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.
LORRIE BOYDSTON
My story begins in the suburban northland area of Kansas City, MO where I grew up. I took an interest in art at a very young age with drawing and painting being my strongest areas in school. Read more>>
Aubre Springer
About 12 years ago now, I took my oldest daughter to have her 6 month photos done at a local big box store’s portrait studio and saw they were hiring and thought it might be a good way to get some extra cash since we were just barely making it by at the time. Read more>>
Adriana Martinez
I grew up taking photos with either a Polaroid or disposable camera in hand. I still have all my prints in scrapbooks and boxes of photos til this day! Photography just came natural to me and always felt like the right path to pursue. I feel I took after my mom who also took a lot of photos back in her days. Read more>>
Derrick Lambright
I think a lot of who I am today started pretty early. I joined student council in fourth grade and stayed involved in leadership throughout school, eventually serving as student body president in high school. Around the same time, I was also getting exposed to technology. Read more>>
Corey Quinonez
Believe In Your Beard | A Beard Care and Lifestyle Brand | Established in 2015 with quality, craftsmanship and originality at its core. Over a decade later, we have focused on creating innovative collaborations with our products. Creating a product that no one has ever seen before and enjoys has been really rewarding. Read more>>
Haley Lane
As a child, I was hurriedly scribbling drawings of animals with big sharp teeth; As a teenager, I was constantly making marks in my sketchbook; In my 20s, I developed a business for my artwork and gained a world of experience; And now, I run HaleyLaneArt, creating a world full of monsters. Read more>>
Zach Nuss
I am foremost an educator. I use my skills in storytelling and coaching to cultivate an environment conducive to growth and change for my clients, customers, and readers. In 2019, I started Nuss Fitness LLC in a tiny corner of a 10×10 spare bedroom, armed only with an iPad, a Zoom account, and a passion for providing wellness to anyone, anywhere. Read more>>
Carly Harrington
Looking back, my path hasn’t been a straight line. Instead, it has been a series of experiences that kept leading me toward the same purpose: helping people live healthier, more meaningful lives. For much of my career, I worked in the healthcare and cancer space, eventually serving in executive leadership roles within nonprofit organizations. Read more>>
Gabriel Vaquedano
The Journey: From Honduran Roots to Global Legal Vision “Not just to announce it, but to document the process: with foreign legal roots, inside the U.S. academic transition fueling global ambition.” My story is defined by a continuous drive to bridge cultures, legal systems, and borders. Read more>>
rosana polanco
My name is Rosana Polanco, mother of 3 beautiful daughters(19, 14, 10), Kansas City, MO native, and cofounder – Executive Director of Embrace Your Shine, a new 501c3, disrupting the tradeoff between survival and success for young people (16-30 years old) who are facing Hidden Homelessness while attending college or workforce training programs. Ive been working on this launch for 3 years now. Read more>>
Brayden Seimears
It all started when I was a young boy, my dad owned his own business (Seimears & Son) and was supposed to pass it down to me but sadly passed before I was grown. Read more>>
Amy Brooks
I am a Nebraska native who transplanted to St. Joseph, MO after graduating college at Northwest Missouri State University. There I met my husband and post graduation we both found jobs in St. Joe and invested in our community as we were surrounded by incredible people. Read more>>
Nina Ward
-We make delicious cheese dips sold in 100 locations in the US. -Nina(right) started in 86’ in her R&D journey to make our family’s taco sauce in mass production. Through the years, she has found small batches are best. To which, she has developed some of her favorite recipes to perfection & created KCC Cheese Dips. Read more>>
Kenny Marshall
I started photography in 2007 at the age of 17 and the rest is history, I’ve always loved photographing memories and moments, in 2019 I decided to pick up the camera again and go full swing into photography again, after years and years of cultivating my craft and finding my style I am where I am today! Read more>>
Krista Williams
I started Neatly Done in 2018, after many years in the corporate world. Neatly Done was founded from my desire to own my own company and my passion for giving families the same joy I’ve experienced from a simplified, organized home. As my life got busier with roles as a mom and wife, I felt myself naturally lean into organization. Read more>>
Daniel Ingram
My story really started with a simple desire to build something of my own and create opportunities for the people around me. I started small, learning as I went and figuring things out through experience rather than having a perfect roadmap. Over time, those early experiences helped me develop a clearer vision for what I wanted to build. As METROS has grown, so have I. Read more>>
Pragati Siddhanti
My Swiss Story began in June 2016, around the same time I moved to Switzerland. I had already been writing for some time, initially publishing articles on my sister’s website, Be for Beauty. When I moved to Switzerland, I naturally started writing about my experiences here too. At the time, there was no separate My Swiss Story website. Read more>>
Rachel Crawford
April 3rd, 2018, was my personal Independence Day. I have scoliosis and spent years battling severe chronic pain. Eventually, I was placed on daily prescription narcotics & was on them for over 15 years, but they never truly relieved the pain. I was still taking ibuprofen and additional tylenol and my liver and kidneys were very unhappy. Read more>>
Iman Pickens
I didn’t get into portrait photography because I wanted to simply take pictures of people. What interested me was everything happening around the picture, finding a location, creating a certain feeling, and turning an ordinary day into something that feels worth remembering. The more I photographed people, the more I realized there doesn’t always have to be a major occasion. Read more>>
Noah Vibes
So I come from a music backround with my family. My dad was a local Dj in Omaha Nebraska where I’m from and my mom sung in the choir for church. So all types of different music was always in my face. Read more>>
Christa Jacobson
My journey began decades ago through the study of traditional Japanese martial arts and the history and tradition surrounding the ninja. Over the years, I became increasingly passionate about not only learning these ancient traditions (called ryuha) but preserving them and making them accessible to people who who genuinely wanted to study them. Read more>>
Casey Smith
Helping people is something I’ve always enjoyed, even from a young age. Combined with my interest in science, it naturally led me to nursing. While I was in nursing school, I began noticing that some of my classmates were struggling to understand certain concepts, even with instruction from our professors. Read more>>
Jean Vergaray
I started taking my first salsa class at 16. I was already passionate about the music and the dance, but never in a structured way until then — and I got hooked fast. At 18, I got more proactive about growing my skills and joined a dance team at a studio in Jackson Heights, Mambo Bravo. Read more>>
Morgan Loebel
I’m a lifelong artist, and my path here started in an unlikely place — over 20 years as a dental lab technician, mastering how to mimic the realistic textures and details of human anatomy: teeth, translucency, the small imperfections that make something read as real instead of fake. Read more>>
Lucy Garcia
Ever since I got engaged, I’ve always loved having our photos taken. We had two engagement sessions and two wedding sessions, and through that experience, I realized how much I truly valued having those memories captured. Read more>>
Allison Madden
I have been baking for as long as I can remember. My Grandma Steen (dad’s side) was an amazing baker and I have memories from when I was VERY VERY young of learning to bake in her kitchen when the rest of my siblings and cousins were outside playing. She passed when I was young, about 6 years old, but her influence stayed with me. Read more>>
Sharita Rush
My journey into entrepreneurship really took off in 2018 when I was laid off from my corporate IT job. At the time, I could have viewed it as a setback, but instead, I chose to see it as an opportunity to bet on myself. Read more>>
Maria Elena Schlichting
I have always been a lover of all things related to beauty and skincare. I’m a girly girl! Read more>>
Lindsay Masker
I started Core Maternal Fitness in the spring of 2026. When I was pregnant with my third, I couldn’t find clear, trustworthy guidance on how to exercise safely so I got certified as a prenatal and postnatal coach. After 12 years in the fitness industry, I knew exactly what kind of business I wanted to build: one that comes to the mom. Read more>>
Kenichi Ota
Before opening KC Craft Ramen, I spent six years as a consultant helping people across the country launch their own ramen shops. I watched client after client succeed using the systems and knowledge I gave them, until I found myself asking a bigger question: what would happen if I poured everything I had into running a shop myself? Read more>>
Phylicia Thompson
I started 2 Beatz Boutique in 2016, originally as an online boutique. The name 2 Beatz actually comes from my two children—“2 Beatz like 2 heartbeats”—so from the very beginning, this business has been incredibly personal to me. What started online eventually grew into a mobile boutique, and I spent time taking the boutique to different events and communities. Read more>>
Michael Joiner
I started doing stand-up comedy in 1991, and like most comedians, I started at the very bottom. Read more>>
Jordan Dillon
I was playing drums in bands in my early twenties. I started refinishing kits and got hooked on working with my hands. That led me into carpentry and eventually furniture making. I absorbed as much knowledge as I could and now I make furniture pieces with the time and care as the craftspeople of the past Read more>>
Isaiah Radke
We’re 3 homeschooled brothers from St. Joseph, Missouri that grew on our dads record collection. We played our first show in 2011 opening for Fishbone. We recorded our first E.P. in 2013 and toured all over the U.S., Europe and the U.K. And we’ve been going non-stop ever since then. Read more>>
Mattone Beats
I’m Mattone, better known as Mattone Beats. I’m a producer out of Kansas City, and I’ve always been into music and creating shit from scratch. My sound is mainly R&B, trap, soul, and atmospheric stuff, but I don’t like putting myself in a box because I’m always experimenting and trying different things. Read more>>
Bay Shreve
I’ve always been crafty, and one who will get into any “hobby” and either do exceedingly well or I lose interest…I’ve gained a handful of skills from this over time! BUT party planning/decorating is my favorite, by far! Beck And Bay was originally going to be a small business selling handmade soaps and t-shirts. Read more>>
Mimi Nichole
Music and performing have been a part of my life since I was five years old, beginning in church and continuing through stage plays as I grew up. One production that has always stayed with me is ‘Im Worth Waiting For’ Produced By: Pat Pearl, a play that encouraged young people to practice abstinence and recognize their value. Read more>>
Brandon Williams
Williams Family Ranch and Farms really started from a love of being outdoors, working with our hands, and creating something we could build as a family. I have always enjoyed working with equipment, the land, and growing things, and over time that interest grew into the idea of starting our own tree farm. Read more>>
Heather Jones
Mudbug Cajun Po Boys started with a dream of a restaurant and a food truck. Reflecting on Chef Chris southern roots Mudbug Mobile Madness was born. He started with four Po Boys and Gumbo. From there he perfected the menu offerings and expanded the menu into what it is today. Read more>>
Madia Brown
I started as a child 9 yrs old to be exact, playing in my friends hair. I hated getting ky hair combed so I learned how to do my own hair so my mom could leave me alone. It hurt when she combed my hair. Read more>>
Jeff Slutskiy
Dr. Jeff Slutskiy is a fourth generation dentist, dating back to his great-grandparents in the Soviet Union. He grew up in Los Angeles, CA and earned his DMD degree at Midwestern University in Glendale, AZ. He moved to Kansas City in 2019 and purchased Odessa Family Dental in Odessa, MO. Read more>>
Amy Scarborough
I hail from Austin, TX where I first started my skin studio business, Amy’s Skincare, in 2002. In 2016, I moved to Kansas City, and have made this my home. I now operate Skin Studio KC in West Waldo, where I help my clients love the skin they’re in by offering science-based corrective and anti-aging skin treatments and waxing services. Read more>>
Adi Shamir
My story really started long before I knew wellness would become my career. I grew up as a competitive gymnast, so movement, discipline, and pushing my body were always a big part of my life. But professionally, I took a very different path—I became an engineer and spent years working long hours in a demanding corporate environment. Read more>>
Portia Stewart
Portia Stewart, BS, RYT 500, RPYT, C-IAYT. I am a yoga therapist, award-winning journalist, and innovation consultant. I’ve combined innovation and creativity principles and adopted mindfulness practices to launch my business, Mind Full Creatives. I leverage my background leading high-performing media teams to promote well being inside and outside the workplace, speaking to audiences that include women in technology, veterinary professionals, and corporate innovators. Read more>>
Tanner Wilkens
At 14 years old I bought my first car. It was a hand-me-down from my mother, 1987 Honda Accord. I enjoyed the car until I started learning more about accessories, modification, etc. I sold the Honda Accord to then take my first loan and bought a 1992 Chevy S10 pickup truck. This turned into a project. Read more>>
