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.
Lisa Mensonides
My sewing journey began the summer I was 10 years old, when my mother taught me how to sew a teddy bear. The following summer I started sewing skirts, ecstatic at the idea of wearing something I had created “all by myself”. Read more>>
Cassandra Vantriet
I’m a 3x founder with one exit. My path has always been unconventional, I never subscribed to the ‘normal’ school or career path, it always felt like it wasn’t designed for me to express and utilize my unique skillset. This left me feeling lost and unsure of what my purpose was for many years. Read more>>
Nancy Benter
I almost ended my life because of Endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain. And now, somehow, I’m grateful because it forced me to learn how to truly live. I can remember this moment with unsettling clarity. If someone gave me a button to press that would end my life instantly, I would have pressed it. No hesitation. That’s how much pain I was in. Read more>>
Daphne Smith
I went to college to become a lawyer, though my intentions were not altruistic. After watching a movie about a man who becomes an attorney for financial gain, I realized I couldn’t live without my morals and values. In my senior year, I changed my major to English and graduated only knowing, I wanted to help people (and wear cute shoes). Read more>>
Ninna Jacobsen
As all good stories start, there was definitely a “problem,” and mine was that I could not nail down a job! I had made the hard decision to pack up and move back to my home state of Washington after spending a few years in Colorado—the place that became my home, and I loved dearly! Read more>>
Lars Helgeson
I earned my bachelor’s degree, then went on to complete a master’s degree in engineering before serving four years in the Air Force. After my military service, I entered the technology and marketing world by founding CoolerEmail, an email marketing company, which later evolved into GreenRope, a full CRM platform built around sales, marketing, and customer engagement automation. Read more>>
Alexandria Brown
I started Summit View Marketing because I saw how many small businesses were struggling to keep up with marketing while also trying to actually run their companies. A lot of owners know they need social media, content, websites, and branding, but they simply don’t have the time, team, or strategy to make it consistent. Read more>>
Danielle Winkels
My lash journey began about 15 years ago after I graduated from esthetician school in Palm Desert, California. Soon after, I landed what felt like my dream job at a lash salon in Austin, Texas, where I completed a 30-day apprenticeship under one of only 12 master lash stylists in the country at the time. That experience changed everything for me. Read more>>
Srirama Koneru
I was born and raised in Vijayawada within a very close knit family. My parents raised my brother and I with a strong work ethic and a focus on integrity. I have always been quite spiritual and competitive, even as a young kid. I loved being involved in everything all at once, from academics to sports and any extracurricular I could find. Read more>>
Amanda Pruett
My story really began with a major shift in my life that I never saw coming. Before Zo & Co. Melts, I was building a completely different future for myself. That path changed after a life-altering motorcycle accident that left me with a permanent injury and a long recovery ahead. Read more>>
Chen Ovdat
I didn’t grow up dreaming of owning a remodeling company. I grew up learning how to build things with my own hands. What started as curiosity turned into a skill, and eventually a career. I’ve always been the type of person who likes to understand how things work, take them apart, and put them back together better than before. Read more>>
Sarah C
I was born with Erb’s Palsy (Brachial Plexus Injury since birth), and growing up, creativity became one of the ways I learned to navigate the world and express myself. I’ve always been drawn to cameras and storytelling. Even as a kid, I was constantly creating, imagining scenes differently, and looking at the world through an out-of-the-box lens. Read more>>
L’Nai Cade
Following a divorce and various health issues that left everything feeling shattered, a decision had to be made – to surrender or to discover a new purpose. Massage therapy emerged as that purpose. In my late twenties, I returned to school, determined to reconstruct my life by mastering the art of healing touch. The name symbolizes that journey. Read more>>
Verna Allen
I’ve spent over 30 years in nursing leadership, and throughout my career I’ve always been drawn to helping people navigate complex situations and feel supported. That instinct—to care for people and create something meaningful—has carried through into this next chapter of my life. My husband, Robert, and I made a big life change when we moved across the country from Texas to Port Angeles. Read more>>
Lourdes (Lulu) Hernandez
My name is Lourdes Hernandez, and I’m the owner of Lulu’s Bakery Shop. My journey started during the pandemic, after spending over 20 years working in property management. I decided to take a leap of faith and turn my passion for baking into something more. I began baking from home, and at first, orders were slow. Read more>>
Andrew Petrik
I actually came from a completely different world before barbering. For about five years, I worked in tech and ran my own school app company called A+ Apps. I was deeply involved in building apps and growing the business, but when COVID hit, things started changing fast. Read more>>
Ava Castello
Of course! Hi my name is Ava Isabella Castello and I’m a hispanic (Mexican, Spanish, and Italian) content creator and blogger. I started creating content because I’ve always loved beauty, storytelling, fashion, and creating things that make people feel something. At first it was just me casually sharing parts of my life, but over time it became something so much deeper. Read more>>
Stuey Newton
Honestly I’m not sure how it all began, one day I felt like writing a song in the 2nd grade and I never stopped. Doing music lead me into many doors from that point on. I ended up producing, engineering and touring all before I was 17. Read more>>
Laurent Chavannes
I started writing songs when I was 12 years old, about a year after getting my first guitar. In 2015, I started forming bands with my friends and in 2017, I casually started my solo project Moving in Slow. After that, I learned more and more about songwriting and production and began to take music even more seriously than I ever have. Read more>>
