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.
Jerome Gunn
My journey has truly been about transforming hard work, dedication, and service into something that can benefit others. I experienced what it was like to return home and try to make sense of things without many chances or a clear path after serving in the military. That stuck with me. Read more>>
Diego Sifuentes
The inspiration behind Doña Sazón has always been my mom. Growing up, she was the chef in our home, and every meal she made brought our family together. Her passion for Peruvian cooking inspired everything that came after. In 2014, my parents took a leap of faith and began selling homemade Peruvian food from our house. Read more>>
Aaron Albin
I stumbled into the tech industry completely by accident. At a friend’s birthday party in 2007, I met somebody who worked for Symantec in their QA (Quality Assurance) department and who offered to refer me for a QA contractor role. Read more>>
Ashlyn Bowden
Food has always been a focal point within my family and in my earliest years I came across to associate food with gathering, connection and celebration. I spent the majority of my teen years borrowing cookbooks from our local library and testing recipes, memorizing sauces and dreaming about opening a restaurant of my own. Read more>>
Victoria Archer
I started photography in 2022 as a hobby, but honestly, I think photography has been a part of my life for a lot longer than that. I grew up watching my mom fall in love with photography, so I was always around a camera and saw firsthand how special it can be to capture memories. Read more>>
Cati Bishop
My name is Cati, and my journey into cosmetology started almost by accident. My older sister, Megan, enrolled in cosmetology during high school and placed second in a competition. Naturally, my competitive side kicked in. I enrolled the following year determined to beat her—and I did, taking first place. Even then, I had no plans of making hair my career. Read more>>
Matt Hurtubise
After spending 20 years as a retail manager, I found myself completely burnt out and struggling to manage chronic health conditions, including Crohn’s disease and severe psoriasis. Exhausted and ready for a meaningful change, I began searching for a career where I could truly help people for a living. Read more>>
Mitzi Coles
As far back as I can remember, I have always loved storytelling. I enjoyed writing stories, creating characters, and sharing my imagination with friends and family. Over the years, I also wrote small plays and skits for churches and community events, discovering how much I loved bringing stories to life for others. Read more>>
John Pelfrey
The History of Tidewater Express Inc. (TEI) 1988: The Foundation Tidewater Express Inc. (TEI) was established in 1988. The company operates three main shop spaces, including a flagship 14-bay truck repair shop in Hampton and an 11-bay heavy-duty and trailer repair facility in Chesapeake. TEI established its corporate offices, accounting, HR, and fleet yard on Cavalier Boulevard in Chesapeake. Read more>>
Tim Tuholski
I’ve always felt a pull toward helping people, but it took me a while to figure out what that was supposed to look like. I originally started pursuing mental health counseling because I wanted to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. As I went through that process, I realized it wasn’t quite the right fit for me. Read more>>
Cathy Zeigler
When Barry and I met, I was only two years out from an episode with breast cancer and was newly committed to living a healthier life and using products that I scrutinized more carefully. I was also a huge tea drinker. When we decided to get married, I learned of the entrepreneurial spark that he had. Read more>>
Casey-Jean Miller
Jean’s Apothecare started from a single batch of body butter, made with the intention to bring myself personal relief, not start a business. I was 21 and freshly diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, looking for anything that might make me feel even one percent better. Read more>>
Jen Kidd
Pretty Pretty started out as a business partnership in 2005, in a downtown Staunton storefront. I made our first website at www.4prettypretty.com in 2007 and made our Facebook page (Pretty Pretty), then later, our Instagram page (4prettypretty). In 2015, Pretty Pretty closed the storefront and became an online and festival vendor. Read more>>
Farrukh Adnan
From an early stage, I was drawn to collecting found objects and visiting historic places. I spent time observing their materials, documenting their details, and listening to the stories associated with them. This journey began intuitively, emerging naturally from my experiences and surroundings. Over time, I became more deeply immersed in the nature of these places and objects. Read more>>
Karen Stanley
Center of Gravity Yoga and Pilates has been in business since 2015. It was the dream of several yoga instructors in the area to create a welcoming space to build a community for wellness in our small county of around 26,000 people. Many people said that we couldn’t do it in a town this small. Read more>>
Travis Adkins
Twenty years ago, I wasn’t looking for a career in the nonprofit world; I was searching for something meaningful. I wanted my life to matter. I had recently been ordained and felt a deep desire to help people, but if I’m being completely honest, I was also searching for healing myself. Read more>>
Jordyn Bohon
Motherhood in Blooms began during a season when I was learning how deeply motherhood can reshape your priorities, creativity, and sense of purpose. As a mother, prior Navy Mother-Baby nurse, and lifelong lover of flowers, I wanted to create something beautiful that could grow alongside my family—not at the expense of it. Read more>>
Pam ‘PJ’ Holtz
I moved into a new construction home and had a lawn to build and take care of from scratch, something I’d never had to think about living in condos and townhomes before. Before that, I didn’t really have a passion for anything, and I wasn’t even someone who enjoyed being outside much. Read more>>
Billie Claire
I grew up in New Mexico with a family where art was always part of what we did. My mom was an art teacher and potter, my grandfather was an oil painter, and my dad did Old English calligraphy as a hobby. Read more>>
Ti-Jee Smith
Born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, I am a 27-year-old hairstylist and aspiring model with a passion for creativity and self-expression. Always had an interest for art and hair since a child . Starting drawing and making projects and doing hair during childhood. In 2013 i chose to start building my clientele and its been a journey as i’m elevating in the entrepreneurial world . Read more>>
Linnea McGaw
I started creating stained glass after I took a class in Denver in 2017. My dad was always the inspiration to learn. He had done stained glass in his adult years. After getting Parkinson’s disease it severely inhibited him from creating. It’s been history for me ever since. My business and art is done out of my garage. Read more>>
Noah Milliken
My name is Noah, and I’m currently pursuing my master’s degree in Cybersecurity. I actually hated school growing up and didn’t do very well in high school. When I got to college, though, something clicked and I became much more motivated and ended up graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Strategic Communications. Read more>>
Mike Dragon
I’ve been a professional photographer since 2005. Primarily photographing weddings, commercial work, marketing, corporate functions, families, boudoir… just about everything. I’ve always loved making ‘stuff’ and being creative. Before I became a photographer I wanted to be a baker. I love sweets… it is possibly one of my greatest weaknesses. I love food too. Making food. Eating food. Of course, photographing food too! Read more>>
Cansu Sevi
Kiln Kingdom began with a simple passion: sharing the beauty of Turkish craftsmanship and culture with our local community. What started as a small dream has grown into a family-owned business where every product is carefully selected to reflect quality, tradition, and artistry. Read more>>
Courtney Wilson
I’ve always been that person who is constantly taking photos of everyone and everything! I’ve always believed that our memories won’t last forever, but photos will. In May 2024, a friend of mine was pregnant and wanted maternity photos. I told her I had a little Canon DSLR camera and could probably follow a Pinterest board! Read more>>
Thomasina Turner
Honestly, it all started because I was a mom just trying to figure things out. About twenty years ago, I was raising my four-year-old son after he was diagnosed with Autism. Back then, there weren’t many resources available, and a lot of childcare centers and schools just didn’t know how to support children like him. Read more>>
Belle Bermudez-Tubel
Honestly, TuBelle Photography wasn’t the plan. I had a motherhood blog (One Awesome Momma) that I was running for years. In 2019, I realized blogging wasn’t really it for me. Thinking what else I could do, I set my sights on starting a social media consulting business instead since I was able to grow my following for the blog. Read more>>
