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.

Peter Sterling | Musician and composer

I was born and raised in Santa Monica. The southern California lifestyle definitely influenced who I am. A lifelong, surfer, skateboarder and skier. I love the outdoor lifestyle that Southern California afforded me. Growing up in the 60s and 70s the beaches and waves were a lot less crowded back in those days. It was the start of the skateboarding revolution in the early 70s with the advent of the urethane wheel. I was there riding the concrete wave with many of the top skateboarding stars of the day. I come from quite a prominent family of Southern California. For many years, we had a listing in the southern California bluebook. My great grandfather Oscar who was a well-known and successful capitalist in downtown LA introduced President Taft at the Biltmore Hotel in 1910. My mother was a real socialite and was very involved in many Republican political movements, and also on the team with Las Floristas headdress ball that happened every year at the Biltmore. My grandmother, my father, and my sister, and I all attended the university of Southern California. But after two years of university, I was feeling restless and unfocused and wanted to explore other options for me as a young man of 20 years old. That’s when I decided to drop out of school and head off to Aspen Colorado and become a ski bum. My life would never be the same! Read more>>

Paloma Quintanal | Producer

I was born and raised in Mexico City, fortunate to have parents who always supported me in everything. In their own way, they made me believe that I was born into a world where anything is possible, and the only limits are mental. I believe this greatly shaped my personality and, above all, my character. From a young age, I knew what I wanted and what I didn’t, and as the years went by, I discovered how important it was for me to achieve professional success, my professional success. Read more>>

Ariel Urim Chung | Oral Historian & Artist

Hi! My name is Ariel Urim Chung (she/her), and I am an oral history scholar and artist based in New York City/the unceded lands of the Lenni-Lenape people. There are many fabrics that make who I am today. Now I have been introduced to you as a scholar and artist, but at various points in my life, I was (or still am) a painter, an actor, a theatre director, a trouble-maker, a foreigner, and many in-between. As a multi-hyphenate, I believe the labels do not entirely tell what we wish to be or do, but moments and memories may offer a better understanding. So I am here to tell you about a memory that has re-framed me as I became an adult, growing older into the women I saw the most growing up. Read more>>