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.

Gabriella Sullivan

Manitou Candle Co. is entering its 10th year and we’re so excited to celebrate this milestone later this year. We began pouring candles for a wedding as a creative hobby. Friends loved them and asked for more, so we started inviting people over to help us pour. We quickly realized candle making was a meaningful way to bring people together. Read more>>

Crystal Caudill

I grew up in a small, southern Kentucky town, raised by my grandparents, where my Mammy Ann (Momma) as I referred to her, taught me how to cook, keep a home, love Jesus, and love our neighbors. As a child, our home was always filled with people. Read more>>

Lochlan Howard

I am Lochlan Howard, a six time World Champion and professional touring Irish Dancer. Growing up I trained at The Academy Irish Dance Co. in Westerville, OH. My oldest sister Brooke, started dancing the year that I was born. She started Irish dancing after seeing a performance at the Dublin Irish Festival. Read more>>

Kevin Ruppert

I started Bricky’s in 2022 with a simple mission: to help elevate the Dayton-area comedy scene and create more opportunities for the talented comedians who were already here. I actually started stand-up around 2018 while living in the New York City area, before moving back home to Dayton about six months into comedy. Read more>>

Sarah Birckhead

My love for interior design started long before I ever imagined it becoming my career. As a kid, I was constantly thinking about how a room could be rearranged, improved, or made more beautiful. I would spend hours drawing houses and rooms, imagining different layouts, and finding ways to transform the spaces around me. I was always creative. Read more>>

Damien Kern

I moved here from Colorado two years ago battered and tired by the tough scene out there, and was welcomed by the community ive looked for my entire life. People can push boundaries here. Really mark art. There’s no pressurized box shaping your creation for you. Spaces like Dirty Dungarees and promoters like Esther are why those things are possible in this city. Read more>>

Johnny Cole Murdock

I picked up guitar in high school at the age of 16. I was inspired by guys like Ted Nugent, Ozzy Osbourne, and Dimeback Darrell. Those roots are behind my guitar-driven sound today. I was also inspired by the unique sounds of Waylon Jennings and Lynyrd Skynyrd. But I didn’t pursue music right away out of high school. Read more>>

Jenna Landess

Hi! My name is Jenna Landess. I was born in Michigan but grew up moving around, including spending time in Texas and North Carolina. As an adult, I’ve lived in Texas, Arizona, Georgia, and Ohio. My husband and I met while we were both living in Arizona, and eventually moved to Ohio so he could pursue his degree at the University of Cincinnati. Read more>>

Antoine Spivey

I have always wanted to do media whether it was sports entertainment news it didn’t matter, but I really love talking sports. I attended Ohio media school in 2019 where I wanted to learn and be better in my craft of talking sports learning the business of sports learning the business of media I graduated in 2019. Read more>>

Jessica Benson

My story has been shaped by a lot of different experiences, challenges, losses, and moments of growth. I’ve had to learn how to keep moving forward even when life didn’t go the way I expected. I’ve always been someone who wanted more for myself. I’ve worked different jobs, experienced different environments, and learned something from each chapter of my life. Read more>>

Georgie Hasrouni

I have always been a lifelong NBA fan. Growing up in the Cleveland area, I was a huge Cavaliers fan, and I started watching Cavs basketball around the 2003 season when I was roughly 6 years old. Read more>>

Santos (dj jumpoff Javi) Villa

My journey as a DJ started when I was 15 years old in Rockford, Illinois. I’ve always loved music and the way the right song can completely change the energy in a room. What began as a passion eventually grew into something much bigger. Read more>>

Latonya Owens

My journey has been one of faith, creativity, and trusting God with the gifts He placed inside of me. I’ve always been creative through music, ministry, graphic design, event planning, and photography. Over time, photography became more than something I enjoyed—it became a way to help people feel confident, celebrated, and see themselves differently. Read more>>

Mason Mitchell London Marsinick

InventQuest started with an idea that Mason Mitchell and London Marsinick shared: kids should have opportunities to be creative, build things, experiment, and discover what they’re capable of outside of a traditional classroom. We began by developing the idea for a STEM-focused summer camp for elementary students. Read more>>

Scott Marvin

My career in real estate began long before Team Results Realty. I graduated from Franklin University with a bachelor’s in Business Management. After college, I started selling new homes for local builders, investing in properties, building homes, and working as a traditional real estate agent. During my early career, I began to see an opportunity to do things differently. Read more>>

Jay and Linda Moorman

Our story goes back to 1838, when William Coulter and Joseph Finagin opened a glass-cutting establishment in Cincinnati, Ohio. Over the years, the business evolved and eventually became the Riordan Glass Company, building a reputation for exceptional stained glass craftsmanship and completing commissions throughout the country. Read more>>

Quaylyn Hairston

I’ve always been passionate about photography since I was a young girl. In college, I became the Entertainment Reporter and learned how to use a camera during my first semester. From that moment, I completely fell in love with photography! When I graduated in 2020, I decided to take a leap of faith and pursue photography full-time. Read more>>

Vincent ‘Just Vince’ Stroud

Music and performing has always been in my blood. My first actual performance was in kindergarten when he pantomimed Sammy Davis Jr’s’ hit song, ‘Gingerbread Man’ for the entire school, he has been singing and performing in various choirs and singing groups ever since. Read more>>

EDwen

My name is EDwen, and I’ve been connected to music for as long as I can remember. I started writing and creating music at a young age, especially during a time in my life when I was trying to understand myself. Read more>>

Kassie Okolish

The Barberton Christmas Walk began in 1998 as a way to bring the community together and kick off the holiday season. Held each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, it has become a beloved holiday tradition in Barberton. When Small Business Saturday launched in 2010, it gave the event an additional boost and helped shine an even brighter spotlight on our local businesses. Read more>>

Riley Zavodney

My journey into esthetics honestly wasn’t something I had planned from the beginning. I was attending Kent State University studying sign language, and during COVID, when everything was shut down and we were all spending a lot of time at home, I started doing a lot of research into skincare. Read more>>

Brody Coyote

Hey, I’m Brody! I hope you’re doing well. I go by Brody Coyote and I make music. My grandpa was a country music artist and that was his nickname for me. I was born and raised in Cincinnati, OH. I’m 33 years old as of July 5th, 2026. Read more>>

Kelli-ann Littrell

My balloon business actually started during one of the hardest times in my life. While I was pregnant, my son was born unexpectedly at just 23 weeks. Suddenly, instead of preparing to bring a baby home, I was spending my days in the hospital, navigating the NICU and all of the emotions and uncertainty that came with it. Read more>>

Corey Williams

I started as a professional drag artist in 2000 as a dare by a friend, while I was in undergrad at The Ohio State University. I have been blessed to have held a series of titles including my current title as Miss Gay Ohio 2026. I created the character of Anisa Love to be the superhero that Corey needed when he was younger. Read more>>

Nishi Badireddi

My name is Nishi Badireddi and I am a senior at the University of Toledo majoring in Biology and committed to the Pre-Medical Track. With having doctors in my family and gaining medical experience throughout high school, I became drawn to improving people’s health while supporting them during their most vulnerable time. Read more>>

Derek Ung

When I moved to the Cincinnati area, I noticed there wasn’t a dedicated matcha-focused café that offered both high-quality tea and an educational experience. I was an engineer at the time, but loved the community of Cincinnati in general. I felt there was an opportunity to create something that wasn’t just about serving drinks, but about building a community around them. Read more>>

Jo Potocki

I’ve always been drawn to making things that have a little personality to them. Over time, art became a place where I could put all of those things I didn’t necessarily know how to say another way: humor, hope, strange little thoughts, characters, memories, and whatever happened to be wandering through my head at the time. Read more>>

Rachael Paskvan

I did not grow up knowing I would become a female bodyguard, and I certainly did not imagine that my career would eventually lead me to creating a podcast and platform dedicated to women’s stories. I grew up as the eldest daughter and spent much of my childhood trying to find where I belonged. Read more>>

YMeach

I started dancing when I was around 14. My brother taught me how to do the wave and introduced me to ticking, and I just kept going from there. I started dancing at house parties, battling whenever I got the chance, and developing my own style. During my senior year of high school, I joined my first dance group, the Infamous Six. Read more>>

Philip Terry

I started writing at 13, and that’s really where everything traces back to. I fell in love with music first, but what I actually fell in love with was storytelling, the idea that if you understand story, you understand people and you understand culture. Read more>>

Devon Carter

As a top 50 shooting guard in the country, Devon Carter earned a scholarship to Lehigh University, where he ended up being a two time team captain on two championship contending teams. While at Lehigh, Devon earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology (‘16), a Master’s of Science in Social Psychology (‘18) and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Special Education (‘22). Upon graduation, Dr. Read more>>

Pete Burger Kay Bender

Our band started in the wee hours of the night parked at a graveyard when Kay started showing me (Pete Burger) all the songs she had written in the years leading up to that night . Read more>>

Kimberly Luse

I am a Medical Imaging Professional. I began my career as a Radiologic Technologist, and then worked in the Cardiac and Peripheral Angiography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging specialties. I began to teach in my field, and was the founding faculty member in the Advanced Medical Imaging Department at the University of Cincinnati where I built out the Magnetic Resonance Imaging tract. Read more>>

EngKeat Teh

My story really began with a sense of calling more than a career decision. I’ve always been drawn to understanding why people hurt, why stress affects some more than others, and why certain bodies heal while others struggle. That curiosity — and honestly, a feeling that this work was meant for me — led me into acupuncture and integrative medicine. Read more>>

Kolton Rice

I started OpenEye Studios when I was seventeen, still in high school. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do yet, but I knew it would be something in media, and I’ve always had an entrepreneurial streak. That pushed me to launch OpenEye as a photography company. Read more>>

Taylor Peddicord

I’ve always been the “crazy lady” of pictures. I was the person documenting everything. Every middle school party we had, every vacation, every dinner, every little moment that probably seemed insignificant at the time. If something was happening, I probably had a camera or phone in my hand. Read more>>

Rebekah Beaulieu

I have been working in museums since the age of 16 – for me, it is truly a vocation more than a job. Read more>>

Lisa King

My journey with Brownie Points began in a way I never could have planned. I was an elementary school teacher in Cleveland, Ohio, and baking brownies was simply something I loved to do. What started as a hobby in my family’s kitchen quickly grew into something much bigger. Read more>>

RuMeal

I started out making music at an early age. I would record songs in my bedroom and hand out mixtapes around Columbus, Ohio, while performing at local bars and venues. On May 8, 2015, I released my first EP (Infinite) on digital streaming platforms (AppleMusic, Spotify, Tidal, etc.). Read more>>

Jennifer Hermann

I am the Head Brewer and Co-founder of Bell Tower Brewing Co. in Kent, Ohio. We are preparing to celebrate our 5th Anniversary this October, 2026! The following answers are based on both of these roles at Bell Tower, but focusing mostly on my philosophy about crafting beer. Read more>>

Warley Santana

This version gives Cincinnati the central role in your career story while preserving the humor and emotional arc: My career has never followed a straight or predictable path, and Cincinnati is responsible for one of its most important turning points. Read more>>

Ashley Pavy

milk&honey coffeehouse started as an idea in 2017. In 2021, I purchased an espresso machine for my home and decided to start milk&honey as a mobile business. I catered my first wedding in December of 2022 and worked private events for two years (weddings, photography events, appreciate events, etc.). I took a break from doing pop up events for about 2 years. Read more>>

Nah Lavishd

My journey really started with music, but over time it became much bigger than just being an artist. I’m from the Southside of Columbus, Ohio, and I started recording music in 2019. By 2021, I decided to take myself seriously as an artist and founded Top Tier Music Group. Read more>>

Golpe De Estado

Golpe de Estado started in Columbus, Ohio, with a simple idea: bring together a group of young musicians who loved Música Mexicana but also represented the generation they grew up in. With the help of our manager, Emmanuel Gonzalez, that idea began turning into something much bigger. Read more>>

Eric Porter

I started writing poetry and lyrics at the age of 7 and was able to write full songs between the ages 11-13. I started producing music instrumentals at 14 and was part of a 6 man rap group called Microphone Pressure throughout my high school career. Read more>>

Cecilija Rowane

I grew up in the Cleveland area as the youngest of five girls, so I was always surrounded by family, really shaping my high value for connecting with others. My mom’s parents are from Slovenia, so my Slovenian heritage was also a big part of my upbringing. Read more>>

Andrea Leone

Of all the places in the world that I have been. Dark & Light, amazing & not so amazing. somewhere I thought, ‘there is no way I’m going back there’ & yet, you just cannot control your destiny. If you believe in fate, & then fate throws you a curveball, somehow, someway, Ohio made me realize & see the light in the darkness. Read more>>

Julie Martin

Creativity has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up surrounded by several creative and artistic people in my family, and one of my favorite childhood memories is going to Michael’s with my mom every Saturday. Read more>>

DaShonda Smith

Growing up I was the child who loved watching the food network channel with my grandma. I always looked forward to the holidays so I could be in the kitchen with my mother and grandmother trying to offer my help while watching them make dozens of dishes in so little time. It was so exciting and the best feeling ever just to be under them. Read more>>

Jackie Djordjevic

I started Heirloom Chef after working in the food industry for 13 years. I was feeling over worked and struggling with my personal health. I had been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis as a teenager and struggled into my 20’s with it. I had finally found through my nutrition I was able to get my arthritis into remission. Read more>>

Mark Levis

I have been involved in business development, operations, and entertainment for the entirety of my adult working life. I’ve championed lean six sigma for high profile companies, I’ve helped develop and grow start ups and well-established places of business, and I’ve been a theatre kid and gig actor for longer than anything else, including a brief stint as a theatre teacher for K-8. Read more>>

Joyce Makanda

My journey into the beauty industry was completely unexpected. I never dreamed of becoming a hairstylist. When I was around 11, I was actually baking and selling baked goods with my childhood best friend. Then, in high school, age 16 I got my first sew in. Around that same time, I started experimenting with hair after purchasing bundles from AliExpress. Read more>>

Jairus McNealy and Talicia McNealy

Jairus and I have been married for 23 years, and entrepreneurship was something we both envisioned for ourselves even before we got married. Like many people, however, we followed the traditional path for a long time—building careers, working corporate jobs, raising our family, and doing what we believed we were supposed to do. Read more>>

Antoine Williams

My journey into comedy began unexpectedly while I was in college. One day, while sitting in the library studying for an exam, he had a realization: “What’s the point of me studying for this test? I haven’t been to class all semester.” A classmate who was part of a sorority heard me and thought I was funny. Read more>>

Matthew Cossolotto

My story is reflected, at least somewhat, in different geographic locations. I live in Oberlin, Ohio, now – not far from Cleveland – having moved from Brussels, Belgium, during Covid 19. Before that, I lived in Los Angeles, New York, and the Washington, DC, area. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and studied Political Science at the University of California at Berkeley. Read more>>

Joseph Travis

Eastside Wraps started with a simple idea: turn a passion for cars into something bigger. I used to work at a factory making the film. We had access to the extra film and would do small projects at home. Read more>>

Seth Clark

I’ve always enjoyed art as a kid and growing up tattoos were very prevalent in my life between family members and friends. I wanted a tattoo way before I was old enough. I gave myself my first tattoos at 14 years old with a sewing needle and started getting real tattoos at 16. Art was always a huge part of my life growing up. Read more>>