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.

Sarah Jewett

It finally started when my husband showed me a photo of a cute little Honda Acty! We were hunting for a unit to build my cafe in, tossing back and forth: pull alongs, box trucks and vintage trailer conversions but not liking any of them. The Acty was perfect because it seamlessly blends both of our hobbies and skills. Read more>>

Antoinette Barkley

My name is Antoinette Barkley, and I am a serial entrepreneur, community leader, and woman of resilience. My journey hasn’t been easy, but every challenge has shaped me into the person I am today. I became a mother of four children by the age of 25 and learned early what it meant to work hard, sacrifice, and never give up. Read more>>

Kappy Kilburn

My story is a winding one. Since being introduced to ballet and theatre at a very young age, I have done it all – stage manager, carpenter, electrician, producer, director, crew, scenic designer. I learned everything I could about how it all gets made and realized early that I am a terrible actress and prefer to make stories come alive from behind the scenes. Read more>>

Emily Guzman

Every business starts with an idea. Ours started with a wedding. When we were planning our own wedding, we quickly realized how difficult it was to find vendors who could truly communicate with both our English- and Spanish-speaking families. We wanted every guest to feel welcomed, included, and part of the celebration—not separated by language. That experience planted a seed. Read more>>

Ty Jacobs

When I was very young I began singing (age 4), I had done that for a while as well as swam and danced, I was pretty active. When I was 7 years old I got a squier guitar for my birthday but it wasn’t until I was 9 that I picked it up and tried to learn how it worked. Read more>>

Allison Seltzer

I started as a hairdresser 27 years ago. I quickly moved from a stylist to salon manager to a salon educator specializing in haircolor. I became an educator to an international color line. I also started microblading eyebrows in 2017. After 21 years with my salon group, I left to start my own business. Read more>>

Daron Seals

I struggled with my own mental health for years for not trusting people and didn’t have any friends because of depression.I reached a breaking point when I tried to commit suicide at the age of 25, but I didn’t succeed because God wasn’t done with me yet. Three years after the pandemic, that’s when the Men’s Talk Show was birthed. Read more>>

Aklens Photography

We are Kunle and Kemi, the owners and creative partners behind Aklens Photography. Although our professional backgrounds are in Accounting and Finance, we’ve always shared a passion for creativity and storytelling. Kemi’s love for photography began as a little girl in Nigeria, dreaming of becoming a muse and preserving life’s beautiful moments. After moving to the U.S. Read more>>

samantha walker

I began my career in media and entertainment at a very early age. I was 4 the first time I stepped on a runway as a model and never looked back. I modeled in local fashion shows as well as traveled throughout the country modeling for fashion designers and boutiques until around 2018. Read more>>

Lauren Mathot

Compass Physical Therapy and Fitness was founded with a simple vision: to create a place where people could receive exceptional, individualized care without the limitations often found in traditional healthcare. Read more>>

cia-simone newell

I attended Bedford High School and always had big dreams, especially when it came to basketball and pursuing a career in sports management. Like many young people, I faced some challenges academically early on, but during my senior year I made a commitment to take my future more seriously and turn things around. Read more>>

Tika Monet

I’ve been a licensed cosmetologist since 2015 and have been specializing in nails since 2017. Early in my career, I worked in traditional salons, where I gained valuable experience and developed a passion for helping people feel confident through nail care. Over time, I realized I wanted to create a different kind of experience. Read more>>

Gillian DiPofi

I am a twenty-nine year old artist from Geneva on the Lake, Ohio. I have always been interested in art and was very much encouraged by friends and family to pursue it. I graduated from Lake Erie College in May 2019 with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in Visual Arts. Read more>>

Lena Arnold

Wow! Where do I start? Well, the short of it is I have been writing since I was 11, starting with a class assignment to write a poem. It was about cats. I have no idea where that poem is today, but I remember that my teachers raved about this poem and shared it throughout the school. Read more>>

Rick Provence III

The Cast Cray Story I’ve been fishing for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are spending time on the water with my family, learning the sport from generation to generation. Those days created a passion that has stayed with me my entire life. Fishing has never just been a hobby—it has always been where I feel most at home. Read more>>

Yuliya Strait

I started my blog Style As Needed during my last year of pharmacy school as a creative outlet. I’ve always loved anything fashion and beauty related but found that my day to day life did not leave much opportunity for that side of me to be seen, so my blog and Instagram page became a place where I could express that creativity. Read more>>

David Rickert

I have drawn comics all my life, really. I started out copying illustrations from my Big Little Books, and eventually moved on to drawing my own stories. I had a comic strip in the Ohio State University Lantern for two and a half years. (please don’t try to find them. Read more>>

Michael Sinczak (Homeless Pelican)

My story started with a skateboard. I began skateboarding as a teenager in Poland, and that was also my first real contact with a camera. One of my closest skateboarding friends was a professional filmmaker working for an advertising agency, so I naturally became interested in filming and photography. Read more>>

Kerri OConnor

My story started on a cruise trip to Alaska. We would visit art galleries and the experience of buying a piece of artwork was so much more than just a sale. They told you about their tribes, their ancestors, how they grew into being the artists that they were. Read more>>

Natasha Wiley

My journey to becoming the owner and CEO of Harris Homecare wasn’t an overnight success, nor was it something I always planned to do. It’s a story of faith, perseverance, resilience, and trusting God’s timing. I started my healthcare career at just 19 years old as a State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA) and Home Health Aide (HHA) while pregnant with my oldest daughter. Read more>>

Olivia Myers

I was born and raised in Akron, Ohio, and always knew I wanted a career where I could advocate for others. After earning my bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati, I returned home to attend the University of Akron School of Law.Read more>>

Todd Richert

Richert Games is a local gaming company founded by the RIchert brothers. Our company was born from a lifelong passion for inventing, building, and playing original games. At Richert Games, fun isn’t just something we create—it’s part of who we are. As kids, we were always dreaming up new ways to challenge each other, create unforgettable memories, and bring people together. Read more>>

Paula Coggins

We built OSPI the way many lasting community institutions are built, from lived experiences, a clear sense of purpose, and a willingness to start small while dreaming big. Our story really began when the three founders developed a love for crafting and sewing from family members and public-school sewing classes over 55 years ago. We graduated high school and went on to professional careers. Read more>>

Yahné Burt

I started with a passion for helping people feel confident through beauty and wellness, and being a mom has deepened that passion even more. Over time, that love evolved into a mission to create intentional, lasting impact by making self-care simple, realistic, and sustainable. Read more>>

Kimberly Ochsenbein

February 2020, I was a stay at home mom to my daughter, Gracie. I wanted a way to work from home, to be able to stay with her. It was about 9 o’clock at night and I blew a candle out in my kitchen. In that moment, I thought, I could make these. Read more>>

Veronica Grim

I’ve spent my life with a passion for making people laugh and smile and entertaining people. I’ve also always loved literature and poetry and creative writing. Songwriting was a natural evolution for me and I’ve been playing music professionally since college. I’ve had several bands (Switchblade Syndicate, Veronica Grim and the Heavy Hearts, and Veronica Grim) and also play solo acoustic shows. Read more>>

Robin Major-Oliphant

Robin Major-Oliphant is the founder and president of One2Mpower Publishing LLC, a hybrid publishing company she launched in 2019 after discovering the transformative power of telling her own story. What began as a personal journey of healing through writing evolved into a mission to help others turn their lived experiences into lasting legacies. Read more>>

Crystal McCray

My journey into massage therapy started from a very personal place. While my mother was battling cervical cancer, I saw firsthand how therapeutic massage helped reduce her pain and improve her quality of life. That experience inspired me to become a Licensed Massage Therapist because I wanted to make that same kind of impact for others. Read more>>

Justin Kennedy

I’m a guitar dork. A guitar dork of the highest order. But a dork is still a dork. In 1993, at 12 years old, I got my first bass guitar, a fiesta red Fender Squier P-bass. That bass started an obsession with guitars and basses that still exists today. Read more>>

Debby Walker Deb Popp

We began as a store in June 2015, first as a mobile boutique that developed into a brick and mortar storefront. We are thankful to have been a part of the Historic Downtown Loveland for 15 years. We have traveled from one side of the street to the other due to a substantial fire in the downtown community. Read more>>

Justin Ford

I was raised in a large family of entrepreneurs, so I grew up seeing business from just about every angle and learned a great deal. The recurring theme, though, was that I usually learned what not to do. Read more>>

Jahmaica Leary

I started off modeling because I was a very shy kid and my mom wanted to help me boost my confidence. Id always love taking photos, playing in makeup, messing with fashion and creating my own outfits so it was perfect. Read more>>

Missy Lay Zimmer

My young career started here in Cincinnati dancing at a local Dance Studio under the direction of Jean Mullins and Bruce Stegman. Additionally, I attended the school for creative performing arts under the direction of Mark Diamond and Sheila Cohen. Attending the school at that time was very important for me. To be in a creative space like the former SCPA. Read more>>

Nyx Sloan

Like a lot of good ideas, Conch Republic was born while a group of friends sat around a table at our favorite Mexican restaurant celebrating Cinco de Mayo in 2007. What started as a fun conversation about creating a Jimmy Buffett-inspired beach party band has evolved into a mission that’s been Keeping Summer Alive for nearly two decades. Read more>>

Michael Thomas

I came to Ohio in 2003 with my family and since then we have been in Fairfield. I worked as a public accountant for some years, until i decided to give up my career to become a caregiver to my aging parents and be a full time mom to my three kids. Read more>>

Cinnamon Rae

I founded Medina Massage & Skin Care to be a safe haven from the outside world. A place to receive global wellness treatments, holistic skin care and medicinal massage. I have a background in patient care and come from a long line of medicine women. I lived in Florida most of my life and fled Hurricane IRMA to live in Ohio. Read More>>

Will Freed

I got started very young as my step-dad Dave Liles Jr helped me by getting me my first guitar at 5 years old. It didn’t really take tell I was 12 & my mama got me a blue Johnson acoustic guitar. Read More>>