Finding Founders

You are about to hear from Stu Krieger, writer of some of your favorite Disney childhood classics. From the animated film The Land Before Time to the Disney Channel Originals Cow Belles and Smart House , Stu’s career shaped the childhoods of a generation. But before he was penning the stories that entertained children across the nation, Stu was just another kid entranced by the spell of movie magi...

You are about to listen to Eric and Ali, a couple who have made their living by farming in the unlikeliest of places: Downtown Los Angeles. Now, you may be wondering ‘Is that even possible?’. Looking at the concrete urban sprawl, there’s little green space to begin with let alone enough to raise a sustainable amount of crops on. Yet, despite the lack of water, space, and quality soil…it seems that...

This week I talked to Ruth Askren and Phoebe Piper, owners of the beekeeping company Hive Tribe. Hive Tribe has established and maintained 25 active beekeeping sites throughout LA and Ventura county, working with a variety of estates and celebrity clients. But before we sat down to talk, Ruth and Phoebe gave me a taste of their sweet lifestyle by letting me don the beekeeping suit myself. On a war...

Mina Le, a former economics major who found her career as a fashion Youtuber in the unlikeliest of times: the pandemic. Stuck inside the house with no place to be, many of us turned to unexpected hobbies to fill our time. There was the sourdough bread craze, where people made DIY yeast starters in their kitchens and posted their golden-baked results on instagram. Others learned a new instrument, c...

Sareen began his fashion education on the steps of the Taj Mahal, picking up snippets from the people he drove. After finishing a Mechanical Engineering degree, he moved to Canada, but had no idea where to start. So he started at the bottom washing dishes for $2 an hour. Soon after he would be making $1.2M a year but a heart attack would have him realize his true calling... founding a fashion comp...

Tricia Sugita at one point was one of the top Starcraft players in the world. This led to her getting offers to play professionally, and even an early recruitment to stream on JustinTV which would eventually become Twitch. This ascent to the top of the gaming world started early with competitions between her and her brothers. Her natural competitiveness led her to hone her video game skills until...

Originally from Pakistan, Ammar Belal grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. His father ran one of the biggest textile manufacturers in the country, but his parents wanted him to have a global perspective. Cycling through Boston, Geneva, and Lahore throughout his childhood, Ammar always lived an unconventional life. When he finished school he was slated to inherit his father's empire, but 9/11 chan...

Don recalled the struggle of keeping family-owned businesses alive under the shadow of multi-million dollar hotel chains. And we wanted to look at this industry, hospitality in particular, to understand one of its unique subcultures. Today we are talking to Don Martine and Cassandra Hazen, founders of California Association of Boutique and Breakfast Inns–better known as CABBI. This organization en...

Jeremy Le is the co-founder of Ismahawk, a production company and youtube channel with over 100 million views. This channel started years ago when Jeremy was a twenty-something-year-old kid who wanted to dabble in some 3D work. Though initially the dream was modest, as he refined his skills, the opportunities grew and grew. Throughout the years, Jeremy and his team honed their editing skills, crea...

Jen Levy grew up in a family and religious school environment that emphasized the importance of philanthropy. After realizing her twenty-year-long career as a teacher wasn’t quite fulfilling her, she decided to combine her love of education with her passion for farming. She moved to Ohio to learn all about the industry. Then, she moved back home to Beverly Hills where she co-founded Beverly Hills...

Nina Lu is an 18-year-old actress best known for her role in Disney Channel's hit series Bunk’d . Although she became pretty famous during her heyday, Nina never intended to become an actress. But when she was approached in the mall one day, her interest was piqued. She began taking acting classes, and fairly quickly landed Bunk’d. Since then, she has appeared in various shows and films. Now Nina...

Having known each other since they were teenagers, Christian, Erika, And Josh began their podcast, The Judgies, as a fun experiment in June of 2020. Since then their podcast has grown exponentially! They’ve found massive success on TikTok with over 40 million views a month and are coming up on 1 million followers. And that growth has translated to the podcast which regularly hits the top charts. A...

Therese got into beekeeping by randomly attending a beekeeper's seminar, and realized this is kinda weird but also kind cool. Initially, Adam supported the hobby as he watched fearfully out the window... but slowly he learned to help. After a long career in the service industry, 40 year old Adam Novicki decided to drop everything and pursue a career with the bees. He pursued a Masters in plant sci...

For decades, myths such as psychedelics “create holes in your brain” or that they remain buried in your system forever have incited fear and opposition from the general public. However, cutting-edge research by scientists like Cole has been slowly deconstructing that narrative, paving the way for psychedelics to enter the mainstream medical scene. Cole Marta is the founder of the California Center...

Imagine: Shark Spray from a Helicopter, underwear costumes, and cheesy effects. While Patrick looks back on Batman (1966) with a laugh, he can’t help but credit it as the start of his love of film. Boasting 355K subscribers and 39 million views to date, Patrick Willems is a video essayist and film critic on YouTube. With videos such as “What if Wes Anderson Directed X-Men?” or “Why do Marvel’s Mov...

Erik is redefining the world of fashion through his company Art Hearts Fashion, but before making his mark on the runway, Erik started off as one of those marching band kids — always on the outside looking in. After high school, Erik did a stint with the olympic figure skating team and he began to feel more confident. He would eventually find himself gravitating towards the fashion industry. As he...

The L.A. Times calls it “the epitome of broad scale shopping” while Vox News describes it as “a teen fashion paradise”. Despite its current renown, Melrose still follows the fundamental vision that inspired its inception: uniting the community through arts, education, and entrepreneurship. L.A.’s most beloved open air market initially started as a project to bridge the gap between the students of...

Andelain Roy is a third generation cannabis cultivator, and weed runs deep through her familial roots. But life on the farm wasn’t always easy. Andelain was also unfortunately exposed to the war on drugs as early as three years old. There was this confusing dichotomy between how the government viewed weed and how her family did. Despite all of this, the cannabis community supported her. It has alw...

Cartel Deals. Helicopter Surveillance. Weed Homesteaders. Artists. Outlaws. It all started with growing weed in Humboldt. Tommy’s relationship with cannabis began at 15 years old. He would plant seeds along bridges and places like the Museum of Modern Art. Eventually, the 60s would lead to a time where Tommy would receive a “life in prison” sentence for smoking a joint. Luckily, the sentence was r...

Marijuana Outlaw. Smuggler. Draft Dodger. Commune Founder. Hippie Entrepreneur. Revolutionary. Protector of the Forest. At every opportunity Douglas Fir goes against the system. This philosophy, this way of moving through the world started with the war in Vietnam. Douglas was so opposed to the war that he gave himself two choices: become a revolutionary against the war, or remove himself from the...

After finishing his education at the Savannah School of Art and Design (SCAD), Adam Amaral quickly put his VFX skills to good use in the professional world. He freelanced as a designer and animator for Nike and Target, while working on major studio projects such as Transformers , Star Wars , and Ender’s Game . Despite his great success with large media and commercial companies, Adam wished to crea...

Marta Miller was always drawn to the fashion industry. Admiring the work of her fashion major friends in college, she moved to London after finishing her education at the University of Texas Austin and worked as a sales rep for Christian Siriano (who became the youngest winner of Project Runway in 2007). Her desire to deepen her experience led her to Los Angeles, where she was introduced to the fa...

Myra Christopher’s life changed forever when her mother’s doctor appointment turned into a diagnosis for Stage IV esophageal cancer. Given a life expectancy of two years at best, Juanita Etheredge’s condition deteriorated quickly and Myra fought the hospital tooth and nail to allow her mother to die at home as she had wished. Hospice care was still nearly unheard of at this time. This fact motivat...

Kyle Bergman doesn’t like to sit still. On an average day for the founder of Swoveralls, Kyle goes for a 6 mile run in the morning, teaches a class at NYU, leads a few fitness classes at his local gym, and manages his company. Yet, despite this hectic schedule, Kyle keeps his cool. He’s used to this. While working as an Associate Buyer at Bloomingdale’s, he applied for an MBA and joined the Israel...

South Central LA: an area of Los Angeles where 31% of its inhabitants are below the poverty line and over 72%, are people of color. As a Mexican immigrant, this is the city Rita Ortiz Contreras grew up in. She spent her childhood in an area with a widespread lack of social support, and when it came to yoga it never seemed to be in the realm of possibility for her neighborhood. From what she saw in...