Inspiring South Bay Stories

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 South Bay’s finest artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rebel rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with our city’s incredibly deep talent pool.  Check out the area’s rising stars below.

 

Shanna Shryne

I’ve always been drawn to creating spaces that feel beautiful, thoughtful, and deeply personal. I started my career in interior design over 20 years ago, working for a design firm in Colorado where I gained experience designing model homes, clubhouses, and residential projects across the country. After moving to Southern California, I eventually launched Shanna Shryne Design. Read more>>

Simone Ruff

My name is Simone, and I’m a Los Angeles–based wellness practitioner and the founder of Soma Flow. My work primarily focuses on lymphatic drainage, body sculpting, therapeutic massage, prenatal care, and women’s wellness. I blend therapeutic bodywork, Lymphatic Drainage, Traditional Thai stretch techniques, and trauma-informed care to provide personalized sessions throughout Los Angeles in homes, offices, wellness spaces, and event settings. Read more>>

Q Burdette

Born and raised in Long Beach, CA. I started dancing at 15 in church, learned my first choreography, and by 19 I was deep in breakdancing and contemporary. Watching You Got Served made me take it seriously. I found my way to Carnival and Clear Talent Agency in Hollywood and built a 10-year dance career that took me further than I expected. Read more>>

Chelsea Moore Shannon

My name is Chelsea Moore Shannon and I’m the CEO and Co-Founder of BOXFOX. I started BOXFOX alongside Jenni Stern and Sabena Suri one year after graduating from UCLA with a major in Political Science and Minor in English. In college, I had a ton of opportunities and exposure to all types of businesses but none more formative than my time at Brandy Melville. Read more>>

Ben Nader

I got started in accounting after finishing my undergrad in Business Economics at UC Irvine. That was my first experience in accounting, and although it was not tax related, which is what I do now, it was enlightening to see the accounting concepts I learned in college be utilized in the real world. Read more>>

christine kawamura

I grew up around Maruhide — it’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father, Hideo Kawamura, founded the company in 1976 with a deep respect for quality sea urchin, hard work, and the relationships he built with divers, chefs, and customers over the years. Read more>>

Jess Mak

I’ve always lived between two worlds: music and flowers. By day, I teach music, helping kids find their voice through song and instruments. Flowers came into my life by accident. When I was nineteen, I was working a summer job at a Vancouver florist that served the city’s funerals. A Hong Kong film director came in to arrange flowers for her mother’s farewell. Read more>>

Alicia Lee

I always knew I wanted to be a mom, and now as a mom of two, I can honestly say motherhood has become the most fulfilling part of my life. After having my daughter, I started creating outfit videos and sharing snippets of our daily life as a way to stay creative and connected to myself during such a life-changing season. Read more>>

Sally Simmons

Wave Maker Wellness grew from my own postpartum and motherhood journey. After becoming a mom of two, I found myself in the “messy middle”, trying to balance family, stress, movement, nourishment, and my own well-being while feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from myself. Through that season, I learned that wellness does not have to be perfect or extreme to create real change. Read more>>

Joe Duarte

Over the past 10 years, I’ve toured across the U.S. working with brands, companies, artists, and live events directing, capturing, and producing content across both print and digital media. Working primarily within the dance and entertainment industry, I developed a deep appreciation for capturing movement and emotion in a way that feels cinematic, expressive, and authentic. Read more>>

Tami Jones

Just Visiting LLC was founded by TJ Roby in 2015. While serving time, he witnessed firsthand how important it was for incarcerated individuals to stay connected with their families and loved ones and how lack of reliable transportation created a major barrier to visitation. From that experience, he wrote down a vision and brought it to life. Read more>>

Summer Loffler

I’ve always been passionate about fitness, but after losing my brother 8 years ago, my life went downhill very quickly. During one of the hardest times in my life, I found weight training, and it completely changed me — not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Fitness became an outlet for healing, growth, discipline, and rebuilding my confidence. Read more>>

Luis Gonzalez

Had 18 years old had my full-time job I was recruited by the owner of a real estate company a husband and wife I was so excited because the gave me a car that said Million Dollar Club I believe I was going to be a millionaire. Lol!. Read more>>

Kymberli Jenkins

I started creating content around the time of the pandemic, I made new connections, and began attending events with friends and fellow budtenders. Through these connections and networking opportunities, I started my first cannabis industry job around 2022. I fell in love with industry, the community, opportunities, and above all else the people! Read more>>

Adriana ‘A.Marie’ Grimes

I was born and raised in the lovely city of Long Beach. I come from a family of artists, creatives, and entertainers. My mother was a professional dancer, singer, and theatre performer. She is also very crafty and designs her own party favors. My father is a DJ and MC. Read more>>

Amy Vincent

My journey into Waldorf education began in the most unexpected and beautiful way. I was working as a nanny for a midwife, attending births with her as a doula and apprentice, and had dreams of becoming a midwife myself. Then I became pregnant and the course of my life changed forever. Read more>>

Emily Crawford

My journey to where I am today has been anything but traditional, and honestly, that’s what makes it so meaningful to me. After spending time in medical device sales, I realized I was being pulled further away from the work that truly lit me up, so I made the decision to return to my roots and reconnect with my background in athletic training. Read more>>

Petra Persaud

Hi, I am Petra, (Czech-American) a European photographer living in sunny Southern California. My main focus is weddings and couples 🙂 I was into photography ever since I got my first disposable camera as a child. Read more>>

Liti-Ahenewa Zabad

Seven years ago I packed up my two sons and moved from Cincinnati to Los Angeles on pure belief. Not a plan. Belief. The kind that does not fully make sense to explain but you feel it in your chest, this is where your life is supposed to open up. And it did. Read more>>

Ke’Lebra Nicholas

Planning with Opulence began from my love for creating beautiful, meaningful, and well-organized celebrations. I have always been the person who naturally pays attention to the details, the flow, the look, and the overall experience. Before I officially started my business, I was already helping with events, planning special moments, and bringing ideas together in a way that felt polished and intentional. Read more>>

Toru Hashinokuchi

Born and raised in Japan, I always harbored a childhood dream of becoming an actor. However, my journey took a major detour when I moved to the United States and established my company, Green Liner International Inc. I started with absolutely nothing—no financial background, no corporate safety net, and only minimal savings. Read more>>

Yustyna Mohylyak

Born and raised in the cultural heart of Ukraine, I’ve always been surrounded by art, history, and spiritual depth. I come from Lviv — a city of lions, legends, cobblestone streets, and centuries-old architecture, where creativity and culture live in every corner. Growing up in that environment taught me that art is much more than aesthetics — it reflects identity, emotion, and spirit. Read more>>

CJ Soul

My road in music began at a very young age, but when I was a senior in high school is when it started to become a serious aspiration for my life. I started writing and the Boys and Girls Club I went to in San Pedro had a recording studio. Read more>>

Khalel Dumaz

I started my design career early in iOS, working on dating apps. My first full-time startup role was at Loot Crate, one of the fastest-growing companies in the US at the time and a pioneer in subscription boxes. We focused on geeks and gamers, then expanded into sports. After nearly four years, Jeff, who later became my co-founder, recruited me to Amazon. Read more>>

Jazzy Fauchere

For those who don’t know me, I’m Jazzy Fauchere! I grew up in Toronto my whole life and moved to LA almost 4 years ago to continue my career in the entertainment industry. I started acting at a very young age, and a couple of years in I realized that I wanted to not only pursue acting, but also pursue music. Read more>>

Makayla Cox

I have always had the passion of community service and giving to others in need since I became a Girl Scout at the age of 7. My troop participated in Take Action Projects such as giving clothes, shoes, food and Girl Scout cookies to organizations in need, including the houseless communities in Los Angeles county. Read more>>

Shawnay Longmire

Real estate has honestly always been around me, even before I realized it would become my career. I grew up in Los Angeles, specifically in the Crenshaw District, where my family owned property throughout Southwest L.A., West L.A., and Inglewood, California. Read more>>

Daisy Rojas

My journey started with a passion for helping women feel confident and comfortable in their own bodies. Over the years, I became deeply interested in body contouring, post-op recovery, and lymphatic wellness, which eventually led me to create Body By Daze. As a mother and business owner, building my business has not always been easy. Read more>>

Lucas (neo) Jofre

I started in music at a young age. My mom bought me a drum set when I was almost four, and then when I was thirteen, my dad bought me an electric bass. At thirteen, I had my first blues and rock band, and from then on, it was all about music. Read more>>

Michelle Marie

I was very blessed to know at a young age that I was a healer. I used to work on my parents before I knew that I had the gift. I started in a chiropractic office before I had my certification and degree but I knew early on that I had the intuition and enjoyed my work immensely. Healing others is so gratifying! Read more>>

The hood Santa R

Well my father committed suicide when I was 6 years old.on Christmas So we grew up extremely poor. That pushed me to help families and children that were struggling like our family was. Read more>>

Austin Tiv

I started out with dancing when I was young. I grew up in Modesto in a part of town that was very easy to get in trouble, so dance was my escape. I did a lot of breakdancing and crazy stunts. After that, I started rapping with my friends for fun, where i further worked on my musicality. Read more>>

Mudita Singhal

Here’s the revised version: — My story really starts with a moment of frustration as a mom. I’m Mudita Singhal — I spent over 20 years in the corporate world as an AI/ML research scientist and product manager, but the project that changed everything for me came from sitting in my daughter’s elementary school for yearbook distribution day. Read more>>

Zaynab Qazi

Ever since I was a little girl, I grew up surrounded by family in public service, so helping others always felt natural to me. I was born and raised in the South Bay, and being able to now serve the same communities that shaped me makes this work even more meaningful. Read more>>

imani jones

I have always been creative. I went to school at FIT in NYC for Advertising, Marketing and Communications and at the time I got pregnant, I was building a career as a makeup artist in the fashion industry. It was an exhilarating time in my life. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was talented. Read more>>

chase smith

I’m a self-taught visual artist based in Long Beach, working under the name SHAM / Sham Labs. I started drawing before I had language for most of what I was feeling. For a long time, art was private — sketchbooks, loose pages, writing, symbols, things I made because I didn’t know where else to put the pressure. Read more>>

Lance Delao

Always had a passion for art. Started out as a passion for fashion and then grew into a more art driven direction after studying art in Europe for 7 years decided to go “all in” in the art world and haven’t looked back since. Read more>>

Dennis Tran

My name is Dennis Tran (he/him), and I’m a queer, partially blind, late-identified autistic ADHD Vietnamese American storyteller, speaker, and inclusion strategist based in Los Angeles. My journey hasn’t been linear; it’s been shaped by survival, identity, and learning how to make meaning out of experiences that didn’t always make sense at the time. Read more>>

Megan Weber

Since I was a little girl, I’ve always dreamed of owning a bakery. My dad taught me how to use a Kitchenaid Mixer at the age of three, and it was love at first sight. I have vivid memories of sitting on the kitchen counter, helping crack eggs and add chocolate chips to our family cookie recipe. Read more>>