Jenny Dayco (’01) has been designing and creating her own jewelry for the past six years. Her jewelry designs have been featured in magazines such as Elle, Marie Claire and Teen Vogue, and have been worn by such celebrities as Ke$ha, Eva Longoria, Beyonce Knowles and Taylor Swift. Dayco said the inspiration for her jewelry comes from iconic figures and famous movie roles. “Sometimes it's just creative instinct. I'll see a part, a pendant, a stone, and I let that thing — whatever it be — inform me what to do with it,” Dayco said. “When I see a part I like, I have this internal dialogue, and I try to envision making it into a necklace, earrings, ring or bracelet.” Before she became a jewelry designer, Dayco worked as a graphic designer, an art gallery assistant, an agent assistant, a junior agent and a wardrobe stylist assistant. She attributes much of her success to the relationships she built with people during these years and the friends who spread the word about her jewelry. She hopes to design more jewelry for costumes that are used in music videos and photo shoots. Her designs are displayed online at www.jennydayco.com.


Joseph King Barkley (’98) initially laughed at the idea of becoming a pastor, but now finds himselfleading a church. After graduating from Biola in 1998 with a degree in business marketing Joseph pursued a musical career, touring the country with the worship band Plumbline. In 2005,Joseph and his wife, Katie, became two of the co-founders of Ecclesia, a church that meets to worship in the heart of Hollywood, in the historic Pacific Theater. Though he had preached a few sermons on Sundays, Joseph’s role at Ecclesia was primarily to lead worship until former pastor Brandon Dickerson decided to step down in 2009. Then God spoke to Barkley about stepping up. Now in his second year as Ecclesia’s lead pastor, Joseph said his preaching is aimed at putting God’s wisdom into practice, and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform lives. “[Hollywood is] a vulnerable place, and people make a lot of awful decisions to address the isolation they feel. We want to meet them in that point of need as an expression of God's love for them—to replace their false sense of worth with the identity that can be theirs in Christ.” The Barkleys have two daughters: Tessa, 5, and Marlow, 2.


Samuel Joseph Smythe (’07) has been working as a composer and technical coordinator for video games, film and television since graduating from Biola with a degree in music composition. Sam earned a graduate certificate in scoring for motion pictures and television from the University of Southern California in 2008, and has been working as an assistant to film and television composers ever since. Sam currently assists composer Jim Dooley, whose credits include the new FX show Wilfred, the ABC show Pushing Daisies and the recently released Disney video game Epic Mickey. Sam writes additional music for Dooley, as well as helping to run a studio housing 26 computers synchronized to simulate an orchestra. Sam is also collaborating with fellow Biola alumni Ben Long, Trenton Waterston and Andrew Fisher on a short film called Buttons In The Ground, and takes on other freelance projects as a composer. His musical style is grounded in a traditional orchestral sound, but he enjoys using a variety of styles. “It’s been a long journey and a lot of up and down,” Sam said, but quickly adds that he feels called to his work. “It ultimately makes me very happy … it’s nice to wake up and really love your job.”


Photographer Angi Welsch (’10) hasn’t let any grass grow under her feet since graduating from Biolain 2010 with a degree in studio arts. Her senior show at Biola, portraits of a Riverside family made up of 13 children adopted from foster care, was also shown by Phantom Galleries and Gallery 1233 in Long Beach. “I’m drawn to people struggling to get through every day life within different cultures,” Angi said. Angi estimates she’s taken over 40 domestic flights in the past year to capture weddings and portraits, including work for designer Julia Barbee and musicians Luke Barber, James David, and Evrika. Her photography has been featured on specialty Web sites and blogs such as FFFFound, Style Me Pretty, Ruffled, VisualizeUs, and Grey Likes Weddings. She also spent a month in Reykjavik, Iceland, beginning a project on the theme of isolation, and hopes to return once a year to add to that body of work. Angi credits Biola faculty with helping shape her character as she makes artistic decisions, and teaching her “to create as I was created, and really respond to God in my photography.” Angi plans to move to New York this fall to pursue work assisting a documentary photographer.