July 21, 2022, 7:30AM

By the time Anders was 10 years old, he knew that he’d grow up to be either an architect or a heavy metal drummer. Anders shifted focus from the music studio to the architectural studio when ‘90s, grunge and alternative music pushed heavy metal out of the spotlight, and he began working for some of the best architects in Orange County. After finishing two degrees in architecture and design theory, Anders opened the doors to his own firm in 2005 where Anders specializes in innovative designs for custom homes, galleries, salons, restaurants, retail fashion boutiques and specialized commercial projects. He’s fortunate to have a diverse group of passionate architects working for him who find the same joy in making thoughtful architecture as he does.

Anders received a Master of Architecture degree from UCLA and Bachelor of Architecture degree, cum laude, from Cal Poly Pomona and served on the faculty of Cal Poly Pomona where he taught architectural design studio for 2 years.  Anders continues to be a guest lecturer and juror for architecture and design classes at Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Baptist University, USC, Saddleback College, Orange Coast College, Cal State Long Beach, Los Angeles Institute of Architecture, and Design, and Chapman University.

August 18, 2022, 7:30AM

 As the owner of Marilyn Wellness Studio located in beautiful Laguna Beach, California, Marilyn Montero serves clients to provide a magical experience with hypnotherapy, life coaching, and wellness coaching for all areas of their lives. These areas include weight loss, anxiety, stop smoking, depression, relationship, habit control, and much more. Marilyn uses her wisdom, education, skills, kindness, and natural intuition to provide an enhanced experience that allows clients to achieve optimal wellness.

Her goal is to understand where her clients are and help them discover their true-life desires to devise a personalized treatment plan that includes hypnosis to help them elevate as individuals to support all areas of their lives. Marilyn is driven by the concept that everyone she can help will have positive effects in the world.

As a clinical hypnotherapist, wellness coach, and life coach, Marilyn is passionate about helping others grow towards wellness. She lives with a deep passion for helping people, this fuels her soul when the results become their reality.

October 20, 2022, 7:30AM

Marian will discuss surviving COVID and maintaining a business in Laguna Beach for over 20 years.

Marian has a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Northern Kentucky University where she was a scholarship athlete in basketball and volleyball. She went on to receive a master’s degree in exercise physiology while pursuing coaching at Indiana University, ultimately becoming a head coach at University Of Wisconsin-Richland. Marian’s love for sports and fitness, and wide-ranging experience as a business owner has helped guide her vast experience in the industry as a general manager, sales manager, and owner.

November 18, 2021, 7:30AM

Billy Fried grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Amherst College with a degree in English Literature and Asian Studies. Billy worked as a waiter in Honolulu, where he saved enough money to travel the world with a backpack, and immerse himself in Asian culture, which he had studied in college. A little serendipity led to some modeling gigs in Japan, which he then parlayed into travels and work in Europe. He met his then wife in Italy, and they launched a fashion line called Billy Ballo. After selling the business, Billy launched a magazine called Buying, Selling & Owning YOUR HOME. Billy embarked on a career in advertising, first working for global agency WB Doner as Sr VP, Business Development. The agency offered him an opportunity to move to Orange County to oversee and help grow the business. In 2003 he launched kayaks into the ocean with the birth of La Vida Laguna. Over the course of nearly 20 years his eco-friendly business has flourished and grown to now offer stand-up paddling, surfing, hiking, electric bike tours, and a number of corporate teambuilding activities. He has become a thought leader and speaker on corporate culture building through team play.

February 17, 2022, 7:30AM

After six years of managing various local coffee shops, Steve and Embry Munsey had friends and family encouraging them to start a coffeehouse. Because of their love for community and grand adventures, the idea took well—and it took quick! In late 2010 they started dreaming up and working on plans to open a Laguna Beach Coffee Shop in 2011.

Life, with its detours and curveballs, including the sudden loss of their son Jedidiah at birth led them to putting the dream on hold. They found themselves back in Embry’s hometown of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas five years later in 2016, and ended up launching their Mobile Coffee Bar Experience, “Jedidiah Coffee”. They were a part of many special events, exploring North Texas with their three kids in tow, but SoCal never stopped being home. In 2019 they settled back in Laguna Beach to continue the grand coffee adventure. . They love how coffee cultivates community; one of the many reasons why that they added “coffee roasters” to their resume in 2019. At the heart of Jedidiah Coffee (and the Munsey Family), they see a community gathering around a great cup of coffee.

March 17, 2022, 7:30AM

Jacob Cho has been actively teaching martial arts in Laguna Beach since 2008.  He started with an after-school program at Anneliese’s private schools then opened Cho’s Academy in September of 2009 with Dana Sara, both lifelong practitioners of the martial arts. Cho’s Academy is currently owned and operated full-time by Jacob.

He has a lifetime of experience coming from a family of martial arts experts.  More specifically, his father, a first-generation Korean-American immigrant is a Tae Kwon Do master and pioneer who began grooming Jacob at a very young age.

Jacob knew he wanted to teach full-time, but never imagined how challenging, rewarding and life-changing it would be.  Although his academy offers classes for all ages, he is most proud of the many opportunities he’s had to have a positive impact working with local kids.  His youth programs emphasize and cultivate discipline, work ethic, self-respect through commitment, effort and resulting accomplishments, respect and caring for others, patience, self-control, fitness, self-defense and much more.  Cho says, “The values and life-skills that traditional martial arts offer are timeless."

August 19, 2021, 7:30AM

Ms. Dupuis will discuss her top priorities as City Manager, including listening and collaborating with all the voices in our community through meetings with various organizations in town and via one-on-one conversations with business owners, residents and staff.

She will also discuss a series of comprehensive engagement and satisfaction surveys to include our business community, residents and entire City staff.   The results of these surveys will be presented to the City Council at a future strategic planning session so they can set goals and objectives to pursue over the next five years.

September 16, 2021, 7:30AM

Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris is a businesswoman and community leader who was elected to the State Assembly in 2018. In her first term, Cottie has secured millions of dollars in funding for projects in our district and introduced important legislation to combat sea level rise, improve services for veterans and help small businesses.

Cottie serves as Chair of Assembly’s Accountability and Administrative Review Committee and as Chair of the Select Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. She also serves on the Assembly’s committees for Banking & Finance; Revenue & Taxation; Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy and Veterans Affairs.

October 21, 2021, 7:30AM

Mayor Pro Tem Sue Kempf is nearing the end of her 3rd year as a Laguna Beach City Council member. Prior service to our community includes nearly 5 years as a Laguna Beach Planning Commissioner, 4 years as Chair of the City's Emergency Disaster Preparedness Committee, and a member of the Council appointed team to draft the View Preservation Ordinance.

In her professional career, Sue was the President of Mirion Technologies Dosimetry Services Division, Managing Director Vodafone PLC and Executive Director at Verizon Wireless.  Sue has served on a number of boards including the Vodafone Foundation and the Women’s Professional Volleyball Association.

May 20, 2021, 7:30AM

Peter Blake is a renowned dealer of California Light and Space who opened his eponymous Laguna Beach gallery in 1993. The Peter Blake Gallery is recognized today as the longest standing and leading exhibitor of West Coast Minimalism and is know for its rigorously curated solo and group exhibitions. The Gallery’s program has an ongoing history of exhibiting artists long due for reappraisal such as Peter Alexander, Lita Albuquerque, Larry Bell, Mary Corse, Tony Delap, Fred Eversley, Joe Goode, James Hayward, Scot Heywood, John M. Miller, Helen Pashgian, and DeWain Valentine. Over the last decade the gallery has also participated in a number of prestigious art fairs including The Armory Show, Art Los Angeles Contemporary, Design Miami, EXPO Chicago, and Seattle Art Fair.

JUNE 17, 2021, 7:30AM

Mike Garcia came to Laguna after spending over 35 years in the Fire Service working for 3 different departments, most recently working for the City of Long Beach for 28 years.  While in Long Beach he worked in Operations in all districts within the city, holding the ranks of Firefighter, Paramedic, Captain, Battalion Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief, also participating as a long-term acting Fire Chief. He has held many administrative assignments during his career. As a manager he has led the Bureaus of Support Services. Also leading the Fire Prevention Bureau as the Fire Marshal, which included New Construction/plan review,High-Rise, State Mandated Facilities, underground tank/hazmat, Special Events and Filming, Harbor and port Fire Prevention, fire /arson Investigations, and code enforcement.

JULY 15, 2021, 7:30AM

Ms. Ford's motto is: ‘We’re not here forever, I should give it a go; if you put your mind to it, you can do it!’ This motto has pushed her to perform stand-up comedy to sold-out crowds at the Comedy Store on Sunset Blvd. This was six weeks after arriving into the US.  It was also right after Laura learned of the loss of her grandmother the night before the performance. She lost some hair in the grieving process, but she learned that she could do it and make her grandmother proud.

Laura immigrated to the US with her husband on New Year’s Day 2015, arriving in Seattle. Laura went to law school on a scholarship and graduated at the age of 21 and chose to specialize in Environmental Law.

FEBRUARY 18, 2021, 8:30AM

Cary will discuss the impact of COVID-19 closure orders and restrictions on his Laguna Beach restaurants. Cary’s ability to pivot and adjust his business model over the last year has been a stunning example of just how a successful restaurateur/entrepreneur survives these times.

Cary began as a busboy at the Marine Room in San Diego working his way through college on his way to a career in medicine, but quickly discovered that medical charts were no rival for the energy of the restaurant business. Before opening Lumberyard, Cary opened eight other restaurants including five Enterprise Fish Companies, what is currently known as Brophy Brothers (it was the John Dory when Cary ran it) in Santa Barbara and Walt's Wharf in Seal Beach.

March 18, 2021, 8:30AM

Howard Robin, M.D. is Board Certified in both Anatomical and Clinical Pathology and Immunopathology. His areas of medical expertise include pharmacology, toxicology, autopsy pathology, clinical laboratory medicine, and cancer diagnosis and treatment modalities. He has provided forensic expert testimony in medical malpractice, product liability, civil litigation, and criminal cases.

Nationally known as a compelling speaker and medical expert, Dr. Howard Robin is currently chief medical officer and founder of NeorahDx, a microbial pathogen detection company. The first diagnostic test developed by NeorahDX will be deployed to detect and diagnose COVID-19. The technology is suitable for home use for the diagnosis of flu, colds, urinary infections, and GI problems.

April 15, 2021, 8:30AM

Elizabeth served the City of Laguna Beach as a Planning Commissioner for 6½ Years and as a City Council member for 12 years. She served 3 terms as Mayor and is very familiar with the city’s planning and building department processes and also has many positive relationships with City Hall and the City leaders. She also has relationships with many architects and builders who have designed and built in Laguna Beach.

For 12 years, Elizabeth championed the creation of a new Senior Center in Laguna Beach, working tirelessly to move the project forward at City Hall. She garnered citywide support and raised much of the funds to help with the construction costs of the building. The Susi Q Senior Center officially opened in 2009.

FEBRUARY 20, 2020, 7:30AM

Sue Kempf is serving in her first term as City Council member in Laguna Beach. Prior to her election win, she served 3 terms on the Planning Commission, co-chaired the Emergency Disaster Preparedness Committee and was a member of the View Ordinance Task Force. Sue spent her entire career in the private sector as a company President and an executive in the technology industry.

She will talk about the new Urban Economist report on the downtown as well as the major components of proposed downtown specific plan.

JANUARY 16, 2020, 7:30AM

President and Artistic Director.

In a career spanning more than 15 years, Tommy Phillips is known for his innovative programming ideas, reliability and trust within the classical music industry, and for his capacity for creative ingenuity.

JANUARY 21, 2021 8:30AM

In a past year of turmoil for our business community and uncertainty about 2021, Mayor Whalen will speak to the successful efforts the City of Laguna Beach has taken and will convtinue to take on behalf of our business owners and residents amidst the COVID-19 chaos. Bob Whalen is currently serving as the Mayor of Laguna Beach. He was first elected to the City Council in November 2012 and was re-elected in November 2016 and in November 2020. He is now serving his fourth term as Mayor. Bob has a long record of public service in the City having served as a board member and President of sevveral local nonprofit groups including SchoolPower, the Boys and Girls Club of Laguna Beach and Laguna Beach Little League.