The Brief

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Oct. 2, 2024.

When the pandemic closed storefronts in 2020, consumers were forced to find services and vendors elsewhere, while desperate laid-off workers turned to side hustles to make ends meet.

Since then, many entrepreneurs have transformed their hobbies into businesses – and some have even become their main source of income.

Thanks to the rising popularity of social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, many people have been able to sell their services and products online or generate income as “creators.” That trend has especially taken off among the “extremely online” Gen Z population.

According to a study conducted this summer by Talker Research, younger generations are more likely to consider themselves entrepreneurs – 36% of Gen Z and just 25% of baby boomers.

We spoke with three young entrepreneurs from Boyle Heights to learn about their side hustles and small business journeys.

Jose Lima, 23, Chepecleans4you

For Jose “Chepe” Lima, shoes are everything.

The 23-year-old came up with the idea to start his shoe cleaning business, Chepecleans4you, in 2020 after he saw no one was offering the service locally at an affordable price.

“Nobody really does this, especially in Boyle Heights,” Lima said. “We can all see how everybody resells shoes…There are more shoes than the [cleaning] service out there, so it was the perfect opportunity to take over the community with this.”

Jose “Chepe” Lima cleaning a pair of Nike shoes.

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Carol Martinez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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After graduating from Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez High School in 2019, Lima chose to focus on work instead of going off to college. He landed a full-time job as a delivery driver for Amazon. He thought the hourly pay of $20.75 would be enough to support his expenses while living at home with his parents.

Lima started Chepecleans4you while working at Amazon and eventually quit his job to focus on his side hustle. Like many other entrepreneurs, the side-hustle-to-full-time pipeline was his original goal.

Jose “Chepe” Lima goes through the shoe cleaning process.

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Carol Martinez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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“There’s been good and bad days. I work full-time so my job comes first. I quit once to do [Chepecleans4u] full-time, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out,” he said. “It’s life, but I’m hoping to try it again one day.”

Today, he works for the delivery company full-time and focuses on his side business on his days off.

Lima runs his business from home, where his clients typically drop off their shoes. He charges $25 to clean any shoe. The service includes an all-around deep clean, including the outsole and midsole.

Most of Lima’s clients are from Boyle Heights, East L.A., and surrounding areas on the Eastside. He says he builds clientele through social media promotion, as well as through recommendations from customers who share the business with friends and family.

“It’s very important, it helps me connect with the community. People love shoes, people work hard for their shoes, so it’s something you always want to have clean and fresh,” he said.

You can find Chepecleans4you here.

Elianet Romero and Alijiah Torres, both 27, Las Niñas Fresitas

Elianet Romero and Alijiah Torres, both 27, met during their freshman year at Bravo Medical Magnet High School. The two bonded during English class and have been best friends since.

When the pandemic hit, they saw an opportunity to create a joint venture that could bring in extra income. They created a sweet treats business called Las Niñas Fresitas, and started selling chocolate-covered strawberries and miniature cakes online.

“A lot of small businesses tend to overcharge. Our whole motto was to be different and make our business more affordable so that people can get a treat for their loved ones, especially during COVID when things were rocky and negative,” said Romero. “It was a chance to spread positivity and start a business together.”

Elianet Romero (left) and Ailijah Torres (right) hold a box of chocolate covered strawberries.

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Photo courtesy of Las Niñas Fresitas

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When the business launched, Romero was working full-time doing communications for a private firm. It fit perfectly with her plans for the future, serving to help fund her education. She is currently attending law school at the University of California, Davis.

For Torres, who had just graduated from college at the height of the pandemic, Las Niñas Fresitas became her main source of income until she started working for a finance company.

Today, the business venture serves as additional income for the two.

“Our venture is really unique because we’re two best friends giving back to the community. We grew up around there [Boyle Heights], we went to school there, and it’s really nice seeing locals that went to school together or we worked with them at some point and end up recommending people to us because they know our product is good,” said Romero.

Custom sweet treats made by Las Niñas Fresitas.

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Collage made with photo courtesy of Las Niñas Fresitas

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A team, in and out of the kitchen, Romero and Torres use their skills to build and maintain the business. Studying law, Romero has been getting acquainted with the ins and outs of running a business to implement informed practices in their growing business and future storefront. Torres uses her knowledge working for a financial firm to manage Las Niñas Fresitas’ finances.

“I think it’s pretty profitable as a side hustle but I know we want to see it as a storefront. Is it profitable as a storefront right now? Absolutely not,” Romero said.

In March, the entrepreneurs added cakes to the menu and began receiving weekly cake orders in addition to chocolate-strawberry purchases.

Las Niñas Fresitas takes orders through Instagram and caters celebrations, including birthdays, weddings and baby showers.

Looking ahead, the friends want to focus on promoting their business through social media, pop-up events and pursuing their goal of a storefront in the next few years.

You can find more about Las Niñas Fresitas here.

Bryan Rojas, 24, Mezcal Mixer

Bryan Rojas developed a passion for crafting cocktails while working as a bartender at dive bars and cocktail lounges.

Bryan Rojas.

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Carol Martinez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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During the pandemic, he saw an opportunity to use his vast experience to create his own craft drink mixing business based in Boyle Heights. Rojas started uploading videos of his custom recipes online, an endeavor that would eventually blossom into his own bartending business.

“From making videos, it quickly became where I had friends from high school that were like ‘Hey I noticed you’re bartending, how much would you charge me for my birthday?’ and it kind of went from there,” said Rojas.

At the time, he and his wife were struggling financially and living paycheck to paycheck so the business helped keep them afloat. Rojas decided to call it Mezcal Mixer.

The 24-year-old currently manages and curates the menu for a Japanese restaurant in the Arts District and runs this bartending side hustle on his free time. This past summer, he said, the business booked up to seven events monthly.

Booking inquiries are handled through a link on his business Instagram page, where interested clients can share details about the number of guests, event location, budget and theme. An average event for 100 guests could cost $350 to $400, Rojas said.

Custom drinks made by Mezcal Mixer.

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A collage of photos courtesy of Mezcal Mixer.

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When it comes to booking events like birthday parties or graduations, Rojas works closely with his clients to ensure that they’re never spending more than they need to by often creating specialized menus, pre-event drink tastings and bar schedules to combat the inevitable leftover liquor and supplies.

“I try guiding people in the direction where I can make a good menu or curate a menu to fit a theme while still saving them money because no one wants to spend $1,500 on a bartender and no one is drinking the cocktails,” he said.

Rojas also takes pride in using quality ingredients in all of his recipes and says his syrups and drink infusions are all housemade.

“I love the extra money and the fact that it helps me do what I want to do, but I love the creative aspects more…I’m 100 percent proud of my original recipes and all the brainstorming that goes into it,” Rojas said.

You can find Mezcal Mixer here.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman promised at a Tuesday night town hall that MacArthur Park will see “amazing progress” in public safety before the 2028 Olympic Games.

Several community members told LAist they have seen crime return to the Los Angeles park after months of joint drug enforcement operations by the Los Angeles Police Department and federal agencies. Those efforts led to dozens of arrests for alleged drug sales in the area.

An LAPD captain attending the town hall confirmed to LAist that the department is aware of renewed safety problems.

Hochman acknowledged those concerns and said the recent operations made progress and created an opportunity for lasting change.

“If we keep this focus and the energy on this area, MacArthur Park, Skid Row and everything in between,” Hochman said, “then we will see amazing progress before the Olympics, and that is actually a promise.”

Hochman previously promised, during a drug enforcement operation on June 4, to have a picnic at the park on Labor Day. Hochman told attendees he kept that promise when he held an event at the park on Sept. 5 with other local and federal law enforcement officials.

As district attorney, Hochman works with law enforcement agencies to prosecute criminal cases in L.A. County. He said that it will take more work from policymakers and community members to remove the open-air drug market that has been entrenched there for decades.

The area is represented by L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, County Supervisor Hilda Solis, state Assemblymember Mark González and state Sen. María Elena Durazo. Staff members from some of those offices, and the mayor’s office, sat in on the town hall organized by the local nonprofit California Rising.

“Feel free to put the fire under the feet of our politicians,” Hochman told about two dozen residents who attended. “All too often it is easy to spend some effort on something and then get distracted and spend some effort somewhere else.”

'Temporary' relief

Some residents and business owners agreed with Hochman that the large-scale drug enforcement operations from March through June made the area feel safer, at least for a while.

“It was temporary, but we got to see, actually, families at the bus stops with their kids — before it wasn't like that,” Elaine Alaniz told LAist Tuesday. “I think it does help us, but on the other hand I still think that we need more help. It's not just a one, two, three-day thing.”

Alaniz lives nearby and is the president of the Westlake North Neighborhood Council, which begins a block northeast of MacArthur Park.

She said she has seen some crime move away from the park and into the surrounding neighborhoods.

Capt. Ben Fernandes, who leads LAPD’s Rampart Division, said the earlier operations were successful, but there have been some setbacks.

“We made a lot of headway in the beginning,” he said. “There are some issues that we've had some repopulation, especially with addicts.”

Fernandes said that the department will continue to arrest people suspected of selling drugs near the park, while connecting people who are addicted with services to help them get sober and off the streets.

A call for community involvement

Hochman and Fernandes each emphasized that making MacArthur Park a safe and welcoming place can’t be done by law enforcement alone.

“My advice: take the park back — it's your park,” Hochman said at the town hall, calling for community organizations to plan regular outings there. “That starts to send a message that the community really cares about this park.”

He asked that performers like Justin Bieber, who played an impromptu set in the park last month, have more events there as well.

Fernandes said people can get involved to change perceptions about MacArthur Park so it's no longer thought of as a place to go to score drugs.

“What we need to do is — we as a community — come together and show [people using drugs] that it's not their place to go,” he said. “That you're going to be there with your children, with your parishioners, with your friends, with your family.”

Inglewood city officials are launching an audit of their financial relationship with SoFi Stadium and claiming the stadium could owe years of ticket taxes, one month after a judge voided the 2015 contract that brought the stadium to Inglewood. 

The Inglewood City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to commission the audit. Mayor James Butts said the move is a necessary next step after the court ruling, which threw the terms of the financial relationship between the city and Hollywood Park stadium development into question. 

Millions of dollars are at stake for both the city and the stadium businesses. City officials say that the ruling means a cap that limited the amount of admissions tax that Inglewood could collect no longer applies. They also plan to investigate the authenticity of $376 million worth of infrastructure bills Hollywood Park claims the city owes. The findings of the audit could also factor into discussions of how the city will address its current $30.8 million deficit.

The City Council motion — put forward by Butts and co-sponsored by Councilmember Dionne Faulk — requires the city attorney to retain an accounting firm to conduct the audit and report back to the public on its findings within 30 days. It set aside $325,000 from the city’s General Fund to pay for the audit. You can read the city’s full explanation of the audit here.

Butts, who was at the city’s helm a decade ago when developer Stan Kroenke brought his Hollywood Park pitch to Inglewood, said city officials built what they thought was a partnership with their stadium counterparts.

But that partnership has crumbled. Since last summer, the city and stadiums have been slugging it out in a complex series of court cases over the stadium’s contract and Inglewood’s network of video billboards. The conflict has spilled over into the Nov. 3 election via ballot measures that would change the city’s commercial advertising and ticket tax rules. 

The audit approved by the City Council on Tuesday will dig into the entire financial relationship between the stadium and city since 2015, unpacking what is owed and what was received from taxes on everything from tickets to parking. City officials plan to continue auditing the taxes on a quarterly basis into the future.

Still, it’s not guaranteed the city would be able to force the stadium development to pay any debt the audit does claim. Hollywood Park could still appeal the court ruling that voided its contract with Inglewood, while Butts said the city wants to negotiate a new contract to replace it. 

A Hollywood Park spokesperson said the stadium development has lived up to its financial obligations, including paying all of its taxes.

“This is yet another thinly veiled attempt to distract from scrutiny surrounding the City’s own fiscal mismanagement and the questionable actions of its Mayor,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Some locals at Tuesday’s meeting said during public comments they were baffled why the city hadn’t set up an audit process earlier.

“We have needed an audit from day one. We can’t sit here and claim we didn’t know or have an inkling what we were doing with Hollywood Park,” Diane Sambrano said. 

Exterior of Sofi Stadium in Inglewood

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Gary Coronado

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The LA Local

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Speaking during the meeting, Butts said the audit was triggered because of the void left by the development agreement and because major events including the 2027 Super Bowl and 2028 Olympics are about to hit Inglewood.

The mayor first claimed the development agreement was illegal in a letter written directly to Stan Kroenke last year, saying the city’s lawyers made the determination while researching billboard litigation.

Millions in tax revenue at stake

After the judge ruled in agreement with the city, Butts told The LA Local that city officials were still researching the specific implications of the court’s ruling. In Tuesday’s council motion, city staff highlighted what they say is one major change they’ve discovered: There’s no longer a limit on how much admissions tax the city can collect.  

Inglewood collects a 10% tax on tickets sold at SoFi Stadium, but the 2015 initiative that brought the stadium to the city put a cap on that revenue, starting at $15 million a year and increasing annually with inflation. 

The admissions tax cap also happens to be the subject of the current ballot Measure AT. WOW Media, the billboard operator allied with the city in its dispute with the stadium, is funding a campaign in favor of the initiative.

Admissions tax has been a sizable revenue stream for the city — bringing in an average $20 million a year since SoFi Stadium opened — but city officials have said it could be significantly bigger. A city analysis of Measure AT estimated that getting rid of the cap could bring in as much as an extra $50 million in future years. The city did not estimate how much admissions tax revenue it has missed out on while the development agreement was in effect.

The Inglewood audit seeks to clarify basic questions about how taxes are assessed on ticket sales and whether those taxes are actually forwarded to the city. Officials say it will provide transparency about ticket sales, pricing and fees, which have been heavily scrutinized in recent years across the state. 

Gray gets support on proposal for future billboard revenue audit

Councilmember Gloria Gray attempted to amend the audit motion Tuesday, asking the city manager to also audit the revenue the city gets from billboard fees.

“I believe the same standard of financial transparency should apply to every city agreement,” Gray said.

Though her motion didn’t receive a second, Councilmember Eloy Morales said he’d support putting a billboard revenue audit on the council’s agenda in the future. 

“I think we all support all those audits,” Morales said. 

Gray’s move was a rarity for a council that seldom debates motions during public meetings and almost always votes unanimously. The councilmember is currently running for mayor against Butts.

Inglewood pulls in as much as $8 million a year from billboards, according to budget records. Much of that comes from a series of deals the city cut with WOW Media, allowing the billboard company to construct and operate the billboards on public medians and sidewalks. In return, WOW gives the city a cut of ad revenue along with other concessions.

The post Inglewood is investigating if SoFi Stadium owes years’ worth of ticket taxes appeared first on LA Local.