MiJa Books is an independent, family-owned children’s bookstore for diverse books created by an entrepreneurial wife-husband team, Stephanie ’10 and Muammar Reed. What started as a home library for their Afro-Latina daughter has turned into an online resource for readers looking to diversify their children’s bookshelves. Both born and raised in Southern California, Stephanie and Muammar believe representation matters and have a vision of a more inclusive world that begins within the pages of a book. As a Black and Latina-owned business, their mission is to showcase children’s picture books that feature children of color on the front cover and as main characters. They want their daughter and every other child to have shelves full of inclusive books with relatable and inspirational characters.

Freshly roasted ground coffee and premium self-care products delivered to your door

CEO and founder of Coffee & Confidence™ Alana Steely is a licensed mental health therapist who also curates monthly coffee and wellness boxes for women to help improve overall well-being. Steely started Coffee & Confidence™ to empower women to prioritize their self-care and help them change their mindset to feeling worthy and confident. Each box contains one bag of ground coffee along with two to five wellness items, all of which are from small women-owned, minority-owned or eco-friendly businesses. The products are uniquely sourced from small businesses and are not found at any larger retail stores. Enjoy freshly roasted ground coffee and premium self-care products delivered to your door!

After graduating from college and slipping into depression from being overwhelmed with uncertainty, Angelia Trinidad decided to launch a company in her parent’s garage. She created a tool to help her regain control over her life: a paper planner that would help her focus on what really matters. In October 2013, the first-ever Passion Planner launched on Kickstarter. Within 30 days, it had raised $48,000 with the help of 2,000 backers and a year later, the Passion Planner Compact received a whopping $650,000 of funding. Since then, Passion Planner has evolved from an idea to a team of 28 motivated employees and a global community of over one million people. With structure for plans, blank pages for creativity and room for reflection, Passion Planner helps you identify your dreams and build toward them every day.

GiftSuite is a BIPOC, female-led and LGBTQIA-friendly company actively supporting other innovative start-ups, small businesses and artisans. They focus on form and function to provide highly curated, modern gift boxes featuring tech-forward, socially conscious products. Corporate gifts are expertly curated — designed to impress your clients, coworkers and business partners.

Two newlyweds, Sarah ("Sunny") and Leonard ("Lenny") Friedman, came out west from Chicago after Lenny served four years in the U.S. Army (1942-46) during World War II. They opened a tiny “mom and pop” shop in Westwood Village called Crescent Jewelers. The Village still had blocks of undeveloped dirt lots, as it had opened just 17 years earlier in September 1929, the same time the new UCLA campus in Westwood opened. In 1963, the store expanded into a greatly enlarged store around the corner on Westwood Blvd., and in 1998, two years after celebrating its 50th anniversary, the store name was changed to Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers. For over 70 years, Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers has provided exceptional service, genuine concern, sound advice and quality jewelry, which is central to their core values. The store showcases a wide selection of loose diamonds, engagement rings, precious gems, watches, antique and estate jewelry, as well as custom designs. Today, Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers holds the record as the longest-running merchant in Westwood Village and continues to be owned and operated by the second and third generation of Friedman and Abell family members, six of whom attended UCLA.

N.Y.L.A. Shoes is a Los Angeles-based shoe company and is one of the first fully owned Asian American footwear companies in the U.S. Established in 1984, they have been leading the trend and funk worldwide for 30 years and counting. Fun, funky and sometimes wild, N.Y.L.A. Shoes are the authority on the coolest, trendiest look on your foot. Their goal is to conquer the world, one pair of feet at a time.

Sarah Pura and Jamison Pereira are kindred spirits who love to solve problems. Despite starting their careers on vastly different paths — Jamison served as a U.S. Army officer while Sarah began as a Hollywood assistant — the two connected while working as management consultants. Together they were struck by the fact that despite a growing plastic waste crisis, retail shelves are still stocked with single-use plastic. They were each investing in higher quality homewares, but failed to find simple soap dispensers to match their needs. Stylish dispenser options were limited, and even with designer dispensers soap refills still came packaged in plastic. Eddi was born from the idea to give customers an uncompromising alternative for personal care products: a stylish, enduring dispenser with effortlessly simple refills in a plastic-free, easy-to-recycle format. Sustainability, meet style. Sarah and Jamison set off to build Eddi in early 2020, with commitments to join 1% for the Planet and grow to be a Certified B Corp. A global pandemic presented challenges to starting a business, but it also brought renewed interest in hand soap and home decor.

The Mart Collective is the largest antique mall in West Los Angeles, with 120 spaces and showcases featuring 90 dealers of antique, vintage, modern and contemporary goods. The Mart is located in Venice, California, in a bright 16,000 sq. ft. building that has high ceilings, skylights and their own free parking lot behind the building. Their dealers love the hunt and keep The Mart filled with unique finds artfully arranged to inspire and delight. Strolling the aisles, you’ll find everything from mid-century modern furniture to costume jewelry, from iconic designer goods to decorating basics. The Mart has a huge volume of collectibles, postcards, artwork, cultural artifacts (like typewriters, cameras and books), one-of-a-kind gifts, oddities, curiosities and much more. The Mart’s vibe is friendly and fun with staff members who truly enjoy helping customers search for that perfect find.

Wire Rides is a cleantech mobility startup making freedom accessible through affordable personal electric vehicles. We are the first nationwide scooter subscription company specialized in service and maintenance. Previously Leef Scooters, Wire lets you purchase or subscribe to your very own personal electric ride. We get a top-of-the-line electric scooter for your own use. No more sharing. No limitations on where you can have it or ride it (of course respecting applicable laws) and no worries about its history because it’s yours.

John Tabis is founder and chairman of The Bouqs Company. In 2012, along with co-founder Juan Pablo Montúfar, Tabis launched the Marina del Rey, California-based company, now an industry leader in the online floral space that delivers flowers and plants fresh from eco-friendly, sustainable farms around the world to doorsteps nationwide. The Bouqs Co.'s philosophy is simple: care about people, the planet and the process of growing flowers. Bouqs believes in farm-direct, transparent sourcing, which means partnering with farmers who use sustainable growing practices like minimizing waste and recycling water. The end result? No more middlemen! Flowers stay fresher, longer — for birthdays, anniversaries, new beginnings or just because. Founded with the belief that there can never be too much kindness or compassion in the world, we believe that the simple gesture of gifting flowers can transform your day, rekindle an old connection or spark a new one. And we believe in the power of community and our shared mission: To create a better way to deliver responsibly sourced, farm-fresh flowers and gifts made with love to the people you love the most.

Enter the code “Brownish15” at checkout and receive a 15% discount.

Since 2018, Brownhaze Jewelry has been creating unique jewelry pieces that integrate the beauty of nature into pieces that can be worn by men and women. The mission of the company is to create a sustainable line of jewelry that reminds people that we are part of the environment and that beauty is found all around us, even in the things that we wear. In 2020, Brownhaze Jewelry added the goal of providing jobs for transitional-aged youth (those aging out of the foster care system). These youth need viable skills to take them into the future and provide them with jobs that can help them in future endeavors, both financially and professionally. Brownhaze Jewelry can be the "stepping stone" for these young people and open doors for their futures. As the world is opening back up, we plan to start providing jobs and training for these individuals. Your purchase will help us achieve this goal.

A sewing hobby turned business has allowed Cindy Alvarez-Mobarki to tap into her creative roots, as her love for vintage and obsession for Anthropologie shows in each of her handcrafted aprons. Cuisine Couture is a place where you will find vintage-inspired women’s kitchen aprons, potholders, cast irons, skillet handles and much more. Each apron is handcrafted with a modern flair and time is taken on each detail of every apron. These aprons and accessories are a great way to brighten up any kitchen.

Habit Nest is a practical, action-oriented startup aimed at helping others take back decisional authority over every action they take. Everything Habit Nest creates comes with a mix of bite-sized information, strategy and accountability. They use their hard-earned intuition to outline beautifully designed, intuitive products to help people live happier, more fulfilled lives. Habit Nest loves finding the fastest, most effective ways to build a new skill, then systemizing that process for others. Their goal is to help people live wholesome, rewarding lives at the brink of their potential and empathize with others every step of the way. Habit Nest takes their goals a step further by diving into published scientific studies, the opinions of subject-matter experts and the feedback we get from customers to further enhance all the products they create.

Chris Arranaga founded his company in 1979 out of Sproul Hall, which sells promotional products to organizations like IBM, the Golden State Warriors and UCLA. An events-based company headquartered in Riverside, California, Gorilla Marketing produces branded merchandise from UCLA Alumni Day shirts to I ♥ water bottles to three-ply face masks. They help universities, corporations, nonprofits, law firms, financial institutions and local businesses achieve their strategic marketing goals with the philosophy that the best business relationships are all about serving people.

If you are looking for a unique engagement ring, then you have found the perfect place. Featured in the LA Times and Glamour Magazine, ValerieKStudio uses recycled gold to protect the environment from more damage, with diamonds that are conflict-free following the Kimberley Process Act. When considering such high-end quality products with ValerieKStudio jewelry, each piece of jewelry offers authenticity, crafted with Valerie’s own original creation and design.