Our city is home to so many incredible businesses and so we asked the founders how they came up with the ideas for their businesses and have shared their responses below.

Judi Kenney

Well, actually Operation P.R.A.Y., Prayer Reaching All Youth was birthed from a vivid dream I had. I was holding a Need Prayer? sign, standing in front of my son’s high school and where my husband is a teacher and coach. God told me to pray at three high schools, three days a week for thirty minutes. I wrote down the dream, waited, and prayed for God’s confirmation. Read more>>

Angela Shae

It honestly happened by accident. Out of sheer desperation.

I was a burnt out photographer, who was taking a Sabbatical from photography work. I started managing Instagram accounts for other photographers and creative brands while taking a break from photography, and when reels came into the picture, all of my clients wanted custom reels. For about a year I created custom reels for each of my clients but it wasn’t sustainable or scalable, so that’s how the idea of plug and play reel templates was born. The process of creating a reel is tedious and long, especially when you’re trying to showcase a photo-heavy reel, and it was important for me to have the reels live within the Instagram platform so we could use the trending music. Read more>>

Bianca Duarte | Bookshop Owner

Love in Print: A Romance Bookshop started with a single idea of opening up a bookstore. At the time, which was a few years ago, I was only thinking of it as a generic indie bookstore. I wanted to appeal to everyone and have something for everyone, to whoever stopped by but I soon realized that I wasn’t passionate about that. I wouldn’t be able to recommend the best literary fiction book or sing high praises to the most recently released memoir because that is not what I read – that was not my forté. What I did read was Romance, and a lot of it. I back peddled and started coming up with a plan to open up the San Fernando Valley’s very first romance bookshop. A romance only bookstore is not a new concept, however, opening it up in the Valley is. Bringing my passion to where I was born and raised was a no-brainer. Read more>>

Jenny Dame | Vintage Model | Small Business Owner

Since I was a kid I loved drawing and painting. Being very shy and timid growing up, I would say art was my first friend I could always rely on. Creating art is where I felt most comfortable. Around 2018 is when I taught myself how to sew and I started making my own vintage style wardrobe, my artwork took a back seat to sewing. I created, “Wearable Art By Jenny Dame” in 2021 during the pandemic I began painting again. My business is combining both my loves of sewing and painting to create bespoke one of a kind circle skirts with my artwork that can hopefully be worn for generations. My business is a tribute to my Mexican American roots which I take direct inspiration from original 1950s Mexican hand painted circle skirts. Read more>>

Trey Braheem | Event Producer & Gallery Owner

The idea for our business came from discussing with my partners what sorts of experiences we felt like were missing from the social landscape in Los Angeles. We were trying to find a place where the music was right, the environment was comfortable, the people were open, and the space was dynamic. We’d go out looking but we never found a place that checked every box – so we decided to create it ourselves. Read more>>