The heart of our mission is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our communities. In the recent weeks, we’ve had the privilege to connect with some incredible artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with the incredible group below. Check out our favorite stories from across California’s Central Coast.
Amy Beams
Since my last interview with Voyage LA, a lot has happened. In 2024 I opened Golden State Goods in downtown Atascadero, and I’m now in that infamous third year of business. People always say it takes about three years to really find your groove, and I think I’m still working on that. Read more>>
Susan Rodriguez
From Protecting Businesses to Uplifting Communities: My Journey of Purpose For over four decades, my professional life was defined by a single mission: taking complex risk management issues and translating them into clear, dependable protection for my clients. Read more>>
Tess Booker
If you had asked me years ago what I would be doing today, I never would have imagined this path. Looking back, though, every chapter of my life has quietly prepared me for it. I’ve been married to my husband, Bryon, for more than 32 years, and together we’ve raised three incredible children. Read more>>
Greg Ross
I moved to the Central Coast around 2010 to pursue a degree in Landscape Architecture at Cal Poly. Falling in love with the area, I worked hard to stay after I graduated and worked for several large and small design firms in the local area. Read more>>
Liliana & Mikael
Our journey started over a decade ago. We both were working across a wide variety of industries, from small businesses to large corporations… and kept noticing the exact same, frustrating gap. So many business owners were struggling with bookkeepers and CPAs who felt completely disconnected from their daily operations. They were paying sky-high rates, getting next to no communication, and receiving zero financial literacy training. Read more>>
Jonathan Olcott
My approach to acupuncture is from a performance-driven lens, blending clinical precision with a deep understanding of movement and recovery. At Intuitive Acupuncture, I use a layered approach that combines motor point pathways, orthopedic acupuncture, and functional movement retraining to address pain at its source. My path to this work began with my own healing journey. Read more>>
Jordan Symone Welch
How I got to where I am today : I’ve always been passionate about listening to people tell their stories. How one’s journey can reveal differences and many similarities among ourselves. I love meeting folks where they’re at. Getting the opportunity to hear where they’ve been and who they are presently thrills me. Read more>>
Lourdes (Lou) Caballero
Once upon a time a teenager from Puerto Rico decided to venture out to explore the world. Moved to Philadelphia and went to College to purse her dream career. To this day she is still passionate about ‘translating visions into reality’. Read more>>
Alyssa Bondi
My passion for mental health began long before I chose it as a career. As a child, I experienced significant loss and learned firsthand how important it is to have support during life’s most difficult moments. Throughout my own healing journey, I discovered the power of creative expression as a way to process emotions, build resilience, and reconnect with myself. Read more>>
Jennifer Amodei
I have had a successful interior design company for the last 20-plus years. I have traveled the world and designed for celebrities and billionaires; it was a fulfilling endeavor, or at least I thought, till 3 years ago, Read more>>
Bridgette Andersen
Food was always a way I was shown love. Food became a way I gave love. I didn’t know that many years later the love of food, cooking, gathering and connecting would become a thriving business. I had always cooked because it was how I spent time with my mom and nana. Read more>>
Ally Diaz
I’ve always been passionate about beauty and helping people feel confident. I started my career in the beauty industry over 13 years ago, working my way up from a Beauty Advisor at Sephora to becoming an Assistant Manager for MAC Cosmetics. Read more>>
Anna Spalding
Yoga saved my life. That may sound dramatic, but it’s the truth. I discovered yoga many years ago, but if I’m being honest, I didn’t fully understand its power until life unraveled. Read more>>
Sonia Hiller
My journey into this field began with a fascination for the deep connection between communication, development, and overall systemic health. I founded Holistic Speech Therapy to bridge a crucial gap I saw in traditional care: looking at speech and language not just in isolation, but through a whole-body, functional lens. Read more>>
Chaim Loschak
I grew up right here in Santa Barbara, in a home that placed real value on community: on showing up for others and building something bigger than yourself. My wife, Mushkie, grew up in a close-knit warm Jewish community in South Africa, and she brought that same sense of connection into our life together. Read more>>
LAVANYA KRUGER
A Legacy of Ayurvedic Devotion In 1971, our journey began with Lakshman Kruger’s search for deeper spiritual and holistic understanding. His quest led him to the Los Angeles ISKON temple, where he immersed himself in the study of Vedic knowledge. Eager to spread this wisdom, he soon found himself in Japan, sharing the teachings of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on the streets of Tokyo. Read more>>
Casey Renee Rogers
I actually started my career as a professional Broadway performer. I spent years on the road doing national and international tours, chasing the dream I’d had since I was a kid. It was exciting, glamorous from the outside, and exactly what I thought I wanted. Read more>>
Savannah Carmassi
I think I’ve always had a passion for people, their stories, and how they’re expressed through art and creativity. I enrolled in Cosmetology school right out of high school. For a lot of people back then, going to beauty school was more of a ‘back up plan’. Read more>>
Francisco Contreras-Rodriguez
My marketing journey started with video games. When I was still in high school I ran a Minecraft server with my friends, and I figured out pretty quick, a server with no players is an empty world. There were thousands of servers out there all going after the same players, so I had to find a way to stand out. Read more>>
Tamia Marie
Hair has always been apart of my life. I have older cousins that are cosmetologists on mom and dad’s side. I’ve always been creative even with my clothes. However I was kinda a nerd in school and my grandmother who raised always had be in the books and in extracurricular activities after school. Read more>>
Merek Dorf
Always been interested in eastern healing arts, herbalism and all forms of martial arts. I first started my true martial art journey after settling in Santa Cruz almost 25 years ago. Read more>>
Marissa Doll
I’ve wanted to be a nurse since eighth grade, when a dear friend handed me an anatomy book and something just clicked. For the last decade, I’ve been lucky enough to live out that dream and it has shaped my life in the most meaningful way. Read more>>
Justin Thomas
Chicago-native SJ Money discovered his passion for music earty, growing up in recording studios alongside his father. Inspired by artists like Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Tupac, and Kanye West, he recorded his first song at 14 and has since developed a style defined by lyrical storytelling, • versatility, and authenticity rather than following Chicago drill trends. Read more>>
Noelle Arms
As the story goes, when I was 13 years old, I told my mom that I wanted to write, direct, and produce a play with kids. She quickly replied, ‘I’ll put up the curtain in the doorway!’ ‘No, mom,’ I replied, ‘I mean a REAL play, in a REAL theater.’ And so Poison Apple Productions began. My name is Noelle Arms. Read more>>
Lara Kirkpatrick
For the past 17 years, I’ve had the privilege of working as an occupational therapist, helping individuals regain independence and improve their quality of life. I chose this profession because it combines two of my greatest passions: helping people and finding creative, individualized solutions that empower them to achieve their goals. Read more>>
Jennifer Meltzer
We started as a U cut Rose farm. Last fall we purchased the only other you cut Rose farm in our county making us owners of both you cut Rose farms available in the central Coast area in fact in all of northern California. We purchased our second location, Birdsong orchards in October. Read more>>
Rowena Mason
How did we get started? Santa Paula Airport has owned the restaurant building on the airport since 2013, leasing the space to restaurant operators over the years. The restaurant has had its ups and downs under previous operators, but our dream was always to create something truly special—not only for the aviation community, but for our local community as well. Read more>>
Nicola Allegretta
I am writing to share my journey and passion for food and cooking with you. My path began in Italy, where I gained experience working in various environments, including pizzerias, restaurants, and hotels. After graduating, I traveled across Europe to experience different ethnic cuisines before moving to Santo Domingo in the Caribbean. Read more>>
Eliot Winder
I’m Eliot Winder. I build small business websites out of Santa Barbara, and I call it WinderForge. It started as side work, honestly. My background is in live events and production, so I spent years being the guy responsible for a hundred things coming together right before the doors open. On the side, I’d build websites for people I knew. Read more>>
Hilary Wadsworth
Stylist for 25 years and co-founder of a grassroots charity called The Morph Project. Both have brought me to where I am today in my career and that’s still working behind the chair making women feel beautiful and really focusing on breathing life, beauty and faith in to everyone who sits in my chair. Read more>>
Sondra Holtz
When people hear that I decided to leave my 9-5 corporate life to move to Italy, they assume I am fearless. The truth is, I was terrified. For years, my life revolved around helping people through some of the hardest moments of their lives. Read more>>
Jeremy Layport
Grew up in Paso Robles, playing sports, and played football in college. During college, my love of training and science behind it grew. Upon graduation, I decided to continue my education with a graduate school program and a graduate assistantship at San Jose State, where I could develop my coaching skills and education. Read more>>
Lana Klein
Ever since I was very young, I have always been very interested in being in front of the camera. There’s just one photo of me from Halloween I was dressed up as Dorothy and I’m just posing with my whole heart. I’d like to think that’s where the story starts! Read more>>
