There are so many factors that affect how our lives turn out, but one of the most interesting is how our backgrounds give us unique strengths and perspectives that affect who we are as adults. We asked rising stars from the community to tell us about their background and upbringing and how they feel it’s impacted who they are today.

Dane Baker | CEO at EcoCart/ Outdoor enthusiast

Born & raised in Ventura county, I frequently found myself in LA and am now based there. I grew up in a family in which my father, both grandfathers, and many of my extended family were entrepreneurs and small business owners. My family took extreme pride in the work they did because of the extreme ownership that came along with being entrepreneurs. Read more>>

Kenneth Stipe | Director of Photography

I was the third child born in my family in Connecticut. After my mother and father divorced, my mother decided to take three kids to the U.S. Virgin Islands to live. There, my mother was a writer and photo journalist as well as the editor of a local newspaper. My sister was an artist and brother was a musician. The creative arts was introduced to me at the earliest age. Read more>>

Mariano De Luca | Director of Photography

I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’ll always say that once I got the opportunity to travel abroad, I became a true Latino. It is hard to put in perspective your thoughts and ideas when you don’t know how is it out-there. One of the best things that happened in my life, was the opportunity to travel abroad and had the chance to meet how other societies work. Now based in Los Angeles, CA, I really got the chance to feel and live how big the latino community is around the world, and also how different we are. Read more>>

Kristina Sullivan | Actor & Writer

I was born in Long Beach, California. However, I grew up mostly in the Boston, Massachusetts area. My background is mixed race black & white, African-American & Irish-American mostly. When I was younger, I moved around a lot. I think that one of the ways my background and upbringing impacts who I am today is because since I have family members of different ethnicities and I’ve lived in different types of places, I am familiar with and I can be comfortable around and relate to, and understand all different types of people. Read more>>

Toni Ann Johnson | Writer/Performer

I’m from Monroe, NY, which, is about fifty miles north of New York City. When I was growing up it was a small, mostly conservative, mostly blue-collar town with a smattering of professionals, and a couple of well-to-do families that were descendants of the town’s founders. It was not suburban, though some have referred to it as a suburb. It was rural when I was a child. There was a farm up the street from our house. Read more>>

Sandra Chahayed | Florist and Auntie to 11

My parents are from Syria and came to the United States in the 80s. I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley My background and upbringing impacted who I am and where I am today in a major way. Growing up my dad worked two jobs. My mom took care of a house and five children. Read more>>