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.
Jazmyn Roberson
Sure, I can share this with you. It’s greatly appreciated that you took the time to reach out! Since it’s founding in 2016, Heart4SuccessPhotos LLC has expanded it’s creative footprint throughout the (DMV) region, with Baltimore serving as one of the areas where we have developed meaningful relationships and produced impactful visual content. Read more>>
Cosette Larash
My path has been a bit unconventional, but the common thread through all of it has been a mindset of growth and treating every pivot as an opportunity. I was very fortunate to have an amazing support system in my parents and coaches to play sports all my life. Read more>>
Tyler Calabrese
David Idemudia & I were both mental health providers & we first met when I was supervising him at the county’s crisis center. We stayed in touch & later urged him to join me on the board of National Alliance on Mental Illness – Anne Arundel Co. Read more>>
Kristen Brooks
I initially opened Building Beyond Therapy Inc. in 2017 while working part time at a school in Washington, DC. At the time, my intention for the practice was to build a place for myself to transition into full time as I recognized that I couldn’t do the work the way I wanted to in the settings I was working in. Read more>>
Christie Leu
For 15 years, I made and sold original, functional, fine crafts. After completing several major renovations to a series of my own and friends’ homes, I turned my expertise with color, composition, and organization into a degree in Interior Design with a specialization in Kitchen & Bath Design. Read more>>
Rachela Zamora
Art is a huge part of who I am. I have always enjoyed crafting. Over the years, I explored many types of art, including drawing, painting, sculpting, photography, and dance. In 2024, I left my full-time teaching job to focus on my health. After visiting a local farmer’s market and meeting many kind vendors, I had the idea to start my own small business. Read more>>
Aaron Harris
I don’t recall my life being without music. One of my earliest memories is sitting next to my grandfather, who was a quartet singer, while he taught me how to play ‘Amazing Grace’ on the keyboard. I was around five years old, and had no idea that moment would become the planted seed that would flourish into a lifelong calling. Read more>>
Geri E. Gallas Brando
For as long as I can remember, I have been telling stories through words and images. I wrote, illustrated, and self-published my first graphic novel in high school. After studying Japanese language, literature, and culture for many years, I spent a year abroad in Tokyo, Japan at Sophia University. Read more>>
Katharina Kronsteiner
I’ve always loved food, even since I was a baby. I always savored it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was born in Austria, and there are photos of me when I was around one year old. My mom took me to Italy for the first time to go to the beach and, of course, eat pasta, and I apparently fell in love. Read more>>
Ashree Shah
By day, I’m a full-time corporate girl, and by night, I’m the baker behind Ashree’s Bakeree. I’ve always loved anything creative growing up, and somewhere along the way, I realized the kitchen was the perfect place to mix my creativity with my love for food. Read more>>
Keith Dockett
I’ve always been active. I played football in high school, some college football, and spent about 15 years playing competitive flag football. Fitness was always a part of my life, but nutrition wasn’t. Even though I worked out consistently, my eating habits eventually caught up with me. At my heaviest, I weighed 288 pounds. Like so many people, I was searching for a quick fix. Read more>>
Dinelly Holder
I started my career in the counseling field more than 20 years ago because I genuinely wanted to help people understand themselves and experience lasting change. Early on, I realized that many people weren’t just struggling with isolated problems, they were caught in unhealthy patterns that affected every area of their lives and relationships. That realization shaped the direction of my career. Read more>>
Robert Jenkins
Herring Run Nursery was created by the Herring Run Watershed Association, one of the legacy organizations that came together to form Blue Water Baltimore in 2010. The Nursery was initially started to grow plants for restoration work within the Herring Run watershed. Read more>>
Hazel Geary
Drio started in 2011 with two longtime friends, Rachel McFadden and Hazel Geary, who brought together very different but complementary strengths. Rachel came from a civil engineering background and naturally gravitated toward structure, systems, and web development. Hazel brought the creative strategy, marketing, and storytelling side. Together, we became the “left brain” and “right brain” behind Drio. Read more>>
Evelyn Lewis
Hi! I’m Evelyn, better known as The Comic Canary, and I’m a professional nerd. I’m a third-generation nerd, so turning my love of fandom into a career was probably inevitable. My grandmother collected DC Comics, my mom’s family are lifelong Trekkies, and my dad built a career around comics and literature. Today, I also produce and co-host Tolkien About It with him. Read more>>
Janay Hurley
After retiring from the military, I moved into government contracting. Although I valued that experience, I wanted my next chapter to feel more personal and connected to the community. I saw how overwhelmed families could become when trying to find care for an aging loved one. Read more>>
Rachel Nalls
My journey in aesthetics started at a young age. After graduating high school, I became a licensed esthetician at just 18 years old. From the very beginning, I fell in love with this industry—not only because of the treatments themselves, but because of the confidence, education, and relationships that come with caring for others. Read more>>
Deemetrick Green
My name is Deemetrick Green, but the world knows me as MoneyMakkinMeech. Music has never been just entertainment to me—it’s been my voice, my therapy, and my way of leaving something behind that can’t be erased. Every song I create is a chapter of my life, every verse is a piece of my truth, and every beat carries a part of my journey. Read more>>
Leigh Ann Vidrine
For more than 30 years, physical therapy has been more than my profession—it has been my calling, my personal journey, and in many ways, my greatest teacher. I graduated from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 1993, eager to help people regain movement and live with less pain. Read more>>
Emily Whitacre
Jess Naylon and Emily Whitacre grew up in different states, but they shared a lifelong passion for dance. Their paths crossed years later as members of the Washington Commanders’ Co-Ed Dance Team, the Command Force. After deciding to retire from the team following the same season, they jokingly tossed around the idea of starting a business together. Read more>>
Venus Freeman
My Truth Is is a movement founded by Venus Freeman to break the silence around mental health, abuse, domestic violence, and bullying. We believe that everyone has a story, and healing begins when people have a safe space to share their truth. Who is Venus Freeman? Venus Freeman is the Founder of “My Truth Is: Breaking the Silence” initiative. Read more>>
Rachel Bloch
When I was a little girl, I loved doing everything creative — I made a skirt once, because I had a vision of a beautiful patchwork of fabrics. I was always making up song lyrics, humming and dancing around the house. I made little certificates for my friends, each one naming what was special about them, and a picture book of our memories together. Read more>>
Bradley Bryk
My journey to becoming a sport psychologist started with a simple Google search during my junior year at NYU. Curious about how I could combine my passion for psychology and sports, I typed ‘psychology and sports’ into the search bar. That search ultimately led me to the University of Denver, where I earned my master’s degree in Sport and Performance Psychology. Read more>>
Samia Harris
As a child, I was always very crafty. My mom wasn’t big on video games and technology to keep me busy as a kid, so she would always buy me arts and crafts activities to do at home and even in the car. As I got older, I learned how to make almost anything. Read more>>
Anna Oggeri
I have been a licensed Occupational Therapist since 2020, with experience across acute rehabilitation, hospital-based care, and mobile outpatient services. Working in a variety of settings has allowed me to support individuals across the lifespan and develop a well-rounded, functional approach to care. As I gained experience across the healthcare continuum, I began to notice a significant gap in care for many patients. Read more>>
Dana G
I’ve been editing and filming since I was a kid whether it was photos or videos. The editing I saw was cool and satisfying to me so I learned how to try to replicate the edits I liked. Editing has always been apart of my life but initially I didn’t think it was something special. Read more>>
Jordan Holmes
I started singing in church with my family. I come from the James family in Princess Anne, Maryland, where music has always been a part of who we are. Growing up, I watched my aunts, uncles, and siblings minister through music in churches all over the Eastern Shore, so singing was something I naturally fell in love with. Read more>>
Dr. Jedidiah Smith
I was raised by parents deeply involved in holistic medicine…from there I got formal training while going to college. Started my private practice in 1979. In 1988 co-founded the first holistic medical academy state approved and federally accredited. Internationally lectured and have continued private practice til now Read more>>
Jonathon Kelsey
I started with Pokemon in 1999 after a neighbor gave me a Squirtle from Team Rocket, a Rhyhorn from Jungle, and a Metapod from Base Set for helping him sort his cards. Eventually I learned to play the card game and started playing in Pokemon Leagues, which continued when my family moved to Belgium. Read more>>
Joshua Stone
I remember the first time I picked up clippers, it was out of spite. I grew up in a christian household and part of our weekly routine to get ready for sunday morning worship was to get a haircut on saturday nights. My dad would cut my two younger brothers and myself. Read more>>
Kacey Bain
All it took was polish and a lamp to make a dream come true. Summer of 2023 I had just graduated Deer Park Magnet Middle School and went to stay at a relative house for the summer in Upstate New York. That relative gave me a gift want I opened it and saw it was a polygel amazon Nail kit for beginners. Read more>>
Arianna Travaglini
Here’s my website artist bio: Arianna Travaglini (she/her) has unapologetically prioritized animals over human beings since she first burst out of her mother’s womb. A steadfast passion for the conservation, care and rescue of all living creatures made her into a prominent and lifelong advocate. Read more>>
Megan Biederman
I fell in love with the beauty industry when I started working in a salon and spa in 2015, it wasn’t until 2017 when I began taking makeup clients for special occasions such as dances and parties. From there I worked my way through pageants, hosting classes at the salon, and landed myself in the bridal world! Read more>>
Susie Glauner
I’ve always been a creative person, but it wasn’t until I started taking painting lessons in 2014 that my focus and attention to art really took hold. I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and moved to southern Pennsylvania when I was in high school. I played a lot of sports and participated in band–jazz, concert and even a little marching band–playing the saxophone. Read more>>
Kathy Thorne
I was born in the Dominican Republic, in a place that many people might have looked at and wondered, ‘Can anything good come from there?’ Yet I’ve learned that God has a beautiful way of bringing extraordinary purpose out of places and circumstances the world often overlooks. In the early 1990s, my family and I immigrated to the United States in search of greater opportunities. Read more>>
Amir Mubarak
My creative journey honestly started at birth. I was born into a family of six, so I was very observant of everything and had a lot of people to learn from. As a toddler, I vividly remember playing in my dad’s office and seeing his business papers filled with random doodles, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Read more>>
Shavani Hurry
Skinsational Scents stands out by specializing in all-natural, holistic skincare products that seamlessly blend wellness benefits with sensory indulgence, providing personalized care for the skin and mind. We are a Veteran owned and Family Operated since 2002. I am the Senior Vice President. We started a Kiosk business on a college campus in Alabama solving skin acne concerns with handcrafted soap making. Read more>>
Misti Morningstar
The Savage Soaps™ Story. As a child, I found myself in my Mother’s flower and herb gardens trying to make fragrant scents out of leaves and petals. I loved all the different blooms and varieties she had. She knew all the technical names of the plants and I thought it was fascinating how she could remember them! Read more>>
Danielle Scott
My journey has never followed a straight line, and I think that’s what has made it so meaningful. For more than two decades, I built a career in public service with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where I worked in policy, leadership, and strategic initiatives focused on improving systems and serving communities. Read more>>
Claudinne Miller
Before Dixon Family Farm, our lives looked very different. My husband, Jeff, served in the United States Marine Corps for 23 years before continuing his career in humanitarian and government service. He served as a United Nations peacekeeper in post-earthquake Haiti and later as a U.S. disaster responder. I began my career in law enforcement investigating clandestine methamphetamine laboratories before moving into the U.S. Read more>>
Valerie Theberge
My artistic journey started at the San Francisco Art Institute where I earned a BFA in painting and drawing. While there, I spent a semester in China which ignited ten years of artistic and spiritual discovery there and in Hong Kong. Read more>>
Hazel Yanes
I’ve always loved creating. Long before I thought of it as a business, I enjoyed helping people to create their ideas through whatever I have in my hands. I began my creative journey in El Salvador around 2006, and a few years later, TELOCREO officially came to life with the encouragement and support of my family, especially my father. Read more>>
Maria James
I was born and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia, near the Oceanfront, which probably explains why I still love being near the water. My family has deep roots in Seatack, a historic Black community located along Birdneck Road, where I grew up directly next door to St. Stephen’s Church of God in Christ. Read more>>
Mosunmola Rotimi
I was born and raised in Nigeria, where I built my career in marketing, communications, and entrepreneurship. Over the years, I had the opportunity to lead marketing and communications for growing organizations, develop franchise businesses, and help build ventures across industries, including healthcare. Those experiences shaped my passion for building brands, solving problems, and creating meaningful connections with people. Read more>>
Aerie B
My journey in the beauty industry began as a freelance makeup artist, taking on opportunities throughout Baltimore and even working behind the scenes at Baltimore Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week. Those experiences sparked my love for the artistry of beauty and inspired me to take the next step by earning my esthetician license in 2018. Read more>>
