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.
Andy Egogo-Stanley
My story starts in a middle-class Nigerian household, where my parents made sacrifices to get me through school. It is one of determination for excellence and resilience. My dad was a land surveyor, so naturally, I followed in his footsteps. Along the way, my path branched further than I expected. Read more>>
Rebecca Rechkemmer
My family took a Spring Break trip to Germany in April 2023, and I absolutely loved planning every part of it. My husband and I had been there 23 years earlier and had always wanted to go back. This time we were able to take our two teenage children and retrace many of the places we had visited before. Read more>>
Rafael A. Osuba
I often say that I never really set out to become a cultural producer. I simply saw things that were missing and began trying to create them. I came to North Carolina in the early 1990s, and at that time the Latino community here looked very different than it does today. Read more>>
Toby Witte
My story really started in Germany, where I grew up around architecture, craftsmanship, and the idea that the way we build our homes matters. I eventually came to the U.S. and studied architecture at UNC Charlotte, graduating cum laude, and over the years I’ve worked across design, construction, and building science. Read more>>
Laura Welborn
My love for photography begin in high school, when I had the opportunity to take a film photography class. I would often use my lunch period to get some extra time in the dark room! I reluctantly stepped away from the hobby after graduation when I no longer had access to a dark room. Read more>>
WINE & DESIGN GREENSBORO
Wine & Design Greensboro is part of my journey of turning creativity, community, and entrepreneurship into something people can experience together. What started as a love for creating memorable experiences grew into an opportunity to bring a space to Greensboro where people could relax, connect, celebrate, and express themselves through art. Read more>>
Ranndi Bitner
My name is Ranndi Bitner, and I am the owner of Art of Physical Therapy. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where I was a competitive swimmer, and I went on to swim collegiately at Liberty University while studying Exercise Science. I have always been passionate about health and wellness. Read more>>
Wabbae
My name is Wabbae, and I’m a content creator across Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, Kick, and other social platforms. What began as a way to share my love of gaming has grown into a community I’m incredibly proud of, known as The Pod. My content primarily focuses on horror, survival, and simulation games, but the heart of my content has always been the community surrounding it. Read more>>
Pete Richardson
I have been in the Restaurant industry since 1986 in some form or fashion. I tried desk jobs, sales jobs and trade jobs but cooking was my calling. I attended culinary school and have taken several other culinary classes along the way. Everything from Chili Cook-Offs, Meat Smoking, Seafood, Mexican and recently a Sushi class. Read more>>
Na’tia Felton
After the birth of our third child, I found myself deeply immersed in the role of a stay-at-home mom. Amidst the joyful chaos of raising a toddler, a newborn, and two school-aged children, I noticed a shift; I wasn’t taking the time to get dressed every day. Read more>>
Shane Varner
I started designing tattoos for people that knew me and liked my art. It got me thinking, would I enjoy tattooing? So I began researching, found someone to teach me and didn’t look back. I fell in love with tattooing and now it’s my favorite art form. I approach tattooing like a mutual project. I’m helping someone have on their body what they want. Read more>>
Brandi “Swift, The Goddess” Trujillo
Some of my earliest memories are connected to sound. I remember singing to the animals around my grandmother’s home when I was little. I lived with my grandmother and my aunt, and I was always humming, singing, listening, observing. I used to get in trouble for humming music back to my grandmother while she was talking to me because I was literally hearing songs. Read more>>
Stefy Gallardo
My name is Stefy Gallardo — I’m a Mexican-American mariachi singer and a proud creative artist rooted deeply in my heritage. 🇲🇽✨ My culture is more than where I come from; it’s a part of who I am and the inspiration behind everything I create. Read more>>
Sarah Gonzalez
I launched FLII Apparel & Accessories while traveling for a contract job. I was designing a custom piece as a creative outlet when a client suggested adding a special element inspired by their child.’ This interaction inspired me to capture that positive energy. I realized that young people need more daily affirmations and uplifting messages reflected in what they wear. Read more>>
Patrick Steele
It started with taking things apart. I was the kid pulling apart old computers just to see how they worked, and I never really lost that. Fast forward and I ended up in science over a decade in biotechnology now but the instinct is the same. I want to see the inside of the machine. Being a scientist makes you an observer. Read more>>
Tara Melvin
The National Society of Black Wedding & Event Professionals (NSBWEP) was born from both necessity and purpose. Founded by Tara Melvin in 2020, NSBWEP emerged after years of witnessing the underrepresentation of Black wedding and event professionals in industry leadership, media, educational platforms, and professional associations. Read more>>
Jessica Barrington
My journey into cosmetology actually started in high school, and it wasn’t necessarily because I always dreamed of doing hair. At South View High School, we had a senior project where we were able to choose a mentor in a career field that interested us and spend time learning from them. Read more>>
Sebastian Martinez
Five years ago, my wife and I came to this country with nothing but big dreams in our suitcases. In 2023, I started @studiosmtwo. After working through so many fears and doubts, I finally decided to take the leap, make the business official, and turn my dreams into reality. I wanted my passion for telling stories through photography to become something real. Read more>>
Joyce’Alyn ‘Joy’ Payne
I was born in a small town in South Carolina (shout out Clinton and the whole 864), and my family relocated to New York City when I was around three years old. All my schooling was done here in NYC. Read more>>
David Berberian
RedBird started with a pretty simple idea. There are incredibly talented theatre artists here in North Carolina, and I wanted to create more opportunities for them to do good, professional work without having to leave the state to find it. I’ve spent most of my life working in theatre. Read more>>
Elizabeth Walton
I feel so grateful to have found a passion in life that connects me to strong community and meaningful work. I am a metalsmith and jeweler, who has followed a path from making small beaded earrings on my childhood bedroom floor, to graduate research and study of studio art metalsmithing. Read more>>
Angelica House
I started my journey at 19 years old with a job at Waffle House using those funds to help me start my first Hair business Angelic’s Glam Bar and make my first hair sale. Eventually I open my first hair store and shared my store of opening my hair store during covid and surviving the pandemic. Read more>>
Denawa Deniece
Hello! I initially started as a Hot Power Yoga instructor teaching 1 breath 1 movement in a heated room. I started having more pregnant bodies show up to my class + me being me, I decided to go get additional training so I could properly cue all the bodies in front of me. Read more>>
Lisa Edwards
I knew from a young age that I wanted to work in the beauty industry. I began my career in Connecticut before moving to San Francisco in 2011, where I had the opportunity to work at Cinta Salon and diPietro Todd. Read more>>
Kayla Jacobs
My business journey started with a love for creating things with my hands and a desire to build something that was truly my own. What started as an interest in making soap eventually grew into Simply Native Soaps, a small business where I could combine creativity, tradition, and my passion for natural, handmade products. Read more>>
Peter Brown
Our reggae band Rastacoustic: We perform and tour to provide people with a safe place to let loose and be themselves in a positive environment of love and unity. We perform to bring musical diversity and provide a style of music that doesn’t regularly come through our region Read more>>
Xavier Ware
My name is Xavier Ware, I am from Beaufort, North Carolina. My drum journey began in church at the age of 2! I had my first paid church gig at the age of 4! From a young age I was dedicated and passionate for the instrument. Read more>>
Kiera Vanhook
Every business has an origin story. Mine started with my son. He’s on the autism spectrum, and like any parent, I wanted to give him something that truly fit his needs, not just something pulled off a shelf. He needed a bed built for how he actually lived, so I built it myself.That one bed cracked something open in me. Read more>>
Carla Paschal- Hunt
I think I knew I was an artist before I even knew what being an artist meant. From a very young age, I was always drawn to creating. In fact, one of my favorite stories from childhood is that when I was in first grade, I would actually sleep underneath the art easel in my classroom. I was that comfortable surrounded by art. Read more>>
Harris Wilson
Like a lot of people my age, I was drawn into e-commerce by the promise of passive income. that whole narrative was hard to ignore. But I didn’t want to just drop-ship generic products. I wanted to build something that let me actually create, not just resell. That’s what led me to print-on-demand: it let me combine the business model with real design work. Read more>>
Mariia Yatsura
Hello! I’m happy to share my story. I’ll keep it short and cover the main moments. I started working as a florist back in Ukraine when I was a student. It was just a part-time job at first, but I fell in love with it and decided to do it full-time while continuing my classes. Read more>>
Kim Rice
There’s nothing quite like being able to choke someone out with their own clothes! Learning jiu jitsu is one of the most empowering things I have done as an adult and now I’m so lucky to be able to teach it to others. My husband and I opened Bull City Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 2022. Read more>>
Justin Nealy
The story is long and complex. But I’ll try my best to understandingly paraphrase it. Like other young kids who want to be rich and famous, it started with a dream. On a busted up laptop with an old headphone mic. Looking like airline pilots trying to rap. Terrible sounding production. But if you truly listened, you hear how deeply great the music itself was. Read more>>
andrea mccullough
As a single mother of two, I started making up songs for my kids to fall asleep and awaken to, off the top of my head. Years later, my adult children and I were having a conversation that was reminiscent of those songs. Although I didn’t think anything of those songs when they were kids, I was in awe of their impact on my kids. Read more>>
Story Charlemagne
I go by Story Charlemagne, and I am an artist here in the Raleigh Triangle area. My journey has taken me from hanging out in my living room with a guitar to opening up for artists like Abraham Alexander and continuing opportunities to share my music for a living. I performed as much as possible for years after leaving college back in Upstate New York. Read more>>
Jina Venable
I’ve always believed that entrepreneurship is about more than building a business—it’s about recognizing what has been placed inside of you and having the courage to build something from it. My journey began in the beauty industry, but it was never simply about hair. Read more>>
Maris Feeley
This year marks 10 years of full-spectrum doula work for me, which is hard to believe! In 2016, I began my journey with DC Doulas for Choice, a volunteer-run doula collective, supporting hundreds of patients in DC-area clinics. Read more>>
AmyNicole Ellis
My career has taken several turns, but the common thread has always been people, behavior, and business. I spent more than 20 years in human resources while also building businesses, including in real estate. Over time, I became increasingly interested in what happens before the visible outcome: before an employee leaves, before communication breaks down, before execution slows, or before a leader is misunderstood. Read more>>
Ri’Aasa Toppin
I started off collecting rocks in the water when I felt most isolated. I took time in nature a lot to be more gentle with myself. I learned about spirit science as a teenager And eventually got into crystals. Read more>>
Wei Sun
As an Asian descendant, ceramic has always been part of my culture. We used Jinde Zheng porcelain and YiXin teapots everyday. However, I have never worked on clay or even seen a pottery studio when I grow up. In 1994 I came to US for grad school studying computer science. Read more>>
Catherine Nguyen
I used to paint. I started taking snapshots of places I wanted to remember to paint later. Then in 2000, I came back from a few trips with over 30 rolls of film from a point-and-shoot camera. My boyfriend gave me a Nikon FA for Christmas that year. I started taking classes at the Cooper Union in NYC here and there to explore photography. Read more>>
Jordan Wright
Photography has always been a part of my life, even before I realized it would become my career. Growing up, my mother was the person who always had a camera in her hand. She believed in preserving memories because moments come and go, but photographs allow us to relive them for generations. Read more>>
Leonid Gladilin
For many years, I knew exactly how to introduce myself. I could say the name of the company I worked for and describe my position, and people immediately understood who I was. To put the scale into an American context, my role was somewhat comparable to leading all online sales for a company the size of Costco or Sam’s Club. Read more>>
Kate Loughlin
People always ask me ‘what made you decide to be an artist’ but the way I see it, that was never my decision. It’s more like art chose me and I’ve just been developing it. When I was a kid, I’d much rather draw than read or write. Read more>>
Bradley Musika
I grew up in Corolla and have been working in the Outer Banks tourism industry since I was a kid. Whether it was helping with my family’s beach chair rental business, working in local restaurants, or serving visitors in other ways, hospitality has always been part of my life. Read more>>
Rita Brewer
This is on the About page of my website: Lifestyle, Obesity & Functional Medicine | Metabolic Health & Diabetes Reversal Helping Patients Reverse Chronic Metabolic Disease Through Evidence-Based Lifestyle Medicine From a young age, I knew I was called to a career in medicine. Read more>>
Jen Josey
For 16 years, I taught middle school. Then one day, I woke up and realized I was allergic to children. Naturally, I transitioned into an equally abusive industry: health insurance. Because, let’s face it, everyone loves health insurance. It was during those corporate years that my husband, Vance, and I stumbled across a real estate investing education program. Read more>>
