Sandra Candel is a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, where she was raised by her maternal grandparents and extended family. She describes what she refers to as “a legacy of migrants” within her family including her often absent mother.

As a child she was instilled with a love of education and the value of hard work. As a young adult, she migrated to the United States, southern California specifically. There she joined her mother and began her higher education.

Trula McGee grew up in a military family where children were well behaved, intelligent, and an asset to the family's community representation. She migrated to Las Vegas in 1952 and lived for a short time in Carver Park in Henderson and attended Basic High School. McGee lived on the Westside as a young adult and remembers the Golden West Shopping Center, Reubens Supper Club (H and Owens), Larry's Sight and Sound, and other Westside locations. The family shopped for clothing at Sears and JC Penney in the downtown area.