On California Live, I introduce you to Elenor Mak, the founder and CEO of Jilly Bing which is the first toy company to create dolls and characters that resemble Asian American children. Elenor was inspired to start the line after seeing so few options while looking for her daughter’s first doll.
Check out the full feature below!
As a California Live correspondent, I met the founders of “Textured Waves,” a San Diego-based non profit focused on elevating African American female surfers.
Check out the full feature below!
As a correspondent on California Live, I stepped inside the home of legendary big wave surfer Laird Hamilton and his wife, professional volleyball player Gabby Reece, to catch up with the all-star couple. The fitness fanatics talk secrets to a successful marriage, his new superfood line called Laird Superfood and more.
On California Live, I met Mario Ordonez-Calderon, founder of “Un Mar De Colores,” a non-profit organization creating surf training and mentorship programs for San Diego’s children of color and underserved youth.
It’s the next best thing in sustainable fashion – biodegradable shoes! With California Live, I check out an innovative shoe company in San Diego called BLUEVIEW footwear, that is taking major steps towards producing little or no waste.
The electric-blue glow often seen as waves crash along the California Coastline can now be yours to keep! On California Live, I introduce you to Pyrofarms, a San Diego company that is lighting the way to growing a bioluminescent phytoplankton that produces a magical-blue glow at night. Dean Sauer, CEO and Founder, shares details on the inspiration behind Pyrofarms and the natural occurring phenomenon known as bioluminescence. Learn more on how you can grow your own glow at home!
Check out the full feature below!
Los Angeles’ Chinatown is the home of Chinese culture in California, and when the Lunar New Year comes around, it truly is something special. Aromas of traditional cuisine float around pagoda-style buildings that have been carefully adorned with decorative red lanterns creating a magical scene amongst the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
On my visit to the area, I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Yuen from the Chinese American Museum all about the importance of the Lunar New Year. Not only is the Lunar New Year a celebration of family, prosperity, and good health, 2022 is the year of the Water Tiger, a symbol of added strength, wisdom, and femininity – how lucky are we!
Chinese culture is the fabric of downtown LA. If you are on the hunt for somewhere colorful, packed with delicious, authentic food, or to enhance your Winter Olympics experience, then look no further than Chinatown!
The California Live team and I were well and truly feeling the football fever this game day, and we decided to bring you along for the journey!
While Danielle Nottingham and Paul Costabile kicked things off at Big Wang’s in North Hollywood with beer, wings, and football trivia, I had the pleasure of visiting another SoCal hotspot, Gallagher’s Irish Pub and Grill Long Beach, where the celebrations were in full swing!
Opened in 2006 by Irish owner Ciara Gallagher, Gallagher’s is known for its delicious “Gourmet Irish” food, traditional drink, great live Irish music, trivia night, and of course, Niner Empire game day celebrations!
Among the excited Niner faithfuls were some members of the SoCal Niner Empire Club, a club filled with only the most trusted and dedicated members that have been dedicating their time to providing community service in the Long Beach area since 2007. From them, I learned all about the work that goes into making game day so special in Gallagher’s, including the famous touchdown shot tradition, which, I have to say, looks like a lot of fun!
Whether you are a Rams fan, a Niners faithful, or somewhere in the middle, there’s always a place in California where you can cheer your team on!
Since its humble beginning in Scotland back in 1511, the sport of curling has become an increasingly popular pastime amongst athletes and novices alike.
After briefly disappearing from Los Angeles in the 90s, curling re-emerged in the 2000s in the first-of-its-kind Southern California Curling Center. Co-founder Matt Gamboa describes the new location as a “community” that is inspiring a new generation of curlers in Southern California.
Out of the fifteen different Olympic winter sports, curling is definitely the most fascinating to me, and after trying it out for myself, I have to admit, it requires much more athleticism than first impressions would have you believe! With the calculated precision, undeniable core strength, and cardiovascular fitness needed to succeed, there’s no doubt that it takes a lifetime to master the sport.
But don’t be put off! Curling is most certainly a sport for everyone, athletically gifted or not. The strong emphasis on teamwork and the community-like nature of the game makes curling perfect for those simply wanting to meet new people in a fun, interactive way with individuals from all backgrounds coming together on and off the ice.
Are you interested in giving curling a go? Visit curling.la, where you will find information on how to get started and much more!
One LA native’s desire to change the landscape of surfing led him to create Color The Water initiative, free surf lessons for BIPOC.
This Tuesday, Sept 22nd one local man is going to solo paddle on a surfboard 12 miles from Inkwell beach, Santa Monica to the Malibu Pier to pay homage to Nick Galbadon, the first Black/Latino surfer in Los Angeles who was known to routinely paddle to Malibu to surf because he was not allowed on the beach.
Sand and salt water are usually always on the agenda for David Malana, but this summer has been much busier than usual. He came up with the idea of Color the Water after going to a surf paddle out event for George Floyd, a Minnesota man who died at the hands of white police officers in May.
The San Dimas native noticed very few people of color, and for those that were there that day, the disparity of surfing levels between the white surfers and those of color were starkly different.
“That was supposed to be a call to action not the action in and of itself, so in that way how do I make this…these anti-racists sentiments part of my daily practice.” Malana said.
David’s heart for others is hardwired in his soul. He has traveled the world, serving in the Peace Corps for five years after college and now teaches media literacy. He also founded a non-profit in honor of his late mother. He decided to give free surf lessons, and take photos and videos for Black Indigenous people of color, or BIPOC.
When asked about what it means to be a true ally, Malana replied, “…and so that is where I was trying to make sure that it wasn’t performative, and also because media was involved, I didn’t want it to be where I give one lesson, get the pictures and post it online. I wanted to develop autonomous surfers.”
After Black Surfers Instagram posted a photo of David’s announcement, the community started to grow.
“So Its been really organic, I am really proud that the leadership of it also is majority Black.”
When I asked him about how he identifies as an ally to the cause, he said, “Black leadership is crucial in a project like this, where me as an Asian-American man, the best that I can do is to be an intermediary in this racial struggle. My father, enjoyed a lot of the rights that he has off of the back of the civil rights movement where the sacrifices were made mostly by the black population. And so, in that way, I am very aware of who I am, and who I am not.”
One of the leaders and co-founders of Color the Water is David’s friend Liz Jackson, an active travel guide, is usually somewhere outdoors leading trips around world but since the pandemic began, the Native Angelino has been home and wanted to contribute to the cause.
Jackson encourages just doing it, “It literally starts with a hashtag, you know, David put out this hashtag, Color the Water, and all of a sudden people started showing up. And when we are out in the water people you know there are people that are walking by asking what’s going on and asking questions. You don’t have to have a big business plan or anything. Just throw it out there in the world and see how people respond to it.”
I asked him about his goals for the future of the initiative. David replied, “Our dream of dreams is to be able to have our own headquarters and to really be a surf house. A place where we can commune, analyze media, we can do more creative media that helps every person in this intersectional group, speak their truth, while we show their surfing journey; to legitimize and solidify the space so that it is truly sustainable.”
The response to Color the Water is one that David hopes will make waves for as long as they can.
