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.
Kai Tatyanna
After being natural for over a decade, I went through a period where my hair became severely damaged, ultimately leading me to do a big chop and start over. As a result, I relied on protective styles for several years. When I finally decided to embrace my natural hair again, I realized that I had grown uncomfortable wearing it in public—it had been so long since I’d worn it out that I no longer felt confident. Read more>>
Oleg Rudyy
We expanded into crafting cutting boards, charcuterie boards, serving trays, and coffee tables, selling them at local craft shows, exhibitions, and to family and friends. In fact, we believe we were one of the first to introduce epoxy resin serving trays, something that gained attention on Instagram and among other woodworkers. One of our videos even went viral, giving us a major boost in visibility. Read more>>
Jasmine Caver
I think that the business would do well. But I also knew I didn’t want a physical store. I’m a huge online shopper and I also knew that I wanted my business to reach more than just the people in Cincinnati. When’s first dropped I did it as pickups only just using social media and I had so much support . I’m like I have to hurry and open up online so it’s more convenient and so I can be able to sell more . So I hit up my my friend Ashley and asked her to do me a website and boom… that’s how it started! Read more>>
Marc Shannon
The book explores my path to long-term recovery from Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and Mental Health Issues (MHI), showcasing the practices, beliefs, and words of strength that have shaped my sobriety and the unique experience of walking this road during a time of uncertainty and grief. In 2024, I released Sober Chronicles™ Revised Edition, which expounds on the original book to include additional commentary, photographs, and questions to prompt discussions. I am involved in the Northeast Ohio community to serve as living evidence that recovery is possible. Through my “The Sounds of Recovery” presentations, I deliver a message of hope to those in recovery and what it is like to be in recovery to Health Professionals and family members. I offer my experiences to help others along the path using music, humor, readings from my book, and real-life daily living experiences. Read more>>
Hannah Brost
By day, I’m a registered medical assistant in a doctor’s office. By the weekend, I transform into a photographer, capturing life’s precious moments for families, couples, and soon-to-be parents. I take pride in my branding and the personalized experience I offer my clients, setting me apart by truly understanding their needs and bringing their vision to life. Read more>>
Nickolas Deanne
As I continued my journey, I began making connections and working with other artists who have helped me grow as a musician. These collaborations have not only improved my skills but also enriched my understanding of music and its power to connect people. I am committed to working hard, both as a musician and as a person, constantly striving to better myself and inspire others through my music. Read more>>
Ashley Nguyen
These days, I collaborate with some other truly fantastic businesses in Cleveland, including Dahlia Coffee Co., Frankie Lynn Hot Dogs, Boss Chickn’ Beer, Haute Donuts and many others. I also offer online ordering through my website, for anything from Montreal style bagels to extravagant macaron towers. Although I still occasionally do pop-up events, you can usually find me completing orders in my tiny, back-of-a-coffee-shop kitchen. Read more>>
Matt Lasserre
I have been playing music in bands since somewhere around 2005. I formed Pale Cremation around 2019 with a doom metal sound that was in continuation of my previous band Mournful Cries, who released the album ‘Bad Taste” in 2018. ‘Bad Taste’ was a pretty pivotal moment for me since I found out how much I enjoyed working in a professional music studio. Leaving that band was extremely hard for me and I think about the ‘what ifs’ often. Read more>>
Diamond Towns
My turning point came when I got sick of feeling broke despite working nonstop. I dove headfirst into learning how to budget in a way that didn’t feel restrictive, built my first real emergency fund, and started investing—slowly but surely shifting from financial stress to financial security. When I started sharing my journey online, people resonated with it because I wasn’t preaching from a pedestal— I was figuring it out in real time. Read more>>
Megan Vaillant
Megan Ann Vaillant is a dynamic entrepreneur and professional with a diverse background in operations consulting, coaching, fitness, and hospitality. With a passion for helping others and a keen eye for business. After successfully leading operations & organizations for over 18 years, Megan decided to leave corporate life behind, focus on being an entrepreneur, and be the best Mom she can be to Kennedy (16) and Koltan (11)! Megan has successfully launched multiple ventures, each reflecting her experience and commitment to excellence and innovation. Read more>>
Josh Miles
Josh: Personally, I don’t really think it has been a very rocky road for us. I can’t really speak to what the rest of the band went through before I joined the band, however, I don’t feel like we have really had that many issues together. Obviously, we had our struggles figuring out how to record, produce, and present our brand etc. But those all in all feel like mostly just growing pains in my opinion. The toughest part of the road, was getting the first release out, which can really be a big mental block for some artists Read more>>
Katrina Hart
While our journey has been incredibly rewarding, it hasn’t been without its challenges. One major struggle over the past year has been dealing with power outages, which can disrupt our indoor growing operations. However, these setbacks have motivated us to improve our setup—we’ve now invested in a reliable generator to help ease future outages and keep our microgreens growing strong. Every challenge has taught us resilience and made us even more committed to providing fresh, nutrient-packed produce to our community. Read more>>
Kyra Leeigh
Over time, I started paying attention to what I was most passionate about and what clients kept coming to me for. That’s when I realized my sweet spot was working with service providers, beauty brands, and entrepreneurs who needed branding and digital products to elevate their businesses. Once I embraced that niche, everything started falling into place—I was able to market myself more effectively and create offers that truly served my audience. Read more>>
Darnell Mcadams
I found myself shooting for Triumph Magazine, a cleveland based magazine focusing on the who’s who of the african american community! Since then I dove right into the art community creating a non-profit called the Creative Healing Foundation, an organization focused on using the arts to help with mental health, had my work featured in dope exhibits and got into shooting videos and independent films, and started teaching visual arts to middle and high school students. With that also has came the creation of something called The Living Room Cookup which is basically our version of Tiny Desk where we feature local artists that shine a light on positivity. So here we are! (Sorry, that wasn’t very brief) Read more>>
Halli Kromer
A friend of mine, who is now my fiancé, helped my paint a mural of my logo onto the wall of the studio, and it was amazing to see all of these years of hard work and silly studio spaces turn into this amazing work space! After years of selling my work at markets and online, I was able to invest into my business and purchase equipment and grow it into a part time job. I have also spent 4 years working part time as a studio assistant for production potter which has allowed me to learn a lot about the process of running a ceramics business. I enjoy this balance of work now, but I hope to rely fully on the income from my business in the future. Read more>>
Jen Walland
People always ask where the name Candle Disco comes from, and I love telling my story. As a kid, I would tell my mom that one day, I’d own a disco and a flower shop—side by side, both vibrant and full of life. While I may not have that exact setup (yet!), I wanted my business to reflect who I am: a little bit nostalgic, a little bit whimsical, and always ready to bring good vibes. I’ve been told I’m an old soul, and Candle Disco is my way of keeping my childhood dream alive and reflect who I am as a person. Read more>>
Harlee Hornsby
For many years I stayed in the digital art world and even ended up working for my church as one of their main designers. As fun as graphic design can be, I unfortunately was very quickly burnt out and started to lose faith in my purpose. For months I questioned if I should step down from my design position at church, the one place I felt my talents served my purpose the best. One day I was getting tattooed by Jeff Kees who, coincidently, goes to the same church. I told him that I was considering leaving the graphic design world and asked him what a tattoo apprenticeship would entail. I then weighed my options of where I was at the time in my current career and where I could be if I took the step to pursue tattooing. Read more>>
Charlie Andrews
While in college, I was got a taste of the business side of drums – product development, marketing, sales – during an internship and that’s when I started to wonder about owning a shop. I didn’t give it serious thought until another internship put me with a boss who loved to started businesses and encouraged me to consider starting one myself. That led to me opening Badges Drum Shop shortly after I graduated in 2018. Read more>>
Jessica Hall
We have definitely had struggles! The first day we brought the VW MicroBus home, we couldn’t start it. My husband and I managed to push it out of its trailer and in the process, I was learning how to keep my feet on the clutch so that we didn’t fly backwards. My husband was standing in the doorway, helping me along when I accidentally took my foot off of the brake and with the door open we started to move backwards. Russ tried to protect the door from the wire that holds the trailer door down and his arm got all torn up by the wire & the paint job on the door was all scraped off! Read more>>
Todd Hudson
Over 17 years in this business you see almost everything there is to see. We survived an economic melt down in 2008, got married, had 2 awesome kids, lost some amazing humans, met some amazing humans, battled through Covid and just tried to get better and adapt the whole ride. It’s been stressful at times but has been so much fun I won’t ever be able to even express the joy it has brought myself and a lot of people. Read more>>
Erica Pirc
Scorpio Sun Crystals started as something small—just a personal love for crystals, minerals, and the energy they carry. I’ve always been drawn to the natural beauty of stones, not just for their aesthetic but for the meaning, magic, and history they hold. At first, I was just collecting for myself, but the idea of curating mystery boxes and offering an experience beyond just buying crystals started to take shape. Read more>>
