The Valley 12.18.2017

Frank Irias

I wish someone would have taken a photo of me as I was being born because I probably popped out with a pencil in hand. I think it was more than natural, it was a necessity to draw and create art. However, I don’t think I would own a branding and website design company if I hand’t moved to the USA when I was 13 and met a couple of teachers along the way. Read more>>

Kristie Pedersen

I became a Lifestyle Coach because I want to serve others. I knew for a long time I wanted to make a difference, pursue my passion, and live my life’s purpose. I eventually took the plunge into the deep end of the pool; I left my cushy Corporate America job to become an entrepreneur in 2016 due to major stress that impacted my health. Read more>>

Roman Slavinsky

It all started in Kiev, Ukraine in 1984, back then the Soviet Union. My grandfather, father, mother, and I immigrated to Los Angeles in 1990 and settled in West Hollywood. Being an immigrant is not easy, but it surely gives greater perspective of the things we might take for granted. Read more>>

Chris Kinkade

I started working professionally as a massage therapist in Hollywood in the late 1980’s before I had ever taken a single class or studied with anyone. It just “happened.” I have always had a unique ability to do healing work and an innate sensitivity to energy and things I had no way of truly understanding at the time. Read more>>

Mariano Reyes

I got my start in music when I was in high school. Prior to that I always made music with friends for fun. We did shows all over LA specifically around the south bay and Santa Monica. I always had a good ear for the sound we were looking for. Read more>>

Chris Marino

How I got where I am today has a lot to do with where I started in life. Quite literally, I started on the streets. My mother having made a series of bad decisions had three children out of wedlock with three different partners. Read more>>

Andrew Hurvitz

I am a writer and photographer seeking to illuminate and explore the forgotten or overlooked areas of Van Nuys and beyond. I always have struggled to find a career path. I worked in documentary television but found that the jobs were not utilizing my passions in writing and photography. Read more>>

Alan Sherin

As a digital marketing native who has tried everything, I was was forever searching for new and innovative ways to engage users online through my social media content marketing efforts. No social media content effort was getting any traction like it used to unless you now paid to increase the reach to those people. Read more>>

Shauna Amick

When my daughter was born with Down syndrome 12 years ago, I needed a support system. I got connected to Joni and Friends as a special-needs Mom in desperate need of help and hope. After being served so well by Joni and Friends, I became a volunteer for the organization, as I wanted to give something back to the people who gave me and my family so much. Read more>>

Suzanne O’Connor

I was working as a professional dancer / choreographer and spending a lot of time away from my husband and 3 year old daughter in 1998. I wanted to find a way to work at home and be there for my daughter. My mother, Geri Cook wrote a bargain shopping column for the LA Times as well as doing a radio show on KRLA all on bargain shopping in Los Angeles. Read more>>

Candice Dalsing and Katie Beth Umlor

Candice started out as a freelance photographer in Los Angeles CA. She picked up headshot jobs and children’s birthday parties whatever she could do to make some cash. She started getting her name out there and began shooting Los Angeles Fashion Week. Read more>>

David Riherd

WLC was founded in 1998 by biologists Paul Hahn and me to provide public education in the life sciences, conservation, and our environment and to care for wild animals that need life-long care. As our organization evolved, and more and more people learned about us, we started receiving more and more requests to give homes to wild animals in need. Read more>>