Kansas City’s Most Inspiring Stories

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.

Steven Hultgren

The past eight years I worked part time in a different wine tasting room in Parkville until it closed. Downtown Parkville is special, in that it’s like stepping into a small town without ever leaving Kansas City. There is a strong sense of community and pride here, and within this community and that tasting room I developed lasting relationships. Through those connections I was frequently asked about the possibility of opening another wine destination in Parkville. I was approached by my partners – they had a property and a plan, but they were looking for the person. I took the plunge. Read More>>

Charles And Dennis Unsderfer

Throughout college, Dennis and I loved to create – whether we were designing or coding an idea, shooting a video, or crafting an animation, we knew it was something we wanted to make into a career. We took this passion for creating and, after graduating from K-State in 2015 in business entrepreneurship, we began our journey shooting videos for small businesses. As we were doing a lot of video work and social media, we continued our journey with website development. We learned quickly that this is where our passion was at. Read More>>

Whitney Pearce

In high school, I took FACS classes to expand my skills and combined my love for sewing with a flair for art. In my early twenties, I worked at David’s Bridal, where I quickly discovered that sales wasn’t my calling. I was drawn to the creativity and precision of alterations, so I transitioned into that department and spent four years perfecting my craft. While I enjoyed the work, I learned that long hours and the rollercoaster of bridal seasons weren’t for me. Read More>>

Shania Samuels

Beyond Barre Fitness began in the summer of 2021, a whirlwind season for me. I had just graduated from UMKC with my Bachelor’s degree and gotten married—all within a month! After such a busy time, I wanted to find something that allowed me to give back to myself and help manage my anxiety. That’s when I discovered a studio in Kansas City offering Yoga and Barre classes. I tried them out and instantly fell in love with both the community and the Barre fitness format. However, I quickly noticed the lack of diversity among the students and teachers in the classes. I thought to myself, I can do this—I can teach classes and bring more diversity to this fitness community. Read More>>

Andrea Johnson

Let’s get right into it! I had a series of accidents occur that changed the entire course of my life, 8 years ago I fell down 2 flights of stairs and 9 months later I was shot in the head with part of a mortar firework in a freak accident at a Fourth of July party. As you can imagine I was extremely injured and I was dying. The first accident happened in Florida while the 2nd accident happened in Missouri. With that in mind, I had a hard time getting the correct treatment from doctors. They weren’t understanding how injured I was and was overmedicating me.  Read More>>

Dena Saunders

In 2021 we moved to a small 5 acre plot of land after experiencing the pandemic and looking for a lifestyle change for our growing family. At the time, this plan didn’t include the words “farm, flowers, or homestead”. We simply wanted more space and less noise. It didn’t take long for my brain to be permanently altered by the dirt in a small raised garden bed. Read More>>

Nichole Fox

Even with a busy schedule, Nichole finds immense joy in giving back to the community through volunteering at St. Mary’s Food Kitchen and becoming a licensed foster parent. When she’s not immersed in the world of media and community engagement, you’ll likely find her jamming out at concerts or whisking away on weekend getaways, soaking in new experiences and creating memories that add vibrant colors to the canvas of her life. Read More>>

Kamille Washington

Since I was a young girl I knew I wanted to help others who were going through challenging situations. My faith and belief in God had been the core of my existence and helping others seemed like my life’s work. And that in itself comes trails and test even for myself, some self inflicted and some just life circumstances. I know a lot about challenges. I became a teen mom to a beautiful baby boy at the age of 17, persevered and graduated on schedule.  Read More>>

Angie Ritz

During college, life threw me a curveball when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. Alongside the challenges of supporting her, I found myself navigating my own growing anxiety, especially around the idea of not being fully prepared for the unpredictability of therapy sessions. I decided to step away from my dream of becoming a therapist but stayed in the mental health field, working in supportive roles at community-based mental health organizations. Read More>>

Rebecca Pappas, LPC

Once we began interning, I found a passion for woman’s mental health. I love working with women, we have experienced a lot of trauma and I believed and still do believe that we can heal and move on to have amazing lives. I worked in a long term treatment center for women with duel diagnosis and then a community counseling center during my internship. What I began to notice was that many of my clients were diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder or a combination of depression, Anxiety, and PTSD which also presents much like Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). I was hooked! I found my passion and calling. I found my place in my community where I knew I could make a difference. Read More>>

Sir Adams

I’m a creator. Music, poetry, entertainment, I just entertain. I have my whole life. That’s what I’ve always been known for, being me and being that energetic entertainer. Performing at Oktoberfest in Lee’s Summit and being covered in the Kansas City Star news outlet were definitely the highlights of the year, and two of my career. Just two pivotal things that showed growth throughout my career. Read More>>

Erica Gingrich

I got started with hand lettering back in 2016 while I was in college. I have always loved handwriting and at the time modern calligraphy was becoming popular on chalkboards and wood boards and I thought to myself “I could do that!”. So I bought some brush pens and a notebook and spent hours upon hours watching TV just writing every word or saying that I heard in this notebook until I got better and better and found my “style” of hand lettering. I filled up so many notebooks practicing my lettering and I actually still have them to this day because they are such a tangible memory of not giving up and honestly the start of where my business was formed. Read More>>

Amanda Sampson

Helping others has always been a passion of mine, so naturally, I thought nursing was the right career for me. However, I soon realized it wasn’t my true calling. I had been doing lash extensions for about five years and decided to expand my skills by going to nail school. I’ve always loved drawing and expressing creativity, so I knew this was the perfect fit for me. Investing in myself and pursuing this path has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Read More>>

Mariko Dehning

After my second son was born I suffered from bad postpartum depression. I could barely do anything and felt like I had lost hope. But thankfully my husband was very supportive and with the help of medical treatments I started feeling better. I began to think what I would like to do in my life besides taking care and raising my family, I had realized how short life could be. Read More>>

Karyn Morrow

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried in the bathroom. Just figuring out the complexities of the wax seals has sent me over the edge numerous times. There’s always a number of rabbit holes I can go down on any given day: “Will the financing come through? What if no one likes the new product? Why didn’t I foresee (fill in the blank) happening?” Read More>>

Jennifer Hoover

I had already been working and serving as a worship leader for several years in New Orleans when I graduated so I continued on that path. I served on the church staff at three local churches and worked odd jobs on the side to make ends meet. My dream and life’s passion was worth it but it was hard work. I was far from my Kansas family for many years and still single. Groups of friends and classmates came and went several times over and I began to think on what was next for me. I knew I wanted to use my music skills to teach others but I didn’t know where to start. Read More>>

Cheri Regis

While my artistic journey formally began in 2003 when I was 10, my small business journey formally began in 2012 at 19 when I began selling my art and crafts at craft fairs and other events. I was at community college getting my associate’s so I had to balance my business with my studies at the time. Fast forward to 2021, and I had launched a new website dedicated to my practice. The following year, I had left my job in retail to go back to school to pursue both a fine art and business degree. The transition was tough, but I knew deep down that it would help me grow and evolve as an artist and small business owner. Read More>>

Mindy Gorton

I’ve always wanted to soak up as much of life as I possibly can. I was born with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, and that has instilled within me a passion for the congenital cardiac community, which is evident in my career path. I volunteer for two different heart camps: Camp Systole in Kansas City and Camp Del Corazon on Catalina Island, and I began my (second) career as a nurse in pediatric cardiology. I have since worked as a nurse navigator for adult congenital cardiology patients as well. I am active in the Kansas City chapter of The Adult Congenital Heart Association and seek to empower those with a congenital defect through education as well as being a resource. Read More>>

Fuzzy Goldwater

I don’t think it’s a smooth road for any musician nowadays. There’s always the perils of life on the road when you’re traveling to grow a national audience. Our situation is a bit unique, because my bandmates and I are spread out litterally across two states. Travel is part of the game. It seems like getting a foot in the door to be heard is our greatest struggle right now. Our sound is a little different and some venues are apprehensive about original bands. We still play a lot of covers to fill 3 to 4 hour sets, but unless you have like 5k followers on Facebook or something, original bands get overlooked a lot of times. Read More>>

Hillary Youngblood

Overall it’s been smooth, everything has happened really organically and slowly over time. I feel like it’s been a slow journey since it started as a child when I started collecting souvenir spoons, so it was no surprise when I developed a love of spoons rings. And my path has been a smooth and easy path into being a jewelry maker because I’ve had such great support from my family, especially my husband and mother, which just keeps driving me further into being successful at my craft. I just keep dreaming bigger and keep being met with enthusiasm from my family and patrons. Read More>>

Bobbi Jo Reed

Over the years, Healing House has grown far beyond what I ever imagined. We now have over a dozen recovery homes, programs like Erin’s House for mothers and children, employment opportunities, and a community that transforms lives daily. Every step of this journey has been guided by faith, hard work, and the incredible team and participants who make Healing House what it is today. Read More>>

Alexa King

Honestly, I got really lucky with the immense support I’ve gotten since I’ve started photography. However, I do struggle inward with my work from time to time as most creatives & business owners do! Trying to balance my business and person life has not been easy for me. I tend to over work myself with late nights, feeling guilty enjoying down time, skipping out on plans to get more work done, and responding to clients as soon as they reach out no matter what I’m doing. Wearing all of the hats isn’t always easy, but I wouldn’t trade my business for anything! Read More>>

Kenda Graves

What is life without its ebbs and flows? My journey has been both purposeful and humbling. It wasn’t always cool to be a creative. I’ve dealt with public scrutiny and fake love. I’ve also had to overcome debilitating mental health issues. Life reminded me that even though I may study psychology and social work, I am not immune to their downfalls. I would say out of all the hardships in life, the biggest challenge I had to overcome was myself. I had to essentially unlearn all that I knew and teach myself how to only worry about what I can control and to not take everything in life so seriously. Read More>>