The Change-Makers: stories that inspire

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.

Mishelle Roa

Struggles? Leaving a whole life behind, coming to the unknown and embracing a new culture, being the immigrant that works 3 jobs at a time, learn a totally new legal system, economy, educate yourself financially and save the most money possible, put together for over 2 years a full business plan until everything made sense and God provided the opportunity for our family to bring Oh Churros to life. Read More>>

Stephanie & Beau Cardarelli & Weaver

Our names are Beau and Stephanie and we own Thai It Up Food Truck, a family-owned mobile food unit based out of Akron, OH which serves fresh and authentic Thai food with a couple Chinese options. This is our second year in business, as we first opened our ‘window’, if you will, to the public back in May of 2023. Thai food is usually associated with being spicy; however, our menu accommodates all tastes! Our food has mostly minimal to no spice, but we can make it spicy if you like it that way! Though each entree comes with a description of how we would make it, customers are able to customize it to their liking by taking away or adding the items of their choice. Our menu is also gluten-free and vegetarian friendly. Read More>>

Tiffany Resses

Entrepreneurship is definitely a rough journey. I can profit 0 dollars 1 week and 1000 dollars the next. Maintaining a storefront is overwhelming without a proper team but I’m working on it. If I give up on my dream, I give up on me! So, these struggles and adversities are only temporary hindrances. I will succeed because I have something to offer that’s unique! Read More>>

Suwatana (Pla) Rockland

Recalling my early interest in teaching in Thailand, where I started by teaching children in my home after school. I found myself teaching jazz dance at the Loveland Dance Academy in Loveland, Colorado. I taught there until my pregnancy with my first child was near term. After, my child was about 7 months old, I wanted to return to work. I missed the sense of purpose and value I had experienced. Read More>>

Sophia Muñoz

Funding has been a challenge as a DIY organization. To overcome this, we had to be creative with fundraising, initially self-funding the festival. A strategy was providing photo sessions for performing artists, benefiting both artists and Art Parkd by offering digital assets for promotion. Growth has also posed challenges. While expansion is exciting, managing an increasing number of team members and their roles can be complex for team leads. Read More>>

Avé Hopson-Walker

Creating passive income so I could spend more time raising my son, while also creating a future for him. Thus my real estate dreams were born. I had A plan. I just had to figure out how to execute it. I found a real estate program that came highly recommended in the summer of 2023, July 3rd to be exact, and committed my time and efforts to getting it done , by September 29 my license was issued and I could start at Jose Medina & Associates-Keller Williams Legacy Group, the following week! Read More>>

Tierra West

I opened La Rosa Event Rentals in March of 2022. It was timed to launch during my birthday month and Women’s History Month. I took some time leading up to launch networking and studying others in the industry, Through this time I narrowed down my focus to rental furniture and mobile bartending. Read More>>

Cydnie King

I started looking for an arts related job at that time and couldn’t find anyone hiring, so I volunteered at The Contemporary Dayton (formerly named Dayton Visual Arts Center) while I worked retail and taught art to children for a few years. I continued working on my art and volunteering until I was asked by The Co Director to intern part-time. After a few years it turned into a part time job as an Executive Assistant. Several years ago I officially became full-time at The Co as their Curatorial Assistant and have loved it ever since. Ten years, a husband, a dog and two kids later and I’m happy to say that I’m still at my dream job and love what I do at The Contemporary Dayton. Read More>>

Carrie Drovdlic

When I was a kid, I could often be found singing into an unplugged microphone pretending I was a rock star (or a Broadway star, I wasn’t picky). My dad ran a video production business from our home in Struthers, OH, so we always had lots of camera equipment and microphones lying around. So microphones have never scared me. Which is good because now I speak into one every day from my own home studio, creating audio, voicing commercials, narrating audiobooks, and bringing characters to life for videogames, animation, and children’s e-learning content as a voice actor. Read More>>

Mary-alice Brown

I was 19 and just gave birth to a beautiful boy, to look in the mirror and notice my body diminished in a matter of 3 months. Now, to some women, that’s a dream, but for someone who was always stacked, literally since middle school, I was in tears. I was blessed by genetics and played sports year round since 5th grade, so my body couldn’t help but develop early, even before I was able to appreciate my femininity. Definitely took it for granted back then but that experience catapulted me to where I am today! Read More>>

Kadidra Farris

Throughout my childhood, I cultivated a passion for technology, design, and creativity through playing The Sims, a life simulation video game series published by Electronic Arts. While pursuing higher education and supporting my family, I successfully transitioned my hobby into a professional career, designing projects for corporations and residential clients. I have been married since 2017 to a dedicated community servant who has been a police officer since 2012, and we have two children, Sean and Xavier. Read More>>

Anja Wuerminghausen

At the time of our move, I was a mom of two little girls and was looking for opportunities to be more flexible in my work schedule. My desire to help people had always been there. I also had finished a fitness and nutrition degree back in Germany. When we immigrated into the US there were a lot of rules and regulations in order to be able to stay here. One of the requirements was that we had to work in a field where we did not take a job away from an American Citizen. Read More>>

Dawn Tincher

I created Hope & Houseplants to help me get through 2020. On top of the craziness that everyone shared for that year, my husband and I lost our first child in early February. COVID restrictions kept me from being able to be with my family for support, and I had to attend all my doctors appointments alone. I took up gardening to occupy my mind and my hands during the following months. While gardening helped keep my hands busy I still needed something to keep my mind busy. So I purchased a small craft laser to play around with during lock-in. Some of my products unexpectedly became really popular! Read More>>

Courtney Allen

I was a preschool and kindergarten teacher for eight years. I have my degree in Early Childhood Education. In 2021 I was handed an 83 page LGBTQIA+ CURRICULUM as part of DEI for Pride Month, to teach my 4 -6 year old. Including vocabulary such as Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transphobic, Gender Fluid, Binary. As well as children’s picture books that promoted transgender identity, pride parades and drag queen story hour. Read More>>

Gianna Gaspar

I think that you really just need to jump in head first and embrace all of the challenges. Honestly, I think I was as prepared as possible as a 24 year old becoming a business owner. There is never a way to be fully prepared because you learn something new every single day. Don’t be afraid to make the hard decisions as a new business owner. Trust your intuition and don’t get discouraged, there is always room for improvement and growth. Read More>>

Pamela Talanca

The Grand Opening was in March of 2015, over 9 years ago, soon to be 10 years. The store includes items anywhere from the 1880’s to the 1980’s at reasonable prices. I try to keep items in sections to be easily found, and displayed interestingly. I hear the comment often, “It’s like a walk down Memory Lane”. The store is part of a beautiful downtown community in Newton Falls, where the business owners help and encourage one another. We are always looking for ways to make downtown a great place to shop! I enjoy being a part of the heart of my community! Read More>>

Emmalee Allen

Hell no! It’s hard for me to post on social media. I am not very consistent because I always strive for perfection which causes me to constantly second-guess myself to the point where I will create videos or posts and end up not even posting them. I am also not an expert and there’s so much for me to learn. And that’s okay! I often try to stop myself because I don’t feel qualified or talented enough but everyone has to start somewhere. Read More>>

Matthew Estep

Even being in the business for over twenty years, this is our first time adventuring out on our own. We are learning from each decision and mistake as we go, including equipment purchasing, and all of the typical obstacles of a new business. These all dwarf in comparison to our biggest challenge of continued growth while still providing the freshest product on the market, as we do not freeze anything and they are baked daily. Read More>>

Andrea Bucey-Tikkanen

My career had me involved in large construction projects. I had a hand in felling a lot of trees and destroying a lot of natural habitats, which always bummed me out. On the other hand, I participated in projects which renovated old properties and led to community improvements and spurred inner city growth. Those always were more fulfilling and brag-worthy for me! But I was becoming less and less fulfilled by my career. Something was lacking. Read More>>

Trapalean Tez

When your chasing your goals there’s never a smooth road on your way to them. I can say its been an interesting journey because i never know what to expect next, from friendships to relationships to life period. I think it’s easy to get lost and distracted in this music world & lost from comparison of others, so its always important that i keep a level head on who i really am and where im trying to get to. Read More>>

Ed Powers

I started martial arts training in 1988 in Isshinryu Karate with the City of North Ridgeville. My wife Melissa and I took that program over and formed Powers Martial Arts in 1996. We grew the academy into a Commercial school in 2004 in the city of North Ridgeville. My wife and I are currently 7th degree black belts in Isshinryu Karate. Read More>>

Tierra Curington

Throughout the years my mother, LaJuana Curington has always been asked by close family and friends to plan, coordinate and decorate events. During 2020, when Covid 19 took the world by surprise we found ourselves being called to decorate intimate residential events. It was at that time we decided to create an official business name , email and to advertise our work on social media platforms. Our business began to expand outside of close family and friends. Our work began to catch the eye of many people and our business began to grow. Read More>>

Samantha Ludwig

Pursuing a creative life comes with enormous rewards and challenges. In a technologically driven world, it’s easy to put pressure on the creative process to speed up and meet demands, but drawing and painting are analogue traditions deserving of the time to explore. When that extra space is given, it’s incredible how the artwork can unfurl and create the most beautiful and rewarding results. Though these storied practices can sometimes be tedious, they are a touchstone of the human experience that date back to the beginning of man. It gives me great pleasure to carry on this essential human tradition. Read More>>

Chanda Gelin

At Elite Peels, we focus on addressing the frustrations many women face regarding their skin. So many of my clients have tried various products and methods on their own, only to find their skin issues persist. This inspired me to offer not just treatments, but genuine solutions backed by innovative techniques and personalized care. We cater to women who value self-care and quality and are ready to invest in their well-being. Read More>>

College Kidd Tye

Like for a witnessing or experiencing college student issues of poverty, anxiety, alcohol/drug abuse, violence, depression, and more. Living with all those factors and being in one of the most difficult majors at the University of Cincinnati. Learning at that capacity and rigor for 5 years straight with no summer break definitely had some emotional and mental effects on a person. And just the conflict of battling all those things and trying to succeed isn’t easy when the easy route always looks so easy. Read More>>

Mckenna Brooks

I’ve worked at several large marketing companies here in Cincinnati before purchasing The Scout Guide Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky in 2018 and becoming an entrepreneur. I’ve also started a Marketing Consultancy, The Social Story Lab, which helps clients tell compelling stories in their marketing across all channels – digital, print and more. Read More>>