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.
German Chicas Villanueva
My philosophy always is about if the job like me and I feel that is good I know that this project will like to the client and the people will feel comfortable too. Every time when I started to do something different the people referred me to another, and I’ve used that references to grow every day, trying to keep the people happy with my skills and showing a good behavior in theirs houses, not all has been happy but I can say that a 90% of my client are happy with their projects done. Read more>>
Kimberly Zettel
Our story actually started in the online classroom during COVID. Teaching online was incredibly frustrating and isolating, but we found our grounding by doing what we had always done—volunteering and fostering for local shelters. During that heavy time, we noticed a profound pattern: being around these rescue animals wasn’t just helping the cats; it was doing something deeply restorative for the people around them. Read more>>
Angela Wang
Founded in 1985, House of Dynasty has been serving the Northern Virginia community for over four decades, welcoming generations of families through our doors. One of the most rewarding parts of this journey is seeing longtime customers return with their children and grandchildren. It reminds me that House of Dynasty is not just a place to eat. It’s a place where memories are made. Read more>>
Caroline Nelin
Coastal Charcuterie started from my love of bringing people together through food and creating beautiful experiences. What began as a small side business quickly grew through word of mouth and community support. Over the past five years, I’ve expanded from creating boards out of my home to opening a storefront in Virginia Beach, catering weddings and events, and partnering with other local businesses. Read more>>
Fred Campana
I started cutting hair at the age of 14 in my high school military program in San Diego, California. In that program, we were required to have military haircuts (short on top and shaved on the sides). I started cutting some of my buddies’ hair and then some of their friends. Before I knew it, I was cutting the hair of strangers for free. Read more>>
misty higgins
So I began my business 14 years ago this past May, truly it was simply desperate measure to survive. Having not been able to get a job, I decided to just create one. I borrowed a Canon t2i and a 28-300 mm lens and made a social media page and started a business. Read more>>
Wilma Lewis-Marshall
My journey began with a passion for making wine at home. What started as a hobby soon grew into a small business called Question Mobile Bar. The very first person to taste my wine was my father, William Lewis, and his encouragement meant the world to me. He absolutely loved it and inspired me to keep pursuing my dream and expanding my vision. Read more>>
Carla Truss
My journey with Dots All Natural Spices started with my mother and me. My mother lives with an autoimmune disease, and I was dealing with my own health challenges, so we began researching herbs, spices, and natural ingredients that could help support our overall wellness. Through that research, we started creating our own spice blends using all-natural ingredients with no salt and no MSG. Read more>>
Dayna Geraghty
My now husband, Josh, and I met at a local CrossFit gym in 2014. We were both extremely invested in our health. Our free time was filled with training for CrossFit/weightlifting competitions, weekend hikes, day long bike rides and anything else we could think of to push ourselves physically. Read more>>
Kelli Jo Nuckles
I’m Kelli Jo Nuckles, raised in Southwest Virginia with a lifelong passion for helping others. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, I was inspired early on to dream big, work hard, and create something meaningful that could make a difference in people’s lives. Read more>>
DeCarol Jovanovic
I became a parent for the first time in 2019. We stayed in a townhouse and sometimes noise and conversations would carry late into the night. After working so hard to get the baby to sleep, I thought it would be great if there was a way to let visitors know a young child was trying to sleep nearby. Read more>>
Melissa James
Honestly, I’ve gone so much further in my career than I ever planned or dreamed! When I was working on my advertising degree in the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill, I endeavored to become an ad copywriter at some big agency. Read more>>
Maya Hairston
I’ve always had a love for handbags and built quite a collection over the years, most of them coming from stores like Ross and Marshalls. While I admired luxury handbags, I wasn’t always in a position to afford the high price tags that came with them. Unfortunately, affordable options often meant sacrificing quality. Read more>>
Caitlin Cornett Wilcox
I’ve always been drawn to art and photography, but it was my high school journalism/yearbook class that truly made me fall in love with being behind the camera. I loved documenting real moments and telling stories through images. What started as photographing friends, families, and local events gradually evolved into a full-time wedding photography career. Read more>>
Emily Sarmiento
I am 29 years old and was born and raised in Northern Virginia. After spending three years living in Miami for work, I returned to the DMV area and found myself back in the corporate world. After about a year, I realized that path no longer aligned with the life I wanted to build. Read more>>
Tavia Carlson
My journey into travel content creation began after I left active duty military service to stay home and care for my oldest daughter while we were living in Florida. Like many new parents, I was suddenly navigating a completely different season of life. At the same time, I wasn’t ready to give up traveling. Read more>>
Lee Matthis
I participated in my preceptorship from grad school in Palmyra, VA, right outside of Charlottesville in 2006. Our family had planned on being located in central VA, but an opportunity opened up in Southwest VA that I took and we spent 19 years growing a practice, running a company, and raising our three children through high school. Read more>>
Devon Thomas
I actually started the agency as a way to bootstrap my other ventures. Back in 2014 I was doing tech consulting on the side to help fund a startup called Dine & Dash. Read more>>
Breona McCary
Bebe’s Beauty Company was born during a season of personal transition following a difficult time in my life. As I worked to rediscover myself and rebuild my confidence, makeup became more than a beauty routine. It became a form of self-care, healing, and empowerment. As I began sharing my journey on social media, I connected with women who resonated with my story. Read more>>
Caroline O’Neill
I am Caroline O’Neill, the founder of The Body, Birth and Baby Center in Leesburg Virginia. Back in 2003 I graduated college with a Theatre and Dance Degree from Greensboro College. While actively performing in the DC area, I found my way to Massage Therapy School at Potomac Massage Training Institute. Read more>>
Dana Provo
Photography has been a passion of mine since I was young; I always had a camera in my hand. I took several classes to help me learn and grow as a photographer throughout high school, college and even after. Read more>>
Phil Tucker
Honestly, I never planned to run a marketing agency. I started out as a wedding DJ. For years, my whole job was reading a room. You learn fast that the perfect song at the wrong moment falls flat, and the right one at the right moment can make a hundred strangers feel like family for a night. Read more>>
Tabitha Cain
Co-owner David Landes was traveling on the West Coast and found floating and decided he wanted to bring it back to Roanoke. . They weren’t simply looking for another entrepreneurial opportunity. Both came from business backgrounds and understood what it took to build and operate a successful company. Read more>>
Gary Deagle
I started as a personal trainer at Golds Gym Newport News (now known as One Life Fitness) in December 2005 when I was 20 years old. After working as a personal trainer for 6 years myself and one other employee left and started a 24 hour gym. Read more>>
MICHAEL KURTZ
I became Zig Zag the Magic Man when my college juggling club met some clowns during a shared event on campus. I followed one clown around until he finally gave me his agency’s card. Soon after I was hired as Zig Zag the Clown by one of New York City’s best agencies – The Funniest Clowns in the Whole Wide World. Read more>>
Levi Braswell
My journey as a DJ began long before I ever touched a controller. My wife and I founded Lighthouse Industries, a nonprofit ministry built on a vision she carried in her heart for nearly 20 years. After we had been married for about 10 years, that vision came to life. Read more>>
Kenyatta Kavo
My journey has been shaped by service, resilience, faith, and a passion for community. Before stepping into entrepreneurship, I spent years serving in the military and later working in spaces centered around leadership and helping others. Those experiences taught me discipline, compassion, and the importance of creating environments where people feel supported and encouraged. Read more>>
Maher Matta
I started standup comedy when I was about 20. As I progressed, I jumped into the comedy scene no matter where I was living. It wasn’t always easy because we moved a few times. Around May of 2025 I started doing more characters on Instagram and that helped me really grow my social media presence. Read more>>
Dolores (Didi) Gomez-Hayes
My story is a journey of structure meeting soul, and it didn’t happen overnight. Born and raised in Queens, New York, I’ve always had an adventurous, creative spirit. Influenced by my Puerto Rican and Irish/German lineage, along with the Black American/inner city culture and broad diversity of my community, my worldview was never really a rigid box of beliefs or behaviors. Read more>>
Jes Garner
I got started in events in 2010 working for catering and coordination companies and then did my very first wedding in 2012. My company Jes Frank Events incorporated in 2016, acquired our rental company Bride and Joy in 2018 and we now run our events serving our clients on multiple fronts including coordination, bartending, design, rentals + decor, florals, and calligraphy! Read more>>
David/Amy Hufcut
Wow, what a journey this has been — and we’re so grateful to have the community along for the ride! We’re David and Amy, proud owners of Dell’s Dairy Bar, but our story started long before the ice cream. We both grew up in Orange County, New York, on a dairy farm in the small town of Circleville. Read more>>
Cielo Bradshaw
My story really begins with a choice I made in my 30s that changed everything. I’m Cielo (Sh-eh-loh) Bradshaw, a Filipino-American woman, wife, homeschooling mama, author, podcast host, and encourager. I grew up in a culture where you didn’t talk about your pain. Therapy was taboo. You carried what you carried, and you kept moving. Read more>>
Abby Weiderhold
Photography has been my absolute favorite hobby since I was a little kid. What started with disposable cameras turned into digital cameras, which turned into me finding my passion for photography in high school when I enrolled IB film photography. As a Junior, I was awarded ‘Best in Show’ at the end-of-year art festival, an award typically reserved for Seniors. Read more>>
Benjamin McGehee
Although the land itself dates back to the Radford Family from the 1800′s, the structure that now houses Benjamin’s Great Cows and Crabs has stood the test of time as well. Its original conception was in 1932, constructed and owned by a gentleman named Mr. Porter. In it’s time, it served the community as a filling station. Read more>>
Stanley Malek
I first began to learn about the monument industry when I was 16 years old. My grandmother and a close family friend founded Blue Ridge Monument Inc., in 1992. Throughout my teenage years, I began to learn the processes of stencil making and the installation of basic memorials. Read more>>
