The heart of our mission is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our communities. In the recent weeks, we’ve had the privilege to connect with some incredible artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with the incredible group below. Check out our favorite stories from across the Voyage family.
Mikel Frank
This is a joint venture between Queen City Art and Guild of Charlotte Artists. Last year I co-curated an important and timely exhibition with Joanne Rogers and Carl Heyward and Akiko Suzuki of Global Art Project called “CrossingBorders: We Are All Immigrants.” We exhibited in two venues. The show was made up of members of GAP and selected Charlotte artists. It’s first stop was New York City at Westbeth Gallery and then in Charlotte at Nine Eighteen Nine Studio Gallery. Read more>>
Emily Chaffee
After my high-risk pregnancy with my son in 2015, I experienced firsthand how invaluable consistent, compassionate support can be for birthing individuals and family. With a background in massage therapy, I already had the skills to provide hands-on physical support, and I knew the next step in my journey was to pursue birth doula training. Read more>>
Shelly Reid
I suffered from regular moments of dizziness as a result of a bad car wreck in 2011. I had to hold on to the walls as I walked, I had to get out of chairs slowly and couldn’t lay flat on my back at all. Read more>>
Merin Sazinas
Sky Retreat began with a dream. In 2015, Merin and Dima Sazinas were living in Charlotte, working full-time teaching ballroom dance and meditation. On weekends, they would escape to the mountains, finding joy and renewal in the beauty of nature. Their passion for outdoor adventure and their love for life’s special moments inspired them — and they quickly realized they weren’t alone. Read more>>
Alaina Hebert
I started with an intense desire to capture an incredible moment. It was a beautiful sunset, a waterfall, laughing children and I wanted to capture it exactly how I saw it with my eye. I have always been a big fan of God’s beauty in this world and I wanted to capture just a second of it. Read more>>
Brandy Welch
I started working part-time and gradually worked up to full-time. The past owner mentioned to me about buying the business one day. Some time later, I made an offer to her, and she accepted the offer. We signed the paperwork, and I became the new owner Janurary 1st 2024! Read more>>
Matt Brooks
We took ownership of Window Designs in the Fall of 2022, building on the company’s legacy of success since 1988. The Brooks family is committed to giving customers an elite purchasing experience as we meet their needs for blinds, shades, shutters, and much more. Read more>>
LaTonya Lewis-Tunsil
I got started in cosmetology to help my little sister finish and graduate. I signed up and fell in love with making people feel beautiful. I love the reaction i get when they see themselves. I graduated and I never really thought about owning my own salon, I just wanted to do hair. Read more>>
Carolyn (CJ) Hickey
My creative journey began in New York City when I was 20. I had originally gone to Simmons College to study Physical Therapy, but I was pursuing professional dance at the time. After five years, a serious injury forced me to pivot — and that shift ultimately led me to interior design. Read more>>
Esha Hickson
It started in 2015, I just got back from Cuba with Baba Chuck Davis. He was very close to my God mother and we got to phycially connect during a Summer at American Dance Festival. When I returned, I had the desire to spread my dance movement with other dancers. Read more>>
Cynthia Forsyth
My family came from Creemore, Canada to a small US rural community (Riley Center, Michigan) in the pursuit of the American dream one week before Christmas in 1963, where my father assumed a three circuit Methodist church ministry. I was a year and a half in age. Read more>>
Yvonne Cano
Yvonne Cano is the creative force behind Yvonne Cano Image, a US-based agency specializing in Image and Brand Consulting with a worldwide outlook. She’s a passionate entrepreneur and a certified Image Consultant with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, dedicated to empowering individuals through the art of Personal branding and Color Analysis. Read more>>
Rashmita Parajuli
I started my journey in the beauty industry because I love helping people feel confident and beautiful in their own skin. I worked hard to become a licensed esthetician and gained experience while balancing family and work. After years of dedication, I opened RB’s Luxe Heaven Beauty Salon to create a relaxing, luxury space for skincare, brows, and lashes. Read more>>
RICKIE TAYLOR
In this ever changing industry it can get hard sometimes to adapt with the times but I manage and I push through as well as dealing with some unexpected health issues that put my career on pause for a moment I suffer With idiopathic gastroparesis and it can be challenging at times on my career but I don’t give up I keep going and keep putting my best foot forward always and forever and staying positive even through my hardest moments Read more>>
CARRIE PEELE
I started my entrepreneurial journey in my early twenties — not out of ambition, but out of necessity. I was newly divorced with two small babies, and I realized very quickly that if anyone was going to ride in on the white horse, it was going to be me. Read more>>
Ashley Kirkman Price
I began my yoga journey at the age of fifteen while participating in my high school dance company. Read more>>
Tim Stevens
I think I was a born story teller. My grandfather and father were and both my brothers are. I wrote thousands of stories during a 48-year career at the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer. After retirement, I continued telling stories in other mediums. I founded Show N Tell Ministries, a non-profit charity, to tell stories through concerts, films, plays and other events. Read more>>
Meital Cohen
I believe I sent our brand guide with our story and how it all started. Let me know if you were able to open it. Read more>>
Jacy Phaneuf, Erin Barham N/A
Jacy Phaneuf: I began working with Riley’s Army as an intern during my undergraduate years. I was in the right place at the right time when Riley’s Army expanded from Greenville into the Triangle area to serve families at UNC and Duke Children’s Hospitals, and I was hired on as the Riley’s Army Triangle Chapter Director. Read more>>
Jacob Abel
My father and I started Abel Industries back in 2021. We both have a passion for building things and developing new partnerships. It’s great to help people build their dream homes as it’s something they’ve strived for their whole lives. We moved to North Carolina from Huntington Beach, CA back in 2005. Read more>>
Erin O’Loughlin
My journey to founding 3 Bluebirds Farm began the way so many meaningful missions do: Through motherhood, heartbreak, and an overwhelming realization that something had to change. My husband Colm and I are raising three children in Cary, North Carolina — our “three bluebirds.” Our middle son, Marcus, was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of three. Read more>>
Brittany Lee
I never expected to run a cotton gin. But in May of 2022, exactly one year to the day after losing my mother to cancer, I stepped in to help Edgecombe Cotton Growers temporarily with office management. What began as a short-term favor quickly turned into something deeper. I often tell people ‘I didn’t find the gin, it found me. Read more>>
Shivon Eck
I have had a lifelong passion for wildlife and conservation, so a career working with animals was never in doubt. After ten years of experience in the zoological community, I founded Wild Tails NC, Inc,, a 501(c)3 nonprofit exotic rescue and education center. Read more>>
Molly Duncan
I moved to Raleigh from Richmond, VA. We had our daughter while living in Richmond, and we sold and bought most of her clothes from Kid to Kid. When we moved to Raleigh, I was surprised there was no Kid to Kid in the area. I had just left the high school English classroom in 2020, and I was looking for my next thing. Read more>>
Gerri Vereen
Gerri Vereen is the CEO of Vereen Fashion Productions, LLC and the owner of Gerri Styles My Hair Salon and Hair Brand. Her journey into fashion and beauty began at the early age of 13, when she first became inspired and intrigued by the fashion industry. What started as curiosity quickly grew into a deep passion for creativity, self-expression, and transformation. Read more>>
Terence Hunt
I started the business to do trainings for counselors and churches in 2012 as a part time business. I ended up adding counseling services in 2018 after I lost my full time job, and grew the business as a solo practice and got it to six figures in 2020. Read more>>
Candice Gaddy
After health issues and a successful career I dedicated my life to helping others grow. My story in detail can be found … Ace4growth.com/about-us Ibelievemiracles.org/about Read more>>
Aillen Taylor
I started as a freelance illustrator in 1990, when I was hired to create interior illustrations for a speculative fiction magazine and for tabletop role-playing companies. From there, I worked for local companies in the RTP until I was accepted into the Joe Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic Arts. I was trained there to create comic-book-style artwork, cartooning, and illustration. Read more>>
Kellye Slaggert
I am a mental health counselor who works with children and their families. Supporting strong parent-child relationships while supporting a child’s developmental potential is my passion. I often use books as part of the therapy process. Books are non-threatening ways to learn and talk about different topics. I created a non-fiction overview of the components of Propeller Co-regulation using simple graphics. Read more>>
Jennifer Hu
My career began in Shanghai, where I worked in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) for luxury brands such as Prada, Miu Miu, and Bottega Veneta. Read more>>
Cassondra Liles
I am an real estate broker, investor, and author of Real Life Monopoly. With over two decades in the industry, I own and operate a successful rental portfolio and bring real-world investing experience to my clients. My goal is to help clients make smart property decisions that build lasting wealth. Read more>>
Marina Harris
I knew I wanted to be a sport psychologist since high school. I was a highly competitive gymnast for a majority of my life. Gymnastics can be an extremely demanding sport and requires a high degree of mental toughness. Read more>>
JES Avanti Foundation
The JES Avanti Foundation was established in 2014 starting in Southern Maryland. Since, the foundation has expanded to physical locations in Ferrum, VA (2015), Bushwood, MD (2015), Goshen, VA (2019) & Roxboro, NC (2024). At these locations, the foundation partners with local organizations and business to host events that focus on the foundation’s mission. Read more>>
Tonya Davis
I have always loved searching for things. As a child, it was shells along the beaches of Mississippi, then fossils and remnants of history tucked into the mountains of Tennessee. Once, after finding a bed of sea fossils, I ate my lunch sandwich early just so I could use the baggie to collect them. That curiosity never left me. Read more>>
Joe Polich
I think almost everything has led me to this point of running my own private therapy practice (because like most social workers I think everything is connected). It probably all started when as a 16 year old my parents decided to separate. Read more>>
Noelle Mosby
I have always known I was meant to build something of my own. I just didn’t know what it was yet. At 20 years old, I was attending university and quietly realizing I wasn’t happy. When the world shut down, I made the decision to come home. I worked shifts at a coffee shop and took college classes online. Read more>>
Derrick Tre
I didn’t start out with a clear blueprint—just a strong sense that I was meant to build experiences, not just careers. Early on, I found myself naturally drawn to fashion, hospitality, and community, always paying attention to how spaces made people feel and how moments could be elevated with intention. Like many creatives, my journey hasn’t been linear. Read more>>
ELIZABETH NELSON
My story really started in the thick of motherhood, like, 2 AM pump sessions and yogurt-for-dinner reality check kind of motherhood. I’m Liz, the founder and CEO of Milkin’ Cookie, and a Charlotte mom of two. After my son Hunter was born, I struggled with milk production and only nursed for about eight months. Read more>>
Sondra Trice-Jones
I’m the Principal Agent and Broker-in-Charge of Ultra Realty, and I bring both strategy and heart to the home buying and selling process. I believe in delivering Ultra Service, Ultra Professionalism, and Ultra Results and that’s not just a tagline. It’s the standard I hold myself to every single day. Read more>>
Eve Turek
I had several different jobs, most of which involved some level of writing and/or photography before my late husband Pete and I bought Yellowhouse Gallery in Nags Head 20 years ago. Ten years later we bought SeaDragon Gallery in Duck. In both cases, we bought the galleries from their founders, who were also personal friends. Read more>>
Alexandra Stark
I’ll work super hard. I’ll get good grades and do so many extracurriculars. Oh and don’t forget about the community service hours. And then I’ll go to a good college. I’ll take some tough classes, be active in participating AND be in a few clubs, maybe work a part time job to pay for my books and go out a few nights a week. Read more>>
Velmy Trinidad
0My name is Velmy Trinidad it all started in 2019 in Liberty, NC, where I offered Zumba and flamenco classes. The flamenco classes didn’t generate much interest among the public. In Spring 2022, Greensboro Downtown Park gave me the opportunity to offer a Sevillanas dance workshop, which was a success. From there, in the summer of 2022, the Flamenco Dance Program began in Greensboro. Read more>>
Shanieka Davis
My name is Shanieka Davis, the owner of S-Class Solutions Trucking Compliance & Solutions. Our office is located in Rockingham, NC where we serve owner operators all over the US! Read more>>
Erin Wallen
For many years, I was a pharmacist living what looked like a very successful life. I had a stable and respected career, a loving husband, and a healthy child — all the things I had once worked so hard to build. But internally, it was a very different story. I was constantly stressed and anxious, struggling to sleep, and experiencing debilitating migraines. Read more>>
Felicia Bittle
I didn’t start with a grand business plan or even the intention of becoming a stylist. I started with a genuine love for helping people feel good about themselves. Read more>>
Sommer Sholtes
I started in the event industry by offering event rentals, draping design, floral design and then planning services. After traveling to many states for luxury weddings, I began consultation work which ultimately lead me to purchasing a venue. Read more>>
Melanie Devontenno
My journey began in a very organic way. Baking and cooking have always been a true passion of mine, and there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing someone genuinely enjoy my desserts or a meal I’ve prepared. What started as baking for family and friends gradually grew into requests for custom cakes and desserts, and eventually became Indulge by Melanie. Read more>>
Brandon Metzel
I grew up in a military family, so I spent my childhood moving all over the country. That experience really shaped me; it taught me adaptability, discipline, and the value of community, because you’re constantly learning how to plug into new environments. I eventually landed in Idaho for college, where I played football. Read more>>
Sanjay Monroe
By day, I’m a scientist, and by night, I’m a DJ. Science has always been rooted in curiosity for me. I earned my degree in Laboratory Animal Science at NC A&T, which opened the door to working in biotech across the Research Triangle area. Over time, Ive gained experience in molecular diagnostics, clinical trials, assay development, and genetic cancer screening. Read more>>
Sonia Matcha
I’ve lived and worked in Spain, Canada, and Brazil, and now the US. Each move meant starting over, new language, new culture, new way of doing things. It taught me resilience, adaptability, and how to connect with people no matter where they’re from. In 2022, I got my MBA to pair creative instinct with real business strategy. In 2023, The Apricots Media was born. What I’m most proud of? Building this from the ground up. Every client, every campaign, every lesson, it’s ours. Read more>>
Jeff Lowe
I’ve had a lot of experience in public speaking and drama in many places. In 2018, my brother-in-law suggested I should look into being a Wedding Officiant / Minister. I did, and met the requirements. In mid-2019 his son (my nephew) called me to ask if I would officiate his wedding for him, and I gladly accepted. Read more>>
