Influencing Behavior

Shima 0 comments 01.06.2016

Every Wednesday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.

Today’s WCW title belongs to South Bay native, Jamie Kelly, who joined the army reserve in 2007 as Psychological Operations Specialist.

Kelly, 27, was born and raised in Torrance, CA. In 2007, upon graduating from North High school, she joined the army reserve and deployed the following year in 2008.

As a Psychological Operations Specialist, Kelly’s duties are to influence behavior of foreign populations via media and face to face communication.

When asked what she would tell someone who may be interested in enlisting, she says, “The military can help you grow up and give you valuable life skills that you won't be able to obtain elsewhere.”
She values the friends she has made and “being a part of something bigger than yourself.” However, she says the challenging aspects are reintegrating back into civilian life after deployment.

When she is not working, she enjoys taking her kids to the park, retail therapy, and traveling.  Kelly plans to continue paying it forward by going back to school to someday become a nutritionist or personal trainer.

She wants to focus on health and help people surpass their goals.

Today, Kelly is living in Utah with her husband and children. She says she misses the South Bay mostly for, “The weather, lots of sunny days, legit Mexican and Asian food.”

Thank you, Kelly, for devoting your time and efforts to our military and making our country a greater place

Voice for children.

Shima 0 comments 24.05.2016

Every Wednesday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.

Today’s WCW title belongs to longtime South Bay native, Jessica LaBray, who is working as an Applied Behavior Analysis therapist, helping children with autism reduce behaviors like aggression and self-injury.

LaBray, 27, was born and raised in Torrance, CA. In 2007, she graduated from North High school and says it is where she first became interested in psychology.

Upon graduating, she attended Cal State University of Dominguez Hills and received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a minor in sociology, in 2012. After taking a year off of school to work and pursue a career in behavioral therapy, she was accepted into Hawaii Pacific University’s school of social work graduate program.

 In 2014, she moved to Oahu, Hawaii to attend Hawaii Pacific University and fulfill her dream of living on the islands. Her grandfather worked for Delta airlines for over 40 years so her family was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Hawaii every year for vacation and I was blessed with the opportunity to tag along, visiting so many beautiful places. I fell in love with the islands of Maui and Kauai at a young age and have wanted to live here for as far back as I can remember.

She is currently about half-way through the program in hopes of receiving a master’s degree in social work. She does not recall a specific time where she realized she had an interest in psychology or social work, however, always knew she wanted to be a social worker and work for CPS (Child Protective Services).

Today, LaBray is working in ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy. She says, “I had some knowledge about it but had only taken one behavior modification course during my undergrad program.” It wasn’t until she saw openings on craigslist that she decided to apply, and once she was given the privilege of working with children that have special needs and learning the field of ABA, she fell in love.

Her current position as an ABA therapist teaches replacement behaviors to children with autism to reduce harmful behaviors like aggression and self-injury. In short, they also teach vocal language, sign language, self-care and independent living skills, and social skills.

She says this  is important because these skills can improve their quality of life and open up a wider range of opportunities available to them, as well as lower their risk for incarceration or homelessness as adults. “These kids are my world!” she says.

In five years, she hopes to have her MSW and work with CPS, adoptions, or as a court-appointed child advocate. She says her current job as a behavior therapist is absolutely amazing and the company she currently works for, Easter Seals, has given her the best position she has ever had.

Unfortunately, advancement in her field requires that she becomes a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and since she is already invested in the social work program, she has decided not to pursue that certification quite yet.

Despite loving her major, she says challenges in her study include not having enough time to not only complete assignments, but read and actually learn the material. “Most of the time it feels like I’m just rushing to turn something in or quickly cram for an exam. I work full time from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, so I don’t feel like I’m getting my money’s worth of the program, as I can barely make it to class on time.”

Some of the challenges she faces at work include not having enough energy to keep the kids motivated and happy. “It’s hard to keep a big smile or goofy character voice when you’re exhausted from lack of sleep or anxious about a paper that’s due after work. Personally, those are my biggest challenges,” she says.

LaBray feels grateful to have grown up in the South Bay for its diversity. She says, “In all of the cities I have lived in, I have never had to grow up in a place where everyone looked the same. I love that I was exposed to so many different cultures (and food!) at such a young age. I also love the unity and close-knit ties that friends and families maintained over generations.”

She says that almost everyone has each other’s back. “From being students at NHS and losing our dear friend Hyatt, to national tragedies like the shooting at Sandy Hook, the community came together to support one another,” she says.

She misses many of friends, including those from North High. She says she didn’t realize how valuable friendships were until everyone grew up, moved away and had children.

LaBray hopes that one day the academic system will teach unbiased and historically accurate material and to be accessible (not just free) for everyone. She also hopes that teachers will be paid more in the future.

Thank you, Jessica, for continuing to be a wonderful member of the South Bay, even while away pursuing your academic goals to help others.

“I want to be an advocate, or a voice, for children in dangerous situations. I’ve been in a lot of complicated situations involving my own family throughout my life so I think I can bring the understanding and awareness needed in that field.”

-Jessica LaBray

Touching others through the essence of nature.

Shima 0 comments 04.05.2016

Every Wednesday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.

Today’s WCW title belongs to Ferial Itani who at 54 years old bravely decided that it was time to pursue her heart’s greatest passion and begin a fragrance and soap line after styling hair for over 18 years.

Ferial, 54, moved to the U.S. when she was just 12 years old from Beruit. Her family moved with hopes of building a better life in the “Land of opportunity.” For her early life, she grew up in the South Bay and later graduated from Hawthorne high school.

After marrying her husband, Ferial owned several businesses including owning Aladin Café restaurant. She was the cook and says that she enjoyed creating dishes with passion. Upon closing the restaurant, she cut, dyed and styled hair for 18 years at her brother’s hair salon in Redondo Beach, Zouhair Salon.

No matter what business, hobby or passion she followed, she took her heart fully in it and she says, “It showed.”

For many years, Ferial began mixing her favorite perfumes with natural essences such as orange blossom. She says that wherever she went, whether the grocery store, airplane, or just walking past a stranger, she was stopped and asked, “What perfume is that?” After informing them that she made the perfume herself, she found it comical that many would beg to buy the already used bottles from her.

She says that she would freely give them away just because it brought her so much joy to see others happy with her products. Often times while at her brother’s salon, her clients would complement her as well and ask her where they could purchase the perfume.

She was constantly asked, “Why don’t you sell them?” At the time, she felt she was too busy to pursue a business in creating the perfumes so she dismissed the idea for a long time. That all changed three years ago when she became severely ill from headaches and was rushed to the hospital.

After being released, her brother insisted that maybe she was exhausting herself from the salon and that it may be time for her to follow a new passion or just simply take a break. Ferial says that she loves to embark on new journeys, such as one day hoping to move to Tuscany. Yet, she says that no matter what new phase she enters in her life, she remains herself…honest and true to her most authentic self.

While home recovering, she found that she wanted to reach more people. She says that so many people have helped her throughout her life and she has helped so many as well, yet knew there was more for her. She was entering a phase in her life where she wanted to be able to “touch” others. So over the course of three years, she quit her job as a stylist and began creating soap products.

Growing up, she would store and save hand soaps she’d receive from Lebanon. She says they were very precious to her for they looked rigid and smelt good. She wanted to use the soaps as a way to connect with others and share the same love and passion she had in her heart through them.

She began mixing ingredients such as peppermint oil with other natural essential oils. After making only one batch and distributing them amongst her five children and their friends, she was surprised to find them so pleased with the products.

“My kids and their friends would beg me to make more and so I did,” she says. She says that although physically she created the products, she finds that the emotional support of her loved ones was what made it possible to create the products. “A smile on a loved one’s face alone was my inspiration,” Ferial says.

Soon after, she decided to begin creating the products for others to also purchase and designed Ferial Essence. The perfumes and soaps can be bought directly from her Etsy website here.

On her website she says, "I began making perfumes and soaps wanting a product that doesn’t exist these days, because of the impurities and toxins added into them. Ferial Essence products are kept in their original state, starting from the ingredients used to the way they are crafted. Each product is unique, different than the rest, blossoming into its own character. Like a jewel in the rough, they are not buffed and do not contain any chemicals or fillers. When you close your eyes, you will be transported to a different time, where the fields were free and pure. You can smell the essence of nature that soothes your body, mind and soul. An honest, good product – that’s what I wanted to make."

. She says her personal favorite product is the orange blossom scents as it takes her back to a place in time where things felt innocent. “I like how it reminds me orange fields where what you see is what you get. Not many things are organic anymore, but orange fields are real,” she says.

When Ferial is not spending time with her family or creating perfumes, she enjoys gardening and spending as much time with nature as possible. She enjoys calligraphy and often draws beautiful symbolic letters, images and creations with them. She pays it forward by knitting beanies for premature babies and children in Lebanon. In her room, she has a wide range of beanies in different sizes and colors in a storage container waiting to ship.

Ferial is enjoying creating perfume and soaps for her clients and says that she can’t wait to see where the next phase of her life takes her. Thank you, Ferial, for reminding us that it is never too late to follow our dreams and reach our destiny and as you say, “Tomorrow is not promised, so do it today.”

“I don’t believe I have talent, I have passion…everything I do is from the heart and it shows.”

-Ferial Itani

Unleashing the power within.

Shima 0 comments 11.04.2016

Every Monday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.

Today’s MCM title belongs to Jacob Yowell who is North High School’s Cross Country & Track and Field Coach who has used his love of sports to changes people’s lives by being the source that helps his athletes unleash the power within them.

Jacob, 27, was born in Gardena and later raised in Torrance, CA. Upon graduating in 2006 graduated from North Torrance High School, he studied Sociology at UCI. Today, along with being a substitute teacher for Torrance Unified School District, he is the head coach for the Cross Country & Track and Field programs at North High.

His main duty is to oversee all administrative, financial, and training duties for both programs. A typical day for Jacob looks like this: he gets a call from the Torrance Unified School District, giving him the details of the subbing assignment that he will be working. Upon completing subbing, he heads into his office out at the football stadium.

 

Each day, Jacob oversees a team meeting at 2:00 pm where he addresses the team on any important items or events coming up in the next couple of days and weeks. After that, the team warm ups with his assistant coaches and he heads back to his office to handle any athletic and administrative work.

Finally, he heads out to the track to put his athletes through their work out and once practice is over, he heads back to the office to prepare for the next day. Despite his long day, he commits to completing his own workout in the school’s weight room before heading home to relax.

When asked what being a Coach means to Jacob, he says, “I could tell you that it means everything to me, but even then, the answer wouldn’t do the question any justice. To be a coach means I have the platform and power to be so much more than that to so many athletes. With that great power comes great responsibility.  A responsibility I’ve been blessed and a responsibility in which I cherish.”

Remarkably, Jacob says that he did not choose the career and instead, it chose him. “The last thing I pictured myself doing coming out of college was coaching Cross Country/Track & Field. I felt that my love, drive and passion for the sport was one that only an elite level athlete would possess,” he says.

However, he believed that this mentality wouldn’t lead to success for high school athletes who didn’t share those same feeling and in turn bring frustration to him as a coach. He was then approached by an old coach to oversee the sprints and hurdles for the track team in the fall of the 2012-2013 school year.

He thought back on how dominate the teams at North where when he was attending and knew how bad the teams had gotten with the departure of former coaches. With that in mind, he felt that maybe he could lend a hand in helping rebuild the program. He is happy to say that in his 4^th season as a coach, second as the head coach, the success of the programs is back where it once was and is continuing to grow year by year.

Undoubtedly, he owes his success as a coach to the same love, desire, and passion he had as an athlete which he says is now the same for him as a coach.

When Jacob is not working, he enjoys spending time with his family or exploring Southern California. “I love my family and nothing comes before them so I like to just spend time with them when I can,” he says. He also feels lucky enough to live five minutes from the beach and 2 hours from the snow.

He is inspired by the quote, “Success isn’t measured by the amount of money you make but the amount of lives you impact.” He says that the quote sums up the relationship that is created between athletes and their coach which he says is irreplaceable.

Jacob says that as a Coach, athletes grow on you and you on them.  He has found that they challenge you and you challenge them, they change you and you change them. He enjoys witnessing their growth based on the impact he has had on them and in vice versa.

He’d like others to know how much it all really means to coaches. “In the great seasons, you’re on cloud nine right there with the athletes and in the bad seasons you hurt sometimes more than they do. It truly is an emotional roller coaster. You give them your all and you see them sweat, cry and bleed for you,” he says. Jacob would like parents and athletes to understand how much the coach’s want for each and every one of their athletes to be successful and how they’d exhaust all their means to ensure it happens.

Thank you, Jacob, for being a positive influence in the South Bay community and using your position as a Coach to reach a multitude of young men and women.

Aiding our Troops back to Health

Shima 0 comments 24.02.2016

Every Wednesday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.

Today’s WCW title belongs to Sarah Tuflija who is a Certified Surgical Technologist (CST) at the Veteran Affairs Hospital in Long Beach.

Sarah, 26, grew up in North Torrance and graduated from North High school in 2007.   Upon graduating from North High, Sarah spent some time in community college where she realized she needed a change.

She found that she had an interest in the medical field, but dove straight into the surgery department because of her family’s history in the field. “My mom was a surgical tech and still works in the operating room at Harbor UCLA and my grandmother was a CRNA, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist for Kaiser Permanente,” she says.

Her duties include assisting surgeons in the operating room from procedures that range from general surgery, urology, vascular, ENT, thoracic and so on. Sarah says, “There is no better feeling than every morning walking into the VA for work and seeing old war pictures, propaganda and memorials of all of our heroes and knowing that I am here to care for them.”

Sarah says that the veterans have served their time and duty and feels it is her job to make them better again. “The stories and personalities of some of the older veterans always make me smile. We are starting to get a shift as younger generation of veterans come in for care and an increase in women veterans,” she says.

The VA’s mission statement is to fulfill Lincoln’s promise: “to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s veterans.” Sarah feels grateful to be on the team of helpers who aid veterans.

Today, Sarah resides in Gardena and is the proud wife of a veteran. When she is not busy assisting veterans as a surgical technologist, she enjoys being outdoors at the beach, walking her dogs, being with friends and a having a good dinner and movie date with her husband. She loves the South Bay mostly for the, “beautiful weather, beaches and Mexican food.”

In five years, Sarah sees herself still working for the veterans in Long Beach and starting a family. She is proud to say that all of the men in her family are military veterans and the women work in operating rooms.

Thank you Sarah for aiding and assisting our heroes every day!

 “Being bed side, serving care for our veterans who have served and sacrificed so much for us is a job that I leave everyday feeling amazing about.”

– Sarah Tuflija

Once a Marine, always a Marine

Shima 0 comments 11.01.2016

Every Monday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place. Today’s MCM title belongs to Zach Lee.

Zach, 25, was born and raised in North Torrance, CA. At the age of 20, Zach joined the Marine Corps in December 2009 and began boot camp only a few months later in March 2010. “I joined the military to be a part of something greater, and to serve my country, and do my part in the wars,” Zach explains.

Zach’s title in the military is corporal, which according to Military-Ranks.org is “the fourth enlisted rank in the U.S. Marine Corps, ranking above Lance Corporal and directly below Sergeant.” Zach explains that it is considered the first tank of Noncommissioned officer. At the end of his enlistment in January of 2014, Zach concluded as a combat veteran. Zach’s uncle Kenny Simpson also served in the military prior as a fighter pilot in the Air Force.

Zach’s duty in the U.S. Marine Corps was a 0331 Infantry Machine gunner. “Attached to 1/1 C.co WPNS Platoon, our job was to attach to the rifle squads and provide support with heavy guns,” he explains. Since returning  home, Zach continues to visit his unit aboard Camp Pendleton, and has personally visited platoon mates.

His accomplishments and efforts have resulted in awards and commendations; good conduct , meritorious unit citation, and a navy achievement medal. Along with other medals while overseas. Zach has deployed to numerous countries including Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Pakistan, Oman, Hong Kong, Africa, Thailand, Jordan, and Hawaii.

He finds that the most rewarding part of serving was the honor of giving back to the country. However, he says that the most difficult part of service, was “The mental hardships of war and being away from family for so long, such as seven month deployments.”

When asked what he’d like people to know about service men and women, Zach says, “I would like people to know that many service men and women have a hard time transitioning to “civilian life”, when they get out of the military. With that comes stress, if you happen to know or meet a veteran sometimes they could use helpful advice or a leg up in their new adventure to becoming a civilian.”

Today, Zach is working at Valero refinery, which helps families in need during the holidays, by providing essentials and presents for the families. “When I had first hired on with Valero it was December, our training class had been assigned a family, they had a list of items that each family member needed, and a few items that they wanted for the kids like small toys. Our class had put together the gifts and items, and myself and a few other guys from the training class went to the family’s house and delivered the gifts and took pictures with the family,” Zach says.

As a single parent, Zach spends most of his time with his son and daughter, Jake and Sophia. He enjoys taking them outdoors, reading books with them and going to the dog park. He is currently living in North Torrance and in five years hopes to have been promoted with his job to the highest level he can go.

He also hopes to purchase a home in the future for his family and enjoys donating to United Way which is a nonprofit organization that contributes money and charity work to cities that are in need. For instance, united way and Valero Wilmington have raised 2 million in proceeds to Wilmington and its schools and parks and programs to help people find jobs, homeless shelters.

Thank you, Zach, for serving your country and dedicating your early years to making our country a safe place and continuing to live up to your role by finding ways to pay it forward to your community today.