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Written By: Rick Gibson, MBA, CEC Publisher & CEO: Christopher Luna Alann Russell Klumpp may have been a celebrated figure in the history of the Apollo space program; but, thankfully, he was also a non-compliant NASA employee. On the Apollo 11 moon landing mission, the crew had been trained to activate the rendezvous radar which mysteriously caused a back up of data, interrupting systems’ two-second guidance signals. When the data queue filled up, the computer flushed the co

A Strong Sense of Self to Guides Steve Gunther’s Leadership Style Written By: Ed Mauss Editor-in-Chief: Rick Gibson Publisher & CEO: Christopher Luna Steve Gunther's four-decade career offers a masterclass in knowing your limits, trusting your people, and steering a venerable institution into its boldest chapter yet. Many executives spend their careers accumulating titles and authority. Steve Gunther once gave his back—voluntarily, without another job lined up—because he deci

By Ed Mauss Editor-in-Chief: Rick Gibson Publisher & CEO: Christopher Luna How a South Korean immigrant with no five-year plan built one of America’s top-rated workplaces—and why she says the key to great leadership is forgetting yourself. On her first day as the lowest-ranking member of a water agency’s public affairs department, Joone Kim-Lopez was handed a job description that left nothing to the imagination. “You are everyone’s peon,” her new colleagues told her. Her resp

An Entrepreneur Finds Energy for Her Business Through Tragedy By: Rick Gibson Publisher & CEO: Christopher Luna Starting a business is difficult for anyone. It’s even harder for a female entrepreneur. Starting over after a sudden and devastating loss is almost impossible. In January 2025, the destructive Eaton Fire swept through Altadena, California. For many like Elizabeth Hall and her family, it was catastrophic. Not only did it claim her home, but also the entire inventory

How the Son of Immigrants Rewrote His Story Written By: Rick Gibson Editor-in-Chief: Rick Gibson Publisher & CEO: Christopher Luna The road signs were not clearly marked. In fact, they were pointing in another direction. It would be unfair to blame young Juan De La Cruz for taking the well-worn path of sub-par grades and odd jobs with no prospects. When he began working at age 11, he was not surprised that life was difficult and unrewarding because that was the only expectati

Written By: Ed Mauss Editor-in-Chief: Rick Gibson Publisher & CEO: Christopher Luna There's a moment in every leader's story where someone decides to believe in them before they believe in themselves. For Dr. Thomas A. Parham – psychologist, scholar, and recently retired president of California State University, Dominguez Hills – that moment came on a walkway at UC Irvine, when a professor named Joe White put his arm around a bright but aimless young man and said, simply: "Y

Dr. Noel Hacegaba The CEO of the Port of Long Beach shares leadership principles forged through a blue-collar family, serving his teams, and navigating intense operational challenges Written By: Ed Mauss Photography by: Andrew Heiser Editor-in-Chief: Rick Gibson Publisher & CEO: Christopher Luna The day his parents dropped him off at USC, his stepfather reached into his pocket and pressed a $50 bill into his hand. “Mijo,” he said in Spanish. “This is all I got for the whole w

Stephen Cheung and Ron Frierson are Redefining Economic Success in Greater Los Angeles Written By Rick Gibson Photography By: Andrew Heiser Publisher & CEO: Christopher Luna Hair & Make Up: Patrick Santa Ana Agency Videographer: John Kandalaft Location: City Club Los Angeles The story is told that three bricklayers working on a church construction project were asked to describe what they were doing. The first responded, “I am laying bricks.” The second said, “I am building a

"The people in flight from the terror behind—refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert's slow unmoving hand; they all come to California. And they are one great snake moving along the road." —John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Like the “Dust Bowlers” before them, the post-World War II wave of migrants from Oklahoma were attracted to California by a general sense that a better life was possible there. Burdened