.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Subscribe Newsletters

Sections

News & Issues Dining & Drinking City Life Culture & Travel Real Estate Style & Shopping

Featured

Video Long Reads Best New Restaurants Top Docs & Wellness

Magazine

All Issues Subscribe Manage Subscription Advertise

More

Events About Us Contact Us Follow Us Resource Guide Marketplace
Subscribe Newsletters
Events Subscribe
Skip to content
Chicago Magazine
  • News & Issues
  • Dining & Drinking
  • City Life
  • Culture & Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Style & Shopping
  • Top Docs & Wellness
Who’s Got Next?

Remember their names. These rising stars in the arts, sports, politics, and more are bound for big things in Chicago — and beyond.

Photography by Clayton Hauck, Nolis Anderson, and Jeff Sciortino (above)
February 21, 2023, 6:00 am
 

The Soccer PhenomGaga Slonina

It was late December, and Gaga Slonina needed to start packing. In just a few days, the 18-year-old former Chicago Fire goalkeeper would trade his childhood bedroom in Addison for an apartment in London. He was set to join English Premier League giant Chelsea, which had agreed to pay up to $15 million to his old club to sign Slonina to a six-year deal.

Read More

The Conscientious CartoonistBianca Pastel

Artist Bianca Pastel has already collaborated with the likes of Nike, Disney, and the Chicago Bears. She’s illustrated a children’s book. But she has even bigger ambitions. “I want to be the Walt Disney or Miyazaki of my world and bring Black animation to life,” Pastel, 30, says. “These are my dreams, and I am fully capable of them.”

Read More

The Stage SavantOmer Abbas Salem

On a frigid Sunday morning in December, the Goodman Theatre had a full house for a staged reading of Modern Women, a work in progress by actor-turned-playwright Omer Abbas Salem. The piece is a riff on Steel Magnolias, with the setting transferred from Louisiana to Skokie, and Southern belle archetypes remade into Arab and Indian aunties.

Read More

The New RestaurateursVinod Kalathil and
Margaret Pak

Thattu, the restaurant that Margaret Pak and Vinod Kalathil are in the midst of opening on Rockwell Street in Avondale, is an Indian spot like nothing Chicago has seen: a market, a lounge, a bar, a place for a quick lunch or a full dinner. Above all, it’s an exploration of the food and coastal vibe of Kalathil’s native Kerala.

Read More

The Hospitality InnovatorDavid Mor

For bartender David Mor, 28, the hospitality industry is about more than just good food and drinks. “I love getting people to relax,” he says. “I want people to feel seen and noticed.” But he is also conscious of the less rosy side of the business. “There’s virtually no support from anyone bigger than us. The money is not trickling down to those who need it.” So he set out to create a support network for the industry himself.

Read More

The In-Demand DancerKia Smith

Kia Smith is running a half-million-dollar organization out of her closet. In 2017, she started South Chicago Dance Theatre with a few dancers, a whole lot of grit, and a 75-year plan taped to the walls of a walk-in closet in her Hyde Park studio apartment. Now? The 35-year-old choreographer has grown SCDT from a scrappy troupe to a major player in Chicago’s dance scene.

Read More

The Gen Z LegislatorNabeela Syed

Last spring, during her campaign for the Illinois House of Representatives, Nabeela Syed was knocking on doors when she passed out in front of a potential constituent. “It was Ramadan, and I was fasting,” Syed, a devout Muslim, recalls. “I fainted on someone’s doorstep!”

Read More

The ShowmanLiam Kazar

“Everybody’s asking me, ‘What you gonna do, gonna be?’ ” Liam Kazar sings on his mind-blowingly good 2021 debut album, Due North. “I couldn’t tell you if I tried; I’m just a poem with an open line.”

Read More

The Wellness WonderStephanie Morimoto

Stephanie Morimoto is about to get on a plane to New York City, where she’ll appear live on QVC selling pain relief spray and cream. “The only other times I did this were over Skype,” she says. “I can’t believe I’m actually going to be in the studio.”

Read More

The Political ConnectorJorge Neri

“When I was in high school, my mom was incarcerated, and my family lost everything,” says Jorge Neri, choking back tears. “I had to quit sports and get a job.” Just a decade later, he landed a role in the Obama administration as the primary liaison to the Latino community. “I went from the lowest point in my life to working in the most powerful building in the world.”

Read More

The Debut NovelistToya Wolfe

On a winter evening, writer Toya Wolfe is at Soho House, sipping a glass of club soda and laughing heartily as she relaxes on a red velvet chair. She breaks out an upper-crust British accent to match the tony atmosphere. Perhaps it’s no surprise that she’s a former pastor; Wolfe, 42, possesses the requisite charisma to enthrall a congregation.

Read More

The Altruistic AdmanSam Shepherd

The old saying about advertising is that it’s where artists go to sell out. So it’s a little odd to hear Sam Shepherd, global executive creative director of Leo Burnett, talk about advertising as a place where creative people can advocate for human rights. “If you’re talented,” he says, “why wouldn’t you use those talents for something good?”

Read More

Subscribe Manage Subscription Issue Archive Privacy Policy Terms of Service

Follow Us

Get Our Newsletters

Chicago magazine newsletters have you covered. Find out where to go, what to eat, where to live, and more. Subscribe for free today!

About the Magazine Contact Us Advertise Resource Guide Events

Follow Us

Get Our Newsletters

Subscribe to one or more of our free e-mail newsletters to get instant updates on local news, events, and opportunities in Chicago.

©2020 Chicago magazine / A Chicago Tribune Media Group website
© 2023 Chicago Magazine • Built with GeneratePress