Inspiring Stories from the OC

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 Orange County’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 the Orange County’s rising stars below.

Mark Manderson

This work was never meant to be about me. It started with a moment that shaped everything. When I was eight years old, my aunt moved into our home while struggling with addiction. She slept in my room. One morning, I found her on the floor surrounded by pills. Read more>>

Karima Fathi Gulick

I’ve always been curious about how things work. As a little girl, I was constantly taking apart speakerphones and remote controls just to see what was inside. I was especially fascinated by flight; anything that defied gravity felt magical to me. That curiosity led me to study aerospace engineering, with dreams of working in space exploration. Read more>>

Sabriya Pinkney

I knew I wanted to leave an imprint for the next generation. Once I graduated High school in 2014, I started up a clothing line called Casual Hippies. Wasn’t hard to figure the brand name. Casual wear Hippie at heart. Wanting to represent unisex clothing for everything I had been interested in. Read more>>

Jenn Cao

After living in Vietnam and traveling throughout different parts of the world, I returned to California with a deep longing for the coffee culture I had grown to love abroad. In Vietnam, coffee was never just a quick caffeine fix—it was a way of life. It was about slowing down, sitting together, and building relationships. Read more>>

Cara Kim Ko

My career story began when I dropped out of my major in Science and pursued Music. I remember sitting in the middle of Bio Chem & Physio course, thinking about what next Chopin piece I’d practice when I’d get home. I realized that my heart and passion was no longer in Science, and I decided to completely turn my life course to a different direction. Read more>>

Cherell Bailey

I have always had an eye for all things fashion. I started modeling right after college back in 2014. I had friends who had clothing lines and who felt I was great in front of the camera so that helped jump start me. I love helping small businesses and would love to support and model for their brands. I then began walking in fashion shows. Read more>>

Rhandy Torres

Early on, I focused on training, saying yes to opportunities, and learning on set, short films, indie projects, and roles that allowed me to grow and understand the craft from the inside out. Along the way, I balanced acting with a full-time career outside the industry, which taught me discipline, time management, and humility. Read more>>

Ivy Nguyen

I was born and raised in Vietnam, where I grew up surrounded by art, creativity, and my family’s bakery of over 30 years. Pastry became the place where I could blend both art and emotion. When I moved to the U.S., I brought with me my family’s work ethic and a belief that I could build something meaningful from the ground up. Read more>>

Shellee Howard

I started this work the way many moms start big things: sitting at my kitchen table, staring at confusing college brochures and financial aid forms, determined not to let my kids graduate buried in debt. My journey into college consulting began as a mom just trying to figure it out for my own family. Read more>>

John Rojas

The short version is this: I had met my studio partners, Chung Kwon and Matt Pathmajeyan through the music scene. I played in a band called Dharma and they had one called Waste Age. Through music, we played a lot of shows together and became great friends. Chung and Matt had started this studio around 2010-2011. Read more>>

Feiran Wang

I am a visual artist. Coming from a family of architects, I started my journey as an architect student, I came to Los Angeles from China to study architecture. I used to make paintings in my one bedroom apartment often when I was free after architecture school even though the classes were very intense. Read more>>

Joshua Park

I’m a Doctor of East Asian Medicine and licensed acupuncturist based in Orange County, and my specialty is helping people with chronic digestive issues, like IBS, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, chronic gastritis, and other gut-related conditions that can really take over someone’s life. My path into this field started very personally. Read more>>

Julia Foxworth

We’re Julia and Jen, the sisters behind JSquared.Murals! We are two lifelong artists who have been creating side by side since childhood. Artistic expression has always been our shared love, a way of bringing beauty, connection, and joy into the world. Ever since we were young, we would work on collaborative projects together. Read more>>

Cheyne Walls

My journey into photography was shaped by an adventurous upbringing in Southern California, where I spent countless hours exploring the region’s beaches, mountains, and deserts. I was a promising athlete at Dana Hills High School and on track to play college baseball when an unexpected accident altered my path. Read more>>

Paige Brue

My passion for water resources and stormwater engineering started in high school. During my senior year, my hometown of Franklin, Indiana, experienced a devastating flood that greatly impacted the community. Seeing the effects of that event on my hometown deeply influenced my perspective and sparked a lasting interest in floodplain management. Read more>>

Dr. Christina Mishreki, DC, CCSP®

I was an athlete my entire life. Basketball being my first love, I didnt know where it would take me but I knew I wanted to do anything and everything to find out. Unfortunately, a bad knee injury ended my PLAYING career and the ripe age of 17. Read more>>

Norma Leu

I was born with a natural proclivity for fashion and art. Growing up in a family where jewelry was abundant, some of my favorite childhood moments were opening my parents’ safe, trying everything on, studying the craftsmanship, and convincing them that I absolutely needed a piece to add to my own little collection. Read more>>

Vishnu Dev

My background is in finance, with an MBA from the University of Chicago and two decades in the business of money management. Along the way, I identified and invested in several large consumer products businesses and brands, which sparked an ambition to build an enduring consumer brand myself. Read more>>

Lana Brown

Growing up, health and wellness was always my thing. I played softball in high school, now I do Hyrox. I’ve just always cared about taking care of myself. We bought Glow Up Med Spa in Orange County because my dad owned businesses his whole life and was always a businessman. When he passed, it changed our lives. Read more>>

Glenda Galvan-Garcia

My career has taken some unexpected turns, and looking back, every detour nudged me closer to where I was meant to be. Believe it or not, I didn’t start out in the culinary world at all—my first chapter was in fashion. I studied at FIDM (the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising) and spent about six years working in the industry. Read more>>