Claima Stories with Bimma

With infinite pride and hunger, Raven or RavieB comes from the Bronx and she always comes to represent herself and the individuals she captures with her lens of choice. Though Raven dabbled in many different fields, when she picked up a camera, she felt at home and instantly knew photography was the career she wanted to pursue. Now, Raven, who has taken your favorite photo of Jay Z, Adele, Big Sean, Lebron, Damson Idris and countless others - didn’t take the easy route to arrive where she is ...

Born in Toronto to Indo-Guyanese parents, Hema was taught the value of good work ethic. Regardless of what she’s into, she’s always going to do it at 110%. Hema found herself constantly chasing fulfillment throughout her many professions, whether that was being a successful lawyer, morphing into an A-list stylist for the likes of Madonna to Andy Samberg, or interior design, Hema was going to figure it out. The biggest lesson in her journey would come from a book that empowered her to be still...

We've made it to our 100th episode!! A definite milestone for the Claima Stories Family! And we're doing it with none other than whom GQ Magazine has crowned them Streetwear’s First Family. Chris Gibbs, owner of Union LA and his partner Beth Birkett Gibbs, owner of Bephie’s Beauty Supply, film director, and creative collaborator with Chris amongst many other forms of storytelling. Yes, this is streetwear’s first family and they are so much more. As we discussed the evolution of streetwear, wh...

Being a glass half-full type of creative and entrepreneur has allowed today's guest, Humberto Leon, to build a vibrant career. In the 70’s Humberto and his family Immigrated to LA where he would fall in love with fashion and often find himself in the aisles of thrift stores mining for just the right pieces. Fast forward to a storied career in the industry, Humberto and his friend Carol Lim decided to step out on their own launching Opening Ceremony. A place where they would bring all their in...

Not many creatives have the opportunity to come out with two films in one year but with remakes of cult classics like White Men Can’t Jump and House Party but today's guest, Calmatic, did just that. Calmatic proudly grew up as your quintessential Black nerd, creating flyers, making beats, designing album covers and capturing memorable moments for LA’s finest. As he continues to create, he’s ready to tell his own stories and trust me, he could care less about the rotten tomato reviews. We're r...

They say your twenties are meant for self-discovery and today's guest, Manila Mixtape, can attest to that. After a career in fashion bouncing from celebrity styling to merchandising to retail, Manila decided to walk away from it all. Knowing he needed a real break from that world, he moved back to NYC to become a truck driver. Serendipitously, his first assignment was to a fabrication studio. He’d work at the studio doing build outs for Vogue, Louis Vuitton and more. It was at the fabrication...

If you asked today's guest, Shequeita Frazier, if she would be a Co-Founder of an outdoors brand, she probably would've laughed. Though she grew up playing outside all the time, Shequeita distinctly remembers avoiding the woods. It wasn't until meeting her husband who would go on regular camping trips and moving to Portland did she fully understand the impact of the outdoors. Between the pandemic, protests and needing to find solace...a trip to Montana is what ultimately led the duo to creati...

A Chicago native, Autumn Merritt, has been a boss since she was a teenager, from managing a coffee shop to running a streetwear store...getting the job done with quality and intention was always her priority. In 2007, Autumn opened up a boutique with her husband originally named Solemates (now Sir & Madame). And that's just the start of her journey, in our episode ahead we chat about being a business partner with your spouse, collaborations, moving cities, her new role as the Head of memb...

Today’s guest, Telsha Anderson-Boone, knew pretty early on in her career that she wanted to be her own boss and that fashion would play a major factor. While figuring out what that business would be, Telsha worked just about everywhere from Hypebeast to Food and Wine, and even stopping at Atlantic Records for a stint. While she was tapped into the world culturally, all that would go into creating T.A. In 2020, Telsha had plans to open the T.A. brick-and-mortar shop, but like most plans in 202...

With parents that battled addiction, today’s guest Kiauna “Kee” Nelson, was always an independent kid. Her life took multiple turns from spending time in a gang to a short jail stint. Ultimately, Kee knew she wanted more than that life. At 31, Kee enrolled with college with ambitions of opening a food cart. With the help of little herbal refreshment, the #Loaded menus were born. A hustler by nature, she was selling plates out of her apartment before she got the truck. Tune in to hear a more a...