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.
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>>
Tony Giardinelli 
Music is in my blood. A lot of my family are musicians, so it’s always felt like a natural affinity for me. I started playing guitar at 12 and began producing on Ableton at 16, teaching myself through YouTube. After high school, I attended Dubstop, an electronic music school in New York, where I learned mixing, mastering, sound design, and DJing. Read more>>
Nausicaa Wong
I started creating content because I genuinely enjoyed sharing pieces of my life, whether it was fitness, lifestyle, fashion, food, or just being myself online. In the beginning, I wasn’t really thinking of it as a career. I was learning what worked, getting comfortable on camera, and slowly building a community around my personality and the things I actually enjoy. Read more>>
Irene Marquez-Moran 
I’ve always been a girl’s girl and have genuinely loved making other women feel confident. Conquer Beauty Clinic started from my desire to create a safe, welcoming space for the “happy medium” girls like me. I’ve always felt a little out of place in super upscale salons, but I still love a beautiful, elevated experience. Read more>>
cassian cox solorzano
i started making music in 2024 with my friend Aaronixir. He’s actually who inspired me to start rapping. But eventually i found my own style and sound. I started with more boom bap old rapping stuff, but i found rage/melodic sounds so fun to make, so i stuck with that. I don’t even make music for fame or money for real. Read more>>
Taylor Reinhold 
I grew up in Santa Cruz, where skateboarding, graffiti, music, and the culture around this town were a huge influence on me from an early age. I was always drawing, painting, and looking for ways to make things. A lot of my early education came from being out in the Bay Area, writing graffiti, making graphics, collaborating with friends, and learning through trial and error. Read more>>
Dan Frechette 
Back when I started, I had amazing parents, who were very supportive of my songwriting and were big fans. I remember them cheering me on at all my early gigs as a teenager in Pinawa and Winnipeg, Manitoba. They were big music fans and loved being part of the adventure of these early gigs. Read more>>
Yixin Zhang 
My background is in film and creative production. I have worked across film, advertising, and cultural projects. Over the years, my practice has grown interdisciplinary, spanning documentary and experimental film, visual art, public installations, and cultural experiences. One experience changed the way I began to think about audiences. One of my experimental films was presented at a large free public art museum in China. Read more>>
Alexis Vaatete 
Art has been a part of my life for as far back as I can remember. As a kid, I had a limitless imagination, and drawing became the way I brought the things I saw in my mind to life. I didn’t realize it at the time, but those early years were building the foundation for everything I would eventually become. Read more>>
Jason Williams 
Since the age of 14, I’ve been fascinated by music generally; especially Metal and extreme music a couple of years later. I wanted to know how bands got their trademark sound, what rules did they follow/break musically to achieve them, thoughtful questions to get the most of their superb minds. Read more>>
Marco Navarro 
My name is Marco Navarro, and I’m a filmmaker from Seaside, California. Ever since elementary school, I knew I was going to become a filmmaker. Back then, my film experience revolved around going to a local mexican market down the street of my house and buying boot-legged movies out of a very kind man’s trunk. Read more>>
Amanda Hoff 
I’ve always known I was meant to be a teacher. For a long time, I thought that meant teaching in a traditional classroom, and I did exactly that. I became a middle school teacher and spent years teaching teenagers, which I loved. But somewhere along the way, yoga completely changed the direction of my life. Read more>>
Jessica Storey
In 2018, I embarked on a journey from my hometown of Denver, Colorado, to San Diego, California, where I realized my dream of opening Knots in Knead. Initially focusing on massage therapy, my dedication to providing exceptional wellness experiences quickly earned a loyal clientele base. However, I recognized the growing demand for holistic skincare services and sought to expand my offerings. Read more>>
Casey Kennerson
Grew up making jewelry and beads with my mom and selling these across the country, we envisioned a high end show that we could sell at and when we couldn’t find what we were looking for we started our own with just 5 other exhibitors, the next year we grew to over 50 and since have grown to over 10 locations a year across CA and AZ with over 200 exhibitors in each. These events are focused on beads, gems and jewelry as well as Arts & Crafts and Artisans. Read more>>
Anthony Alexander 
My name is Anthony Alexander. I started singing when I was about 8 years old and never looked back! I come from a background of singers and musicians starting with my grandfather, down to my father and uncles on both sides of my family. I started playing small venues around 12 years old and still going strong ! Read more>>
Andre Hudson 
In 2013, we lost our middle daughter, Olivia, to brain cancer. Her passing brought profound grief and deep depression, but the Lord met us in our pain and supernaturally helped us find healing, hope, and a way forward. That experience shaped the heart of our ministry. Read more>>
Kayla Houston 
I was born and raised in San Diego and am the youngest of three siblings. I had a good childhood, and my mother kept me heavily involved in athletics. From a young age, I dreamed of playing softball in college. Read more>>
Fae Salfiti 
OUR BLISSTORY Bliss Urban Arts Center began long before there was a building, a staff, or even a dance company. It began with a vision. Founder, Owner and Artistic Director Fatena “Fae” Salfiti grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area as a self-taught, ambitious young dancer with a deep love for the arts. Read more>>
Tay Yung & Ty Gonzales LOT8 CEO’s 
LOT8 Productions really grew out of our lives as creatives before it ever became a company. We’re Tay Yung and Ty Gonzalez, co-CEOs and co-founders of LOT8. We’ve been longtime creative collaborators Tay coming from the artist and music side, and Ty from photography and videography and over the years, we found ourselves constantly working together and chasing creative opportunities wherever they were. Read more>>
Eric Michaelson 
My love of all types of cuisines started at an early age growing up in the S.F. Bay Area. My parents worked in the hospitality industry for years as servers/bartenders and also some specialty catering. Bearing witness to the organized chaos of many restaurants and hotels,it inspired me to find my way into the kitchen life in my late teens. Read more>>
Josiah Chavez 
My journey in beauty started with a genuine love for makeup and the way it could make someone feel not just how it could make someone look. I became a licensed esthetician in 2021 through California Cosmetology Academy, and from there I began building my career as a freelance makeup artist. Like many small-business owners, my journey wasn’t overnight. Read more>>
Kendra McLeish 
I’m Kendra, a San Diego girl, born and raised. I went to La Jolla High, but my childhood looked a lot different than people might assume. It was turbulent and lacked stability, and although it was a tough upbringing I am grateful that from a young age, it gave me the strong urge to build something better for myself. Read more>>
Martin Holman 
I started playing guitar when I was 12 years old, but honestly, becoming a guitarist was never the plan. I actually wanted to be a drummer. At the time, though, my family couldn’t afford a drum set, so the guitar became the instrument that was within reach. My first guitar was a simple black-and-white Strat-style guitar. Read more>>
Trinity Wohlferd 
Growing up i wrote my own music and wanted to record myself. After highschool I enrolled at SCCC School of Music where i earned a certificate in digital audio and beat production. I fell in love with mixing and doing the technical side of music instead of being an artist. Read more>>
Kylie (Me.Kai) Butler 
I actually started pursuing music while I was a student at UC Santa Barbara. I was a track athlete at the time, but eventually quit the team and had this realization that music was what I really wanted to be doing. Read more>>
Nan Young 
About 35 years ago I started an arts program at an elementary school where my 2 children were to attend. This entire story is on our web site and in several pod casts… but… in a nutshell… My son was in Kinder in the local school district and daughter scheduled to attend in 2 years. Read more>>
Sally Terrell 
I began my career in fashion as a jewelry buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City. There I developed an appreciation for color, proportion, texture, scale, and composition, and ultimately the relationship between an object and its surroundings. Read more>>
Tommie Morrow Jr.
Blue Wagon Ministry began in 2019 when God placed it on my heart to serve people experiencing homelessness and make love tangible. From that moment, I have been in relentless pursuit of that calling. What started as a simple desire to serve has grown into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing food, essential supplies, encouragement, and connections to detox, treatment, and other resources throughout San Diego. Read more>>
Abbie Coe 
I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up in Dothan, a small town in southeast Alabama. I attended Auburn University, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences, and after college I spent several years working in medical device sales. Read more>>
Moises G. Madrid 
My education in enterprise began before I had the vocabulary for it. At eight years old, in a neighborhood where no one had encountered Mexican candy, I recognized an unmet appetite and supplied it, one classmate at a time. By middle school the inventory had become video games. Read more>>
Colleen Robles 
My story begins with growing up in a home with many pets. Our family dog, Smokey, was adopted when I was a baby. Smokey was a Samoyed/Shepard mix and he and I grew up together. He was my furry brother. Going on walks, brushing him and loving him are some of the best memories from my childhood. Read more>>
Shannon Juliana
Hi, my name is Shannon and I would like to introduce you to my latest passion project. My lifestyle brand, Out West Design Co. is a fresh take on locally inspired graphics, crafted with care in Santa Cruz, Ca. The brand tells a story, one that spans through most of my life. I have always believed in taking risks and starting something from scratch. Read more>>
Dayna Donna 
### HOW IT STARTED My journey in music actually began very young. As a teenager, I had the opportunity to meet Abraham Quintanilla, and shortly afterward, doors began opening. I appeared as a singing contestant on *The Jenny Jones Show* and performed on *Showtime at the Apollo*. Read more>>
Bridgette Erdogan
It all started when I graduated with an associate degree in fashion at age 18 in Istanbul. Struggling to find a job due to the language barrier, I decided to learn English to expand my opportunities. At 19, I moved to California with plans to eventually return home. Read more>>
Paul Albertson
At my core, I am an entrepreneur, technologist, and musician. Read more>>
Chandler Pierce
I’ve always believed dogs are so much more than pets. They’re our sidekicks, our comfort, our comic relief, and for so many of us, truly our best friends. I always knew I wanted to work with dogs in some way, I just couldn’t figure out exactly what that looked like. Read more>>
