My SGV Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Armando Novelo grew up in and around the San Gabriel Valley, where he was raised by a single mother who frequently moved the family between Montebello, East LA, and Monterey Park before finally settling down in West Covina. He went on to attend UCLA, where he earned a degree in Psychology and stumbled into the mortgage industry while still a student 25 years ago. Today, he focuses...

Send us Fan Mail Christopher Luke Trevilla is a first-generation son of Mexican-American immigrants residing in Whittier, California. For over two decades, he has dedicated his career to social services, education, and safety net provider operations, focusing heavily on developmental disabilities and community inclusion. His extensive professional journey spans roles from classroom teacher and Reg...

Send us Fan Mail Live from the 626 Night Market at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, this special Saturday edition brings you more conversations with local residents. Captured right from the heart of the festival, these interviews highlight the vibrant energy, diverse voices, and unique stories that define the San Gabriel Valley.  Whether you are a local resident, a regular 626 Night Market...

Send us Fan Mail Live from the 626 Night Market at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, we wrap up the weekend with our Sunday compilation of interviews featuring local attendees, food creators, and San Gabriel Valley community members.  This compilation gives viewers and festivalgoers an inside look at the people, small businesses, and shared experiences that bring the SGV to life. Subscribe...

Send us Fan Mail Live from the 626 Night Market at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, this special compilation features interviews with local residents, students, food entrepreneurs, and community members. Featured conversations include local entrepreneur Andrew Lee, founder of Zindrew Chili and Zindrew Wonton Shop, alongside local students, festival attendees, and an educator from the Garve...

Send us Fan Mail OGK Joshua is a San Gabriel Valley native and independent recording artist raised in Covina, California. He played football at Charter Oak High School and the University of La Verne before serving in the United States Army as an 11 Bravo infantryman stationed at Fort Hood and deployed to Europe. Releasing music as an independent artist under the 626 Syndicate label, his discograph...

Send us Fan Mail Justin Tran is a San Gabriel native and first-generation Chinese Vietnamese American born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley. Raised by his grandmother, mother, and older sister, he attended Gabrielino High School, where he participated in speech and debate, FBLA, and student clubs. He began working in corporate executive assistant roles at age 18 and earned his bachelor's...

Send us Fan Mail Eric "Manny" Padilla is a film and television location manager born in Monterey Park, California, and raised in the San Gabriel Valley. Growing up in an apartment above a laundromat on New Avenue, he attended local schools including Emerson Elementary, Garvey Intermediate, and Mark Keppel High School. After moving to Burbank to pursue work in the entertainment industry,...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Keith L. Marshall, PsyD, M.H.D., is the Founder, CEO, and Clinical Supervisor of Dedicato Treatment Center, a California Department of Health Care Services–certified substance use disorder treatment program specializing in co-occurring mental health conditions. Under his leadership, Dedicato earned The Joint Commission’s highest level of accreditation, placing it among approxi...

Send us Fan Mail Albert Wan is a San Gabriel Valley native, raised in Arcadia, and a second-generation business owner leading his family’s enterprise software company. After studying at UC Berkeley and working as a software engineer at Apple Inc., where he contributed to software projects including Chinese keyboards and CarPlay, he returned home in 2018. Today, he focuses on modernizing his family...

Send us Fan Mail Sandy Velasco is an LA-based artist born in the Philippines who earned a degree in Mathematics from UCLA and worked as an accountant before entering the entertainment industry. She has called the San Gabriel Valley home for over 15 years and has performed standup comedy on stage and film across California, Las Vegas, and internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland...

Send us Fan Mail Willington Liu is an actor featured in the Creation of the Gods trilogy (封神三部曲) and the founder of Creation Talent Academy (CTA), a performing arts institute based in Arcadia, California. Raised in the San Gabriel Valley, he built a background in competitive Latin dance before earning his BFA in acting from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Through CTA, he offer...

Send us Fan Mail Arturo Barrios is a San Gabriel Valley musician born in Monterey Park and raised between Monterey Park and Rosemead. After discovering grunge and punk rock in junior high, he formed a band with classmates at Rosemead High School that became Audio Karate, performing at backyard shows and local venues in El Monte and Baldwin Park. In 2001, Audio Karate signed with Kung Fu Records, r...

Send us Fan Mail Melanie Sauer serves as the Executive Director of the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena, California, assuming the position in October 2024 after serving as the organization’s Chief Financial Officer since 2021. Her career in financial and operational leadership spans the nonprofit, cultural, and higher education sectors, including senior management roles at the Lucas Museum of...

Send us Fan Mail Joshua Lin represents Titanium Robotics (FIRST Robotics Competition Team 1160), a student-led high school robotics program based at San Marino High School in San Marino, California. Now entering its 23rd year as a team, Titanium Robotics designs, builds, and programs competitive robots to participate in international challenges organized by the FIRST® Robotics Competition. Dedicat...

Send us Fan Mail Vincent Chan is the founder of Fujiwara Tofu Cafe, a Japanese-themed cafe and community hub located in El Monte, California. Inspired by the iconic anime series Initial D and Japanese automotive culture, he launched the business as a passion project at local night markets in 2018 before establishing a physical storefront. The cafe specializes in house-made tofu pudding, soy milk d...

Send us Fan Mail Samuel Lopez is a first-generation Mexican American entrepreneur who was raised in Baldwin Park as part of a family of nine. He currently works for Los Angeles County and is the founder of Ninety-One Good Old Days Clothing, an independent apparel brand centered on resilience, discipline, and self-belief. Grounded in the work ethic and core values taught by his parents, he establis...

Send us Fan Mail Ada Gates was born into New York high society, with a family history in America dating back to the 1700s. In 1978, she became the first woman licensed as a farrier to shoe thoroughbred racehorses in the United States and Canada, launching a career that took her far from her expected path in life. In this episode, Ada shares the story of how an unexpected trip West led to her groun...

Send us Fan Mail Michelle Shimohara is a San Gabriel Valley native raised in Monterey Park and Montebello, who attended Macy Intermediate and Schurr High School before building a career in real estate that began in 2014. She previously appeared on the MySGV Podcast in a widely viewed episode about her Japanese American identity and upbringing, and returns in this follow-up conversation to share mo...

Send us Fan Mail Mike Tai was born in Boyle Heights and raised in San Gabriel as an only child to parents from Japan. Growing up, he participated in foundational Japanese American community activities, including attending Japanese school on Saturdays, playing basketball for a Japanese league, and playing baseball for a Monterey Park team. His interest in automotive culture began in his youth, spar...

Send us Fan Mail Mel Tillekeratne is the co-founder and executive director of The Shower of Hope, a Los Angeles nonprofit formally known as End Homelessness California. Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Mel moved to Los Angeles in 2003, and a chance wrong turn through Skid Row in 2011 set him on a path from volunteer to full-time advocate. He first founded Monday Night Mission, a grassroots effort tha...

Send us Fan Mail Oliver Wang is a professor of sociology at California State University, Long Beach, who specializes in the study of popular culture. He is the author of Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews of the San Francisco Bay Area and Cruising J-Town: Japanese American Car Culture In Los Angeles . In 2025, he served as the project curator for the exhibition Cruising J-Town: Beh...

Send us Fan Mail Will Co was born in Vietnam in 1981 and immigrated to the United States as a child after his grandparents, who worked with the United States during the Vietnam War, successfully relocated and completed the paperwork to bring the rest of the family over. He grew up on the border of Monterey Park and Montebello, where he attended Schurr High School. Today, Will is the founder of Cok...

Send us Fan Mail Keegan Fong is the founder and owner of Woon, a homestyle Chinese food restaurant and packaged goods line based in Los Angeles. Raised in the Pasadena area, he worked professionally in apparel marketing before transitioning full-time to the culinary industry. Woon initially launched as a pop-up noodle stand in 2014 to share the original recipes of his mother, Julie Chen, also know...

Send us Fan Mail Ryan Ching is a Hawaii-based entrepreneur, chef, and social media storyteller who co-founded Ry’s Poke Shack on the North Shore of Oahu in 2021 alongside his wife, Khannie. Originally trained as an architect with a doctorate in architecture from the University of Hawaii, he pivoted to the food industry during the pandemic. His restaurant utilizes a customized, made-to-order prepar...