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 Castro
In my first year, I was accepted for an internship opportunity in Hawaii. This changed everything. I met my partner there, a Cincinnati native, and trading island life for the Midwest became the shift I never knew I needed. In a city rich with opportunity, I stepped beyond my comfort zone—reaching out, showing up, and saying “yes” to every challenge. Read more>>
Najah Johnson
I decided to be a mobile based business because I began to meet the demand of my clients and travel to them. As time went on, I began to work with companies and agencies such as P&G, Fifth Third Bank, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and others. This was the start my corporate career as a professional makeup artist. I also started working production and tv/film which is where I am currently growing in. Through the years I have had the honor of being a part of many journeys and stories. There have been people that have took a chance on me, mentored me and opened doors for me. It has been God, my faithful clientele, and dedication that has gotten me to where I am today. Read more>>
Raquel Wright
I am an artist—an abstract painter and a lover of everything within and around me. Abstract art is my specialty, and I fell in love with it because it mirrors my nature—beautifully unstructured, like organized chaos. It gives me the freedom to let go of control, to release unexpressed emotions, and to communicate what words sometimes cannot. I love that each viewer brings their own perception and feelings, making every piece a unique experience. Read more>>
Le Schlippy
We invite local guest DJs each month, giving Cleveland’s DJs a platform to showcase their talents live on air through exclusive live sets. Week to week, we play locally produced dance and jam tracks from Cleveland-area producers and bands, supporting local talent and the local scene. We also spotlight the local dance and jam events and artists scheduled to appear around town. Throughout the month, we offer ticket giveaways to lucky listeners to help remove financial barriers and make music events more accessible to those who wish to participate in these communal gatherings. Read more>>
Tami Heiss
A pivotal moment came in 2019 when, at 53 years old, I decided to go to college for the first time. It was a leap of faith, but I graduated in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. During my final year of college, I began training to become a certified life coach and earned my certification through the International Coaching Federation. Within six months, I both graduated college and became a certified life coach. Read more>>
Zoriana Potopnyk
After moving to the U.S., I had to start everything from scratch. First, I had to learn the language, adapt, understand the culture, and search for work. My first step was to try to get a job at a flower shop down the street from me, but they didn’t want to hire me. So, I decided to sell online. By creating unique floral compositions in hat boxes, I gained great success on the internet. Soon, offers for wedding floral design started coming in. That’s when I decided to open an offline store so that it would be easier for people to buy my services. Read more>>
Andi Moore
I went and introduced myself to all of the other business owners and I joined the Powell Chamber of Commerce. I wanted to not only come in and run a business I wanted to join a community and they welcomed me with open arms. They helped me through the red tape, gave suggestions on who to get a sign from, and gave so many great tips and tricks. I bought most of my displays from local shops, found ways to partner for our grand opening, and signed up to help revive the Street Market with the Chamber. While running my store, I fell even more in love with the community, my customers, the other businesses, and the vendors in my store and at the market. I eventually closed my store, due to a shift in my personal life, but stayed deeply involved in the community. Read more>>
Kaye Smith
I started my journey with Reiki when I had a foster puppy that was sick and the vets couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. The Reiki Center works with rescue pets at no charge to the rescue. He was so much calmer and I could see the difference it made in his comfort level. I received a session for myself and begun taking classes in Reiki and Animal Reiki and it was life changing for me. I now feel very blessed to help other people and pets the way that Reiki helped me. Read more>>
Carolyn Bowles
Before being an abstract artist, I was a photographer with my own studio for thirteen years. Then, in 2020 during the pandemic, unable to photograph people, I turned to an art form I loved my entire life—painting. Having saved my old acrylics from the 1980’s, it was easy to get started right away. Mixing up colorful palettes and playing with pencils, markers, crayons, and oil sticks became a daily ritual. In fact, I loved it so much that I quickly expanded my business to include abstract art too! Since, it’s been the biggest joy creating colorful, happy paintings that make people smile. Read more>>
Cody Hefner
Working in a museum seemed like the perfect place to do that. I looked for any opportunity to get my way into a museum. A role in guest services brought me into Cincinnati Museum Center and I was just in awe of Union Terminal and these immersive, sprawling exhibits. I had the opportunity to move into the marketing department as a Media Relations Manager and just fell in love with the role. It gave me the opportunity to share my gleeful love of history and childlike joy for science with people every day. Read more>>
David Pfeifer
I reached out to the studio, inquiring about any engineering help they may need, and if I could fill a role at Cheddar Studios as part of the team. Low and behold, I began working unpaid at the studio for about half a year, helping build sets and various projects around the studio. Cutting wood, cleaning up, and painting was the name of the game. After enough time, I was able to start as a payed content creator, and over the next year I would be creating short-form content for brands like Brooks Brothers, Dollar Shave Club, and many, many more. Read more>>
Shelley Pippin
While neither of us had much previous experience in the hospitality space, we had a lot of tenacity and energy. I think my previous years of living in amazing food cities like Chicago and Austin had sparked something within me that led to the idea for Brewnuts. In those cities I had seen firsthand how quirky concepts and seemingly disparate food and drink concepts had been paired in successful ways. Read more>>
Rob Skomski
So, business can be either hectic or slow, and it’s unpredictable. So managing funds can be a delicate balance sometimes. Business expenses are another aspect. A lot of people don’t realize how many costs there are like heating costs in the winter, taxes, gas and vehicle maintenance, supplies and tools to get the jobs done. All of these, plus more, need to be kept up with in order to keep day-to-day operations going smoothly. Read more>>
Camaya Wiley
My name is Camaya Wiley, and I am the owner of Camaya Made It: A Family Brand of Soul Secrets. I began my journey working alongside my mother at Soul Secrets, a southern cuisine restaurant that serves comfort foods like catfish, fried chicken, mac and cheese, and sweet potatoes. Many people know that Soul Secrets was born as a way for the two of us to bond and get through the depressive episodes I had as a teenager. I played a key role in managing the restaurant and assisting with various tasks. Over time, many customers asked for additional traditional southern comfort meals that we couldn’t offer due to space and demand constraints. That’s when Camaya Made It was born. Read more>>
Stacy Harden
Then, something happened that redirected my path. I had been gifted a massage gift certificate for my mother! My very first opportunity to experience a professional massage. I sat on it for over a year, and it eventually expired. Thankfully, with grace, the massage therapist still honored it. I traveled to West Milton, Ohio, for the treatment, and as soon as I stepped into that space, I felt safe. It was quiet, peaceful, and exactly what I needed at that moment in my life. The therapist was so in tune with my body, answering my questions, taking her time, and applying the perfect pressure. Read more>>
Nick Deemer
Starting a business is no small feat. We took a loan on our house, built a greenhouse (which was destroyed in a windstorm of 2022 shortly before finding our current location), and started collecting plants. Getting the capital to start acquiring inventory was challenging but we pushed for our dream. Living in northeast Ohio, shipping tropical plants is a major challenge as it is very weather dependent and shipping is costly. We have at least 300 varieties of plants in our store at a given time that all need our attention daily. Knowing how to grow the best plants possible is a full time job along with keeping all the behind the scenes of running a business in check. Being in this industry is very demanding. There are no days off when you’re taking care of living things. Read more>>
Meghan Metzger
In order to save money, I volunteered at a small yoga retreat center in the Canary Islands for two weeks and this is where I truly reconnected with my spirituality, feeling deep in my bones that someone, something, was guiding me and I was a part of a grander plan. I continued my meditation and yoga practices, which slowly but surely brought me back to my body and strengthened my relationship with myself. I was shown how my body stored suppressed emotions and as I revisited painful past memories with compassionate curiosity, I started to heal in all aspects of my life. Read more>>
Judith Anne
Practice session become challenging for us because we only see each other during weekends so we only practice during that 2 days and sometimes if we have competition that weekend we just practice in the event itself. We did tried to do virtual practice after work but it is different feeling because dancing is a partnered skill and you should do it together to practice the connection, the steps together, the body movement and etc. But we always make it work. We would say time is our great challenge here, we are both in different state and we only have so much time to do and accomplished things to make our dancing in a better position. Read more>>
Isabelle Haas
he original owner had opened the business in 1993, and was getting ready to retire after 30 years, giving me the opportunity to turn my interest into a career. With mine and my husband’s combined degrees and previous work experience in retail, restaurants, and child education, it was a project we were both excited to work on. Having our own retail store was an idea we had always discussed for down the road. With the support of Diana, the whole Diana’s Dancewear team, my husband and family, the process moved quick and as April of 2023 we were proud to announce the new ownership of Diana’s Dancewear of Cincinnati. Read more>>
Amy Rigby
Although I try my hardest not to take in dogs (or cats), Rebel Rescue is named after that found dog who is the love of my life. By 2018 I had around 24 unwanted pets in my house and knew the need was there, I just had to take the official steps in becoming a nonprofit. Rebel Rescue became a nonprofit in 2018 and I started searching for a building, more space, more land, a possible barn etc. In 2020, the middle of a pandemic, I found the “Ranch” in Berlin Center, Ohio and the “Ranch” was born. I currently have 175 animals. The number changes every month if course with adoptions and intakes but this dream of mine has come true bigger and better than I could’ve ever imagined. Read more>>
Brian Erickson
During all of this time, I was a huge podcast fanatic. I loved listening to shows like Against the Odds by Wondery, or How I Built This with Guy Raz. And the thing I kept running into, was almost all local podcasts didn’t use professional equipment, microphones or cameras. They just used their webcams and built in mics. Read more>>
Leah Grant
I am the baby of the family and I went to Ohio University and studied accounting. While I grew up on the farm and was always somewhat involved, I never had a role for the farm. After college I worked for a big four accounting firm. I didn’t mind the job, the people I worked with were great, and working in audit I learned a lot about how businesses operate. However, it didn’t take long for me to realize I was not made for that type of work. I always knew my end goal was to take over Grant’s Farm. After a year and a half of working in accounting, I left and started working for my parents. It’s very different than an office job, but I knew exactly what I was getting into after watching my parents run the farm all my life. I am now going on year eight here at the farm, and I couldn’t be happier with my career choice. Read more>>
Tori Tedesco
However, as my handcrafted knitwear gained wider recognition, I couldn’t ignore the changing tides of the economy. Despite record-breaking sales, I began to notice that consumer spending habits were evolving, and the once-steadfast support for local small businesses was shifting. This change presented me with an important moment to pause and reflect on my customers: who they are, what they value, and how their objectives for their wardrobes and home décor were evolving. Read more>>
Alex Bennett
When I started Gable Acres, I was pregnant with my fourth child and decided to take a chance on a few craft shows one month before she was born in 2019. I knew I needed a business name before I did any shows or markets, Gable Acres was the winner, named after my soul pup. I adopted Gable at about 3 months old in 2011. He would actually be sitting right beside me or under my feet when I was working on every new products or designs. He stayed right by me until he passed away in 2023. During those years my business has taken off, I sell products in 4 different store/shops in Ohio. I have met some of my best friends when I started this journey and couldn’t be happier. Read more>>
Joe Brown
I actually started out as a tuba player in middle school, which is kind of funny considering where I am now. I stuck with it through high school and even started college as a music education major on tuba. But at the same time, I had taught myself guitar during the pandemic and was writing songs on my own. I just kept feeling more drawn to that side of music. It felt a lot more genuine to me. Eventually, I switched my focus completely—I changed my major, started playing out more, and really leaned into songwriting and guitar as my main thing. Read more>>
Nasira Montgomery
The place where I felt most comfortable exploring my art was now a traumatic site that wasn’t welcoming to children. I continued my art at home. When I attended Shaker Heights High School, I took honors drawing, AP painting, photography, and graphic design. While in high school, I participated in the Julia De Burgos Cultural Art Center’s young artist exhibit. People began seeing my art and started commissioning me for projects. To support my art, my father built me an art room in his house for me to invest in my talent. After high school, I began to use my art room and creatively use TikTok and Instagram to showcase my process. I also started growing a following that included hip-hop artist N3WYRKLA and shout-outs from Gillie Da King. Read more>>
Madelyn Varela
Through my social media platform @cheezytalkwithmadelyn I provide videos showcasing cheese from all over the world and how to pair and eat them. My main focus is to highlight American made cheese and to support and uplift American cheese makers. There are a couple different cheese influencers on the scene but the feedback that I get the most of is that the cheese is always front and center which has set me apart from other creators in my niche! Read more>>
Sonal Jain
My journey started with a deep longing for connection as a first-generation immigrant navigating a new country, a new marriage, and a new way of life. Coming from a family of jewelers in India, I had always been surrounded by business, and before moving to the U.S., I even had my own candle-making and gifting business that was featured in newspapers and TV shows. However, when I arrived here, visa restrictions prevented me from working, which was a frustrating reality to accept. Read more>>
