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.
Jacquie Pershing, LCSW
Whew, big question. Honestly, my path into this work is deeply personal. I often say I didn’t choose grief work as much as it chose me. Grief has been a quiet companion in my life for a long time. I grew up watching both of my parents live with chronic illness. I experienced my dad’s death, and later, my mom’s death after years of Alzheimer’s. Read more>>
Heather Grayberg
I’ve been in the performing arts for as long as I can remember. I started performing at five years old and was choreographing professionally by the time I was fourteen, so storytelling and creative leadership have really always been at the center of who I am. Read more>>
Chloe Fetrow
My life goal was to one day be a women’s college basketball coach. Pat Summit was my biggest influence growing up. I was heavily involved in playing AAU for most of my young life. Basketball was all I knew. When I graduated high school in 2005, I was given a scholarship to play basketball for Immaculata University (D3). Read more>>
Caitlin Durning
I started my journey in business at 22 years old, driven by a deep desire for freedom, creativity, and connection. What began as a passion for social media quickly evolved into something much bigger—a mission to help others be seen, heard, and understood in a world that moves fast and often feels disconnected. Read more>>
James Hemphill
I came to the Philadelphia area for college and stayed. As a child and teenager, I moved several times, and I had to readjust to very different communities. Perhaps for that reason, I’ve lived in only two places since 1982. I graduated from Swarthmore in 1978 with a History degree with High Honors. I’d been pre-law and went to work for a law firm. Read more>>
Sodiann Malcolm
I am a wellness entrepreneur and mother who built my brand from a place of purpose, resilience, and a deep commitment to helping others reconnect with themselves. My journey into wellness wasn’t just a career path it was a calling shaped by life experiences that revealed the true importance of healing, balance, and self-worth. Read more>>
Rebecca Beardsley
Chimney Cricket has always been more than a business to us, it’s been part of our family’s identity for nearly 40 years. My father, Phil Taggart, started building chimneys and fireplaces when he was just 18. What began as hands-on craftsmanship grew into a full-service company as he expanded into chimney care in the 1980s. Read more>>
Nicole Raptapolus
I began my journey in the beauty industry through a vocational program while still in high school, which gave me an early foundation and clear direction for my career. After graduating, I started as an assistant, where I developed both technical skills and a deep understanding of the salon environment. Read more>>
Aric Christensen Molly Krichten
In the summer of 2025, we had a hankering for fried peanuts like the ones we’d get at convenience stores in Florida. We knew they weren’t sold in stores in Pittsburgh, and we didn’t really want to order them from Amazon, so we decided to make them ourselves. Read more>>
Anthony Essis
Everyone has a different journey, and it isn’t always easy. Some of us face more challenges than others, but we have to keep moving forward. What keeps me going is having purpose and helping people use their money for what truly matters. The importance of that is something I learned at a young age. Read more>>
Jonina Turzi Sarah Salluzzo
Our Story Lancaster Farm Sanctuary was founded by two Lancaster County natives who began their work in animal protection through legislative advocacy. Early on, we focused on advancing laws intended to protect animals from cruelty and neglect. But over time, we came up against a difficult truth. Many of those protections did not extend to farmed animals in meaningful ways. Read more>>
Paula Phenneger
My love for cooking became both my passion and my lifeline. I trained and worked in France as a Head Chef and Sous Chef in fine dining and hotels. In 2005, my husband Wayne and i got married he moved to France and six years later in 2012 we moved to Pennsylvania, and we built a life together while raising our children. Read more>>
Barbara Kostyak
In 1996, Brad and I married and became partners in a homebuilding business in central Pennsylvania. We purchased a skid loader and quickly realized the standard loader bucket wasn’t suitable for tasks like brush removal, lawn preparation, grading, and storm cleanup. Read more>>
Antonio García
My name is Antonio. I started working in Fellinis Media in 2001. I began as a dishwasher and worked my way through every station in the kitchen, eventually becoming a sous chef. In 2011 I started as Head Chef at Ariano, where I remained until 2025. Read more>>
Tucker Dagle
Tucker Dagle, founder and CEO of Stone Gate Property Group, has always had a passion for real estate, though his early career took a different path through military service. He began as a U.S. Army intelligence analyst, where he developed a strong foundation in complex problem-solving. Read more>>
tom Rupnicki
It all started when I decided to go back to Art school at Columbia in Chicago, IL. I majored in photography and studied the history of photography. While at Columbia I became very interested in Ceramics and started throwing pots and hand building sculpture. After graduating in 1985 I moved back to my hometown in Media, Pa. Read more>>
Dr. Victoria Best
I didn’t start with a blueprint—I started with a sense of responsibility shaped by my life early on. I’m the youngest of eight children from my mother. After the age of two, I never lived with my mother again. I met my father once and never saw him again in my life. Read more>>
Constance McBride
My career is defined by a mix of structure and creativity. I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media Communications and a Master’s Certificate in Project Management. I spent my youth making art then pivoted, gaining over 25 years of experience in the corporate world before transitioning back to a dedicated art practice. Read more>>
Jason Smith
I was working a warehouse job back in 2022 when I decided I was sick of working for people who treated us like we were just a number. No insurance, no vacation days, no respect, and little pay. That’s no way for anyone to live. I grew up with a mom who I always looked to and who was always very clean, organized, and orderly. Read more>>
Nicole M. Wolverton
The road to being a horror writer and horror scholar is at once long and winding, and a straight line. I was a weirdly curious kid with a creative streak, and I grew up into a weirdly curious adult with a more developed creative streak. Even though I’ve been writing horror since I was very young, publication didn’t happen until I was in my mid-thirties. Read more>>
Richard Metz
I grew up in suburban philadelphia, and couldn’t wait to escape. What I did like was the amount of nature around me, and became happy and comfortable being in those areas. My uncle was a painter, and a friend of my parents, so I could see that world as a possiblity. Read more>>
Nick Polito
I’m a singer-songwriter from southwestern Pennsylvania with deep blue-collar roots. After spending nearly a decade working in the coal mine, I left that life behind in 2021 to pursue music full-time. Since then, I’ve released original music, performed hundreds of live shows, and opened for artists such as Tracy Byrd, Diamond Rio, Lee Greenwood, Ira Dean (formerly of Trick Pony), and The Clarks trio. Read more>>
Melinda Kehres
I began my career working part-time in a small medical office while attending college and raising my son before he reached school age. At the time, my role was limited to collections, and the office itself was quiet, with little activity. But as I progressed through my studies—earning a Bachelor of Science and focusing on medicine—my circumstances began to shift. Read more>>
Basil Kershner
Brothers Kershner Brewing Co. opened in July 2018 in Skippack Village Pennsylvania by Basil & Kevin Kershner. Shortly thereafter they brought a little taste of the brewery back to their Chester County roots opening Brothers on the Brandywine-Beer Garden. What started out as a pop-up for there mobile beer bar ‘BroGo’ has morphed into an oasis hidden gem along the banks of the Brandywine Creek. Read more>>
Ventnor Wright
I was raised by my father, a minister/pastor, and my mother, a private home cleaner and organist. Being the youngest of three children, my parents took me all the community funerals. I remember being 8 years old and telling my mother that I wanted to be an ‘undertaker’. I was fascinated with the funerals I saw. Read more>>
Heather Dailey
My crafting journey started in a way I never expected. In September 2024, Lyme disease completely changed my life and left me hospitalized for two months. I lost the ability to walk and had very limited fine motor control in my hands. Read more>>
Ramona Robinson
At 35, I was a single mom diagnosed with cancer. Six months earlier, I had just graduated as a hypnotist. At the time, I didn’t realize how much I would come to rely on what I had learned. During treatment, I used hypnosis on myself to stay calm, grounded, and mentally strong. It became something I could return to when everything else felt uncertain. Read more>>
Amanda Urgo
Becoming a chiropractor was always something that interested me, but felt like something that was out of reach. I felt this way until I was more than halfway through my undergraduate degree in business management and bored out of my mind. I did not know what my future held, so I circled back to chiropractic. Some people are jealous that I did things backwards. Read more>>
Janet Taylor
My journey really began out of necessity. I started the business as a result of a layoff back in 1993, and over the years, I went from part-time to full-time, adding services like life and time management. What I discovered in that transition was that I had a natural gift for creating order — and more importantly, that it genuinely changed people’s lives. Read more>>
Lexi Styga
I started Sip and Shine when my daughter was just three months old. I wanted to find a way to stay home with her. I remember calling my mom and crying because I didn’t know what to do. My mom drove 6 hours to start my buisness that day. Read more>>
Darren Martin
One of my favorite questions I definitely get asked this a good bit from people starting out who are just like me and wanna know! I’ve always had an interest in music growing up. I grew up on Christian music. My first mom played a lot of piano. Read more>>
Juliette Gamble
I didn’t follow a traditional path—I built mine from the ground up. From putting myself through University of Pennsylvania to earning my Master’s at Villanova University, I’ve always believed in doing the work and trusting the process. Over the past 30+ years, I’ve worked with more than 5,000 clients—supporting individuals, families, athletes, and professionals through stress, trauma, and life transitions. Read more>>
Melissa Smith
When my husband and I found out we were having our first baby, we did a type of rock, paper, scissors to figure out which one of us would stay home. He says he ‘won’ because he ended up being a stay-at-home dad, while I worked. Sixteen years and three sons later, this has been our world. Read more>>
Ash Zimmerman
Hi there! My name is Ash. I’m a 25-year-old entrepreneur based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but my journey to business ownership began from a place of deep stillness. After being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and several co-morbidities, I found myself navigating palliative care and a grueling schedule of specialists that left me largely bedridden. Read more>>
Amanda Fedele
My love for photography started back in high school when I took photography classes and realized how much I genuinely enjoyed it; it stuck with me, but it really became something more when I was 21 and my now husband gifted me my first camera for Christmas. I remember opening it and feeling so excited; I couldn’t put it down. Read more>>
Rick Basilio
I grew up around this craft. My father was a master carpenter, so some of my earliest memories are of him building. Ironically, I had zero interest in woodworking for most of my life. It wasn’t until my 30s that he showed me how to make a simple cutting board—and that was the hook. Read more>>
Cassandra Weber
I got my first camera when I was about 15 years old. I went on a cross country road trip at 18 and started taking photos of all landscape for fun and myself mostly. I started photographing friends and getting little jobs here and there and then realized how much I loved documenting humans and preserving those emotions. Read more>>
Sam Yesko
I’ve always been an artist my whole life. Growing up with family members in all different parts of their own art exploration such as music, painting, makeup, and illustration, I knew that I was destined to become an artist myself. I started doing dance and baton twirling. I dedicated 13 years of competitive baton competitions starting in my early life. Read more>>
Jynuine Wallace
Hi, My name is Jynuine Wallace I am currently a licensed Registered Nurse from Pittsburgh, PA. I started my career as a home care aide then furthered my education to become a certified nursing assistant in 2011. As the years went on, my passion for caring for people grew. Read more>>
Elizabeth Ziegler
Royal Oaks Flower Farm is a 6-acre seasonal cut flower farm where we grow thousands of blooms and open our gardens to the community for Pick-Your-Own flowers. Our goal is to create a beautiful, serene place where people can slow down, enjoy the outdoors, and take home locally grown flowers to brighten their lives. Read more>>
Algassimou Diallo
I was born in Samantan, a small town tucked into the Fouta-Djalon highlands of Guinea, West Africa. Picture red earth roads, hills that disappear into the clouds, and the kind of tight-knit community where everybody knows your name and your father’s name. My father was a schoolteacher. Read more>>
Eva Mercer
I started by trying to make sense of my own life. I’m a disabled veteran and a survivor, and for a long time writing was the place where I could process things I didn’t always know how to say out loud. Poetry and lyrics came first. They gave me a way to take pain, memory, anger, resilience, and transformation and turn them into something honest. Read more>>
Courtney Farinelli
H2L Studio opened in 2015 as a place that clients can have it all under 1 roof. We’ve grown in the past 11 years to offer Cycle, Barre, Pilates, Yoga, HIIT, Bootcamp, Massage/Wellness Appointments and more. H2L Stands for Healthy Holistic Living and we do out best to aid our clients in living a healthier life. Read more>>
Jackie Danko
I started with a passion for connecting people, creating joy, and bringing energy into every room I walked into. What began as a love for music, entertainment, wellness, and helping others slowly grew into something much bigger than I ever imagined. Read more>>
Damon Clark
I started working in IT after college and was always eager to learn and work on side projects independently. I taught myself web design and development over the past 10+ years. Yet I failed to launch and grow many software as a service businesses. However I had learned a lot and started doing website services on the side for various friends and family. Read more>>
Dre Ceja
Take a leap of faith! Dre Ceja had established themselves in the DEI space as an educator, consultant, and curriculum designer. After a sudden workplace layoff, Dre found themself at a crossroads. As a lifelong artist, they could either boldly move forward with an artistic career they were always interested in, or they live give up their dream and live with regrets. Read more>>
Christine Piselli
My journey into the fitness industry began after giving birth to my first son. I had gained 55 pounds and for the first time in my life, I had to lose weight after his birth. My sister invited me to a local gym for an Aerobics class. I walked into the large studio, heard the music, saw the choreography and I was hooked for life! Read more>>
Suman, Prakash, Nobon Shrestha and Kandel and Ghalley
: One year ago, Curryzone opened its doors with a vision of sharing the flavors, cultures, and traditions that have shaped our lives. Located at 3800 Trindle Rd, Camp Hill, PA 17011, our goal was simple — to bring authentic Indian, Nepali, and Indo-Chinese cuisine to the community while creating a place where people could connect over great food and meaningful moments. Read more>>
Ross Manders
My wife and I moved our family from Minnesota in 2012 to start Restoration Church. We had some connections in lower Bucks and saw the need for more churches so we started the process of starting Restoration. A church in Levittown closed their doors in 2013 and we agreed to take the building from them. We renovated it and made it our home base. Read more>>
Kiana Bangura
Growing up in West Philadelphia taught me resilience early on. I attended the School of the Future and was part of its very first graduating class, which was a unique experience that really shaped how I see growth, change, and opportunity. At 19, I stepped into the airline industry, looking for independence and a way to build something for myself. Read more>>
