In a Family Way

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In less than a year, David Fletcher went from being a single guy to married with two children.

On March 7 of last year, his older sister, Jessica, died suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving her two young daughters. But from that tragedy, Fletcher, 34, a manager of business development at Live Nation’s SME Entertainment Group, quickly built a new life for himself. He filed for guardianship of his two nieces, Gabriella, now 9, and Isabella, 3, and began to raise them as his own. He married his on-and-off flame, Sharon Matti, whom he’s known since the first grade, in December – exactly nine months after his sister’s death.

Fletcher and his wife are now expecting their first child, to be named David Fletcher III, in January. Fletcher said the girls can’t wait to be older sisters.

And he’s now determined to become a chief executive of a Fortune 500 company someday so he can provide for his family of five.

“I have that much more of a reason to work harder, smarter and fight even harder than I did before,” he said. “Because now it’s not just me counting on me, now it’s four other people counting on me.”

Driving Recognition

Craig Darian has an unusual calling card: his car.

The license plate on Darian’s Porsche 911 Carrera 4S makes it clear who’s at the wheel. It reads: C Darian. His youngest daughter, Kali, had the idea for the plate about five years ago.

Darian, 59, acknowledged it feels a bit egocentric, but the benefits may be worth it. He’s chief executive at Occidental Entertainment Group Holdings, a soundstage owner and real estate company in Hollywood, and he’s received calls from banking and real estate acquaintances who saw him zooming around. A couple of those calls led to doing business. And thanks to the license plate, he’s known by name at his haunts.

Still, he said he’s undecided on whether he’ll keep the plate long term.

“My personality says no,” he said, “but keeping the door open for others who see me on the road to say hello is appealing.”

Staff reporters Melissah Yang and Jonathan Polakoff contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at ccrumpley@
labusinessjournal.com.

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