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FOUND/LA

@_foundla

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We support local entrepreneurs to help them build their business, purpose, and community.

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We’re both incredibly proud and excited to partner with Hustle & Heart Collective for the 2026 Hustle & Heart
Entrepreneur Summit. ❤️‍🔥

This year’s theme? BUILT TO L.A.ST.

Because building a business in LA isn’t just about getting started. It’s about building something that can grow, adapt, create opportunity, support families, strengthen communities, and last for the long term.

Join us on September 28 for a gathering with hundreds of your fellow founders, creatives, and small business owners coming together for real conversations, practical tools, new connections, and plenty of inspiration.

📍LA River Center and Gardens
🗓️ September 28, 2026
⏰ 1-8 PM
Get your ticket with the link in bio!

Come ready to learn. Leave ready to build what lasts.

#FOUNDLA #HustleAndHeart #LAentrepreneurs #smallbusiness #shoplocal by @_foundla

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14 days ago

The new season of #SoCalWanderer, the @KCET & @Pbssocal series that explores the rich culture, history and landscape of Southern California, is here! Follow along with host @RoseyAlvero as she meets the BIPOC, women-led businesses and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs making a positive impact in their communities.
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All episodes of this Emmy-award winning series is now live, streaming on the PBS app, the PBS socal site, and on the KCET Youtube channel - link in our bio. Join us as we learn more about our neighbors, our businesses, and our local communities!
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Featuring:
@alchemycraft @babesofwellness @obetanddelsshop @thetreeyogacoop #losoriginalestacosarabesdepuebla by @_foundla

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3 years ago

🤝 PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: B.E.L.L.A.

We’re continuing our Partner Spotlight series. This time, we’re highlighting B.E.L.L.A. an organization creating a space where Latina entrepreneurs can feel seen, supported, and empowered to grow.

For B.E.L.L.A.’s founder, Rocio, this work is personal. As the daughter of immigrants from Mexico, she grew up watching her parents build businesses of their own her mom ran a house-cleaning business and her dad started a gardening company. Helping her mom from a young age shaped her work ethic and deep appreciation for immigrant entrepreneurs and their journeys.

Years later, while working in small business programs at USC, she began noticing a gap: there wasn’t enough space specifically designed to support Latina women entrepreneurs with the access, resources, and community they needed.

That realization became the foundation for B.E.L.L.A.

What started with one social media post has grown into a community that does so much more than tell the stories of Latina business owners. Through programs like Emprendedoras on the Rise, B.E.L.L.A. provides foundational business education, financial coaching, access to capital, community-building, and opportunities for entrepreneurs to showcase and grow their businesses.

And the impact goes beyond business education.

Entrepreneurs have accessed their first business loans, opened storefronts, increased sales, collaborated with other women in the program, and perhaps most importantly found a community where they no longer feel like they’re building alone.

At the heart of B.E.L.L.A.’s work is a simple but powerful idea: Latina entrepreneurs deserve a space where they feel seen, heard, respected, and supported.

As B.E.L.L.A. continues to grow, the goal is to see more Latina women start businesses, access capital, build wealth, open storefronts, and create opportunities for themselves and their communities.

We’re proud to spotlight B.E.L.L.A. and the work they’re doing to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem and create more opportunities for Latina business owners. 💛

Know a Latina entrepreneur looking for community or resources? Connect with B.E.L.L.A. and learn more about their work. by @_foundla

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10 hours ago

New month, new goals, new ways to grow your business. ✨

Our October Resource Roundup is here with grants, workshops, and resources to help you find funding, sharpen your skills, make connections, and keep your business moving forward.

Think of this as your monthly reminder to check what’s out there and take advantage of the opportunities that could help your business grow. 👀

Know of a resource we should include in next month’s roundup? Send us a DM! ✨ by @_foundla

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a day ago

We’re hitting the streets of Los Angeles to meet the founders, makers, and small business owners building something meaningful right here in our communities.

Our next stop? PodShare 🩷✨

Sometimes, the best businesses start with a simple question: What if there was a better way?

For Elvina Beck, founder of PodShare, that question was about housing.

What started from an idea during the 2008 recession grew into a new approach to shared living creating affordable spaces where people could not only stay, but connect and build community. Since launching in 2012, PodShare has transformed overlooked spaces across California into co-living homes.

But PodShare is about more than a place to sleep.

It’s about the people you meet, the community you build, and rethinking what a space can be. From converted churches and former studios to community dinners and shared living spaces, Elvina has continued to evolve the idea while staying rooted in connection.

And after more than a decade of building, adapting, and even navigating some of the business’s hardest moments, Elvina’s advice to entrepreneurs is simple:

“If you have any idea, just do it!” ✨

So we’re taking you inside PodShare to see the people, spaces, and ideas behind the business and what it really looks like to build something from an idea into something that lasts.

Come along as we experience entrepreneurship in the wild. 👀

🎥 Know a local business we should visit next? Tag them in the comments!

#shoplocal #shopsmall #supportsmall #entreprenuer #smallbusiness by @_foundla

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2 days ago

👀 Look Who We Found: Meet Peggy & Erika, Founders of Hyey.

Sometimes, the best business ideas come from experiencing a problem firsthand.

While working full-time in television, Peggy and Erika were both navigating caregiving for their parents. Although they hadn’t met yet, they were searching for the same thing: a way to make the caregiving experience less overwhelming for others.

When they finally met, they didn’t talk about television. They talked about caregiving and quickly realized how many of their challenges were similar.

That conversation became the beginning of Hyey (Have You Eaten Yet?), a coordination app designed to help family caregiving teams organize communication, manage the details of a loved one’s care, and build a stronger team of support.

Building Hyey has meant learning as they go, navigating the challenges of building technology without a technical background, and, perhaps most importantly, learning how to build a strong partnership with each other.

One of the biggest lessons they’ve learned?

💬 “You need to find your person.”

For Peggy and Erika, having someone to rely on, challenge their ideas, give honest feedback, and keep showing up has made all the difference. They believe that doing it alone is hard and that finding the right community and support system can help you keep moving forward.

Their advice for entrepreneurs just starting out in LA?

Find a community-based accelerator. “You need people who will give you honest feedback, help you see when it’s time to pivot, and remind you that you don’t have to figure everything out in a vacuum,” the founders say.

Their LA journey has also introduced them to a side of the city they didn’t know before. Coming from television, they’ve loved building a new network, meeting people outside of the entertainment industry, and experiencing the way LA’s entrepreneurial community shows up for one another.

We’re proud to celebrate Peggy and Erika and the meaningful work they’re doing to make caregiving feel less like a burden and more like a team effort. 💙

#shoplocal #shopsmall #entreprenuers #womeninbusiness #smallbusiness by @_foundla

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3 days ago

Today’s the day! See you in just a few hours at the Hustle and Heart Entrepreneur Summit 🙌🏽

We have two incredible hands on workshops for you.

♥️Designing con Corazon, led by Edwin Soto at The Come Up Lab Stage.

An interactive introduction to design thinking for entrepreneurs. What if the next step for your business starts with listening, not guessing? A hands-on challenge inspired by Stanford d. school’s Wallet Project, exploring how empathy, creativity, and experimentation help you understand your customers and build businesses that stand the test of time.

🙋🏽‍♂️Ask Jack, led by Jack Ochoa at The Come Up Lab stage.

A hands-on business- resource breakout. Bring the question you’ve been stuck on and leave with a clearer sense of what’s available to you and what to do next.

See you all soon! by @_foundla

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5 days ago

Building through crisis: small business, community & resilience. 💪🏽

What does it mean to keep a business moving when the crisis extends beyond the business itself? Drawing on UCLA LPPI research into immigration enforcement’s impact on Latino entrepreneurs across L.A. County.

On the panel:
💗 Dr. Amanda Armenta, UCLA LPPI
💗 Corissa Hernandez, Hustle and Heart Collective

Moderated by Daniel Fernandez, FMC Community Capital

Beyond the Hustle Live at the Built to L.A.st Main Stage at the Hustle and Heart Summit. September 28, 2026. by @_foundla

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5 days ago

Jane Wurwand built Dermalogica through an understanding of human touch and trust, then created FOUND/LA to support entrepreneurs too often overlooked by traditional systems of support.

Her keynote explores why community and human relationships remain powerful engines of small-business success and thriving communities.

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Opening remarks with The Honorable Isabel Casillas Guzman is an entrepreneur, economic development expert, and former 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Previously she served as California’s Small Business Advocate and as SBA Deputy Chief of Staff during the Obama administration. by @_foundla

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5 days ago

Take your pop up to a permanent address 🏢

Hustle to Headquarters panel at the Level Up Stage at the Hustle and Heart Built to L.A.st summit.

Location, financing, build-outs, permits, hiring, and what changes when the hustle has a home.

On the panel:
✨ Carolina Pedroza-Conoway, Wallflour Pizza
✨ Alan Morales, Civil Coffee
✨ Michelle Muñoz, Moo’s Craft BBQ

Moderated by Martin Guerrero, Guerrero Consulting + Square

September 28 at the LA River Center and Gardens. Built to L.A.st. by @_foundla

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5 days ago

Sh*t happens and sometimes you just have to reset and reimagine your next move. 🤷🏽‍♀️

The moment when holding onto the original plan gets riskier than changing it. Listen to some founders insight on the years of work on evolving, rebranding, and restructuring without losing the soul.

When It’s Time to Pivot at the Level Up Lounge Stage at the Hustle & Heart Entrepreneur Summit 2026.

On the panel:
↪️ Tirana Farah, Tirza’s Mexiterranean Restaurant
↪️ Leah Rose Gallegos, People’s Yoga
↪️ Francisco Valderrama, Picaresca Cafe

Moderated by Miriam Rodriguez, Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce

September 28 at the LA River Center and Gardens. Built to L.A.st. by @_foundla

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6 days ago

Is burnout inevitable in entrepreneurship? What happens when the version of success you chased stops fitting?

We’re talking about burnout, identity, reinvention, and redefining ambition on your own terms instead of measuring it in sacrifice.

Join us for Ambition Rewritten at our Built To L.A.st Stage at at the Hustle & Heart Entrepreneur Summit 2026.

On the panel:
💗 Julissa Arce, Author
💗 Ana Flores, Author, Done with the Hustle
💗 Ezinne Price, GRID110

Moderated by Davina Ferreira, Alegria Publishing

September 28 at the LA River Center and Gardens. Built to L.A.st. by @_foundla

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6 days ago