PRANCING PONIES FASHION SHOW 2023

‘THE CAR SHOW WITH CURVE APPEAL’

‘QUEENS’

MEET OUR MODELS

Prancing Ponies would like to thank our Models, Designers, and our fabulous Team Leaders who believe in supporting Women who support Women!

April Montgomery

April Branche Montgomery was born and raised in the Smokies Mountains of East Tennessee. She attended school in Sevier County and graduated from the University of Tennessee with a double major in Communications & Political Science. Growing up near the most attended National Park in the US, April’s first job was in hospitality at Dollywood. She lobbied for the tourism industry along with other industries as a registered lobbyist in Nashville for several years and was the Executive Director of the Tennessee Tourism Roundtable.

In 1992, April married Robert Montgomery and the two started a publishing company for Tourism Guides in the Smoky Mountains, including the What-to-Do Magazine, Where-to-Stay, the entertainment tabloid What’s Showing and a full-service ad agency, M & M Publishing for the Sevier County region. They also designed, built and operated two 18 hole mini golf courses, an indoor golf course, a laser tag facility, and indoor go karts in Gatlinburg and raised two daughters, Marlee, who now runs the family businesses in Gatlinburg and Monica, who works for the state department in Washington DC.

April expanded her horizons to the Monterey Peninsula in 2018 when she purchased a home in the Carmel Highlands and started the Monterey Mirror Maze on Cannery Row. After her girls moved to colleges outside of East Tennessee, April moved permanently to Carmel and opened another business on Cannery Row, Highway 1 Golf & Games.

Combining her knowledge of attractions, entertainment, family fun, and golf, April started designing a state-of-the-art golf simulator business, Links Club at the Carmel Plaza in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The facility offers 6 Trackman Golf Simulators in an almost 7000 sq ft facility where seasoned golf veterans and non-golfers have a great time playing over 250 golf courses and games or practicing their game. In addition, Links hosts entertainment every night of the week ranging from live music to a singer & songwriters’ open mic, trivia, and karaoke. “Bringing entertainment to Carmel on a daily basis has always been my dream,” Montgomery says. “I feel like it’s the only thing missing from our wonderful little town.”

Her involvement in Prancing Ponies began last year with the Carmel event and wants to bring her desire to assist, uplift and inspire other female entrepreneurs on the peninsula.

Colleen Raher & Koa

Colleen was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. This island girl loves the beach and outdoor ocean activities! She’s very close to her Family & friends where her Ohana gathers on Sundays to preserve the Hawaiian tradition

Growing up she enjoyed dance. Tap, jazz, and modern but ancient and modern Hula was her favorite! She is outgoing and loves people!

After college, she moved to San Francisco in the 1980s to start her carrier with the Airlines in Sales/Marketing! Currently, she is the Senior Director of Global Sales at Jetstream Freight.

Colleen travels for business/pleasure weekly! She is an expert in logistics and coordinates air programs for Perishables all over the World!

She has 2 beautiful children Drew & Kalei Raher who she adores! She has a beautiful 8-year-old Westie named Koa who will model with Colleen in the show!

She and her husband Rick loves to travel and are foodies who love fine wine and discovering new restaurants!

Colleen is a Dreamer and Aquarian!

Aloha!

Dea Wilson

Dea is a serial entrepreneur and co-owner of Western Grinding Service, a multi-million dollar high precision engineering and manufacturing company. She is also an angel investor at the Wharton Alumni Angels and Sacramento Angels, her investment interest being in consumer, mobile and SaaS startups.

Dubbed “Ms. Silicon Valley”, Dea is what people call a “super-connector”, her expansive network including the “Who’s Who” in startups, venture capital, technology, entertainment, etc. She has served as a venture partner or advisor at multiple accelerators, including Founders Floor and Growth Factory.

Dea is a big car racing fan. She previously served as Vice-President of the Ferrari Club of America, Pacific Region. Currently, Dea is President of the Ferrari Club of America, Sacramento and Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Ferrari Club of America, Pacific Region.

Dea has been a guest speaker at numerous events and conferences and she has also been featured and interviewed in many media publications, including Entrepreneur Media, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Yahoo Finance, Investor Business Daily, Startups.co, Sociable, 150sec, Repatriot, Startup Grind, TheNextWeb, ProTV, NationalTV, etc.

As an Executive Director at The VC Network, Dea interviewed many prominent VCs, angels, executives and founders in Silicon Valley and tech.

Earlier in her career Dea worked at two Fortune 100 companies, Microsoft and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

She earned a Master in Laws degree from University of Washington on a full scholarship and an MBA degree from the Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania), majoring in entrepreneurship.

Danielle Galvan

Danielle Galvan is a Business Strategist specializing in leadership development and business operations. Danielle also dedicates time to assisting local non-profits in the same capacity. She believes in the power of community and communication as a driving force for progression and empowerment. She is a member of the women’s golf club Divot Dames, which created space for women to gather during the pandemic. As a California Native, she loves calling the Monterey Peninsula home; Her hobbies are dog fostering, painting, and being in the ocean as often as possible.

Erin Sollecito

After living on the Monterey Peninsula nearly all her life, Erin knew she wanted to return to this beautiful area after college. Erin’s family has lived in Monterey for four generations, and her love for the community was definitely a draw. After attending Fresno State and earning a BS in Experience Services Management with a Commercial emphasis she returned to Monterey to begin cultivating experiences & creating strong community contact.

With a strong hospitality, events, and leisure travel background Erin eventually found herself helping several new, startups find their own place in the community. Her marketing and networking skills and connections helped to grow awareness of these relatively unknown businesses and put them on the map.

Along with Owner Heather Gardner, Erin helped to found Monterey Touring Vehicles in 2018. The brand-new Classic Car Rental company was the perfect fit for Erin’s next career step as well as a much-needed business concept for the general area. Anyone who is familiar with the Monterey Peninsula knows that it is a car lover’s destination. Using her years of experience in events, hospitality, customer service, and networking Erin has helped MTV begin to be the household name that she set out for it to be back in 2018. She continues to grow Monterey Touring Vehicles’ business, reputation, and standing within the community.

Eva Sinotte

Eva Augustina Sinotte was born and raised in beautiful Carmel, where she currently resides with her family. She and her loving partner, are actors and travel back and forth to LA for work. Eva acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre from CalArts.

She acts in feature films, tv, commercials, theatre, art installations, voiceover, and dabbles in modeling- recently she modeled for, Tejeido, OSEA Malibu, and acted in New Canon Theater Companies, Taming of The Shrew, where she played the role of, Katherina.

Catch Eva in Carmel Magazines 2019 Winter issue; Escape The Night on YouTube Premium, where she acted as The Sorceress; and in the locally shot, feature film, Art Work, airing soon. Sinotte also enjoys being an acting coach, recently working on, Big Sur Fiddle Camps, an original play, Sirena.

Eva loves all of the arts, as well as the art nature provides. She finds deep inspiration in our bountiful California coast and in the ocean while surfing. Her favorite role of all is being a Mom to her toddler daughter and her new baby boy. Carpe diem!

Frances Diniz

Frances grew up in the Bay Area and began her career in the jewelry industry when she became a Graduate Gemologist and Jewelry Designer. Working with world-class jewelry, watch, luxury brands, and technology companies comes with amazing opportunities to work with entrepreneurs, global leaders and teams to garner knowledge, incredible experiences and travel internationally.

Frances found a way to give back when she created Founders Commerce, a lifestyle platform during Covid to help and support nonprofits, drive consumers to local businesses, and uplift communities.

She also works with a global team at Riyalto, an innovative platform developed for the jewelry industry that provides manufacturing, sourcing, and personalized services to help retailers and designers bridge the gap in commerce.

Frances finds herself supporting nonprofits in her spare time, focusing on youth, women supporting women, bringing together the community, and connecting her network to find ways to give back to society. Frances serves on the Advisory Board+Event Chair at BizWorld, Modern Luxury Advisory Board, Women’s Jewelry Association Member+Mentorship Program, and is a GIA Alumni Member.

Her passion is to always stay curious, entrepreneurship and discovery, recharge at the ocean, travel, and is a foodie that enjoys cooking for friends and family.

Gabriel Garzaniti

I’m Gabriel Garzaniti, a recent graduate from Pacific Grove High School where I played lacrosse and enjoyed studying history. My interest in fashion was sparked as a young kid watching Project Runway and am now an aspiring fashion designer. This year will be my freshman year at California State University Monterey Bay. I look forward to the experience the Prancing Ponies Fashion Show will give me.

Isabella Moet

Bella Moet is a multi-talented 14-year-old who loves modeling theater, dance, and singing. She has a heart of gold and is passionate about advocating for animal rights with the organizations “Go Humane” & “Animal Folks” to stop puppy mill abuse. Bella is a straight-A student at Saint Paul Academy. She wants to go to UCLA to become an attorney. Bella is honored to be a part of the Prancing Ponies Queens 2023!

Iyesha George

Iyesha continues her work in homelessness management on a city level. Her extracurricular passion is content & media creation where she does a mix of themes and music. If you are looking to bring your ideas to content, build your social media presence, need promotion/public relations or feel stuck when it comes to ideas on just about anything she’s ya girl! Please visit her online and support her by purchasing from her online store, subscribing to her free & paid platforms, booking her via her app & just being a positive energy source to her and the world. -Health starts in the mind and is expressed best with the spirit. This is why we are a blessing or a curse to anyone in range of our energy.

Jade Vucina

Maresias Wear is a local Brazilian bikini brand. Each piece is handmade by single low income mothers in the Santo André Favelas (slums) near São Paulo, Brazil.

Jade Vucina is the owner/designer and is also sole owner of Terra Superfoods, a local health foods restaurant. She is a Monterey Bay native with Brazilian roots whom lived in Brasil for 10 years. Her two sons were born there and they have seen and experienced first hand poverty in a 3rd world country. She is passionate about giving back to women in need.

After choosing the fabrics and designing the swimwear, they give sewing machines and teach the low income single mothers how to properly make the bikinis and they get paid per bikini made! It’s a way where they can earn an income at home with their babies.

Jane Catanzaro

Jane began her educational consulting career over 30 years ago in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California (nestled right in Tahoe National Forest), working with public, private and home-schooled students. While she deeply values and believes in public education, her caseload of over 600 Seniors in her final year with the NU School District, prevented her from providing the individualized attention she felt each student deserved. Desiring to focus solely on guiding students through the college application process, she became a pioneer in the field of independent college admissions counseling when she founded College Advising Services (CAS) 2002. Since that initial leap of faith, she has branched out to include specific services such as athletic recruitment, military academy admissions, BFA’s and specialty graduate school admissions… such as medical, veterinary, business and law.

Since 2004, she has served as one of 15 members of the College Counselors Advisory Group to the Fiske Guide to Colleges and regularly attends and speaks at college admission counseling conferences. The professional connections she has developed over the three decades + in the field, has profoundly benefited the myriad of national and international clients that she serves. as does her dedication and drive to staying on top of the ever-changing trends in college admissions. Jane works individually with each student and their families, to ensure they remain a step ahead in the competitive admission’s landscape.

In the few brief moments she is not working around the clock to aid her clients, she can likely be found gardening or taking a bit of time to sit back with a spot of Earl Grey Tea and watch the songbirds (and squirrels), feast and bathe in her array of feeders and baths. Jane spends her (rare) free time with her hands in the soil or otherwise engaging in some wildlife/hiking-related activity. Her grandchildren are the absolute loves of her life and she eagerly awaits the next time she can go up to Tahoe to see them or when they come down to spend time “tide-pooling with Gi-Gi!” Living with an ever-ranging assortment of felines, Jane’s partner of too many moons to count, affectionately refers to her as the “Crazy Cat Lady of Carmel Valley.”

Katie Jordan

I am a native Texan who relocated to the Monterey Peninsula three years ago with my teenage daughter. Here I have found the greatest community and group of friends I have ever had. Working as a Project Manager for Lewis Builders and volunteering for local non-profits like New Canon Theatre Company and Juneteenth Coalition keep me busy. My hobbies include yoga, running, and golfing as a member of the Divot Dames. I am very proud to be a part of this exceptional community!

Leslie McClure

Leslie T. McClure is the founder and CEO of 411 Video Information www.411videoinfo.com a company that has been doing publicity, marketing, and consulting for independent producers, writers and business professionals for over 30 years. Her specialty is in finding the proper niche where her clients can excel and reach their target audience. While many of her clients have books and DVDs, she has also established them as their own national brand. She works with companies both large and small. In addition to consulting, public relations, branding and marketing, she helps with product distribution and strategic partnerships. She holds a paralegal degree and a lifetime teaching credential, both of which serve her clients well when it comes to deal negotiations. She has been a guest speaker at several media conferences and is the author of two books, “How to Break Into Video Without Going Broke” and “Marketing Your Special Interest Video.” She was honored with a Benjamin Franklin Award for marketing and Special Interest Video Consultant of the Year and Home Video Publicist of the Decade. She has been dubbed “The Queen of Special Interest Marketing,” a ‘crown’ she wears proudly. Her realistic, straight forward and personal approach has gained her well-deserved credibility in the industry. Friends have become clients, and clients have become and remained friends. Leslie has lived on the Monterey Peninsula for over 35 years and has 3 grown sons and 3 grandsons.

Lisa Taylor

I was born and raised in Southern California in Rolling Hills Estates. I worked for my family’s Aerospace company for 41 years as a Vice President.

I moved to Kauai for a few years and loved it!

After moving back from Kauai I bought a horse ranch in Yorba Linda. I got into racing horses and my first horse broke the track record at the Los Alamitos race course.

Then I went from racing horses to racing Porsches! My boyfriend, Tom Ridings, grew up racing alcohol funny cars and off-road racing. So we both started our new adventures together with Flying L Racing, racing Porsches & Ferraris. Our Porsche has won Pikes Peak international hill climb race 2 times and broke the hill record for the fastest Porsche.

We have 5 one hundred pound Bernese Mountain Dogs that always attend all the car shows and cars & coffee events. I am a car collector of rare paint to sample Porsches and am known as ch. 5 news called me “The Queen of PTS Porsches”. It’s rare to have a woman car collector. I have the full rainbow of 911 Porsches. I also drive my Ferrari 458 and a Lamborghini Urus. I’m a member of all 3 car clubs which keeps me extremely busy. I love driving all these cars and meeting so many interesting other car people. I’m also a member of the R Gruppe for ‘73 and older Porsches which consists of 300 men and 5 women!

Monterey car week keeps me extremely busy with all the brands we bring up for the week. I grew up modeling so it will be great to get out on the runway after many many years!!

LyVesha ‘Queen Tay’ Franklin

LyVesha aka Queen Tay, (she/her) was born and raised in Chicago, Il and she has lived in Monterey County for a little over five years now. She moved to California in order to pursue her life dreams of becoming a successful Artist, as a Healer through sharing Motivational Poetry and being a part of cultivating environments that allow infinite perspectives of love and life to expand and evolve humanity. She has been determined and effectively doing just that.

She is a visionary leader and a BHC/Community Health Worker for the Monterey County VIDA Project. LyVesha is the Co-Chair for LEAD Council for the Coalition for Homeless Service Providers. She is one of the founding as well as currently active members of the Seaside Covid Action Team alongside respected Seaside City officials. She has received two Certificates of Recognition from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors for her services to this community since the start of the pandemic.

She is an Activist, a Poet, and a Model for the Annual Prancing Ponies Foundation Car/Fashion Show which raises funds to sponsor Women Leadership training classes for underprivileged Women. She is a local political advisor, community organizer and Motivational Speaker/Life Coach.

She is 42 years old and a Mother of four beautiful children whom she loves dearly. She loves spending time with her children together they host a book club s a family at Marina Vista Arts Academy while learning from inspiring and motivating others to see the infinite abundance that life has to offer with the saying, “Gratitude is always the best attitude”, also by volunteering throughout the community, hosting and participating in wellness events with a number of local organizations and also sharing her tools for self-care, self-love, healing and manifestation with anyone who listens.

She is just getting started being impactful and looking forward to being of service to humanity for the duration of her lifetime. Her passion for human service has led her to the Doula Community in which she is looking forward to learning, growing, sharing and inspiring to spark an increase in Black representation/engagement in what can be historically recognized as the legacy of Black Women.

LyVesha currently resides on the Board of Directors for the Birth Network of Monterey County. She is also the Founder of Kweens Kounsel Inc.(fisc. sponsored by Birth Network of Monterey County), which is an initiative to build a Black Birthing community.

Margaret D’Arrigo

VP of Youth Empowerment at AIM Youth Mental Health. Certified teen Mental Health First Aid trainer. MBA from CSUMB & Degree in Ag Business from U.C. Davis. Background in Ag, Community Engagement, and Health. Board of Trustee for Hartnell College. Co-Founder of IMPOWER, Inc. Founder and CEO of D’Arrigo Consulting – supporting women in Education, Community Engagement and Leadership Development. Mother of twin boys, Alex & Sterling Martin, SHS Class of 2023 Graduates. Philanthropist, Amateur Painter, and Pickle Ball player.

Maxine Spadoni

Maxine Spadoni was born and raised in South Africa and immigrated with her family here to the Monterey Peninsula in 1998. She has a wonderful husband and has 3 beautiful children. Her passions are interior design, styling herself and others, spending time in nature, and living life to the fullest with the people she loves. Spreading love and kindness to all those she is around is paramount. She hopes to inspire self-love and self-acceptance to all.

Santerria McGilbra & Chiron

Infamously known as Chanterria’s identical twin sister (the founder of Prancing Ponies) and the carrier of Chiron’s leash, Santerria is an integral part of the Prancing Ponies organization. Born and raised in San Francisco, she has been involved with Prancing Ponies since its inception.

A notable companion in Santerria’s life is her fur-baby Chiron, an oversized and sweet pup. Chiron is a three-pawed rescue who wears a prosthetic for support. Shortly after being adopted and joining the family, he became the unofficial mascot of the Prancing Ponies Car Show in 2018. Making an annual appearance on stage while his Auntie Chanterria is speaking. With his endearing presence, Chiron has brought joy and enthusiasm to the event, capturing the hearts of attendees.

Santerria and Chiron share a common passion for supporting Chanterria in her mission to create a professional and enjoyable annual event for Prancing Ponies. They both actively contribute their time, energy, and love to make the car show a success. Together, they look forward to many more years supporting and participating in Prancing Ponies’ endeavors.

Sean Carr

Sean was born and raised in the central valley of California. He attended California State University at Sacramento, where he earned a B.A. in Economics. After graduation, Sean began a career in Aerospace Technology working on multiple Missile and Satellite programs as a Contract Administrator for Lockheed-Martin Space Systems Company. Sean’s mind was never far from advocacy. After working in the rat race of Silicon Valley for over 6 years he hit his limit, packed up everything, and vowed to not serve the systems that were created and designed to keep him and his people down.

He decided to move closer to his son, Sean Jr., which led him to move to the Monterey Peninsula. He started Juneteenth Coalition after the murder of George Floyd and countless other victims. He is a founding member of the Juneteenth Coalition and is fighting for equality for all. Sean lives in Seaside California and is active in the community and advocacy for all.

Tatum Tollner

Tatum Tollner grew up in the hospitality world and has been working for Hahn Family Wines as DTC & Hospitality Manager for just shy of 4 years. Tatum is a lover of the arts as well as food & wine and, while she has retired from the stage, she currently volunteers her time managing social media for New Canon Theatre Co.

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