Nathan Johnson
After years of weightlifting — and enduring the tight shoulders, back pain and machismo that resulted — I was dragged by a friend to my first yoga class while a student at Yale University. It was the most challenging thing I had ever done; yet, for the first time in my life, I experienced a sense of presence and ease. All the tension and stress that I had become so accustomed to carrying around with me my whole life was gone. I floated out of that class a new man and, since then, I tossed (or rather gently put down) the dumbbells and never looked back. Read More>>
Cereza Richeson
I was never an athletic person; didn’t play sports, didn’t dance, and definitely didn’t work out. After I had my third child, I noticed a major change in my body. The physical demands of having three small children was very taxing and I was struggling to have enough energy to keep up. I was drained and just physically unhealthy. Read More>>
Morey Croson
My story begins with Football and trying to become the best player I could. My dad is a football coach at Chaminade High School and was my coach when I was at Birmingham High School. We had some really good teams then but what my dad always focuses on is the science of developing his athletes. This always made me interested in what made me a good athlete as well as how to develop traits to make me better. Read More>>
Torrey Drake
As a kid, I was bullied rather severely throughout school. I spent a lot of my lunches and breaks hiding in bathrooms growing up. Not so fun. My self-esteem was Academy-Award Winningly low, and the last thing I ever thought I could do was accomplish any dreams I had – Which, to be honest, were basically limited to just being left alone, at that point. Read More>>
Alice Raibon
I initially got into fitness due to complications from diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure that claimed the lives of both my parents and sibling. Due to their untimely deaths and the fact that I knew those ailments are hereditary, I got serious about my health, fitness and wellbeing. Determined to live a different life style and have a better quality of life, I started exploring nutrition and taking fitness courses. Although I majored in business, I found myself taking numerous physical education classes and seminars. Read More>>
Stella Reynolds
I have been dancing since I was three years old in Tbilisi, Georgia. I formally trained in the technique of ballet, and I loved to dance. It was all I could think about, and I could not wait to get to the studio to practice. By the age of 10, my practice paid off as I performed in the Nutcracker and other major ballet productions. Read More>>
Brooks Nelson
I started as a student in 2004. I immediately fell in love with the diverse training, as well as the history and background of Kung Fu, Tai Chi, the Shaolin Temples, and Chinese culture. I always dreamed about becoming a black belt, but I never thought I would one day become a third-degree black belt and teacher! I was given the honor of taking over our school as the owner and head instructor in April 2015. Read More>>
Gabriel DeVIne
I grew up in San Jose– I was obese and never concerned with my health. Shortly before getting in shape, I was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, squandering my income on bar tabs, and eating massive quantities of unhealthy food while never working out. Read More>>
Jay Sukow
I’m an improvisor. In addition to my classes and workshops with Today Improv, I’m currently a faculty member at Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica and Second City Hollywood. I’m also a facilitator with Second City Works, the corporate arm of The Second City. I’m very blessed. Read More >>
Christine Collins
Originally from East coast with stints in Florida, San Francisco, Boston etc. I first tried Pilates while in New York pursuing a career in fashion. I had read something in one of my fashion mags about this new celebrity workout so of course I had to try it. I’ve always loved to move. Tried everything; dancing, gymnastics, ice skating, yoga, hiking…. you name it! Read More>>
Elena Grinenko-Hillis
Elena Grinenko is a professional National & World Ballroom Dance Champion as well as a National & World Judge, Choreographer, and Instructor. Read More>>
Ross Kidder
I was born and raised in Michigan. I moved to Los Angeles as an Artist in my 20’s and quickly fell into dumpster diving for wood to build little pieces of furniture to sell. The passion for reclaimed wood was born and I started to build for local Los Angeles designers refining my craft along the way. My wife and I moved back to the Midwest for a brief period and I fell in love with the barns I grew up with. Barn wood became the ultimate material for me to create with so when it came time to move back to Los Angeles, I brought the wood too! I started selling and building out of the material in my garage, then a small industrial office space, then a warehouse, and now a 10000-square foot industrial space. Read More>>
Dan Lazar
I start buying one watch for my wife for Mother’s Day and she didn’t like it. I heard about eBay and list the watch there and sold it fast and make a little money. Read More>>
Oonagh Delaney-Gottlieb
I had begun my teaching life in the Elementary years, and was very happy teaching children with ages ranging from 6-10 years of age. After having my first child in 1996, and subsequently enrolling him in preschool, I realized that there seemed to be a dearth of play based preschools which really tailored their curriculum to the child as opposed to the other way around. A co teacher of mine encouraged me to make the leap, and together we decided to open a preschool in my back yard in Sherman Oaks in 2006, As we continued to grow, we moved the preschool to the Lake Balboa area in 2011. Read More>>
Andy Thrift
I love building houses – Especially Kitchens & Bathrooms!! I got an apprenticeship with a British carpenter for a growing construction company. 2 things then happened: First, I learned all the basics and was offered my first regular full time job in the industry and two, my passion for construction and home remodeling grew into what would become a lifelong career and later my own business. Read More>>
Marine Nalbandian
Since I was about 15 or 16, I had dreams of becoming an event planner. About a decade ago, I was looking to start a career in the events field but realized I lacked the professional experience needed to land a job in the industry. Read More>>
Cory Lagusker
My wife, Jennifer, started the business in 2008 out of her bedroom and living, collecting reptiles, frogs, and bugs for strictly personal use. She was invited to a birthday party at her cousin’s house, and was asked to bring some of her crazy pets to show off, and she gladly did, and gave them an entertaining and educational presentation about them and her cousin tipped her $100 to do it. She was studying at UCLA for Zoology, and afterwards she decided to form her own company, and do educational animal presentations at other homes, schools, and fun events. Her animal collection grew out of her bedroom and into the backyard when she got pigs, mini horses, and farm animals. Read More>>
Kasey Dutcher
My husband is an entrepreneur at heart and is always discussing with me his new business ideas, none of which I had ever agreed to. One day back in 2016, he brought to my attention the need for a company that provides luxury portable restrooms and one who could also provide these luxury restrooms at any event and at any location. Having just had a baby and being pregnant with my second, this really resonated with me since I was constantly finding myself using gross “green/blue/grey boxes” aka a porta-potty that you commonly find in a construction site. No matter where I was- a wedding, music festival, a street fair and even a backyard birthday party, I always wound up using a less than stellar bathroom! Read More>>
Vanie Poyey
My photography career would not have come to fruition if it weren’t for my late father, Sahag Mikaelian. If you’re wondering, yes that is an Armenian name, and yes, I’m full-blooded Armenian. My dad was the professional hobbyist, and he’s the reason I picked up the camera. In my teens, I started documenting people (my favorite subject), mostly my peers, and becoming known as, “the girl with the camera.” Read More>>
Scott Whitesell
I have always wanted to act and perform. When I was 5 years old, I remember getting the neighborhood kids together and directing them and performing in acting out fairy tale stories. Read More>>
Clifford Ashlock
I started looking into the photo booth business in the mid 2000’s but never pursued it until 2015 when my wife called me about a radio commercial she heard about a photo booth opportunity and that was the beginning. The main reason I started the business is because my wife has a form of cancer called Multiple Myeloma. She was diagnosed about 6 years ago and it has been a rough road. She still works a full-time job and my goal is to subsidize her income to take some stress from her so she can relax. Read More>>
Rebecca Stewart
At 24 years old, I was fired from my live-out weekend nanny job. Rather than letting this defeat me, I decided to turn a sour situation into something sweet. To help avoid a scenario like I had just experienced, I was determined to become a matchmaker for families and household staff. I picked up the phone, called my local bank and asked for a small business loan. Read More>>
Warren Jaycox
I worked for Barnes and Noble for close to a decade and was poached by Comic Book chain here in Southern California while down here for the San Diego Comic-Con. I worked for this company for six more years until the owner died and they went out of business at which point I started Galaxy of Comics. We have been here in the San Fernando Valley since January of 2009. Read More>>
Roy Heskel
Deluxe Vanity & Kitchen was founded by David Laniado in 2001. At that time, as a major home developer, and licensed general contractor, David noticed a lack of custom looking bathroom vanities in the pre-made product marketplace. In addition, building a custom vanity takes a lot more time and a lot more money! He had a vision to create products that have a very custom design at an affordable price, while still maintaining high end quality. Read More>>
Natan Chkoury
I’ve had a passion for design and working with wood since my childhood. I’ve always enjoyed spaces where the natural beauty of wood is woven into a contemporary environment and done so with style. With over ten years of professional experience under my belt, I launched Olis Wood a few years ago because of the joy it brings me personally to be able to build exactly this type of environment for clients who share my adoration of wood and the timeless elegance it brings to any space. Read More>>
Elena Degl’Innocenti
I was born and raised in Florence, Italy, and I managed to keep my passion for singing a secret for many years, (I was too shy!), until my parents heard a little recording I made with a friend when I was 18 and started helping me paying for guitar and voice lessons. So I started what became an odyssey of teachers and private music schools throughout Italy while also attending college, majoring in Psychology. After a few years, I realized Italy was not offering enough, music was not taught in College, it was barely financed, and I felt that there was no future for me there. So, my American adventure started in 2003 when I dropped off from the University of Florence and moved to LA following my music dream. Read More>>
Lori Mark
My flower journey started by answering an ad to work at a local flower shop in North Hollywood when I was in High School. I was actually a music student so while pursuing a singing career I trained and supported myself working in several flower shops throughout the city. Later, my singing career took off which took me away from flowers but after several years when my first child was born, I decided I wanted to stay home and I created my Event Floral Company and Lori’s Flowers was born. It is not uncommon for me to arrive early to an event, set up all the decor, change clothes and then be performing with the band. Read More>>
Irene Lovett
After graduating college, I worked part-time for a local designer. My husband and I had recently purchased our first home and in my spare time, I would blog about our home improvements and other design inspirations. I realized how many other bloggers started their own business and I decided I would give it a try. I had such little experience and essentially no business plan. Read More>>
Regina Briggs
If you had asked me fifteen years ago what I thought I was going to make a career as, I would have told you a math teacher (I was always a bit of a math nerd growing up). I knew I wanted a job helping people in some capacity, little did I know it would be in a creative field. Read More>>
Tina Callas
In 1977, my husband and I started a small tree lot on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. In those days, we would go get small loads of trees from the wholesale yards in downtown Los Angeles. Although we had to change locations a few times, our business continued to grow over the years. Now we get direct truckloads of trees from Oregon. Around twenty years ago we added the Pumpkin Patch, which has grown as Halloween became bigger and bigger! Read More>>
