Inspiring Stories from West LA

The heart of our mission at VoyageLA is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our city. In recent weeks we’ve had the privilege to connect with some of West LA’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 West LA’s rising stars below.

Danielle Christy

My love for cooking started early, inspired by time spent in the kitchen with my mom and grandma. I remember always mashing potatoes and picking vegetables in my grandma’s garden. Those simple moments shaped the way I see food today: not just as fuel, but as connection. My journey with food hasn’t always been simple. I’ve battled anorexia since I was nine years old. Read more>>

Gidget Zapata

I was driving out in the country and there was a train car and I just got a vision of hobo bouquets. Having had done flowers before it seemed like the thing to do with the fact that I was having to change paths due to a life changing situation. I was out near Summerville. There’s a train that comes out there. Read more>>

Dr. Tatyana Steele-Hall

I didn’t come into medicine in a conventional way—it began with a deeply personal turning point that ultimately reshaped the direction of my life. My stepfather, who I was extremely close to, was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. At the time, we were told to focus on comfort. That answer didn’t resonate with me. Read more>>

Jessica Fox

I knew as early as senior year of high school that I wanted to be a psychotherapist (call it a calling, I guess!) but took a nonlinear path to arrive here. I took time in my twenties to travel and explore other career paths, so when I finally committed to being a therapist, it was with a great deal of knowing and confidence. Read more>>

Artem Aristov

My story started very early. Even as a child, I always felt different — I was curious, ambitious, creative, and drawn to a bigger life. While other kids were simply playing, I was already filming videos, performing magic tricks, learning parkour, creating skits, and uploading content online. I was fascinated by cameras, storytelling, music, movement, and the idea of building something from nothing. Read more>>

Sarah Hannala

I’m Sarah Hannala – a yoga teacher, a student, a reiki and sound healer, a writer, a mystic, a creatrix and a mental health professional. I am a multifaceted and multidimensional woman who calls upon many healing modalities as a guide to self love, generational healing and collective liberation. My story is a collection of divine timing, generosity, genuine trust, and devotional surrender. Read more>>

Aimee Campbell

At my core, I am a dreamer. I envision things and then push myself to bring them into life. Radical imagination is at the heart of what I do because what we dream and imagine is the first step to a different reality. But it took me some time to get to this way of thinking. Read more>>

Senna De La Cruz

First and foremost, I’d like to thank VoyageLA for this opportunity. If I had to describe myself simply, I would say that above all else, I am a student of life. That’s who I am, and once you strip away all the layers, I believe that’s who you are too. Read more>>

Grace Thao

I started playing soccer when I was seven years old. My earlier years were spent growing up in San Diego and later in Orange County. My parents used to take me to watch pro games and college games. It wasn’t just soccer. My dad used to take me to watch Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Read more>>

Ligia Gonzalez

I formulated Face Base in response to wanting clean, simplified skincare. Developed in my home in California, I tested ingredients and formulations relentlessly. After many iterations to find the right balance, I arrived at formulas that deliver consistent, visible results across a range of skin types. I’ve always been drawn to working with my hands and paying close attention to detail. Read more>>

Marinho Nobre

Sonictopia came out of sheer inspiration from nature and my life with music. I wanted to pursue a passion I long had by creating objects that exposed the beauty of less common woods. Read more>>

Howard Becker

“There are Super Cars……and then, there are Super Productivity Cars!” Super cars have a lot of horsepower. Super Productivity cars have much greater capacity to get ‘movers and shakers’ where they really want to go! Read more>>

Sydney DuBowy

I’ve loved baking for as long as I can remember! My mom bought me an Easy Bake Oven when I was younger, and I’ve been baking ever since. I even took cake decorating classes in middle school, but for a while it stayed more of a hobby than something I seriously pursued. Read more>>

Caesar Barba-Garcia

I came from very humble beginnings in San Jose, California, as a fourth-generation Latino in what many would describe as a broken family. My parents divorced when I was five, and my siblings and I were split up, each of us living with different relatives. Read more>>

David Ubaka

Hi, I’m David Ubaka from delta state Nigeria, and I represent b-it studios. I never planned to become an artist. My journey with music really began around 2019, even though the interest had been there long before that. I always had a strong passion for music, but I doubted my talent. Read more>>

CRAIG SCHABEL

I grew up in Toledo, Ohio, in a blended family as the oldest of five. Creativity was always part of our environment, my dad is an artist, and my mom was a teacher who encouraged all of us to think independently and be fully ourselves. Read more>>

Miles Jackson

I am. born and raised in LA. Class of ’14 at Culver City High School. I then went to SBCC for 3 years and graduated from UCSB in 2019. My senior year at SBCC I took a film class that changed my life, watching all the Oscar nominated films that year set me on a path to become an actor. Read more>>

Maksim Zhurakov

My journey toward founding the Global Interfaith Progressive Spiritual Ministry and the wellness movement Global Wellness Resonance has been a natural evolution, driven by a decade of deep work in the wellness industry and a persistent observation: true healing cannot be found in a bottle or a lab alone; it must be anchored in the spirit. Read more>>

Lucia O’Cleary

I believe I’ve been an artist since I was a child. In fact, I sold my very first drawing at just six years old to a local radio station! My journey has always felt like a series of layers—much like the “parfait” analogy from Shrek. You know the line: “Onions have layers. Parfaits have layers.”  Read more>>