Every day we have a choice. We can support an up and coming podcaster, try a new family-run restaurant, join a boutique gym started by a local fitness champ or we could keep giving away our money to the handful of giants who already control so much of our commerce. Our daily decisions impact the kind world we live in; if we want a world where small businesses are growing and artists and creatives are thriving then we should support them with our time, money and attention. We’re proud to highlight inspiring creatives and entrepreneurs each week in Hidden Gems series. Check out some of our latest local gem features below.
Max Wumbo
I was introduced to psilocybin at 16 years old as a recreational drug, what I found was it was it was an intense experience that made me look deeply inward and analyze my perspective on hard solipsism, death, life, and trauma. Read more>>
Yolanda Rosenthal
It all started on my 21st birthday when I got my first facial. The feeling was so incredible that I instantly knew this was my calling—if I could make people feel that good, that’s what I wanted to do with my life. Read more>>
Olivia Stagi Jones
Makeropolis started in a closet, years ago, it began as a small Etsy shop where I sold vintage sewing patterns. Life soon took over with part-time jobs and the busy chaos of active-duty mom mode, which paused my business for a while. I eventually, found my way back to making. Read more>>
Katie Camacho
After years of being a florist mother and dj wife’s helper at events and frequently jumping in behind the scenes of chaotic weddings I decided I should show up for myself and as myself. The one who loves organizing and things staying on time. Read more>>
Paul Richmond
I’ve been making art for pretty much as long as I can remember. I started taking art lessons when I was a little kid, and I was incredibly lucky to have a wonderful mentor, Linda Regula, who helped me fall in love with painting. She saw something in me before I really knew what that something was myself. Read more>>
Alisone BONAFOS
I moved to the U.S. from France and after a while, creating roots has become increasingly important to me. Ventura is the first place where I have truly wanted to make a home. Read more>>
Sara L Oliver
I am Sara L Oliver and as a woman in my 50’s I’ve decided to stop trying to fit into any one box. If you listen to my music playlist you will find a representation of nearly every genre and that is probably the best metaphor to describe myself. Read more>>
Nadia Deering
I have always been a deeply artistic person. My education is in fashion merchandising and have spent the past seven years working as an interior decorator. About a year and a half ago, the itch to expand my artistic skillset was stronger than ever. I had the opportunity to mentor under an amazing fine line tattoo artist in Grover Beach, KI Fineline. Read more>>
Abby Stoltzfus
I began my career as a hairstylist in 2002. For the first decade, I trained, grew, and built my career back East before relocating my family to California’s Central Coast in 2012. I quickly fell in love with this community—the authenticity of the people, the support among local businesses, and the relationships that have grown into lifelong friendships. Read more>>
Stacey Whitman
I am a native Texan with a background in genetics and healthcare management. While I find a great deal of purpose and fulfillment in my career, I have always been drawn to entrepreneurship and the idea of creating something from the ground up. Read more>>
Andrew Kam
I am originally from Toronto, Canada. I was always a curious kid, so I jumped around on different instruments throughout my childhood. Ultimately, I fell in love with the guitar. Eventually, music production was the natural route for my curious teenage self, so I started producing a ton, which eventually led me to attend Berklee College of Music. Read more>>
Latrice Slaughter
My name is Latrice Slaughter. I’m an author based in Los Angeles, CA. I’ve written 4 children’s books that are centered around happiness and building self- esteem in children. My journey in writing started when I was a little girl. Read more>>
Anastasiya Bachmanova
Art and nature have been passions of mine since I was a child. Both outlets gave me a place to be myself, and my outings in nature flowed directly into my creative expression. I was born in Russia, and when I was five, my family immigrated to America. Read more>>
Madalena Medeiros
While I have been practicing yoga for over 20 years, in 2020, I became certified to teach yoga as an RYT-200. After retiring from a career in academia, I began teaching yoga classes in the fall of 2022. Read more>>
Shemeika Fox
My journey has been shaped by a passion for being a part of peoples lives and the navigation of important life transitions. I began by building strong relationships, learning the value of listening closely, communicating clearly, and showing up consistently for the people who trusted me. Read more>>
Christian Villa Huerta
What’s Going On 805 started from a pretty simple idea: I wanted to make it easier for people to know what was actually happening in their own communities. Living on the Central Coast, I noticed there were always events, live music, markets, festivals, community programs, local businesses and other things happening, but the information was scattered everywhere. Read more>>
Dr. Cassie Woods-Peirce
I’m a pediatric physical therapist by training, and I started Children’s Therapy Network in 2004. Like a lot of small businesses, it didn’t begin with some grand master plan. It really started with seeing a need and believing there had to be a better way to support children and families. Read more>>
Angela Horacek
I’ve been surfing since the ’90s, and Mamala Surf really came out of my own frustration with women’s wetsuits. I was always looking for a suit that was warm enough for cold water but still flexible and comfortable to paddle in, and I felt like women were often an afterthought when it came to choices and performance wetsuits. Read more>>
Jolene Cruz
From what I remember, I started getting into music at a young age. My mom would always play all kinds of music around the house. I remember she had two huge speakers on each side of her computer and would just bump all day. Read more>>
Jason Abraham
It started with a camera and a kid who couldn’t stop moving around a subject to see what changed. In middle school I saved up for my first film camera, a Minolta. Read more>>
Swallow Creek Ranch Kyla Grafton
Nestled in the rolling hills of Cayucos and overlooking the Pacific Ocean is where you’ll find Swallow Creek Ranch. Read more>>
Teya Perkins
Painting, has been one of my healthy ways to cope. Through the four teal painted walls of my teenage life I can remember putting on a big set of Dr.Dre headphones on while my parents yelled at each other. The noise canceling on those wow-ee. Painting was just one of the new mediums I could sit and really go into “my world” of imagination. Read more>>
Isabelle Gullo
C.A.R.E.4Paws really grew out of what we were seeing firsthand as volunteers at our local animal shelter. So many dogs and cats were entering the shelter system not because their families didn’t love them, but because people were struggling to afford veterinary care, spay/neuter services, pet food and other basic resources. Read more>>
Shannon Cecil
I studied Film Studies in college at UCSB but actually graduated without ever touching a camera! Read more>>
Lindsay Lewis
I was 33, at a rock bottom with two kids and a failing marriage. My anxiety had become so chronic that I couldn’t recognize myself anymore. I tried everything… therapy, prayer, Xanax and drinking-I felt hopeless because I knew I was meant for MORE, I knew I was inherently GOOD, but couldn’t see a way back to myself. Read more>>
Teddy Ramirez
As far as my love for pizza goes, I’ve loved it as far back as I can remember. I have many early memories of the excitement leading up to picking up a pizza or waiting for the delivery driver to arrive. At some point in my 20’s, I started putting together my own pizzas from store bought dough and hosted some pizza parties. Read more>>
Leanne Elliott
I came from a twenty-five year career as a wedding planner in Santa Barbara Wine Country. When the change of midlife arrived, I knew it was time to pivot and begin to think more seriously about what I wanted the second half of my life to look like. Read more>>
Angee Johnson
Taste of SLO started almost unintentionally, which feels very lucky when I look back on it. In 2016, I read an ad looking for a guide for a food tour in Santa Barbara, and the idea completely intrigued me. Read more>>
Kasie Craig
I’ve been a photographer for more than 13 years, but I don’t think I ever could have predicted where this career would take me when I first started. Photography began as something I loved and slowly grew into a business, a career, and ultimately a huge part of my life. Read more>>
Carlos Mendivil
My journey started in 2008 while studying Media Arts and Graphic Design at New Mexico Highlands University. I was fortunate to begin working on professional projects early, including work with New Mexico museums, Cultural Affairs, and the Governor’s Gallery. Those experiences pushed me beyond traditional graphic design into branding, photography, web, interactive media, and exhibition work. Read more>>
Kalé Woods
**The calling was never in question — only the shape it would take.** It started earlier than I realized. Growing up, my father had a habit of stopping me mid-thought and asking, *’What are you thinking?’* It used to frustrate me as a child. But looking back, it was one of the greatest gifts he ever gave me. Read more>>
Tatiana Mustafa
I definitely didn’t set out thinking I would become a myofunctional therapist! I started my career as a dental hygienist and spent about 10 years working in dentistry. My interest in myofunctional therapy really started because of my own experience. In my 20s, my teeth began shifting after orthodontic treatment—even though I was wearing my retainer—and I wanted to understand why. Read more>>
Deovion Thomas
From as young as I can remember, I’ve always been very bold. I wore mohawks, I was never scared to take risks, and talking was my specialty. If it didn’t make sense, wasn’t fair, or was explained halfway, the chances were I wasn’t abiding by it. I grew up poor, but fortunate enough to never miss a meal. Read more>>
Sarah Suput
We are Marko and Sarah Suput. We married in 2012 and soon after, decided that we wanted to start a business together. One night at the dinner table, Marko stated ‘you know what I’d really like to do is start a distillery.’ Sarah’s response was, ‘what’s a distillery?’ And from that point forward we got to work. Read more>>
Joel Garcia
My wife started social media first I seen how she was so happy she was teaching. She talked to me about leaving her teaching job. We went to one of our first events and I fell in love with it as well and I wanted to start doing it and she’s been helping me ever since. Read more>>
Laila Whiting Clyburn
I have been working within the medical aesthetic industry since 2016 and graduated nursing school in 2018. I recently went back to school for my Masters in Nursing which was completed in 2023. I have a strong passion for mental health advocacy. I worked in a well regarded corporate medicine practice within aesthetics and left in 2024 to start Injections by Laila. Read more>>
Solomon Hyaes
When I was 13, I was attending Rancho Cucamonga Middle School (RCMS). I was in the 8th grade, and every day after school, I would go to a program called Think Together. Years later, I would actually end up working for Think Together before the pandemic, which makes that part of my story feel very full circle. Read more>>
Jodi Gilbert
My path into wellness began long before I ever imagined owning a wellness center. In high school, I was struggling with severe constipation, feeling unwell in my body, and depression. A friend introduced me to colon hydrotherapy through her family’s work, and the experience became a turning point for me. Read more>>
Jacquelyn De Longe
Hi. I’m Jacquelyn De Longe, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and owner of State Street Therapy. My personal experiences growing up informed the direction of my career. As a mother of two, I was initially drawn to the public school system to work with teen and parents around behavioral and learning issues. Read more>>
Nick Sutton
I wanted to create something more than just another brand chasing margins, profits, and likes. I wanted to build something that actually feeds the future — the community. Without community, brands lose meaning. Without people, culture, and connection, apparel is just fabric. Choke Stoke was founded on one principle: purpose over profit. Read more>>
Ina Cole
Ever since I was a kid, I have been drawn to movement, music and being outside in nature. I grew up in a small village called Neumarkt am Wallersee, just outside Salzburg, Austria and I was a very happy, active child. I was always dancing, running around in nature or finding some kind of way to move. Read more>>
Ellie Broedlow
I jumped into photography without knowing exactly where it would take me. What began as taking pictures for family and friends quickly turned into something I genuinely loved. I started sharing my photography on TikTok, and somehow, those posts began reaching people who wanted me to capture their own special moments. Read more>>
Samantha Enciso
I started loving nails at a very young age. My love for nails was always the painting part of it. I love drawing and painting and that’s how it all began. Since I can remember I would paint on my cousins nails as a little girl. I would also paint on my friends nails in middle school during lunch time or after school. Read more>>
Shawn Sherman
I’ve been immersed in cannabis for a long time. Before that, and for years alongside it, I spent nearly two decades in cybersecurity, on the technical, hacking side of the industry. When I get into something, I tend to go all in, and eventually those two paths converged. Read more>>
Daniel Sanchez
My name is Daniel Sanchez, born and raised in Santa Maria. I began my detailing journey shortly after my son turned 1 years old back in 2021. I had previously worked for another gentleman who had his own car wash business while I was in high school. Growing up I was always a fan of cars. Read more>>
Michelle Flores
My journey in the beauty industry began over 14 years ago, and what started as a career eventually became something much more personal to me. Over the years, I discovered that what I loved most about being a lash artist wasn’t simply creating beautiful lashes. It was the connection I built with my clients and the confidence they walked out with. Read more>>
HEECHAN KIM
Photography came into my life somewhat unexpectedly. I grew up in different parts of the world, including South Korea and the Philippines, and I think constantly being surrounded by new places, people, and cultures shaped the way I see things long before I ever picked up a camera professionally. When I eventually started photographing people, I tried just about everything—sports, products, corporate work, portraits, events. Read more>>
