The Valley 05.01.2018

Tony Copolillo

As a young child I wanted to be an architect. This came from endlessly watching The Brady Bunch after school everyday, where the patriarch character Mike Brady was successfully raising a house full of kids and dogs and housekeepers by drawing pictures of buildings. Read more>>

Haibert Sarkisian

I started young. Redrawing interesting places I visited from memory. I didn’t talk much I just drew. Took many fine art and figure drawing classes after my family and I migrated to the US of A at the age of seven. I was trained with discipline with no acceptance of BS. Either it’s good or bad, no good effort softness that is being fed today. Read more>>

Nova Gholar

I’m nova gholar a multi-faceted recording artist, producer, and songwriter. i was raised in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, IL. However, on a leap of faith i packed his bags and left home for sunny California. my transition from Englewood to Hollywood quickly proved to be the right move. Read more>>

Shannon Ahern

When I was growing up in South Texas, I was drawn to creating spaces, I wanted my room to be like Marsha Mason’s apartment in the Goodbye Girl, I wanted a club house like Swiss Family Robinsons’ tree house — but I was sorely disappointed when all my step-father could build me was a two-story structure that looked more like a deer blind. Read more>>

Brandon Burns

My father started a small family business to supplement some extra money. The business didn’t go as planned for him, so he passed it down to me. Since owning the business I have completely turned it around and made D&E Carpet Cleaning a household name in the Inland Empire. Read more>>

Sarah Z

I started a little over 10 years ago as an event planner and from there produced a couple of luxury bridal shows with the help of my mom and became familiar with the “whos who” of the events industry. I then met my future business partner who had 25 years experience in the floral and design world of events. Read more>>

ShAi Dawn

My Mother was obsessed with music so her influence on me began while I was still in the womb. I went from entertaining her friends dancing and singing lyrics I couldn’t quite pronounce to learning several songs, doing talent shows and deciding what artists on vinyl I’d like to own. Read more>>

Keith Sevigny

Chromatic was founded 40 years ago as a small commercial print company by my parents Richard and Genie Sevigny. My Brother Mike and I have been in the business for over 25 years and took over full ownership in 2011. Read more>>

Habib Sadeghi

I am the founder of Be Hive of Healing Integrative Medical Center in Agoura Hills, CA, where we specialize in osteopathic, environmental and psychosomatic adjunct therapies for chronic illness. I also hold a Master’s degree in spiritual psychology and act as a clinical instructor of family medicine at Western University of Health Sciences. Read more>>

Idrise Wardel

I started singing when I was a child, in the carseat. I grew up to perform in a few choirs and develop my skill a bit. At 19 I joined the Air Force, traveled the world, fought terrorism, and became an R&B artist on the side. Read more>>

Michelle Morgan

I began playing sports in elementary school and fell in love with basketball. It was in 8th grade when I decided I wanted to play basketball in college and earn a scholarship. Outside of my family and friends, I dedicated myself to school and basketball. Any free moment I had, I was outside working on my game. Read more>>

Daniela Aldrich

When I moved to the U.S. and got sick for the first time, I could not find the right products I needed at a pharmacy. Everything was so different, because I was used to having personal pharmacists guide me, one on one, who could give me my prescription, over the counter medicine, and/or personal herbal mixes to support my recovery. Read more>>

Loren Satterthwaite

I have always been a creator, I’ve loved the fashion world for as long as I can remember. After high school deep down I knew what I really wanted to do, but starting a business was never talked about. Read more>>

Roza Baghdassarian

Born and growing up with agrarian roots in Sydney, Australia, I have always found the mother-baby relationship to be both amazing and magical. My earliest childhood recollections are based on an intense sense of connection to family and strong messages about the importance of motherhood and childrearing. Read more>>

Alex Crescioni

My passion for music sparked at a very young age, when I began playing classical piano. I initially started learning by ear via the “Suzuki method” and evolved all the way up to studying music theory, guitar, and audio engineering at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California. Read more>>

Kristin Mehiel

Both Eric, my husband, and Co-Founder are avid skiers. Eric grew up in Boulder, CO and we lived in CO in our mid 20, so we were of course avid skiers. Fast forward 15 years later and we are skiing with our children, Madeline was 3 and Jackson was 5. Read more>>

Tiffini Soforenko

I had recently left a high position job with a major theme park and my son was two. I wanted to work but still have time to spend with my son. I had visited a bakery in New York that sold only wholesale to fancy hotels and the things I tried were amazing. It made me realize that there really was no place to get great baked goods in LA. Read more>>

Tanya Abughazaleh

To be honest, it all fell in my lap. During college, I noticed how much free time I had, which resulted in me getting 3+ jobs to fill my time. Even with all of that, I still noticed I had a decent amount of time. Consequently, I began to go to Michael Crafts Store and utilized my time doing small art projects. Read more>>

Leslie Person Ryan

Letter Perfect began our business 33 years ago in Montecito and then in December we, along with the entire Santa Barbara community, experienced the worst wildfire in California history followed by devastating mudslides in January. Read more>>

Wendie Wilson-Miller

When I was 23, I donated my eggs to a woman who was a cancer survivor. Her own biological option was taken from her by disease and getting an egg donor gave her a choice in the looks and genetics of her child. At the time, I thought donating my eggs was not much effort on my part – but I began to see how significant it was for someone else. Read more>>

Brandy Reid

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I often tell people I claim all of LA as home mostly because my family moved around Los Angeles quite a bit, which had both a positive and negative effect on me. Read more>>