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.
Adia Williams 
I’ve wanted to create content for as long as I can remember, but like a lot of people, I kept putting it off. Then life made the decision for me. I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer, and not long after, I lost my 18-year-old little brother in a tragic accident. Read more>>
Tobi Oluremi 
From a young age, I was always drawn to images so. From National Geographic to Marvel comics, I was amazed at the worlds of creativity before photography became a serious part of my life, that curiosity showed itself through drawing, art, fashion, and eventually an interest in textiles and design. Read more>>
Larry Noto 
I had a long tourism marketing career in Baltimore – working for Visit Baltimore, Meyer Jabara Hotels and ultimately as the Director of Marketing for the National Aquarium, In 2015, my dad – Joe Noto – passed away and I left my career to take over Music Land – the music instrument he started in 1971. Read more>>
sujil dangol
My Journey: From Nepal to Mohmohlicious I came to the United States in 1998 as an international student with a dream of building a better future. Like many immigrants, I faced challenges, worked hard, and stayed focused on my education. In 2007, I earned master’s degrees in Computer Information Systems (CIS). After graduating, I worked as a Systems Administrator for five years. Read more>>
Maeghan Annen 
I never planned to be a small business owner, but the signs were always there. I remember creating little order forms at childhood cookouts so my brother and I could make and deliver s’mores to my dad’s friends. I was always wearing braided friendship bracelets and would beg my parents to take me to AC Moore for fuzzy posters and craft kits. Read more>>
Tomas Linares
D’Linares Barbershop was built around a simple goal: to provide quality barbering in a welcoming place where people feel comfortable and leave feeling confident. What began with a passion for barbering and serving others has grown into a neighborhood barbershop serving clients and families in the Langley Park and Silver Spring community. Over the years, we’ve built strong relationships with our customers. Read more>>
Jonathan Pettus 
The story of the Jonathan Pettus Chorale actually started thousands of miles away from Baltimore. In 2016, I was in California walking along the beach with a few friends, and we were having a conversation about music. I remember asking them, “If I started a group, do you think it would be a good idea? Would you sing? Read more>>
Genna Bross Greta Kodan 
happily.catalogued started with two Maryland moms, a shared love of getting things in order, and the belief that work can be both meaningful and fulfilling. We each spent years building careers in operations, logistics, and engineering. Read more>>
Camesha Goods 
It all started with a craving. I wanted a taste of the nostalgia I remembered from living in Iowa. At the time, I was a fan of Scratch Cupcakery in Ceder Falls, Iowa. This was during the height of the cupcake craze and my first real introduction to Gourmet baked goods. Read more>>
Wes Ryce 
I was born into music. My grandfather was musician. It passed down to my dad, who started on drums then transitioned to singing and playing guitar. My Mom also sings, and plays a little guitar & piano. I was surrounded by music from the day I was born. I began my interest in drums at 8 years old. Read more>>
Joshua Budich 
I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember. After earning a BFA in Imaging and Digital Arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), I began my designer career in ad agencies before ultimately finding my way into the Federal Government. In 2008, I produced my first limited-edition screenprint as a personal creative pursuit. Read more>>
Victoria Williams 
My story has really been one of creativity, resilience, and becoming. I’ve always loved creating, encouraging others, and turning ideas into something meaningful. Over the years, that has led me to become an author, entrepreneur, and creative, with my journey also including apparel, podcasting, and community building. Read more>>
Jaxon Buscher 
My story started when I was around nine or ten years old, watching and helping my grandfather, Dave Buscher, pressure wash. My grandpa is a true businessman, and he’s really the inspiration behind all of this. Watching him work and seeing his approach to business made me want to build something of my own. As I got older, I started taking on paying jobs. Read more>>
Carlos Ware 
In 2018, U Street TV was born when founder Carlos, a hip‑hop artist rooted in the U Street Corridor of Washington, D.C., picked up a Sony NX30 camcorder and began documenting the culture he was already a part of. Leveraging years of relationships built through music, performance, and community work, he turned his lens toward the people and movements shaping the city. Read more>>
Chakeia Blocker 
**Chakeia Blocker | Co-Founder & Managing Partner, The Blocker Collective** I did not begin my career with a roadmap to becoming a public affairs leader or building a national public impact consulting firm. I began as a young single mother earning $7.25 an hour, pursuing my education and working to create a better future for my child. Read more>>
Cecil Ybanez 
I am a self-taught artist and entrepreneur who recently got into art fulltime after many years in the medical, fitness and design fields. I live in Richwood, WV, a town of 1600 people at the edge of the million-acre Monongahela National Forest. I co-own Bloomfield Richwood, a gallery that shines a light on contemporary Appalachian artists and where I have my art practice. Read more>>
Javier Ruisanchez
My love for flowers began long before Velora. Growing up in Puerto Rico, I was surrounded by their color, beauty, and warmth. They became part of the way I understood love, celebration, and home. I remember being a little kid and bringing flowers to my sister after her dance recitals. Even then, flowers felt like a way of saying, “I’m proud of you. Read more>>
Akira Cook 
A Cook’s Soul really started with my love for food and the people who helped shape that love. Some of my earliest memories and connections to cooking came through my family, especially my grandmother, Hannah, and my mother, Akia. Read more>>
Emily McCarty 
How I Got Started & How I Got Here Today Em and Sons Extravagant Events started with my love for my son and my desire to make his special moments unforgettable. Before becoming a mom in 2020, I never realized how much thought, time, creativity—and money—went into planning every detail of a celebration. Read more>>
Ashli McCoy 
I’m Ashli McCoy, founder of She Rich Digital, a marketing and multimedia creative agency in Baltimore, Maryland. I work with women-founded businesses across the DMV. My first business was an online boutique called AVM Fashion. The first year I made about $300. Shopify cost me more than the store brought in. Read more>>
Jonnese ‘Jay’ C. 
My journey has definitely been an unconventional one! By profession, I’m an attorney, but I’ve always been a creative at heart. Growing up, I was involved in just about everything related to the arts. I sang, danced, painted, and loved drawing. I actually remember spending hours drawing elaborate mini-mansions as a child. Read more>>
Dr. Trenace Richardson 
My story is really a story of growth, reinvention, and learning how to lead with both purpose and soul. I grew up in Chesapeake, Virgina and education became one of the most important pathways in my life. I earned my bachelor’s degree from Elizabeth City State University and started my career as an English teacher. I eventually found my way into higher education. Read more>>
Brad Cox 
The Mouthful of Graffiti podcast was born out of COVID, depression, misdirection, and curiosity. As an active musician and author in the Baltimore creative scene for nearly three decades, I have met and networked with an array of amazingly talented original artists, bookers, attorneys, club owners, writers, visual artists, theater professionals, and more. Read more>>
Jeremy Robbins 
I’ve always had two strong interests in both athletics and entrepreneurship. I studied management science in college and knew early on that I eventually wanted to build and lead a business. What I didn’t know was that personal protection and safety would become the work I would build it around. My interest in self-defense started with a pretty simple realization. Read more>>
Ariyana Suvar 
The time I got into tattooing I had recently moved back home earlier that year because my mother’s cancer had returned. When she passed I was still reorienting my life. Around then a friend had asked me to design a tattoo for his arm because I had gone to art school for illustration in college. Read more>>
Anais Timm 
I started about eight years ago when I decorated my sister-in-law’s baby shower. At the time, I was simply doing something special for my family, but I really enjoyed the creative process and seeing everything come together. That experience sparked something in me, and little by little I began decorating more events for family, friends, and eventually clients. Read more>>
Alexis Auvil 
My passion for photography started in high school when I decided to take a photography class as an elective! Shortly after I realized I had a pretty good eye for photography so I started a facebook page and persuaded my friends to let me take their photos. Read more>>
Peter Arizmendi 
I was born and raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, surrounded by Salsa, Disco, and the emerging culture of Hip Hop. Beginning my dance journey in the early 1980s, Wvryone calls me “Bam” I became part of New York City’s street-dance movement through crews including Crush City Rockers, Dynamic, Rhythm Technicians, and NYC Breakers. Read more>>
Drew Willow
My first photoshoot was with my parents point-and-shoot film camera at around 8 years old, with my favorite stuffed animal as my subject… Read more>>
Robert Cradle 
My story actually begins at a very young age. When I graduated from high school in June 1985, I already knew the direction I wanted to take. That November, I enrolled in barber school, completed my training in May 1986, and began working in several barbershops throughout Baltimore. In 1988, I landed at a barbershop in Odenton, Maryland, just outside Fort George G. Meade. Read more>>
Asher Boco 
Bocoshoots started from me simply wanting a place to put all of my creativity. I’ve always been into fashion, photography, styling, music, and just creating things that feel different, so I eventually decided to stop keeping those ideas in my head and actually build something from them. I officially started Bocoshoots on May 30, 2024. Read more>>
Heather Gruber-Banzhoff 
I grew up as an only child. Instead of having siblings, I had a bunch of pets. It was only natural for me to be interested in some sort of career with animals. When I was in middle school, I decided I wanted to be a marine mammal trainer. That morphed into a wild animal trainer. I wasn’t specific on species anymore. Read more>>
Janene Onyango 
Get Your Vision On: A Vision That Continues to Grow Get Your Vision On LLC began in 2017 with a simple but powerful belief: a vision deserves to be written down, nurtured, and put into action. Read more>>
Pennye Jones-Napier 
I came to pet nutrition by a rather winding route. Before animals became my full-time focus, I trained in gemmology and graduated as a human-focused massage therapist. Both taught me to pay close attention to detail and to how a body works as a whole. Read more>>
Ula Okrasa
I began cooking at a young age, growing up in a large family where cooking became both a responsibility and a passion. Whenever my mother was unable to prepare meals for our family, I stepped in, and over the years, what started as a necessity developed into a genuine love for cooking. Read more>>
Game Master Ariel 
My decision to become a Dungeon Master was one that was inspired by the joy of collaborating with my friends around a table – armed with a handful of dice, a character sheet, a yummy meal and 9 times out of 10, a thematic outfit or costume! Read more>>
Dr. Lara Okanlawon 
I’m a first-generation Nigerian American and the eldest daughter, so in many ways, I joke that I came out of the womb serving. Caring for people, paying attention to what others need, and figuring out how to make things better has always felt deeply embedded in who I am. Read more>>
Alex Chan 
I started playing tennis in high school at age 14, somewhat by accident. A friend asked me to join the team because we were short on boys and would otherwise have to forfeit an upcoming match. I quickly fell in love with the sport. Read more>>
The Walking Flame 
It all started with my dad. My first time on the microphone was actually for a radio show when I was eight years old; my dad was a sports broadcaster and I was covering a segment on the Baltimore Orioles. He let me speak on the microphone and that was when I first knew what I was born to do. Read more>>
Danielle Hinton 
Emerging Light Reentry and Transitional Housing was born from my personal experiences growing up in West Baltimore and witnessing the impact that incarceration can have on individuals, families, and communities. Growing up, I had many friends who eventually became involved with the criminal justice system and were incarcerated. Read more>>
Jo Flavor 
Online, I’m known as Jo Flavor, but my name is Joel Barnes. I’m a Washington, D.C.-born artist, educator, content creator, husband, and father. Creativity has always been a major part of who I am, which led me to earn my degree in Visual Communication and Digital Media Arts with a concentration in Advertising Design from Bowie State University. Read more>>
Jessica Mercado 
I started this business because I wanted something more meaningful than a traditional 9–5. I wanted work that felt like passion, joy, and fun — something that didn’t feel like a job, but a hobby that makes me smile. That feeling became real the moment I decided to build this business. Read more>>
Meg Murray 
I started playing music professionally in Annapolis in the 90s, playing my original material in a town that had a lot of cover bands at the time, who were incredible musicians. Read more>>
A. Hinders 
I was initially attracted to photography to fix an imbalance, I hadn’t been exposed to African-American photographers, and I hated family photos (the posing, the forced smiles). Learning took time, experimentation, and patience- I started with film, making mistakes, exposing incorrectly, and my framing was atrocious. Read more>>
