Perla Bonilla
From the Hungry Tiger
2800 E Burnside

Perla has some rad outfits, and she's a total sweetie to boot. Maybe that's why there are always men clinging to the bar during her shifts at the down-low hipster joint--best seaweed soup in town! I wonder what music she listens to?

- Lucinda Williams: "It's like alternative country. Her voice has this alcoholic, velvet sound."

- Garbage: "Shirley Manson is beautiful. I just love their sound."

- Death Cab for Cutie: "They're just so romantic in such a sad way."

- Dead Moon: "You've gotta support the local people, and they've been around forever. They're everyday rock stars."

- Merle Haggard: "He doesn't fuck around. He sings about what he knows. It's enlightening every time you hear something from him; you totally connect."

Leo Rivera
From Bishops Barbershop
www.bishopsbs.com

Okay okay, he's not exactly an employee. Leo is an entrepreneur, and he owns the salons that give you beer. So the next time you need a cut and a cold one, you know where to head (pun intended). Incidentally, he also knows of some good resources to find information, in case someday you too want to own a hip business.

- Peers: "Other business owners in the community--just going in and asking how their business is going, where they advertise, and what popular items are selling."

- The Mercury/local rags [!]: "See who's advertising and get a feel for the market you're going after. I look at the Mercury more because it says 'urban market' to me."

- Connectors: "They're people you can tell something to, and they'll tell five different markets. They're social people, at every restaurant and bar openingÉ totally A-list. I use them as a source of information and as a promoting tool."

- Internet: "For everything. I don't know what people did before the Internet."