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.
Meredith Baker 
I have always loved flowers, a love birthed from my grandma’s discipleship in finding beauty in the ordinary, everyday moments. At a young age, I found joy in wildflowers as I roamed the fields of my home state of Michigan. Read more>>
Grace Fox 
I would love to. I started taking sports photos at my college Cabrini university and fell in love with it and love how people reacted to them. I have always been around cameras. My dad loves taking photos of the family so it would always be at events. Read more>>
Kirsten Blair-Johnson 
My path to yoga and holistic health was born from my own health crisis. I spent 10 years in Human Resources, working in manufacturing, corporate, public sector schools, and higher education. I started in HR during college, working in my college’s human resources department while obtaining my degree in Business Administration with a minor in Human Resources. Read more>>
Beth Yeingst
River’s Place was started in 2017 as a joint project of the Manheim Township Ministerium of Churches and the Manheim Township School District. It began when the goal to clothe children in need had outgrown the space that the school district was able to support. It was then that St. Peter’s Lutheran Church offered to take point for this much needed mission. Read more>>
Michael Flora 
My Career Journey & the Story Behind Local Social My career began in sales after graduating from Southern Methodist University. In 2005, I moved to the Philadelphia area to be closer to my parents, who lived in Bucks County, and soon found myself running a payroll and staffing company focused heavily on teamwork, relationships, and business development. Read more>>
Scott Bigos 
In Middle School I was a skateboarder and I made skate videos. In high school I made funny videos with my friends. I went to film school at Temple. Made a movie after that. Made more sketches. Eventually got on Titktok. I was a wedding videographer for 10 years before getting consistent with youtube and monetizing it. Read more>>
Meg Ruzicka 
My story really started long before Mindful Phases had a name. I became a mother and like so many women, quickly realized how much motherhood changes every part of you. Then in January 2018, I lost my mom to suicide. That loss completely changed the direction of my life. Read more>>
Carmela Marcellino 
I went to college and tried to make it work. I just was not thriving in the setting and when Covid shut everything down I decided I was going to drop out. Before I dropped out without a plan, I had enrolled in Polley and Associates Real Estate School. I received my real estate license. I’ve been doing real estate part time since 2021. Read more>>
Lexie Hagan 
Before Mindfully Mina’s, I had just graduated from Temple University and was pursuing a career in environmental science, working a hands-on field internship that I thought was my dream path. As that chapter came to an end, I was looking for a new challenge and found myself becoming increasingly interested in our food system, ingredients, and the growing better-for-you movement. Read more>>
Ashruta Shettar 
I was born in India, and I’ve always believed the best way to grow is to help others grow alongside you. By day, I’m a Technology Consultant at Deloitte Consulting. In 2023, I opened my first Sugaring NYC studio in Harrisburg, and in 2025, our second in Mechanicsburg. Today we have a team of nine. What I’m proudest of isn’t the studios themselves. Read more>>
Jeff Duvall 
Ever since 4th grade, I had a love for drawing. I remember folding construction paper in half and making small comic for my friends to enjoy. It wasn’t until middle school that I decided to take comic creation more seriously. Through my friend at the time, we worked together on various stories and went to different events together promoting our different works. Read more>>
Nicole Naomi Sky 
I started my energy healing and life coaching company, Naomi Sky Life, because I wanted to make a difference in the world. I’ve been creating, recording, & releasing music since I was 18. But it never felt like I was supposed to do only one thing as a career. Read more>>
Kristy Crystle 
I grew up in the suburbs of Philly in a nice neighborhood with a loving family. My struggles started in middle school being bullied and put a strain on my mental health. I cheered my whole life which always kept me focused in school to get good grades. I played other sports, but cheering was my passion. Read more>>
Pam Maio
Before I became a Macaroni Kid Publisher, I was a newspaper reporter, a magazine editor, and a copywriter. I wrote political news from the State House in Trenton, NJ, before becoming an editor at a local healthcare magazine outside Philadelphia. Both jobs had me interviewing people, reporting both hard news stories and features. Read more>>
Zakk Riffle 
I was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and music was in my life before I even had a choice in it. My dad’s a drummer, and I spent a lot of my childhood watching him perform on stage. That was where it started for me. Read more>>
Amina Brown 
I first started dancing at the age of five, but I stopped shortly after. Although I continued dancing with my sister and learning routines my mother created for my cousins and me, I wasn’t formally reintroduced to dance until I was 12 years old. In many ways, I felt like I was starting late, which made me the underdog when I began my journey. Read more>>
Hannibal Lickher 
Not to give away my age, haha. I got my start in Wilmington, Delaware with a small group of Drag Kings. We performed at a hole in the wall bar that unfortunately no longer exists. I took a break in my mid 20s to reevaluate my persona and came back a few years later with Hannibal Lickher. Read more>>
Alicia Bonner 
I grew up in Croydon, Pennsylvania, and originally planned to pursue a career in prosthetics and orthotics because my father wore prosthetic legs. When I was not accepted into the undergraduate programs I applied to, I redirected my path and earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Holy Family University. While working for a dermatologist during college, I was encouraged to become a physician assistant. Read more>>
Christine Stangel 
The Gifts of Art! That is how my story as an artist began with and the gift of one beginner pottery lesson at a family camp, but let us rewind just a little bit on how I got there. Read more>>
Michele Dunlap 
My story starts in the basement of the 1990’s where grunge meets the 70’s, meets punk, meets feminism. I’m behind a drum kit sitting on a portable cd player with headphones blasting Hole, blasting Babes in Toyland, blasting Janis Joplin. My drum instructor was a petit mother of 4 boys. She wore the double velcro high-top Reebox in red, in black, in white, yellow. Read more>>
Colt Williams 
I used to post on internet forums back in the day (wow, I sound old) where we used to type out battle raps to each other in the chats. One day one of my guys on the site made a beat and was like ‘ Yo Colt, I got a track I want you to get on. Read more>>
Jayden Hughes 
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a strong passion for photography, filmmaking, and storytelling. However, my path into the industry didn’t begin behind a camera. In 2019, one week after graduating high school, I started working nights at a factory in Hanover, Pennsylvania. I performed a lot of repetitive, mindless tasks that gave me plenty of time to think about my future. Read more>>
MEHDI EL FELLAHI 
My Journey: From Morocco to Pennsylvania If I had to describe my life in one sentence, I would say that it has been a journey of chasing a dream, losing my way, and trying to find myself again. I grew up in Morocco, and music was always a major part of my life. It was never just a hobby for me. Read more>>
Ryan Grimes 
Me and my business Partner Darnell Fuson took over the club in January of 2026, as the current owner works to find a location to start up a second club. Read more>>
Meghan Greenwood 
As a lifelong dancer and bookworm, I have incorporated these interests into multiple business ventures. I hold a PhD in Immunology, but science was never enough. I worked in labs and in big pharma, yet still had a calling to do more – especially more for the community I lived in. Read more>>
Emma Carpenter 
I started Better Connections Therapy because I wanted to create a practice focused on helping individuals, couples, and families feel more connected to themselves, their values, their relationships, and the world they live in. As a Marriage & Family Therapist I strongly believe that many of the struggles we face today are rooted in loss of connection. Read more>>
Scott Kowalski 
I have never followed a single, straight path as an artist. My creative life has moved through drawing, watercolor, photography, graphic design, publishing, web development, painting, murals, fabrication, and community organizing. Each chapter taught me another way to approach a creative problem. I grew up in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and started taking formal drawing classes when I was around 11 or 12. Read more>>
Wayne Hall 
Beauty exists within every one of us; it also exists everywhere around us – in nature, in our homes, and in virtually every aspect of our lives. I am inspired by natural beauty, and as a Certified Professional Photographer, creating inspiring images that accentuate beauty is truly my passion. I’ve always had a love of photography, even before joining the Army in 1985. Read more>>
Dr. Janet Campbell 
My story has definitely not followed a linear path. I grew up in rural North Carolina in generational poverty and in a family where life was often difficult. Read more>>
George McLaughlin 
My story definitely wasn’t a straight line to entrepreneurship. I grew up in Toronto, OH and moved to the Pittsburgh area in 2006. For most of my adult life, I followed a fairly traditional professional path. I spent more than three decades building a career in sales, marketing, technology, and business strategy. Read more>>
Jessica Fields 
I have been in the holistic healing world as a massage therapist since 2013. Prior to Covid, I was working at a privately owned massage studio. Once the world shut down, it changed everything for me. I got laid off and was home with my two young daughters trying to navigate online school, a new schedule, and making ends meet as a single mom. Read more>>
Darren Ross 
I started this journey all the way back in mid-2010. I broke my wrist skateboarding and was relegated to the indoors for the summer. During that time I undertook the challenge of teaching myself how to produce electronic music. Read more>>
Rian-Louis 
My journey has really been about finding my voice and then using it to create space for other people to find theirs. I started RIANOUTLOUD! in 2020 because I wanted to create a platform where Black LGBTQ+ creatives could have honest conversations, share their stories, and feel seen. What began as an independent podcast grew into something much bigger. Read more>>
Olivia Sperber 
I was adopted as a baby and developed a passion for singing when I was 5 years old beginning in musical theater, local singing lessons, and dancing. For as long as I can remember, music has always been my dream, it was the first and last thing on my mind every day. Read more>>
Taminique Blackwell 
Little did I know my journey would start when I was a young girl. God had been planting the seeds along. Ever since I could remember, I had an interest in entertainment. I remember for Christmas one year, my parents got my sister and I a hot pink camcorder, and she and I would record ‘MTV Cribs’ style videos. Read more>>
Sarah Walls
Make Your Day Design really started with friends and family. We had always been gardeners, and Mike has a background in horticulture, so flowers and plants were already a big part of our lives. We began helping with florals for friends’ and family weddings and quickly discovered how much we enjoyed combining growing, design, and the excitement of being part of someone’s special day. Read more>>
Edmund Stanback
In 2015, I came home after being incarcerated for three and a half years. One of the first things I wanted to do was rebuild the relationship and bond I had with my children. During my incarceration, I had a lot of time to reflect, and I came to understand that life isn’t just about money. Read more>>
