Everyone has youthful dreams; not everyone acts on them. Eric Presnall did.

His father, Jon, earned a living singing at weddings and other events – and immersed his three boys in music. Eric Presnall blended it with acting at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills and at El Dorado Musical Theatre.

Four years ago, at age 18, he moved to Los Angeles, where he quickly landed the role of Troy Bolton in the European tour of "High School Musical."

He celebrated his 20th birthday under the Eiffel Tower on the day his contract ended.

Fame and fortune didn't follow. Presnall was waiting tables at the Cheesecake Factory when he bumped into Dick Van Patten, who portrayed a Sacramento dad in TV's "Eight Is Enough."

"He has the personality with the good looks," Van Patten said of Presnall, "and he's a very good actor."

The TV veteran helped Presnall get the part of assistant to surfing bulldog Tillman on Animal Planet's "Who Let The Dogs Out?"

"We would just travel across the country looking for other talented dogs," Presnall said. "… The connections on the show were enormous."

One season aired; a second is uncertain. Presnall now is trying to show his acting range. At 9 p.m. Wednesday, catch him as John Ditullio in Investigation Discovery's true-crime series, "I (Almost) Got Away With It."

Mom Michelle Presnall said she's proud he took the challenge. "He plays this guy who killed a homeless man and a 17-year-old."

Having fun, getting by

Another Oak Ridge graduate, Olivia Coelho, is living her dream as co-owner of boutique-gallery-cafe Bows and Arrows, but gold doesn't pave midtown Sacramento's streets.

"We are breaking even; we're not losing money," she said. "We're cutting checks every month to musicians and to artists who sell their work."

The 36-year-old Coelho immersed herself in midtown's eclectic arts community upon graduating in fine arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1998. She saw room to experiment with ways to sell wearable artwork.

First came her quarterly Buyout/Sellout bazaars and, by 2004, the Olipom boutique. Finally, in 2009, she teamed with fellow artist Trisha Rhomberg to create Bows and Arrows. It borrowed its ethos from San Francisco's Wasteland, which sells new, designer and vintage apparel.

Bows turned a tidy profit at the original L Street site, but the longer the owners studied the spreadsheets, the more they felt it should evolve. Sales leapt when they paired entertainment with art shows. So they moved Bows to a larger space, 1815 19th St., to accommodate a boutique, gallery, beer and wine bar, restaurant and patio.

"She's constantly working on improving what's working, what isn't working," said her father, Phil Coelho, founder of ThermoGenesis Corp. and SynGen.

He and his wife, sculptor Ruth Coelho, bought the building where Bows is based. Coelho and Rhomberg pay rent and self-finance the business.

Career suits him to a T

Tyler Wichmann sells limited-edition T-shirts and hoodies with his Timeless Thrills logo, and at $20-$25 a pop, he's priced me out of his market.

But Wichmann wasn't aiming at me. He dreams of building an upscale streetwear brand like REBEL8 and Diamond Supply Co., known for eye-popping graphics that borrow from tattoo and graffiti culture.

Young, urban hipsters scout for cutting-edge graphics – and limited editions. After all, no one wants to wear the same T-shirt as another guy at the club.

"When people see you wearing it, they're going, 'Oh, where did you get that? I've never seen that before.' And they have questions about it," said Wichmann, a graduate of Sacramento's Christian Brothers High School.

Getta Clue in Downtown Plaza picked up Timeless Thrills apparel early this year. Wichmann will celebrate with a party this evening at the Momo Lounge, 2708 J St., Sacramento.

Wichmann's father, Ken, built a national reputation auctioning rare bottles at American Bottle Auctions. The son now employs similar marketing techniques, email lists and newsletters. A sales job seeds his passion.

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