Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Diaz.
Hi Danny , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My journey to Lompoc began when I took a job in Buellton as a housekeeping manager and needed a place to live; Lompoc was the spot I chose. When I eventually left that job, I realized I had completely fallen in love with Old Town and its raw, untapped potential. Deciding to plant deep roots here, I opened my business, The Silly Bee LLC.
When searching for the perfect location, there was no better choice than 101 N. H Street in the historic Lilley Building. Finding it felt like pure destiny; the incredible synchronicities surrounding this move make it clear that it was meant to be. Lompoc is a beautiful small town with immense potential in our downtown district. By focusing on thoughtful beautification, we can truly skyrocket local tourism. With the Lompoc Theatre restoration project nearing the finish line, community momentum is undeniably moving in the right direction.
I’ve always been someone who gets involved and brings people together. Back in Nebraska, I was going door-to-door for the Libertarian Party, working the camera for a local TV show called We Omaha News, and participating with Omaha in Solidarity Movement . From marching against Monsanto and organizing a a global chemtrail protest for Omaha, to standing on the front lines with the Black Lives Matter movement to protest police brutality, You can find videos and photos on the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PowerToThe92. I learned how to unite people for a greater cause.
Unity is exactly what Lompoc needs right now. When I first moved here, I would ask store clerks, restaurant servers, and bar attendants what there was to do in town. The response was always the same, “There’s nothing to do in Lompoc.” I knew right then I had to change that mindset. There is a massive, thriving creative community right here in Old Town, and as a creative myself, I wanted to shine a light on it.
Our community might feel small right now compared to places like Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, or Pismo Beach, but the talent here is undeniable. We just need to make it widespread.
My skill set is unique—I can learn pretty much anything if I put my mind to it. Beyond singing and playing guitar, I personally built everything you see inside The Silly Bee. I designed and set up the website, built the display racks, rigged the lighting, and handled the interior design. On the business side, I’ve driven our PR, reached out to news outlets, and worked closely with the community. I’ve even allowed the local ghost hunt tours inside my building in my start up. They ended choosing my area as their favorite location.
While it can be frustrating to be overlooked or left out of local newspaper coverage, I refuse to let it slow me down. I’m always looking for innovative ways to move us forward. Recently, I spoke at a city council meeting regarding the local drone situation, and I even created an AI-rendered vision of what Old Town could look like to improve foot traffic. People are really starting to notice, come around, and comment positively on the vision.
Down here in Old Town, we think as a hive. We have to support each other to survive and thrive. Every single shop down here deserves recognition because they’ve all helped me along the way. When one of us wins, we all win.
I am incredibly grateful for the neighborly spirit holding down the fort, and I want to shine a light on the local crew making waves:
The Lonely Plover: For heavily pushing the First Thursday Artwalks that I proudly participate in.
The Garden Shoppe & Jupiter’s Spark: For adding vibrant life and unique energy to our streets.
Southside Coffee: For keeping our community fueled and connected.
Awaken “A Women’s Gym”: For empowering local women and building strength in our community.
Central Coast Thrift & RLD Clothing: For keeping downtown stylish, sustainable, and local.
Mammas Cafe (La Botte): For providing the comfort and flavor that brings people together.
Angela’s Mexican Restaurant: For always stopping in and supporting The Silly Bee.
Jwhite Productionz: For stepping up, sharing the vision, and doing a feature story on my store and future content to come.
The thrift menu: For promoting my store in its crucial early days.
Rachels Jams- For collaborating and promoting The Silly Bee in its early days.
Route 1 Farmers Market – For providing local healthy NON GMO produce to the community.
New Lows (Ben): For giving me a tour of his store and offering invaluable advice when I needed it most.
Dj Vaquero: For promoting my store to the Hispanic community. Sales of our custom shirts boomed after his content dropped.
Oddfellows: For giving me a tour and constantly supporting our custom shirt business through word of mouth. kc
Lompoc Queer Alliance: For actively promoting our custom shirts to other local businesses and doing something great for Lompoc in uniting community.
Inklings: For spreading the word about our custom apparel and handing out my business cards to their clients while providing fine printing services.
Goodwill of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties: For helping staff my store through their labor partnership programs.
The Lompoc Theatre Project- for having great conversations with me and donating old Lompoc Record plaques which will soon go up.
The Santa Maria Sun- Thank you Madison White for Creating The Silly Bee Archives and writing about my store and guaranteed future segments.
Our Local Artists: Every single artist who has performed or had art in our outside my store (including Drukozi, Serendipity Band, Edward J. Sanders, alissavictoria444, Felicia Kincaid, Jessie’s Art Collection, and Katya Orlovie ). Your talents are proudly featured on our website. https://www.thesillybee.biz/local-business
Donors: Every single individual who has donated anything to the store, you are truly appreciated.
Community: Those of you who have just gone in there and had a 2 hour conversation with me for no reason. I sometimes appreciate that more, because of the connection we build.
A hive doesn’t function without its core team. A massive thank you to my beautiful employees, Stevee Chavez and Cornelia Hernandez, and our dedicated volunteers, Sky, my dad Fernando Diaz and my stepmom Ninette Diaz-Paiz who drive all the way from Oxnard California, Love you.
Most of all, none of this would be possible without the unwavering support of my sister Sari, and the one and only—my mom, ROSA.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Building something from nothing is never as glamorous as it looks on the outside. In the beginning, the challenges were overwhelming. I had to draw up the entire blueprints for the shop myself, physically track down realtors, and pitch my heart out just to convince them to see my vision.
Funding the dream required pure sacrifice. I had to refinance my own car just to get the doors open I dropped 10,000, My mom dropped 10,000 and like many small business owners, I couldn’t pay myself a single dime for a long time until the store finally found its footing. Managing payroll, keeping up with rising prices, handling inventory, running advertising, printing custom shirts, and keeping the lights on—I was doing it all. What made it even heavier was navigating that entire launch phase without much support from my family or friends in the beginning because they were busy with their jobs. Iunderstand that, but thats when i found out lompoc has a loving community and nothing but support came my way, from complete strangers.
When you are brand new to running a small business, you don’t know what you don’t know. You are forced to figure it out as you go, and unfortunately, people notice that vulnerability. There have been times when people tried to take advantage of my inexperience or use the platform I built for their own selfish gain. Spotting those “takers and users” and protecting my business has been a tough lesson to learn.
But through all the trial and error, the sacrifices, and the steep learning curves, the beautiful truth of Old Town Lompoc prevailed: there has been far more genuine help from this community than there have been people trying to take.
We’ve been impressed with The Silly Bee LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At its heart, The Silly Bee LLC is a true, traditional thrift store—especially tailored to the needs of our local community. In an area with a significant unhoused and low-income population, our mission is to provide high-quality items at prices everyday people can afford. Our pricing structure is kept intentionally low: we feature $1 clearance bins for items that need a second home, with standard clothing items priced accessibly at $3, $5, $8, $12, and $15, maxing out at a hard cap of $20.
But we are much more than just a retail space. By day, The Silly Bee bridges the gap between affordable secondhand goods and high-tech customization. I’ve invested in a high-end Direct-to-Film (DTF) machine, allowing us to sell custom DTF transfers and premium customized shirts. Soon, I will also be setting up our new laser engraver to expand our custom-made lineup even further.
To give back to the community that keeps us buzzing, I am launching The Silly Bee Podcast on our YouTube channel soon. This platform will be a space dedicated to elevating our neighbors, featuring and interviewing other local business owners to share their stories. Also I am still planning the night events such as poetry night, art night, a place for people to express them selves with like minded people. When Serendipity Band played on a first Thursday artwalk I felt it . Ifelt it can definately work. People just came out of nowhere attracted to the vibe. Its what is missing here that connection to community in a high frequency area hat will bring more traffic on that corner.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I like that community unites. I love the history of Lompock Rancho, the mounds you see when you first drive in, The fog that randomly creeps in, The caves north of Jalama, the Rockets and the sound that reminds me of reading Zechariah Sitchin and Gilgamesh searching for the land of the rocket ships, the haunting ghost tours in old town. It all feels Ancient and that’s where we need to go to our ancient past to find out who we are.
I would like for the city of Lompoc and its community to be more connected, especially with business owners, and business owners connect a little more with your city. In Old Town Lompoc there is an untapped community we can reach out to a little more: Military, African/American, Hispanic/Latino, Filipino, Youth.
A lot of Military have come in and has mentioned that they dont have transortation to old town and that they would spend alot of money down here but they feel stuck at the base because of scheduled pick up times and not everybody can enter the base. So I believe we as a community can figure something out there.
I don’t like that the intersection sits on 2 highways. I’ve called the city of Lompoc and Caltrans to see what I can do and cannot do. I cannot get an event going because anything on a highway has to be 5 feet behind the sidewalk, so basically nothing curbside. Sundays would be beautiful just to have live music or DJ in old town from 12 to 4pm. It will resonate and bring in foot traffic.
Pricing:
- $3 to $20 clothing max
- Dollar Bin wednesdays
- 20 Dollar Custom Shirts
- DTF Transfers 6 8 12 15
- 2:30 min to 5 min promotional video $250 to $500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thesillybee.biz
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sillybeethrift/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sillybeethrift/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sillybeethrift
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-silly-bee-lompoc?osq=the+silly+bee
- Other: https://www.gofundme.com/f/join-the-silly-bees-mission-for-nature-and-healing
