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Featured Pro: Sean Love Mason
SEAN MASON
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BY ILONA SAARI
yet out of diapers when his family left for the warmer climes of Los Angeles, is Mom attended UCLA. Soon, infant Sean found himself in Tanzania at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, where his parents taught English to elementary students
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in Moshi. By the time he was 2-1/2, Sean was back in Los Angeles, where he settled until graduating high school and left for the University of Oregon.
Can the mythical spirituality of that mountain and his parents’ desire to teach needy children somehow steer a toddler on a life’s path? Only time would tell. At that time, however, “time” was telling him that skiing, not college, was for him. He dropped out of school and became the quintessential ski bum in Steamboat Springs, with the requisite jobs needed to support his love of traversing the slopes. Whether clerking in a supermarket or washing dishes in a hotel, he was living in the moment.
Eventually, the “moment” ended and he returned to L.A.. Interested in acting, Sean enrolled in Santa Monica College to do theater, following in the footsteps of another “Sean,” Sean Penn, who had attended the year before. He then segued to the University of Santa Barbara where he majored in theater.
After earning his BFF, Sean moved back to L.A. to attend an acting class … a bad one, as it turned out. He then found himself drifting back and forth between Santa Barbara and L.A. He became intrigued by Werner Erhard’s EST/ The Forum, and the notion of Confluent Education, which blends knowledge, skills, attitudes and feelings in a person to help produce wholeness in oneself and in society. His acting took a back seat to a budding spirituality. He returned to the University of Santa Barbara to enroll in its confluent education program and to work toward his Masters degree.
When he discovered community mediation programs, he wanted to be involved. His goal was to become a mediator. After returning from Tanzania, Sean’s Dad had gone to UCLA law school and practiced at a prestigious firm in L.A. while his Mom taught school, also in Los Angeles. Later, she too, went to law school and when she graduated, she and Sean’s Dad started their own Labor and Employment Law practice. Sean decided the best way to achieve his mediator goal was to follow in his parents’ footsteps. So he enrolled in Whittier Law School.
Married shortly before entering Whittier, Sean became a father to daughter, Roxanne, during his final year there. In 1995, the family moved to Santa Barbara where he worked for Malandro Communications as a consultant, traveling the globe teaching such skills as leadership, teamwork and public speaking. He also mediated as part of his consulting practice. In 2007, he opened his own mediation, estate and trust law firm and, after almost two decades, his marriage
Born in New Hampshire where his Dad went to Dartmouth, Sean Mason wasn’t yet out of diapers when his family left for the warmer climes of Los Angeles, is infant Sean found himself in Tanzania at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, where his parents taught English to elementary students
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ended. In need of a paralegal, Sean put an ad on Craig’s List. Felicia Allen applied. A single mom raising her young son, Arlo Echevarria, Felicia was a professional paralegal who had graduated from Santa Barbara Business College with a degree in Paralegal Studies (and later a Mediator Certification from the Conflict Resolution Institution).
She’s also the daughter of Jenny and Michael Newell, owners of Bonnie Lu’s, Ojai’s popular
country café. Sean hired her and, after months of working together, she and Sean bonded over philosophical beliefs and fell in love. As Felicia describes their relationship: “Sean has a tremendous creative-dreamer spirit, mine being the creative-executioner… And that has been the foundation of our spiritual partnership.” As the practice grew, they yearned for something more spiritually fulfilling. Sean had always dreamed of creating a theater company or coffeehouse/restaurant where people could gather to create, muse and mingle, while Felicia dreamed of moving home to Ojai. Their dreams merged into NoSo Vita, a social café, was born. “Time” reappeared and whispered in Sean’s ear to make their partnership “legal.” Taking a cue from “meet cute,” a movie trope where a romantic couple meets in a cute way, Sean did a “proposal cute.” NoSo was still in its design stage when, after a lovely dinner out, he told Felicia they needed to check on its progress. While inside the empty restaurant that represented their future, Sean popped the question on bended knee.
Using the Landmark Forum philosophy of living life powerfully, Sean and Felicia created a funky, fun and comfortable environment where people could engage over a good cup of organic “Fair Trade Coffee.” (Fair Trade coffee farmers allow their workers to make a living wage and helps keep their kids in school). In 2016, I interviewed the couple for Rotary Club of Ojai’s yearly charity “foodie fundraiser,” Taste of Ojai. My husband, Richard Camp, joined us. As we sipped NoSo coffee, we learned that Sean had dabbled in acting. Richard, a director/producer at the Ojai Art Center Theater, (later to become its Artistic Director) was looking for new local acting blood.
Before long, Sean was on the boards as the star in playwright, Tom Walla’s one-act play, “Table for Three.” Soon after, he was seen in OPAT’s (Ojai Performing Arts Theater) musical production of “Grand Hotel,” then back at the Art Center Theater to appear in “Peter & The Starcatcher,” “Spelling Bee,” “Anything Goes,” and “33 Variations.” Sean also won a Four Star Alliance Award as Best Male Actor for playing the “Groucho Marx character” in the hilarious musical, “Animal Crackers.” While Sean was running NoSo, doing legal work, and fulfilling his acting dream, Felicia began a legal documents preparation business, Source Documents, Inc. in Ventura.
But, as their love and spirituality grew, Sean added “Love” to his name, and NoSo Vita became the Lo>e
Café. Blessed with a loving blended family (Arlo, Roxanne Culton, her husband and their children), spreading love has become Sean and Felicia’s focus and goal… to live their lives with love, whether it be through the café, their legal businesses, acting, art, or their planned book, online Lo>e store, and podcast, by which they hope to connect with like-minded people who want to made a difference and spread the love.
What better goal in these troubled times than bringing more love and that mythical spirituality of Mt. Kilimanjaro into the world? It’s certainly time for it.
Donna Sallen
Fabulous and charmingly inviting, this two-story Victorian estate is nestled in the magical East End of Ojai. Surrounded by organic orchards and meticulous landscaping, this home is filled with Southern Charm. The wraparound porch looks out to the gardens, as the country kitchen and breakfast nook looks out to the pool and tennis court. Perfectly situated nearby are the spacious guesthouse, separate cottages, and a writer’s studio creating plenty of living space for friends and family. This relaxing and inviting estate is truly elegant.
There’s no place like home ... Let me find yours.
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