Where you grew up and your background can often have surprising effects on our lives and careers. We’ve asked folks from the community to tell us about how their background has affected them.

Isa Bahu

My entire life, filled with great and challenging experiences alike, was molded by the love of my parents, and in particular, the patience and grit of my father. Albert Bahu’s primary motivation was to educate, support, and build his family. I am the youngest of 6 children, and the only one in my immediate family to be born in the United States. At age 38, my father immigrated to the United States with $50 in his pocket and somehow managed, along with the help of my mother, to raise a family. Neither could speak, read, or write English, but both had an incredible work ethic and desire to do better for their children. I was born four years later, and by that time, the family was in a more secure place.
My first job was an internship as a bank teller at 16 years old. Read more>>

Lena Luna Bauchet

I was born and raised in Orange County, California. My upbringing was filled with family values, faith, music, and exploration. Attending Catholic school from Kindergarten to Ninth grade instilled discipline and a strong leaning toward social justice. Both my parents influenced who I am today and I am forever grateful for their support throughout life. My father’s encouragement led me to sports like basketball, volleyball, and track, while weekends watching my Dad play handball taught me dedication and persistence.
Our home resonated with music, thanks to my father’s guitar playing and singing. My parents also took me on road trips, camping, museum visits, and to wonder around in the library, nurturing a love of learning and adventure. Read more>>

Nicole A Restrepo | Animation Production Supervisor

Growing up within a working/lower class family in Chicago, I was exposed to so much diversity and culture within my family and friends which very much molded me. When I think about new animation ideas or concepts I always think about what would’ve resonated with younger me and my friends. After my parents’ divorce when I was 7 there was constant displacement. In a way, that helped prep me for working in the industry as well – since we are always hopping from one production to another. Read more>>

Estella Altman | Business Strategist & Mentor for Ambitious Women Entrepreneurs

I was born in California but spent my childhood between Long Beach and Oahu as a military child. Growing up in an environment marked by domestic violence, child abuse, and the challenges of low-vibration dynamics, I witnessed firsthand the struggles of my mother, who eventually gave up on herself, her dreams, and her self-worth. Watching her journey made me realize, later in life, that I was unintentionally recreating the same patterns and cycles. Read more>>

Amy Sara Lim | Middle School Choir/English Teacher, High School English Teacher and Academic Counselor, Social Media Content Creator

Hi, I’m Amy! I’m an LA native, and grew up mixed-race in a city that is diverse and accepting. At a young age, I had an affinity with academics and art and knew that I wanted my future career to be a blend of the two. In particular, I loved words. Perhaps this had something to do with my father being a lawyer or growing up doing music and musical theater. By the time I was eleven, I had read a book called Millicent Min: Girl Genius by Lisa Yee. It was about an eleven year old girl who went to college. So, inspired by this book, I asked my parents to take me to the nearest community college to enroll. When I was eleven, I was the youngest student at Pasadena City College and took both English and Theater classes. Today at the age of 27, I am happy to report that I am an English and Choir teacher, doing social media, modeling, and writing on the side. Read more>>

Regina Rios | Director, Scriptwriter and Producer

I’m from Ciudad Constitución, Baja California Sur—a small town in northern México where life feels slow, and not much seems to happen on the surface. Growing up in Constitución shaped me in profound ways. I learned to appreciate the small, quiet moments in life and the beauty of simplicity. It taught me the value of staying close to family and building strong connections with the people around me. Read more>>

Fil Swan | Musician, Actor & Voice Actor

I was born in Moscow, Russia, into a family of actors in the early ’90s. I still vividly remember the mid-’90s when foreign films and music started to appear in our lives. It was all so new to me—so bright, so diverse. I was completely mesmerized. I started devouring foreign films, rushing to the cinema whenever I could, and diving into this exciting new world of sound and visuals. And, of course, I couldn’t get enough of the music. Read more>>

Maria Fernanda Rico | Actor & Visual Storyteller

I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico; however at a very young age I had to leave my home country. When I was around ten years old, due to my father’s work I moved to Qatar; which is in the Middle East. As it can be imagined, that was quite a dramatic change for a girl. I was so used to a specific way of life, a certain culture, traditions, food, and even language; that moving literally across the globe impacted me in ways I could have never imagined. Not only was leaving my friends and part of my family behind hard, but at the time I didn’t speak English properly, so communicating was also difficult. Nonetheless, I was excited to learn and experience the new and impressive culture I had now to face. Qatar is a very international and welcoming country, one where people from around the world go to build a better future. Read more>>

Tavien Bradley | Musician & Mastering Engineer/Producer

I was born in Grand Rapids , Michigan not the worse neighborhood but definetly nowhere near the suburbs my city was very boring a bit of gang violence as well as no real opportunities to succeed and better your life beyond a typical high school education but my father always kept music in my life as he is a producer/artist even before I was born when I was around 6 years old my father got in a bad car accident and ended up becoming paralyzed from the waist down shortly after my mother moved us to Van Nuys, California and throughout the years growing up I kind of had a chip on my shoulder cause I felt the need to support my family especially considering my fathers condition. Read more>>

Alicia Ruby | Mom and Proofreader

I was born in Camden, right outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1992. My Dad was born and raised in SoCal (North Hollywood), and my Mom was born and raised in Rochester, New York. From the way I’ve been told the story, they met through mutual friends in Las Vegas and then later started dating after my Mom moved to LA. That was the late seventies; they married at Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village in 1982. A few years after getting married, a job opportunity brought them back to the East Coast. A few years after that, I came along. Unfortunately, when my Mom was around six months pregnant with me, she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphatic Leukemia. I was born via c-section, and my Mom was immediately started on aggressive cancer treatments such as Chemotherapy and Bone Marrow treatments. Sadly, she passed away in the Spring of 1994 when I was around 15 months old. Read more>>

Lydelle Jackson | Writer, Director, Producer

I was born in the Philippines, but I grew up on a military base in Japan with my father and brothers after my parents divorced when I was seven. My mother moved to California, started a new family, and to this day, I’ve only seen her four times since childhood. Losing such an important figure at a young age created a unique kind of sorrow in me—one that felt, at times, like being a step removed from being an orphan. It was isolating, especially since I couldn’t find anyone who shared my specific experience. Who’s mother abandons them and starts a new family? It was a question I wrestled with for years, especially because my father, who raised us, was and still is such a superhero of a man. I’ll probably never get the answer, so instead I’ve learned to do my best to let it go and just roll on. It’s a wound that will never heal but the pain reminds me that I’m alive and keeps me in a constant state of appreciation for the things that are present in my life. Read more>>

Giancarlo Floridia

I was raised in Torrance California/ South Bay . Its was a great time during the late 80s early 90s era tons of music everywhere . I’m really fortunate , it helped me with everything I’m doing today as a writer. Read more>>

Lily Gazaryan

I am from Armenia, Yerevan. I came to the U.S. when I was 6 years old. I came here with my dad, 9 months after my mom came here with my brother. Living in Armenia was very rough, because we didn’t have money, my parents were very young when they got married and had me. I grew up with having very little. I remember growing up wanting toys, dolls and games, but my parents couldn’t afford it. My dad was young to work, my maternal grandfather was helping us, by sending money, food, clothing to Armenia. After my brother was born, my grandparents decided to bring us to America. Coming to the US was hard too. We came here not knowing the language, not understanding how anything worked. My parents were not able to find work to support us, and to take care of us. It was difficulty growing up wanting things but couldn’t afford to have.  Read more>>