Every day we have a choice. We can support an up and coming podcaster, try a new family-run restaurant, join a boutique gym started by a local fitness champ or we could keep giving away our money to the handful of giants who already control so much of our commerce. Our daily decisions impact the kind world we live in; if we want a world where small businesses are growing and artists and creatives are thriving then we should support them with our time, money and attention. We’re proud to highlight inspiring creatives and entrepreneurs each week in Hidden Gems series. Check out some of our latest local gem features below.
Laura Cheadle
Laura Cheadle + The Girls are an electrifying all-female Pop, Soul, and Rock band led by Philly’s own acclaimed singer-songwriter and guitarist Laura Cheadle. Based in the Philadelphia region, the group has quickly established itself as a powerful force blending soulful vocals, infectious energy, and uplifting messages of empowerment, equality, and authenticity. Read more>>
Deidre Sayles-Mosley
When I moved from the Metro Detroit area to San Diego in 2015, I was excited for a new chapter but also hoped to find something I deeply missed—a genuine community of Black women who uplifted, inspired, and supported one another. Read more>>
Bella Royal
Learning my time in the Marine Corps was coming to an end was leaving a bigger hole in my heart than I thought it would back in 2018. Everything was about my work, fitness and transferring mentally into the civilian work force. Creativity didn’t feel natural anymore. I wanted to get into my passion which was always photography and beauty. Read more>>
Brian Hoffman
When I was in my early 30s I had a good job, making decent money working for the man. I was travelling constantly, working too hard, caught up in the rat race… and it was sucking my soul. Then one day I got an opportunity to start over from the bottom, doing a job that I loved, working on boats. Read more>>
Mark Gano
Like a lot of people in specialty coffee, we didn’t originally set out to start a coffee company. It all began nearly 20 years ago with a popcorn popper and a curiosity about why coffee could taste so different from one cup to the next. Read more>>
Diane Lowery
My story is centered around my relationship with Jesus Christ. My faith is paramount to who I am and everything that I do. I was raised in a beautiful Christian home with wonderful parents and siblings. As a young girl (5 years old), I asked Jesus to come into my little heart. At the age of 12, I gave my life to Him. Read more>>
Sehilano
As a child, I loved music more than anything. Headphones were my best friend and I often preferred listening to music over playing games. What started as an interest in music quickly became a desire to transform my own ideas into songs or rhythms. I would use an old-school recorder gifted to me by my aunt to record myself singing or playing the piano. Read more>>
Paul Cooper
I went to Chapman University’s film school, wanting to be the next Spielberg. That’s where I learned light, composition, and how to actually tell a story with a camera. After graduation, I pivoted into audio engineering, recording bands around Orange County. Read more>>https://sdvoyager.com/interview/check-out-paul-coopers-story
Alexis J. Crespo
I’ve always been passionate about bringing people together, but my path wasn’t driven solely by career ambitions. A deeply personal experience changed the way I viewed community, leadership, and service, and ultimately led me to Youth Empowerment. Working alongside young people and families reminded me that prevention, mentorship, and meaningful relationships can change the trajectory of someone’s life long before a crisis occurs. Read more>>
Trish Marie Dawson
In 2011 my young daughter put me in my place. She asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and after a pause, I told her my dream was to be an author. Read more>>
Issam Lagrichi
Moved to san diego in 2008 from new York. Came to the US in 2006 and worked as a guest services host at Disney’s magic kingdom in Orlando. After a humble career in retail management, I took on a part time role with a global relief org which quickly turned into a 7 years career. Read more>>
Ryan Williams
I’ve always been drawn to building things. Even before I became an entrepreneur, I enjoyed creating systems, solving problems, and figuring out how to make things work better. That mindset followed me into the military and eventually became the foundation for everything I’ve built since. I served as a U.S. Read more>>
Farah Turner
Photography found me during one of the biggest transitions in my life after I had my first daughter. At the time, I was looking for something that was just for me, something that helped me step outside of being ‘just Mom’ and reconnect with who I was. What started as a small side hustle quickly turned into something I fell completely in love with. Read more>>
Kevin Roznyak
It all started with a trip to Rome. That’s where I had my first authentic Neapolitan pizza—soft, airy crust, a quick bake, and just a handful of perfectly chosen ingredients. From that moment on, I knew: this was the kind of pizza I wanted to make. Since then, I’ve shaped thousands of dough balls by hand. Read more>>
Rochelle Hendrix
Waisted Spiritually came to me at the perfect time. I was in a space where I needed to love myself again, and I was searching for purpose. While doing research, I found myself unpacking and learning new things that opened my heart and spirit. During this journey, I discovered waist beads. Read more>>
Kazmier Maślanka
I trained as an artist and never stopped — but for 35 years I was also an aerospace engineer, designing the machinery that builds things that fly. Art ran alongside the whole way, always a little hungry for hours. What took me years to notice was the quiet joke of it: the mathematics was never in the way of the art. Read more>>
Julie Bravo
I grew up in the movie theater business. My grandfather, father, and uncle opened their first theater in San Diego County, the Flower Hill Cinema in Del Mar in 1976, and from an early age I was immersed in the industry. As I grew older, I watched my father operate several theaters throughout the region, including the iconic La Paloma Theatre in downtown Encinitas. Read more>>
Beatriz Duron
Amethyst Treasures was born from a lifelong passion for spirituality, healing, and helping people reconnect with themselves. I grew up in Mexico, where traditional healing practices, herbal remedies, and a deep respect for the spiritual world were woven into everyday life. Read more>>
Kayla Adorno
My journey as a performer and teaching artist began in childhood. I was an incredibly quiet and painfully shy child that could often be found reading fiction books in school hallways. I loved stories. Read more>>
Dominic Richards
I’ve had many careers in my life but I discovered early on that I work best independently. My previous career was a real estate agent until I opened up my own brokerage. The 2008 recession brought that to an end. I moved to California in 2011 and started massage school in 2013. Read more>>
Katherine Olenski
My career has been a journey to say the least. The first few years of doing hair professionally I was exposed to some of the best education in this industry, both attending events and classes as a pupil and at times behind the scenes working with hair models or helping with curriculum. Read more>>
Brooke Orloff
Thank you for having me back! Mone Wellness grew out of friendship as much as purpose— Dr. Kate (an integrative OBGYN MD.), Coach Sav (a Registered Nurse and Dietician), and I (Doula, Lactation Counselor) were friends long before we became co-founders, bonded by a shared belief in supporting parents through this beautiful, complex chapter. Read more>>
Alix Sloan
My first grown-up job was at an art gallery. Film production and copywriting came after. I didn’t have a planned route. I was following the opportunities that interested me, figuring out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be. From the outside, it probably looked scattered, and sometimes it felt that way. Read more>>
Arturo Hoyos
I first started coaching at 18 years old with the Junior Academy at a small local club called Golden Eagles FC. From there, I coached at several other local clubs before eventually becoming the Director of the Girls Program at South Bay Surf Soccer Club, now known as SD Surf South. Read more>>
Alexa Devaney
I started my real estate journey at 22 years old with little future vision, but a lot of commitment. I’ve reevaluated my position in the field every few years and have been quick to take advantage of opportunities to level up and expand which has led me to my current position. Read more>>
Andrea Crawford
My journey has been anything but conventional, and I think that’s what makes my work so meaningful today. I’ve always been fascinated by people—how we grow, heal, make decisions, and navigate life’s challenges. Early in my career, I worked in corporate leadership, healthcare, consulting, and business development. Read more>>
Juliana Flores
The idea behind Pachis Art Studio was born many years ago while I was working as a site supervisor of an afterschool program for children. I found that when art and creative activities were brought to the daily schedule, children connected and interacted in a calmer and healthier way with themselves and others. Read more>>
Audrey Darrow
At the age of 67, after spending seventeen years building my organic food company, Righteously Raw Chocolate, I found myself at an unexpected crossroads. Economic challenges forced me to close the doors of a business that had been my passion and purpose for nearly two decades. Read more>>
Angela Brannon-Baptiste
My journey has never followed a straight line—it has been built one experience, one challenge, and one opportunity to serve at a time. I grew up in Arizona and earned my degree in Political Science from Arizona State University, but my career truly began in government nutrition programs, including WIC and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. Read more>>
Shawn VanDiver
I was not supposed to end up here. I got kicked out of two high schools, in Bakersfield, where I grew up. Then got shipped off to a boot camp for troubled kids, where I managed to get kicked out twice more. I was, by every official measure, a bad bet. Read more>>
Odette Cressler
My name is Odette Cressler. I was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico and I moved to San Diego in 2010, after meeting a boy that is now my husband. I currently live in Chula Vista with my husband, two kids, and many pets! Entrepreneurship runs in my blood thanks to my parents. My family grew up opening businesses and saying yes to adventure. Read more>>
Irina Rachow
My story? I love the possibilities of what could be. Fantasies, amazing characters, tragic and beautiful storylines. I was actually drawing stories before I could write a word of one. You could always find me sitting curled up somewhere with a pen or pencil in hand and any kind of paper that was available. Read more>>
SUNA KABADAYI
Looking back, I think I have always been curious about people. As a little girl, I would watch how people entered a room. Some spoke very little, yet everyone listened. Others worked just as hard but stayed invisible. I wanted to understand why. That curiosity became my career. For more than twenty years, I worked in personal branding, executive presence, and image consulting. Read more>>
Lisa Klein
For more than 20 years, I’ve been a pediatrician, and throughout my career I noticed the same pattern over and over. Parents were comfortable asking about ear infections and fevers, but when it came to puberty, body changes, or sex, they often didn’t know where to start. Read more>>
Marcela Alarcón López
Yes! well, I was born in Chihuahua but lived in México City, Estado de México and briefly in Queretaro before I moved to Tijuana at 19 years old with my mom and sister. When we arrived I was told I had to study something in college but didn’t really felt like doing it (I never enjoyed school). Read more>>
Tamesha Kinloch-Carter
I’ve always believed that life’s most meaningful moments deserve to be experienced, not managed. That believe his shaped every chapter of my career. My journey began with a passion for organization and service, which naturally evolved into event planning. Over the years, I realized that my work wasn’t simply about coordinating weddings or events. Read more>>
Clarissa Castillo
My nail journey began when I was 25 years old—the age I finally admitted to myself that I wasn’t meant to spend my life in a cubicle. I wanted a career that allowed me to create, connect with people, and be fully myself. In 2019, I enrolled in beauty school and began the nail program that December. Read more>>
