Experienced and respected in theater from coast to coast, Robert Yacko is known as a remarkably versatile actor & singer, equally at home in Repertory, on Broadway and in front of a camera. An admitted character actor from his early years, and blessed with a rich, lyric baritone of effortless range, he has garnered epithets for his work that lean from "raucous" and "hilariously deadpan" all the way to "emotionally intense" and "broodingly dark".

Robert starred in the Los Angeles Premieres of Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George and Chess, the West Coast Premieres of Legacy of Light and Romance, Romance, and debuted a Bernstein aria never heard before in performance in The Bernstein Peter Pan. Robert has had the honor of sharing the stage with luminaries such as Carol Burnett, Leslie Uggams, Herschel Bernardi and Carl Reiner, and has had the great fortune to work under the direction of the great Jerome Robbins. He can also proudly count himself as one of Cyd Charisse's dance partners. After 53 years of a rich life in the theatre, he is still hungry for the next creative adventure.

Website: https://robertyacko.com/

Blog stories: https://robertyacko.com/blog

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yackorama

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yackorama/

Today Robert will help us explore the quiet elegance and creative spirit of Toluca Lake!

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Stephen McGhee’s experience includes a career in financial services, advanced degrees in consciousness, health and healing, and more than thirty years advising leaders on personal, professional and planetary change.

Stephen has done just about everything one can in the leadership space—keynote speaking, strategic planning, running board meetings, creating culture change and more. He is an entrepreneur, author and film maker, and he has led experiential leadership cohorts like climbing Mt. Aconcagua and class five white water excursions on Rio Futaleufú in Chile.

Stephen’s personal journey has revealed a universal truth: leadership isn’t just about achievement—it’s about personal sovereignty. This combination creates the true bottom line: mastery in leadership and mastery in life.

Stephen currently lives in Southern California with his wife, Veronica, and his family.

https://www.mcgheeleadership.com/

https://www.facebook.com/stephen.mcghee.3

Today, Stephen lends his voice to the story of resilience, sharing how he found strength, meaning, and a new beginning in the wake of unimaginable loss during Pacific Palisades fire.

www.inthemoodforcalifornia.com

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Linda Santiman is a fiber artist, as well as a licensed Marriage and Family therapist who has lived in Los Angeles for almost 25 years and calls it home. Linda works with felt and embroidery and specializes in mid-century modern miniature house sculptures that make up the Linda Felt Village. She has had her work shown in galleries in Los Angeles and Palm Springs. She is currently working on sculptures that honor the architecture of Los Angeles.

Today, Linda will share how she brings mid-century modern homes to life using the simplest materials, showing us how entire communities can be crafted from felt, thread, and imagination!

Linda Santiman’s websites:

www.lindafeltvillage.com

www.lindasantiman.com

IG: lsantiman

Facebook: Linda Pinda

www.inthemoodforcalifornia.com

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Heather Eastwood and Ruslan Abaev are recent Altadena residents and first-time homebuyers. They both grew up in Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley—Heather as an LA native with childhood roots in Hawaii, and Ruslan as an immigrant from post-Soviet Russia. Having lived in LA for the past 32 years, Ruslan now considers it home.

Both work in STEM—Heather as a scientist and Ruslan in IT (Information Technology). After years of searching for a special place to call home, they finally found it in Altadena. They were drawn to its natural beauty, community spirit, and unique character. Heather’s love for wildlife and Ruslan’s appreciation for mountain life made Altadena the perfect place for them to settle.

Today, Heather and Ruslan will share their story of resilience and triumph as they overcame the devastation of the Eaton Fire.

www.inthemoodforcalifornia.com

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Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Martin Turnbull has always been drawn to history, storytelling, and the golden age of Hollywood. After moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1990s, he worked as a private tour guide, sharing the city’s storied past, and deepened his expertise through historical guiding with the Los Angeles Conservancy and time on the Warner Bros. movie lot.

Inspired by his love for classic cinema, Martin turned to writing, bringing Hollywood’s past to life through Hollywood’s Garden of Allah series—a nine-novel saga set between 1927 and 1959 at the legendary Garden of Allah Hotel. He continues to write historical fiction, capturing the glamour, ambition, and behind-the-scenes drama of old Hollywood, ensuring its magic endures.

Please check out Martin’s website: https://martinturnbull.com/

Today Martin will take us on a very special journey to the golden age of Hollywood!

www.inthemoodforcalifornia.com

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Robert DeLaurentis, the “Zen Pilot,” is an aviation speaker, author, and pilot with over 2,400 flight hours. He holds multiple flight ratings, a Commercial Pilot Certificate, and has flown to 53 countries across all seven continents, including solo crossings of the North and South Poles.

A seasoned real estate investor, Robert built a portfolio of 300+ San Diego rental units over 28 years, starting with a single condo in 1990. His journey inspired Flying Thru Life, a book on business, aviation, and personal success.

He owns Innorev Enterprises, Inc., managing residential and commercial properties. He holds an Accounting degree from USC and a graduate degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica. A former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander, he served for 14 years before retiring in 2003.

https://flyingthrulife.com/

www.poletopoleflight.com

Robert will share with us his spectacular journey and his favorite place in California!

www.inthemoodforcalifornia.com

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Diana von Welanetz Wentworth’s life is woven with threads of love, curiosity, and a relentless pursuit of connecting people. Born in Beverly Hills, she became a New York Times bestselling author, television personality, and influential community leader, guided by passion, perseverance and an unwavering belief in the power of community and joy.

The author of ten award-winning books, including Send Me Someone: A True Story of Love Here and Hereafter, Diana co-authored Chicken Soup for the Soul Cookbook, part of a series that has sold over 500 million copies. She and her late husband, Paul von Welanetz, hosted The New Way Gourmet on Lifetime (1983–1985), blending food and connection.

In 1985, she and Paul joined a documentary project in the Soviet Union with figures like Dennis Weaver and futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard, fostering grassroots dialogue. This inspired them to found The Inside Edge Foundation for Education, a pioneering platform for transformative speakers that helped launch the careers of Jack Canfield, Dr. Barbara DeAngelis, Dr. Susan Jeffers, and Louise Hay.

Diana’s introspective “Quantum Questions” have guided her path, leading to her first cookbook and a 15-year culinary career. Beyond writing, she offers online courses, coaching, and “Tea With Diana” sessions, using joy as her guiding principle.

A spokesperson for NuCalm, Diana has continually reinvented herself, overcoming loss and finding wisdom in adversity. Inspired by Rumi and Pema Chodron, she embraces surrender, joy, and transformation. Her mantra, “Joy is my compass,” invites others to trust in life’s limitless possibilities.

www.DianaWentworth.com

Diana will share with us her remarkable journey and what it feels like to live in Thousand Oaks!

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Frank Roller is the visionary Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Placesofhealing.com, an innovative online resource dedicated to transformative travel and wellness. His platform serves as a gateway for travelers and wellness seekers to discover unique destinations centered around holistic healing practices, connecting them with practitioners, wellness experts, and their inspiring stories. Driven by his passion for exploration and an insatiable curiosity for the unknown, Frank established Places of Healing to empower others on their journey to well-being, making it effortless to locate destinations that offer not just relaxation but personal growth and profound transformation.

Frank’s journey to launching Places of Healing was paved by decades of experience in the creative industry. His extensive background as Principal at GlamPR, a production company he has led since 2000, solidified his expertise in art direction, production management, and creating compelling visual narratives for global brands. At GlamPR, Frank excelled in delivering comprehensive production services, from art buying to celebrity endorsements, building an extensive network of industry

professionals and crafting tailor-made solutions for high-profile clients. His experience there laid the foundation for the storytelling approach that is now central to Places of Healing.

Through Places of Healing, Frank aims to inspire others to explore new cultures, engage with healing traditions, and meet storytellers who resonate with their journey. He believes that travel, at its essence, goes beyond physical exploration; it’s an inward journey of self-discovery and connection with the world’s inherent beauty.

Frank will share with us his creative journey and what it feels like to live in Hollywood Hills!

www.inthemoodforcalifornia.com

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Alexey Steele is an award-winning visual artist with a background of the Russian representational school. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, he began art training at an early age in the studio of his father Leonid Steele, a renowned Soviet Union artist. Alexey attended the prestigious Surikov Art Institute of the Soviet Academy of Arts in Moscow. He moved to Los Angeles in 1990.

Mr. Steele is best known for his large-scale figurative works in oil and on paper, portraiture, and plein-air landscapes. His works have been commissioned, exhibited and recognized throughout California, Europe, and Asia.

He is also the founder of the critically acclaimed “Classical Underground,” a classical music and visual art project and of the Award Wining “Love My Neighbor” project in the difficult and long marginalized neighborhood in the City of Carson, California. In 2019 Alexey Steele had been appointed the first Artist Laureate of Culver City, California.

Please check out Alexey Steele’s website https://alexeysteele.com/

Alexey will share with us his journey and what it feels like to live and create art in Los Angeles!

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John Mullican is a Los Angeles native, born and raised in Santa Monica Canyon, a graduate of Emerson College, Boston, and for the past 30 years has worked as a true Los Angeles hyphenate as a WGA writer, an actor, an agency Art Director, and a studio advertising Creative Director for the Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox, Viacom and Paramount Pictures. His feature film documentary about his artist father’s life, “Finding Lee Mullican," can be found on Vimeo and for the past 4 years has been managing and directing his mother’s posthumous career, artist Luchita Hurtado. This year, John’s autobiographical play “In the Unlikely Event of an Actual Emergency,” after a sold out workshop production, officially opened at the Hudson Theatre, Hollywood, this past September for a 6 week run, and will now be seen this spring in New York City, at the Chain Theatre Mainstage, midtown Manhattan, as part of the New York Fringe Festival, from April 2 to April 20, 2025.

John will share with us his journey and what it feels like to live in West Hollywood!

www.inthemoodforcalifornia.com

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Twitter: @InTheMoodForCA