In Southern California, Maria Damian is making her mark across two different industries: healthcare and entertainment. As the CEO of Legacy Dialysis and Legacy Entertainment, Maria combines decades of experience in medicine with a growing passion for cultural representation. Her story is one of resilience, entrepreneurship, and commitment to community.
Maria Damian, CEO of Legacy Entertainment and Legacy Dialysis
Maria Damian’s journey began in the Philippines, where she graduated with academic honors and at the top of her nursing class. She went on to work in neonatal intensive care, oncology, and occupational health, a medical career that spans over 30 years. In 2014, however, everything changed when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This experience reminded Damian of how short and fragile life can be, compelling her to finally pursue the dreams she had set aside for so long.
That shift in mindset pushed Damian to move from the clinical side of care to the leadership side. She took over the operations of multiple dialysis centers and, in 2020, officially founded Legacy Dialysis, which now has 12 clinics across Southern California and over 60 employees. Her goal is to improve access to dialysis care while focusing on compassion and cultural understanding. According to the Legacy Dialysis website, “Our mission is to provide a better quality of life for our patients through compassionate and high-quality dialysis services. We strive to treat each patient with dignity, respect, and the highest level of medical care.” And that vision has not gone unnoticed. Legacy Dialysis was recently awarded Outstanding Dialysis Center of the Year 2023-2024. This award reflects the overall accomplishments of Maria’s work as well as the impact her team has on underserved communities.
While growing her healthcare company, Damian also decided to pursue a long-held passion of working in the entertainment industry. In 2021, she launched Legacy Entertainment, a production company focused on uplifting underrepresented voices, especially Filipino and Filipino-American artists. Legacy Entertainment has already worked with well-known talents, including actors and singers like Christian Bables, Ali Caldwell, and Max Ehrich. Furthermore, the company is known to host concerts, film productions, and community-driven events across California, often incorporating charitable and cultural components. In this way, Maria’s approach to entertainment is based on representation and visibility.
Maria Damian’s passion lies in helping others succeed
Aside from her business ventures, Maria also serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the California Route 66 Museum. In that role, she works to preserve American road culture, showing off the history of the famous highway with multicultural exhibitions that reflect California’s diverse communities. Her passion for culture also extends to philanthropy. While many of her contributions are private, Damian believes giving back is part of her responsibility as a leader. Both Legacy Dialysis and Legacy Entertainment are growing fast. Damian plans to expand the dialysis centers and is currently working on new entertainment projects, including concert series and collaborative productions with international artists. “2025 is going to be a big year for us!” she said. Whether she is managing a medical team or helping a client produce a film, Maria remains focused on impact. Her career path defies traditional boundaries, proving that a single individual can lead with heart and ambition across industries, communities, and cultures.