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.

Patrick Donadio

The Bridge Builder: Patrick Donadio’s Mission to Make Every Word Count The Origin: From the Sunday Table to the Airwaves My story doesn’t begin in a boardroom; it begins at a Sunday dinner table in Niles, Ohio. I grew up in a family where food and conversation were the glue that held everything together. Read more>>

Bryan Wiles

I’d describe my story as a mix of faith, relationships, and a growing passion for building things that last—both in people and in business. I attended Bowling Green State University, where I studied education. However, when I graduated, I felt a clear pull and calling into ministry, which has really shaped everything I do today. Read more>>

Morgan Rose

Rose Creations started when I was just 17 years old with a simple goal: help local businesses tell their stories through design and media. I began by creating logos and small design projects while still in high school, balancing school, clients, and learning everything I could about branding and marketing. Read more>>

Kelly Palencar

I’ve been an artist my whole life. Most of my skills were self taught and fell into drawing, but I have also dabbled in painting and mixed media during my younger years. Even in my high school years, I only took one art class which was a drawing class my freshman year at Chagrin Falls and hated it. Read more>>

Gabriel Kemble

My accounting career began in 2012. I wasn’t interested in pursuing my engineering degree further, but I knew I wanted something that could provide a lifestyle I would be interested in living. I worked for a few years at a non-profit in downtown Cleveland before transitioning into public accounting. Read more>>

Candace Roufail

I actually knew I wanted to be a Realtor straight out of high school. I interviewed with a brokerage and was sure it’s the direction I wanted to go. At that time I felt pressured to go the traditional college route and ultimately went to college. Read more>>

Katie Homan

At the risk of being labeled a liar, I’m confessing that I was an unwitting student of the arts for over 15 years but was guided through remarkable lessons by teachers that never spoke a solitary word to me. Read more>>

Nalini Morris

I just started my business October 2025. I was invited to BTL’ s launch of a new med spa device called Exomind. It is a device for mental wellness. All their other devices work on shaping the body. However ExoMind is a TMS 2.0 device well known for treating depression. I think ExoMind is more advanced and more effective for depression. Read more>>

Paulette Romito

I was approached to help our Seniors transition to their new homes. I have found this career path so enriching and fulfilling. I am dedicated to helping older adults and their families navigate every stage of the relocation process with confidence, compassion, and clarity. Read more>>

Cara Coleman-Schutte

Worts & Wards started with a shared foundation—Jerika and I met during our MA program in Art History at Case Western, and quickly became close friends. We both come from backgrounds in history, research, and education. Read more>>

Scott Keller

My wife Deena and I didn’t start Be Prepared Vacations because we were looking to start a travel agency. Like many things in life, it started with a single trip that changed everything. In 2017, we took our two-year-old daughter to Walt Disney World for the first time. Neither of us had been since we were kids, and we honestly didn’t know what to expect. Read more>>

Pat Simms

While watching e-bikes glide along the Sarasota coastline on a family vacation, I had a flash of inspiration. I ordered our first two bikes before the flight home even landed. What started as a vacation spark has grown into a community staple; today, we manage 26 rentals and 12 test riders across two locations within Mill Creek MetroParks. Read more>>

Melinda Gonzalez

All 4 You Cleaning Services LLC is a locally owned cleaning company providing residential, commercial, janitorial, and sanitation services throughout Northeast Ohio since 2012. We are a woman-owned Hispanic minority business committed to delivering high-quality, detail-driven service backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee while creating jobs and opportunities within our community. Our mission goes beyond cleaning. Read more>>

Jodi Ingram

My deparment was terminated after a business purchase that I was at for 19 years back in June 2024. I didn’t want to go back to a job having to wait a year for one weeks vacation, so I decided to look into something I could build on my own as a business owner. Read more>>

Necumba Booker

I initially started taking photos for my clothing brand, and the only photos that were getting sales were the ones I took. Soon after, I got a better quality camera to continue that, to hopefully have a snowball effect to sell out my clothing brand. Read more>>

Joanie Keehn

My career started 21 years ago when my daughter started kindergarten. At the time I was a single mom working 70-80 hours a week, missing all the important milestones in my children’s lives. Three days of listening to other children talking about mommies and daddies waking them up, eating breakfast, and reading bedtime stories broke her. Read more>>

Tamara Richards

No — the previous version is strong, but it’s long for what they’re asking. When an interviewer says “briefly walk us through your story,” they typically want 3–5 tight paragraphs that show: 1. Where you started 2. A defining challenge 3. A turning point 4. Where you are now Not every detail — just the throughline. Read more>>

Tyler Wootton

I didn’t come to landscaping the obvious way. Before Northmark, I was running a trucking company in Wisconsin and a food wholesale business in Pennsylvania. Two completely different industries, but they taught me the same things – how to manage people, how to keep operations running tight, and what it looks like when a business actually holds itself accountable. Read more>>

Christopher Summers

I got into DJing because I’ve always been drawn to music and the energy it creates. Early on, it was just about mixing songs and getting people to react—but the more events I did, the more I realized it was about something bigger than that. Read more>>

Erik Joyce

I started my career in law enforcement, where I’ve spent years working in patrol, DUI enforcement, and as part of a regional bomb squad. That background exposed me to high-risk, fast-moving situations where technology and good information can make a critical difference. Through that work, I was introduced to drone technology from a public safety perspective. Read more>>

Will Allen

My journey started in 2020 during the pandemic. At the time, I was working in an internship focused on building programs and bringing people together to create meaningful connections across communities in the Greater Cleveland area. When the pandemic hit, everything changed. The world shut down, and I was laid off. Read more>>

Ben Kasle

I started by stepping into practices where patients were usually being pushed toward medication or surgery, and I built around the middle ground that most people don’t realize exists. What I wanted was a model where chiropractors, nurse practitioners, and MDs could work together, look at the same patient from different angles, and build a care plan in the right order and sequence. Read more>>

Lani Bidlack

My path into this business definitely wasn’t something I had mapped out. For years, I worked in sales, and if you had told me back then that one day I’d be running a warehouse full of balloons, marquee letters, and event inventory, I probably would have laughed. What really started it all was my sister-in-law at the time, who introduced me to party decorating. Read more>>

Nikki Warner

SafePlace was born out of a gap in services that, unfortunately, still exists today. In communities like Maple Heights, Garfield Heights, Bedford, Shaker Heights, and Warrensville Heights, there are painfully limited options for women navigating domestic violence, housing instability, and crisis. I know this because I have been that person. Read more>>

Jay Brandt

My father, David Brandt, had built a reputation as a promoter and resource for soil conservation. He had begun selling cover crops to support other farmer’s interest in the Soil Health movement, and that provided an opportunity for me and my family to relocate back to the farm and take over the seed business and assist in the operation of the farm. Read more>>

Heather Pleskach

I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire adult life, but my drive started long before any business did. I became a mom at 16 while I was still a sophomore in high school. It was a moment that could have taken my life in a lot of different directions, but for me, it gave me clarity. Read more>>

Magdalis Galarza

My story starts in Puerto Rico, where I was born and raised. Watching my mother and grandmother transform our small kitchen into the heart of family celebrations, filled with delicious food, made a lasting impression on me. Throughout my childhood, I explored various interests, but I always returned to food. After earning my Bachelor’s degree, I felt the need for something more fulfilling. Read more>>

Lydia Weiss

I’m a family chiropractor specializing in perinatal and pediatric care, and I’m deeply passionate about supporting families during some of the most important and vulnerable seasons of life. My path into this work started with a desire to better understand the human body and how it heals. Read more>>

Anita Jeyakumar

HEARS, LLC was started in 2024 by Dr. Jeyakumar and her team to meet the needs of patients with complex ear disease and hearing loss. Until 2024, for patients to get complex ear care (beyond the care provided by General Otolaryngology), they had to travel to Cleveland, Columbus or Pittsburgh. Now we have a local option for care. Dr. Read more>>

Ryan Leflar

I am a Kent State graduate with a BFA in Directing and a minor in Pre-Law. I started directing and choreographing shows when I was 15 years old, working with my local elementary and middle schools. By the time I was 16, I was co directing and choreographing our local high school shows. Read more>>

Patty Carter

I’ve always been an animal lover. Since I was a small child, I have always wanted to be around animals. Whether it was dogs,cats,horses even birds. They bring me joy in my life everyday. I volunteer at local shelters and advocate for abused animals. I also do fund raising to help my local shelter with the care needs of the abused and abandoned animals. Read more>>

Stephanie Pilgrim

As a woman in commercial real estate, I saw the potential for a lofted venue in Downtown Toledo. The Mez came to life through a tremendous amount of love, sweat and tears. We are thrilled to offer an upscale venue in Toledo, Ohio that makes people feel like they are in a true metropolitan city. Read more>>

Kaushal Popat

I originally come from a small town in Gujarat, India, and moved to the United States to pursue higher education. I completed my Master’s in Biotechnology and later an MBA in IT, which led me into the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Read more>>

Jackie Wayda

I started my Massage Therapy journey by receiving a massage and thinking it would be great to have a job that helps people and makes them feel good. I received my Massage Therapy License in 1994 from the Ohio State Medical Board. I opened up a small office in Hinckley, Ohio, my home town. Read more>>

jena Ianiro

My family has been farming this land since 1919, and I am the fourth generation to produce maple syrup here. My grandfather stopped making syrup in the mid-1980s, but some of my most treasured childhood memories are of helping him during maple season. In 2013, my husband and a friend decided to give syrup production another try. Read more>>

DOUGLAS MCMILLIAN

I started working on pinball machines and other coin operated machines in 2014 for an amusement company in Dayton ohio. I was hired on as a subcontractor repaint machines in the shop as well as machines out on location. In addition I was tasked with in home service calls and collecting money from machines on route. As well as repairing vending machines. Read more>>

Joey Salerno

The Dream Growing up in Northeast Ohio, I’ve always believed in turning up the volume on hard work. Like many driven professionals, I spent years building my career—but along the way, I realized something was missing. Unexpected medical challenges forced me to slow down, and that pause gave me space to rediscover a simple joy that reignited my spark: popcorn. Read more>>

Michelle DeBellis

I got my undergraduate degree in fine art. As I worked in the arts, I realized that was not a sustainable career choice and that I wanted to do something more connected with people. At the time I was volunteering at an afterschool organization and it was my favorite part of my week. Read more>>

Jeremy Watson

I started my career as a chiropractor with a simple goal: help people get out of pain and improve their quality of life. Early on, I realized that while chiropractic care was powerful, it was only one piece of a much bigger puzzle. Many of my patients were struggling with deeper issues—low energy, weight gain, poor nutrition, stress—and they weren’t getting real answers. Read more>>

Nobles Darby IV

I’m a former athlete turned faith-driven leader whose calling reaches the highest levels of professional sports and corporate spaces. While my childhood pursuit was the NFL, my path shifted to serving it—now impacting the NFL, NBA, and G League as Chaplain for the Cleveland Browns and Co-Chaplain for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Charge. Read more>>

Donnetta Carter

The Social Butterfly Public Figure Donnetta Carter is known for her Business and Health Expo, Small Business Saturday, and Christmas Bazaar. Marketing and promoting Fund-raiser for non-profit organizations. She tailored her events to meet their needs and accomdates the guests and entrepreneurs. The Social Butterfly LLC. Read more>>

Melissa Smith

Inspired in 2004 by wanting to create a product that supported agriculture, sustainability and community the first candles were conceived, melted and poured in the kitchen of our c.1820 farmstead home that has been in our family since 1919. We are also 4th generation farmers and stewards of the land. Read more>>