Michele StuevenSix months ago, after the Eaton fire, we visited Soli Cooksey on her vacant lot in Altadena that used to be her home and business. Cooksey is the founder of Joonbird, a vintage-inspired children’s clothing brand known for its cheery prints and bright colors. She and her family lost everything in the California Wildfires, including the business, which she ran out of the garage.
This week marks a year since the California wildfires devastated Altadena, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and neighborhoods beyond that watched their homes go up in flames and turn into ashes.
We caught up with Cooksey, whose former vacant lot of sunflowers is slowly being replaced by house framing and the skeleton of a new home, as well as other Angelenos whose lives have changed forever, reflecting on rebuilding and recovery.
Joonbird rebuild (Courtesy Soli Cooksey)
“One year out from the fires, I am feeling pretty low, but hopeful,” she tells LA Weekly. “Many of us are feeling ‘disaster after disaster’. We’re still struggling to find our footing in temporary housing while we rebuild, dealing with many rebuilding decisions and obstacles, trying to take care of our mental health after a year of feeling like we couldn’t come up for air.
“Moving forward, I still feel like there is a lot to be done, but I’m glad that the brunt of it feels over,” says the mother of two. “ As for my business, I am still hard at work running around wearing all the hats it takes to re-start, but I have had many more setbacks than I expected, like ICE raids at many of my vendors downtown slowing down production, not having enough hired help, and generally feeling overwhelmed by it all. But I am not backing down. The current goal is to relaunch in the spring of this year. I’m excited to get that part of myself back, and I have learned this year that I can survive anything.”
Soli Cooksey in Altadena six months ago (Michele Stueven)
Founded by sisters Jordan and Jocelyn Catapano, This Girl Walks Into A Bar opened in 2010, a boutique bartending company and family enterprise of organic mixers and snacks. Jordan lost her home in the Palisades fire, and with it, all of the company’s bartending equipment, uniforms, mixology tools, and supplies, forcing them to close the business. They had just shipped their products from This Girl Mixers to a nearby shipping facility, salvaging the business. While Jordan is rebuilding her home, they are focused on This Girl Mixers, which are now sold nationwide.
What did they learn and what advice did they share?
“Double-check your insurance to make sure you have the coverage you assume that you have,” Jordan tells LA Weekly. “Feed your policy into ChatGPT and ask questions like – how many months of displacement funds do I have? What is my square footage coverage, and what does it cost per square foot to actually rebuild my house? Also have a grab bag of keepsakes. It turns out that all those important documents, like social security cards and passports, are easy to replace. It’s the old family photos you never scanned, the baby books and birth stories, your children’s time capsules, your wedding album. We evacuated on bikes because the streets were too jammed, and I’d like a do-over on what I grabbed and what kind of insurance I had for my home and my business.”
Robert Flutie of Flour Pizzeria
Robert Flutie opened Flour Pizza in 2024, which quickly grew to become the spot in the Palisades for the local school kids. Flutie lost both his home and storefront in the fire. He was planning to open a Brentwood location but fast-tracked the opening to Valentine’s Day 2025 with the motto “Pizza is Love.” He’s rebuilding the original storefront and opening new locations soon.
“It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year,” he says. “Some days it feels like it’s been ages, on other days it was just a minute ago as we watched the fire consume our community and cause massive destruction. In the days and weeks after the fire, it seemed as if the fog that shrouded the Palisades would never lift, at times heavy and thick with sadness and despair. In time, we all collectively found our way out of that fog and into the bright sunshine that we love about Southern California. It feels like we are now more in reach of gaining back some semblance of the life that was changed by the fires. Pizza Is Love.”
Rosalyn Phipps is the former manager and lead designer at Palisades Flowers, a beloved local shop lost in the Palisades fire. She spent a decade working her way up from part-time florist to a key figure in the shop. Despite a tough 30-mile commute, Phipps fell in love with the “whimsical little seaside cottage flower shop” and was grateful for the opportunities it provided. Now, she’s opened Root + Petal, a mobile florist operating out of her dining room and delivering from her car.
Courtesy Rosalyn Phipps
“I’m thankful for friends and family, especially my boyfriend, who helped me get through the first few weeks of fear and uncertainty,” Phipps tells LA Weekly. “I went from working at Palisades Flowers for six years to being unemployed overnight. Aside from the loss in a sentimental way and heartbreak for the community, I also had to cope with the very real loss of income, of a daily routine, and stability. My boyfriend supported me and helped me with money while I made the big decision to start my own floral studio rather than apply for another flower shop. My advice would be to lean on your people. Accept help, ask for help.
I’m not someone who asks for help easily, and after the fire, I made a GoFundMe and asked for help from people within the florist community and beyond. I was so moved by how generous people were all around, so many donations and people giving away clothing, food, anything anyone needed. It was very vulnerable for me to ask for help, and the money we received absolutely helped my team, and I weathered the first few weeks after the fire. LA really showed up for their neighbors.”
Vanessa Nabhani’s burned home in Altadena (Courtesy Vanessa Nabhani)
Vanessa Nabhani, co-founder of PlayLab Beauty in Pasadena, lost her home in the Eaton fire, along with her home office, inventory, marketing, and business supplies. Because their business insurance only covered the storefront, everything was a total loss. After that, the tariffs made 2025 a year of resilience.
We asked Nabhani if anything good came out of it and how life looks moving forward.“The incredibly kind, supportive, and inspirational women of LA Strong Comms Coalition came into our lives because this terrible thing happened, and because of them, we’ve had incredible media opportunities and met other amazing people wanting to share our story,” she says. “All over Altadena, I hear of neighbors who’ve never met before, now closer than ever. You see a lot of good in times like these, and it reminds us what matters at the end of the day. When you lose all of your material things in one night, it makes you realize, your relationships are all that you truly have. I find myself using this principle as I think about what kind of business we want to build with PlayLab, what I want it to mean to people, our purpose, what drives us, and how we measure success. We’re more than just selling you a beauty product; we’re here to ensure trust, confidence, gratification.”
Project HOPE, a global health and humanitarian aid organization, is still on the ground supporting long-term mental health recovery through accessible art and music therapy.
The team of creative therapists works with children, caregivers, frontline workers, and historically underserved communities still navigating grief, displacement, and burnout – creating moments of calm, expression, and connection.
Support includes health consultations provided through local partners and distributions of air purifiers, air filters, PPE, re-entry kits, dignity products, clean water, over-the-counter medicines, and Psychological First Aid items for children.