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.
Courtney Wilson 
I’ve been a registered nurse for over 14 years, and my background has included cardiac and plastic surgery nursing. I’ve always loved medicine and taking care of people, but when I found aesthetics, I immediately loved that it combined the clinical side of nursing with artistry, creativity, and helping people feel more confident. Read more>>
San Francisco Neo-Futurists 
The San Francisco Neo-Futurists are a collective of wildly prolific artists dedicated to the perpetual creation of experimental theatre that is immediate, ephemeral, accessible, and cheap. We believe the stage is an extension of daily life: we perform as ourselves in a non-illusory, interactive style that challenges the audience to create alongside us as active participants with a voice of their own. Read more>>
Alma Lozano 
My journey into healing began after a serious back injury in 2010 changed my life. As I moved through my own healing, I felt called to understand the body, energy, and spirit more deeply. I went to acupuncture school in 2011, began my Reiki Holy Fire training in 2014, and completed Level 3 in 2023. Read more>>
Steff Lutz 
Dream Ranch really began with Frank’s vision. He saw the potential in his five-acre property in Corralitos to become a place where people could gather and celebrate some of the most important moments in their lives. We started hosting parties at the ranch for friends & family before launching the venue, and it offered an early glimpse of how special a celebration there could feel. Read more>>
Genai Wilson 
As a little girl, I remember watching my mom style her hair and put on her makeup, and all I could think about was how excited I was to grow older and be able to do the same. Read more>>
Stacia Sundahl 
I have been a hairstylist for 24 years. AT 16 I started beauty school, my junior year of high school well also working at Starbucks and being a freelance Make Up artist for MAC. I moved to LA at 18 and trained in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Read more>>
Felipe Sebastiao Calado 
TITLE FOR THE ARTICLE: Felipe Sebastiao Calado: An Executive Voice in International Education My journey in education has been shaped by one constant belief: education has the power to transform not only students, but families, communities, and entire societies. I grew up in Dijon before moving to Paris. Read more>>
Monica Hang 
I started LunaLuxe as a creative outlet and a way to build something of my own, and what started small quickly grew into a full-time business. I began with permanent jewelry and eventually expanded into ready-to-wear jewelry and pop-up events throughout Southern California. As I gained experience, I realized how much I enjoyed not only creating jewelry but also teaching others. Read more>>
Mark Whelan 
My creative path started back home in Wicklow Town, Ireland. My dad was big into photography, and some of my earliest memories are tagging along with him to local camera club meet-ups. That early exposure hooked me on visual storytelling. Read more>>
Hayley Hall 
I started riding at StarCycle Santa Barbara in 2019, right before COVID. At the time, I was simply looking for something fun that would help me start my own fitness journey. I had no idea that walking into that studio would eventually change the entire direction of my life. After two years of riding as a member, I decided to audition to become an instructor. Read more>>
Agnieszka Kazmierczak 
Years ago my dear friends Jim and Gloria Dougherty invited me to what I thought was a Carmel garden tour. It ended up being a class that was put on by a wonderful local florist Annette Kunz featuring the incredible Gregor H. Lersch. I had no idea of who he was, yet that day and his class changed the course of my life. Read more>>
DeRosay 
I’ve been singing in church since the age of 2. I never really took singing serious until 2/3 years after I graduated from College. I was always encouraged to do so but I wasn’t ready, I was nervous , scared, and just focused on other irrelevant things. It wasn’t until February of last year when I started performing and doing gigs in San Francisco. Read more>>
Fabiola Nuno 
My name is Fabiola, and I am proudly Mexican, from the state of Jalisco. I am the oldest of seven siblings—four boys and three girls, including myself. I grew up on a small ranch with my parents and siblings, surrounded by nature and a very simple life, but a beautiful one. From a young age, I had a very special connection to food. Read more>>
Bret Andersson 
Guardian Mold Testing really started with my own family’s experience with mold. In 2022, my wife and I began noticing that something didn’t feel right in our home. I was dealing with allergy-like symptoms for the first time in my life, and my wife was experiencing congestion, burning eyes, and noticing strange smells in certain rooms. Read more>>
Allison Hummel 
My path to interior design started in the Bay Area. I’ve always known I wanted to be an interior designer—in fact, I started taking design classes as early as junior high. While earning my degree from Academy of Art in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to design office spaces for a startup solar manufacturing company. Read more>>
Etenia Gasper 
Dirty South Oyster Bar was born in the 9th Ward and from the culture that raised me. My grandmother Claire, my mom’s mother, introduced me to the kitchen and cooking world around age 7, and those early moments cooking with her sparked my love for food. My grandfather Edward Jr., a fisherman, introduced me to oysters, the water, and how to shuck them. Read more>>
Kat Rose 
I first fell in love with tattooing when I was around 15 or 16 years old. My high school sweetheart would get tattooed by the family tattoo artist, even though it was totally underage and illegal, and I loved the process and the craft. Read more>>
Stacey Moss
Moss Botanicals began long before it became a business. My relationship with plants, aromas and healing has been a thread throughout my life. I spent twenty years as a massage therapist, studied essential oils at the College of Botanical Healing Arts, and later earned my degree in Social and Behavioral Science, where my studies included traditional plant medicine in Guatemala. Read more>>
Mariea Antoinette
I started out taking piano lessons at my church and singing in the children’s gospel choir every Saturday, it was a requirement in our home to have music a part of our upbringing. I took piano lessons as a student, and I loved music deeply especially the gospel choir. My parents had me enrolled in an all-girl private catholic school. Read more>>
