Denali National park. Read more>>

Justin Garcia

The story begins twelve years ago after my wife and I married and moved from Singapore to her home in China. My profession after college was a professional chef. My time in China I became a successful chef and restaurateur prior to moving to Los Angeles. The life and culture of China had a great impact on my life. I began learning Gong Fu (Kung Fu) shortly after my arrival in China. From there the passion for Chinese culture began to develop further. Read more>>

Candy Hinojosa

Candy’s got her California Manicurist License in 2008. When she tried to get a position, she realized that, as many other licensed Manicurists, she knew a lot about rules and regulations, but she was lacking the “artistic” touch and knowledge to do a “great” nail decoration job. She started to look for a place where to learn the “real world” that goes beyond sanitation, procedures and regulations, important factors in the industry, but not all that is needed to become a high demand manicurist. Read more>>

Jamie Gomez

I worked as a rental stylist at City Salon in Huntington Beach for 7 years. I saw the industry changing and I knew I wanted more. It was a week before Xmas and I decided to do a little Martini shopping (drink a few martinis, and buy too many gifts…lol) with my best friend Stephany, who at the time was a stylist at another salon. After 2, very yummy dirty martinis with blue cheese stuffed olives, Stephany and I got to chatting about the pros and cons of both our salons. Read more>>

John Nam

As a kid, I grew up helping out my family’s wedding photography business in Los Angeles, back in the film camera days of the mid-90s. We were still shooting medium format cameras back then and I distinctly remember being a young assistant, changing out rolls of 120 and 220 film for the main photographers, licking the rolls to seal them after they came out of the cameras, and numbering them to keep track of which rolls were shot in which sequence. It’s really crazy to think how much digital photography has changed our craft. Read more>>

Rena Alwoan and John Wright

We are a “print shop” who deal mainly in sports (colleges, schools, leagues, travel ball etc.) so it felt like the right thing to do, to open up batting cages as well. So we make custom uniform and have a space for practice. We are open to the general public so we have teams, couples, and individuals who love to use our cages. We are the only facility who opens early morning and are open 7 days per week, rarely closing on holidays. Read more>>

Manasha Alvarado

I have been a full-time educator for 15 years. I was preparing for educational leadership but my father died of cancer. My daughter and I wanted to honor my father & combat cancer by opening an online beauty/clothing business. We operated the online store for 7 years while I taught full-time, eventually we opened a store front in Jan 2017.I learned and developed from many challenges in the beauty world. It’s a very competitive business. My biggest challenge was partnering with companies. Read more>>

Salima and Ameen Lalani

Wow! This started as a dream, a thought, an idea, something that seemed very much impossible. Starting a new business in an already saturated was a very frightening thought, but we knew that this is what we wanted to do – we wanted to help folks find the very perfect design for their homes at their very perfect price. Buying a home can a daunting task, and then to remodel the home is a beast of its own. We understood that fear and really wanted to start something that would help people feel at ease while create their house into their home! Before even starting the business, out focus has been helping customers achieve their design dreams and goals – we believe that whether your home is a 100K or 1 Million, you deserve the very best for your home. Read more>>

Josh Nece

Possessing a background in Art, Photography, food and the Beauty Industry, Joshua Nece and his currently silent business partner were inspired to bring their unique point of view to life in the form of J o s h. J o s h began with mud. Literally. Our mud is a product I have been making myself for years to help with my chronic eczema. Eczema has always been a struggle for me. The first bad flare up when I was in middle school leaving my face a scabby rashy mess. Read more>>

Monica Swanson

My love and passion for the beauty industry started when I was in high school. I soon realized after I graduated that this was my calling so I attended a makeup school in Santa Monica to get started. I freelanced for a couple years doing makeup for up and coming photographers as well as bridal makeup for close friends and family. As I developed more as a makeup artist, I decided to broaden my skills and attend a cosmetology school to obtain my esthetician license. Read more>>

Pedro Gutierrez

I have been a photographer for the past 10 years. I have experienced in Fashion, Commercial, Documentary and Wedding Photography. Throughout my career I’ve had the opportunity to complete different assignments in Spain, UK, Mexico and the U.S. In the South of Spain, I covered the most prestigious flamenco festival. In London, I had the opportunity to work 2 years for various studios doing fashion photography. In Mexico City, I was hired to produce and photograph 3 books for the Department of Education. Read more>>

Jake and Tasha Austin

I started Glass Woods Media while I was in college, as a side-gig. It was a way to engage my creative passions, while also keeping myself financially afloat as I pursued higher education. While we were dating, I started bringing her along as an assistant & second-shooter. It was while we were engaged that we made the decision for me to take Glass Woods Media full-time. The first year was a whirlwind. We were building a marriage and a business simultaneously. The process brought us closer together as a couple, and stretched us business owners, artists and people. Read more>>

Devin Perkins

The company started almost three years ago (August 2014). I’ve been working at weddings and events for the last decade (bartending & serving) and I noticed there was a photo booth at most events I was working. The idea of starting my own company suddenly came about while at an event and I knew it was a smart investment. After a few months of research, I purchased my first photo booth. I’m very grateful to have some family members and friends in the catering/event planning industry who have given our company so many opportunities. Read more>>

Adam Williss

I started Wing Chun at the age of 18. The Dragon Institute grew out of a small group I taught in my San Clemente garage. I wanted to be the very best at what at what I did so I made practicality and efficiency everything. And I mean everything! And because of that single-minded dedication, our school has grown to have a student body of over 150. I made sure that we weren’t distracted by flashy things. I made sure we specialized in high quality Wing Chun Kung Fu. Plain and simple. An art that doesn’t deliver the cheers of a crowd. Read more>>

Lisette Gatliff

If I had peered into a crystal ball only to find myself with a camera in one hand and fixing a bride’s veil with the other, the court reporter in me would have chuckled in surprise. However, after ten years of loving my left-brained career — typing away at up to 240 words per minute recording legal testimony — the birth of my daughter sparked a desire to capture her every milestone. I invested in a DSLR camera and took a couple of photography classes, which led to photographing friends and family for holiday cards. That was six years ago, and I haven’t looked back. Read more>>

Nathan York

My journey in photography began as a young boy. I went to a neighbor’s yard sale and bought an old “bellows type” Kodak camera. Back then I was more intrigued with the antiquity of the camera than photography. I went to the local drug store and bought a roll of 620 film (no longer available) and loaded up the camera. I went home and started playing around photographing my dog. Years later I enrolled in photography in both high school and college and eventually was employed as an apprentice for a few studios. Read more>>

James Denton

Growing-up, my father occasionally would go through some old photographs. The ones that fascinated me the most were the tintype photos of distant ancestors. Having grown-up in the ‘70s and ‘80s black and white, Polaroid and other film photos were still pretty common-place, but the old tintypes were different. Several years ago, I came across an article about someone who was currently taking photographs using old methods and producing tintype photographs. It reminded me of those old photos that my father had, that I now own. Read more>>

Michael Mohammed

Coming from an entrepreneurial family, my brothers and I saw an opportunity in the Chronic Tacos brand, and potential in partnering with founder Randy Wyner. We were confident that we could utilize our skill sets in a way that would enhance the brand. I have a background in finance and sales; I was a financial analyst at Boeing, then worked for the family business in sales. After working for the family business, my brothers and I partnered in some real estate developments and private equity investments, eventually leading us to Chronic Tacos. Read more>>

David Gomez

For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur. Clean Energy Solutions is the culmination of my lifelong passion for bringing new ideas to fruition. Early in my career, as a mortgage originator for one of the largest mortgage companies in the U.S., I excelled at driving inbound sales leads through innovative marketing approaches. In 2004, I launched my own mortgage lending company, and using the sales and marketing experience that I learned as a loan officer, we grew to become one fastest growing mortgage companies at that time. Read more>>

Nathan Whelan

I’ve always had an interest in photography. Starting pretty young I loved disposable cameras, then I moved on to my Gameboy camera (which was black and white), to early cell phone cameras, then my dad let me borrow his digital camera and so forth. What I love about photography is that it’s like adding your own director’s commentary on life. It allows you not to just capture a moment, but to capture an image that displays how you saw or felt about a unique situation. Read more>>

Gale Canada

After coming into the knowledge and full understanding of my God-Given Gift, I then realized I was blessed with a gift that I can share with the world. I remember as a young teenager while growing into my young adult hood, I would always provide short Therapeutic Massage Treatments to love ones, family and friends. After they would receive it, they’d always feel better and encourage me to pursue this as a professional career because they recognized I have a gift. Read more>>

Lauren Franks

I always knew I wanted to be a part of the fashion industry however, my parents wouldn’t let me go to fashion school so my first few jobs were based in event management. I started my career as a fashion stylist in Sydney, Australia after I got sick of the 9-5 corporate life. I was lucky enough to assist for some amazing stylists early on in my career and gain experience styling for television, advertising and red carpet. In 2010, I moved to Los Angeles and had the opportunity to style beautiful celebrities such as Kristen Stewart, Leah Remini, and Jenna Elfman. Read more>>

Matt Johnson

In 2012, A friend and I were living in South Africa working alongside a couple that was teaching kids in the township areas how to surf, while providing mentorship and restoration through the Gospel. When we (Jake Piering, partner and co-founder to Common Ground) moved back home to California we rather quickly jumped into this community called Oak View, located in north Huntington Beach. Oak View is a low-income square mile community filled with youth that are pressured by gang involvement, drug abuse, and low education. Read more>>

John Benton

Growing up in L.A. in the 60’s and 70’s, you could not keep from being immersed in the car culture that existed. Drive through dairies, drive through markets, drive in movies, and car hop diners. Cruise nights, street drags, and Mulholland Drive crews were alive and thriving. General Motors, Ford, Uniroyal, and Firestone, had huge Plants nearby. I remember going on a field trip to the GM Plant in elementary school and then driving home in our family’s Chevrolet. Read more>>

Jordan Waterman

My adventure began like most dreams do, with an idea and an opportunity… and lots of family support. I had tried different jobs such as restoration, clothing, and even the food industry and had finally settled working inside sales at a tech company when my good friend, Jason Hinze, offered me his old position at a carpet cleaning company he had worked for previously, before beginning his own venture (another LA gem) Invision Studio. Naturally, I have O.C.D. and am extremely meticulous and truly enjoy cleaning as I have found it to be very therapeutic, so I was compelled to give it a shot. Read more>>

Brian and Deanna Kondrath and Mark McDaniel

Brian: I’ve always wanted to open a pet crematory. We’re pet owners that consider our pets family members, not just pets. I am a licensed funeral director and embalmer, so I wanted to start our own business to give pet parents a better experience. A service people can trust, Since the pet industry isn’t regulated, I wanted to bring over all the best practices that I have learned in the past 25 years as a funeral director/embalmer to the pet aftercare industry. When I started seeing Alkaline Hydrolysis (aquamation) in the funeral trade magazines more and more, I learned aquamation is a green alternative to a highly polluting industry (fire cremation). Read more>>

Irene Riley

In the 70s and early 80s, my husband and I were foster parents in Orange County. We were considered an Emergency Shelter Home for mostly infants. During the years, I became disillusioned with the foster care system. I wasn’t happy with how they treated women and children involved with social services. I felt that parents whose rights were being terminated had a right to participate in the placement of their children for adoption. Read more>>

Victor Medina

I have been in the Commercial Painting industry for almost 28 years. I have worked for big companies and learned the arts of painting and how to build a painting business. I have worked with various companies and helped to bring up their revenue by a significant amount. Throughout that journey I discovered that I have a passion for helping communities look better by providing our service to them. I decided to open my own Commercial Painting Company when I realized that I can offer the same satisfaction to my local community as I have in the past with other companies and in the efforts to have a better connection with my clients. Read more>>

Curtis Heyne

I think a lot of my passion for the arts and trying something new has its roots in the time I spent skateboarding as kid and young adult. Skateboarding really gave me the perfect springboard into film-making because they share a lot of the same qualities. I spent a lot of time thinking about composition and what makes a good story while trying to craft the perfect sequence of tricks on my skateboard for the camera. Moving from the streets of Southern California to capturing peoples’ stories from all over the world on film was a simple transition for me because both require a desire to create compelling stories with a natural, seamless technique. Read more>>

Andrea Domjan

I’ve become a photographer because of a bad decision I made 10 years ago. It was never on my list to pursue my career as a creative entrepreneur. Today I think of that ‘bad decision’ as the best thing that could have ever happened to me. With a bachelors degree in economics in my hand, I was working in corporate for almost a decade. I loved my job and the team I used to work with. If I don’t end up switching companies I would probably still be working in corporate. Read more>>

Jun Kwon

Before I came to the United States, I was a journalist in Korea. I was exhausted, stressed out from my job because it was extremely intense, working hours were very long, and I felt like I was going into the battlefield every day. Whenever I got stressed, I had breakout on my skin and it was changed to much more sensitive. So I found some day spa for getting treatment for my skin and tightened shoulder. That place was heaven to me. I found my peace of mind and was healed and relieved from stress. Then I thought what if I could do this business for healing people? I quit my job and came here for the new opportunity. Read more>>

April Robles Patel

My father started Robles Video in the early 90s, mostly as a hobby. He was always the ‘guy’ who would bring his video camera to family events, weddings, birthdays, and holidays to name a few. Eventually, more and more people would inquire about my father capturing their special day or event with his video camera. The more interest he garnered, the more thought he put into making this into a business venture, one he called Robles Video. Read more>>

Daniel Huerta

I have led quite an exciting life to say the least. In 2002, I started managing bands, and have been lucky enough to travel the world for fifteen years. During this time, I bought myself a camera because I have always had a passion for capturing moments. In 2013, I decided to stop touring full time, and was privileged enough to work for Jon Lovitz for three years. During that time, I decided to make photography more than a passion; I wanted to make it a career. Read more>>

Hamid Vaghar & Fernanda Pinheiro

Hamid: Our LA label came into existence in 2002 when my colleague Ivan and I, CFO and COO of a Beverly Hills women’s clothing concept, decided to partner up and take on a new venture into the men’s fashion word. My background is marketing and accounting and Ivan is a criminal lawyer by trade. We decided to start a menswear label that was fashion forward, but where our focus was also on quality, style and fit. We coupled that with using (what was at the time very new) natural and synthetic blend fabrics, and by bringing those elements together we found we were quickly able to build a reputation as a quality menswear brand in the wholesale circles. Read more>>

Flora Shepelsky

Flora launched Wig Design by Flora in 2005, empowered with over 20 years of experience in the wig industry. She is renowned for her signature hair enhancement and replacement designs, the “Flora Illusion Fall™” and “Flora Topper,” that are uniquely constructed and styled with Wig Design by Flora branded specifications. I began my foray into the industry after enrolling in beauty school at the age of sixteen. While in beauty school, I began working for a custom wig maker and stylist in Brooklyn and simultaneously worked styling hair at a prestigious Manhattan salon. Read more>>

Caroline Mendonca

Fixe Studio was started out of necessity and when I finally got the guts to just go for it! I was laid off from my full-time job after a 3-week vacation to Thailand. The night I returned, I got a call from my former boss. That’s it? What do I do now? Of course, I took some time off, got myself together, and since then never had to work a standard 9-5. I’ve worked along some great brands and creatives throughout the years and I realized that the industry was lacking a few things. I know I wanted to put my skills and experience into something more. Read more>>

Nancy Hahn

I started this company to share my immense love of the art of fashion. Like a lot of things in life, fashion has a less glamorous side that is very hard many of us to morally accept. I believe that fashion/garment production needs to take care of the people who are entrenched in its less glamorous aspects, usually women in less developed countries who are the main earner in non-traditional households. All too often their situation is the result of tragedy. Without addressing this unfairness, I could not feel good about my love of fashion. Read more>>

Aaron Benitez

D.P. Weddings was founded over seven years ago by world renowned videographer, editor and special effects expert, Aaron Benitez. He moved from Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA with a strong passion to direct music videos. Aaron started under a photography team who needed a videographer for a particular wedding. After working with the photographer on a few events, Aaron realized his specific style of shooting and editing was very sought after by couples who were looking for a more artistic video. Read more>>

Shara Bachman

I’ve always loved pictures…I remember thumbing through picture albums as a child, each image helping to preserve memories of people and experiences in my heart. Once I had my own children, pictures held that much more power in my heart…. They grew and changed so fast, and I wanted to hold on to each precious moment. I had bought a ‘fancy’ camera after the birth of my third baby, and a sweet friend offered to teach me how to use it properly. Read more>>

Phil Rubin

I’ve been in the gym weight training since 1984. Over those 30+ years I’ve made lots of mistakes and wasted my time on movements and programs that had little or no effect and over time developed proven programs that do work. This is some of the background knowledge I use to create effective and efficient programs so you can see results. The advantage you have is you don’t have to go through that process of trial and error… I already did. Read more>>

Tina Ghahramani

I got started in the world of fertility acupuncture back in 2007 when I attended acupuncture graduate school. I got surprisingly pregnant in my second year of graduate school and it was a huge blessing. It became the catalyst for my career in helping women. My own experience of naturally conceiving after years of hormone imbalance and depression, was a miracle in itself. I experienced the power of Chinese medicine and acupuncture first hand. Read more>>

Tony David Marmolejo

I always wanted to take photography and film in high school, just could not ever afford equipment. Finally, senior year I took both a photography and video course and I immediately knew I loved it and was good at it. Went to Orange Coast college wanting to pursue film and Photography and minor in business. Ultimately, I would want to work with the production team Happy Madison (Adam Sandler) but before finishing school I took any gigs I can. Read more>>

Alan Palmer

The company was started by Crystal Barron who with her husband Chris who wrote some beautiful and interestingly new arrangements that have been hailed as some of the best in the caroling industry. The company was founded in 1999 and has quartets performing throughout the Los Angeles and Orange County areas. It is a difficult task keeping nearly 30 singers memorized and up to date on the nearly 80 carolers in our music repertoire, building costumes for that many carolers, and finding the clients for the quartets that we have in our company. Read more>>

Dian Sopranuk

The Humane Project is the vision of Dian L. Sopranuk, a Los Angeles based animal activist of 30 years. Before starting the Humane Project, Dian primarily focused her efforts on helping domestic animals. Overtime, she came to realize the horrors that animals suffer on factory farms. Inspired to learn more, Dian began investigating the pain and suffering animals go through to produce milk, cheese, and clothing. Shortly thereafter, Dian chose to adopt a Vegan lifestyle, a conscious decision to stop contributing to the pain and suffering of all animals. Read more>>

Olman Mata

An epiphany is an inspired understanding arising from a connection with a profound insight, awareness, or enlightened truth. At the young age of 18 I didn’t know what this word meant, but I certainly experienced it. Most high school kids don’t have a clear idea in regards to what they want to do in life, well I was no different. However, I was clear about one thing: I loved to surf. On one beautiful southern California day perched on my board without a worry in the world, I saw the most amazing wave forming on the horizon. Read more>>

Melissa Stewardson

A little over five years ago, I was home with my young daughters, loving being a stay at home but also missing the workforce. I missed the interaction with other adults, keeping my brain stimulated and growing. And I wanted the opportunity to help contribute financially for my family. I knew I didn’t want to go back to my full time job as a project manager and work 8-5. I also didn’t want to leave my kids in daycare or with a nanny. I wanted a job with flexible hours that would allow me to still be the primary care giver to my children. Read more>>

Miguel Peredia

Grew up in 80’s in the city of La Puente, at age 11 saw my cousin Djing a house party. I was fascinated by the lights music and being a big fan of Saturday Night Fever, I knew this was something I’d like to do. One time a friend showed me how to mix on a double tape deck and as I got more interested in music and break dancing this all mashed in together. When I had saved some money, I bought my first set up not the expensive kind but got me by to practice and create a party crew. There was about 10 of us that would show up at a house party to DJ. Read more>>

Victor Migalchan

Art was always my passion, challenges are always what motivate me, as martial artist and entrepreneur. Hence, I decided to bring European handmade beauty to LA. There are no smooth roads, there were always struggles: starting with partners… up to local partners and customers. Nothing is easy, but we are professionals, hence nothing really stops us or breaks us. Our company does custom and handmade evening, cocktail, wedding gowns. European classic school, best quality materials and personal approach are now in LA. Plus we don’t overprice our masterpieces. Read more>>

Abdul Kareem

IRVINE CRICKET CLUB is an established team for the past 10 years since its first game here in Irvine, Southern California. We have been playing the sport with sportsmanship and to the rules. We have an excellent track record of success in this game of Cricket. We seek at this time sponsorship for our team as it has been involved with leagues here in Orange County (Orange County Cricket Association). The audience for this event is huge and growing. Read more>>