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In San Diego, business is booming. In health care, finance, law, wellness, tech, and more, the region’s business leaders are turning dreams into reality and bringing ideas to life.
In San Diego, business is booming. The people behind the city’s businesses use their expertise to elevate their respective fields and drive their industries forward. In health care, finance, law, wellness, tech, and more, the region’s business leaders are turning dreams into reality and bringing ideas to life. They’re influencers, strategists, entrepreneurs, creators, and innovators, and, above all, they’re invaluable assets to San Diego. Professionals like the ones features in the following pages are core to the business community. They are San Diego Magazine’s 2023 Icons of Business—and business is good.
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President/CEO, Copia Wealth Management and Insurance Services
Highlight: Named Financial Adviser of the Year twice; recently published her second book, Retirement By Design.
Elisabeth Dawson’s mission, passion, and purpose is helping people discover financial freedom and confidence. As a comprehensive financial advisor for 24 years, she is the founder of Copia Wealth Management and Insurance Services. Dawson is known for creating personalized solutions that bring lasting results, and one of her unique and powerful tools is a “Retirement Income for Life Blueprint,” which clearly outlines your income for the rest of your life. This blueprint pinpoints potential problems and illustrates how certain decisions today can impact your finances for years to come. “We help our clients understand possibilities they never knew could be within reach. By building a plan around their wish list, they can live their ‘dream financial life’ and protect their families without the fear of running out of money.”
Copia Wealth Management and Insurance Services
2333 Camino Del Rio South, Suite 240 San Diego, CA 92108
619-640-2622
CA LIC #0C72164, #0G81294
Investment advice offered through Copia Wealth Management Advisors, Inc.
Copia Wealth Management Advisors, Inc. is a registered investment adviser.
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Highlight: Chosen by his peers as one of San Diego Magazine’s Top Lawyers for over 10 years
Eric Gritz has earned a reputation for aggressive advocacy on behalf of injured workers as well as victims of negligence and their families. He has been the lead counsel in over 500 trials before the Worker’s Compensation Appeals Board, Social Security Administration, and Superior Courts and has recovered millions in workers’ compensation, social security, and personal injury cases. Mr. Gritz successfully defended the case of Brown v. Qualcomm before the California Supreme Court. He’s a guest speaker at local and regional workers’ compensation conventions and routinely speaks at seminars for attorneys earning continuing education credits. He has also acted as a judge pro tem with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board and has achieved the Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer review rating of AV—preeminent, distinguished, and notable with very high legal ability and ethical standards.
Eric Gritz Law
7777 Alvarado Road Suite 720 La Mesa, CA 91942
619-826-8701
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Medical Director/Owner of Eros Beauty and Wellness
Highlight: Co-owner of Metro Family Physicians, a member of the SHARP Community Medical Group
Eros Beauty and Wellness offers a full scope of aesthetic services, ranging from skin rejuvenation to individually catered weight loss programs. Trained at the UCSD School of Medicine, founder Dr. Christine Eros is a practicing family physician who integrates innovative aesthetic medicine into her practice. With over 23 years of experience, Dr. Eros understands that just like medicine, cosmetic wellness requires deeply individualized care; she takes pride in treating the whole person. EBW’s list of services is extensive and includes laser therapies, Botox, fillers, permanent hair removal, and body contouring from EMSculpt. An active part of the Point Loma community, Dr. Eros cares deeply about her neighbors, and the prices offered at Eros Beauty and Wellness reflect her desire to make cosmetic treatments as widely available as possible.
Eros Beauty and Wellness
3689 Midway Drive #E, San Diego, CA 92110
619-481-4651
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Sunnen Law
Highlight: Since its inception, Sunnen Law has felt that every Family Law problem has a solution, and always works to find the right solution for each client.
Since dispute resolution rarely happens overnight, Certified Family Law Specialist Christopher J. Sunnen, founder of Sunnen Law knows that his clients need a trust and zealous advocate to help them navigate the complex and emotional process of family law issues. With over fifteen years of experience, Mr. Sunnen is first a specialist in Family Law, as well as a party who has taken many high conflict matters through trial. In addition, all of the attorneys at Sunnen Law also serve as “Minor’s Counsel” for the Court, which provides them with added perspective in complicated child custody matters. The entire staff at Sunnen Law know firsthand how complicated and emotionally traumatizing divorce and family law matters can be and are always present to support their clients throughout the process. Similarly, when not working for their clients, the staff of Sunnen Law is active in the community working to assist the public.
Call 619-255-9551 or e-mail us at [email protected] to speak with Mr. Sunnen, or one of his associates, and mention San Diego Magazine for a free consultation.
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ArtsConnect brings those experiences into view, helping residents discover what they can see, hear and create at UC San Diego while experiencing the campus in a new way.
Ask most people what UC San Diego is known for, and the arts may not be the first answer. Yet this fall, San Diegans can watch Ghostbusters with a live orchestra, try their hand at glassmaking and wander among more than 20 works of public art woven throughout the university’s La Jolla campus.
ArtsConnect brings those experiences into view, helping residents discover what they can see, hear and create at UC San Diego while experiencing the campus in a new way.

“The arts are at the heart of UC San Diego’s student-centered mission and vision,” says Alysson Satterlund, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life. “Whether creating, participating in, or experiencing performances, the arts are essential to a healthy and truly fun Triton student experience.”
That invitation often begins where the arts intersect with other fields.
“Some of the most innovative work and discovery happen where disciplines don’t usually share a stage,” says Cristina Della Coletta, Dean of the UC San Diego School of Arts and Humanities. “So through our unique intersection of the arts with science, technology, and medicine, we are improving lives, physically and emotionally.
Take The Inaudible Ocean, a collaboration between Department of Music Professor Lei Liang and Scripps Institution of Oceanography Assistant Project Scientist Josh Jones. Over eight years, the pair recorded earthquakes, ship noise, whale songs and other sounds in remote underwater locations. They transformed those recordings into a live music experience that allowed audiences to hear the ocean in an entirely new way. The work premiered on campus in May and continues to evolve.
The arts also connect the campus to the global art world and diverse perspectives. Chief Campus Curator Jessica Berlanga Taylor recently curated the Mexico Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, featuring RojoNegro, the collective formed by Noé Martínez and María Sosa. The collective will unveil a compelling new permanent installation for UC San Diego’s celebrated Stuart Collection later this fall.

ArtPower offers another easy entry point, bringing touring performers to venues including the outdoor Epstein Family Amphitheater and the intimate Loft. The nearly three dozen performances featured through its 2026-2027 season span music, dance, film, theater and conversation.
Among the fall highlights is Ghostbusters in Concert on Sept. 25, pairing the beloved 1984 film with a live performance of Elmer Bernstein’s score. Tickets start at $35, and the amphitheater is located next to the UC San Diego Blue Line trolley station.
“Every member of our community should have access to world-class art, so we work hard to remove the barriers that stand in the way,” says Colleen Kollar Smith, executive artistic director of the Campus Performances and Events Office. “That means affordable ticket prices, and performances, voices and experiences where people see themselves reflected on stage and know they belong.”
The arts at UC San Diego are not only something to watch. The Craft Center offers public classes and workshops in ceramics, jewelry, woodworking, culinary arts and even surfboard shaping. At the new Glass Center, beginners and experienced makers can explore glassmaking through classes, demonstrations and studio experiences.
Whether you want to attend a performance, make something yourself or spend an afternoon exploring public art, there is an easy way in. And the invitation extends well beyond students and alumni.
Kollar Smith says it best: “Visit, participate, spectate or create. You’re invited, and we hope you’ll connect with us soon.”
Explore upcoming experiences at ucsd.edu/artsconnect.
Laika Nur, MD, takes her love of volleyball from the court to the clinic as team physician for the San Diego Mojo
Growing up, Laika Nur, MD, Scripps Clinic sports medicine specialist, loved watching beach volleyball when the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour came to her hometown of Chicago. A talented volleyball player herself, she remembers sitting in the stands all day, and once, even got a couple autographs. Years later, Dr. Nur was attending a professional event focused on women’s sports, and the discussion turned to a new professional women’s volleyball league. The general manager and coaching staff for San Diego’s team, the Mojo, happened to be in attendance, and Dr. Nur took the opportunity to ask them if they needed a team doctor. Flash forward to the Mojo’s inaugural 2024 season, when Dr. Nur officially became the team physician. Click here to read more about Dr. Nur and how she incorporates lessons she learned on the court into her practice.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
How local orthopedic specialists are pioneering the future of foot and ankle care
Your feet and ankles probably aren’t something you give much thought to—until something goes wrong. Orthopedic surgeons at Scripps Clinic are on the leading edge of foot and ankle reconstruction, treating patients with sports injuries, deformities, traumatic injuries and other conditions. That includes repairing torn Achilles tendons with a minimally invasive procedure that shrinks the incision site to less than a centimeter, and performing advanced ankle replacement on some patients with ankle arthritis. Read more about Scripps’ innovations in foot and ankle care here.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
A new program guides new moms through high-risk pregnancy and into the “fourth trimester”
Mai Vue was just 34 weeks pregnant when she delivered her baby. Her pregnancy had been complicated, and she’d had a recent second trimester pregnancy loss, which led to her receiving specialized care from Sean Daneshmand, MD, a Scripps Clinic perinatologist who oversees high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Daneshmand and his team took care of Mai during her pregnancy, through the birth of her healthy baby girl and beyond. Mai was part of a program Scripps launched to provide support to new moms in the weeks and months after delivery. The postpartum program, known as Scripps Health’s Fourth Trimester Continuum of Care, provides care for women with high-risk pregnancies to optimize their health after childbirth and reduce the risk of complications in future pregnancies. Click here to learn more.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
Scripps Clinic’s Mohs surgery center is one of the most sophisticated in the country.
It’s estimated that one in five people in the U.S. will develop skin cancer at some point in their lives. When you factor in living in a sun-soaked city like San Diego and the outdoorsy lifestyle that comes with it, that figure can jump to as high as one in three, which makes early detection and intervention all the more important. Dermatologists at Bighorn Mohs and Dermatology Center are using innovative imaging methods and advanced surgical techniques to diagnose and treat skin cancer. For certain cancers in sensitive spots, like the face, dermatologists perform Mohs surgery, removing skin tissue layer by layer until reaching healthy, cancer-free tissue. They also use a process called immunohistochemistry to view tissue samples taken during Mohs surgery in far greater detail than previous methods. Read more about how Scripps is advancing skin cancer care here.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
Scripps Cancer Center helps an endurance athlete overcome his greatest challenge yet and get back in the race
When endurance athlete Isaac Sanchez learned he had cancer, he felt blindsided. He was healthy, surfed often and was training for an Ironman triathlon. But he had to put that on hold to undergo treatment. His physicians at Scripps Cancer Center developed a plan to treat the cancer in his tonsil and lymph nodes that included six-and-a-half weeks of near-daily radiation and weekly chemotherapy. He also worked with a Scripps Cancer Center dietitian to enhance his nutrition to promote strength and healing. Today, Isaac’s back to doing what he loves. Read more of his story here.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.