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.
Lionel Forestier 
My story started in Puerto Rico, where I began building my own landscaping business from the ground up. Like many others in this industry, I’ve learned through hands-on experience, hard work, and constantly pushing myself to improve. Over time, what started as a small business became something much bigger for me. Read more>>
Sarah McKillip 
The House That Fur Built. A small philanthropic non profit: I adopted a blind pit bull named Peggy Sue in 2015. She was just amazing. I wanted to keep getting her out and about and meeting people. Hopefully changing some minds about the pit bull breed along the way. We started doing small acts of kindness through out the beginning years. Read more>>
Jill Slavin 
My path to where I am today has been anything but a straight line. I have a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA, and I spent years working in the corporate world. That experience gave me a strong foundation, but building a business of my own has become a much more personal chapter of my life. In May 2025, I lost my husband, Wil. Read more>>
Taylor Castonguay Becattini 
My path into the wedding industry was a little unconventional! I actually started my career as a mechanical engineer, but I’ve always had a creative side and a love for bringing people together. While I enjoyed the analytical and problem-solving aspects of engineering, I found myself craving a career that allowed me to be more creative and work closely with people. Read more>>
Madison Marchand 
Maddy’s Maids started with just myself, Maddy. As a young mom of two, my husband encouraged me to pursue my business in 2019 after a year of cleaning residential homes part-time. Cleaning is a very physical job and I had to learn how to time-manage my work. My husband was working for the Pittsburgh film unition IASTE 5-6 days a week/8-14hrs per day. Read more>>
Dominique Damerjian 
Dine with Dom was never something I had planned. I am actually a pharmacist. I graduated from Saint Joseph’s University: Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in May of 2023. I worked at Walgreens for over five and a half years from my third year of college and continued there after I graduated. Read more>>
Tim Hildebrand 
Catbite started in May 2018, shortly after I had departed from my previous band that I had played in for 9 years. I very quickly felt a void and had to fill it with a new band, specifically a ska band. Read more>>
katherinwestley19@gmail.com Katherin Westley 
My story began when I was just 19 years old, a young single mother determined to create a better life for myself and my daughter. At the time, I wasn’t just thinking about how I was going to provide for her financially; I was thinking about what I could build that would one day mean something to her. That’s when Mar’Je Marie was born. Read more>>
Lauren Rae 
My father proudly wrote ‘Big Bird. Lauren Age 3’ on a piece of notepaper upon which I had doodled as a tot. I still have it along with other creations he had stashed away in a box from my childhood. It’s a connection to the days of drawing and painting, encouraged by my parents when I was a tiny creative human. Read more>>
Holly Wells 
I am currently a pelvic floor physical therapist, mom of two boys, and now co-owner and founder of Forever Strong Physical Therapy with my husband. My journey to where I am now began with the birth of my oldest son. I felt I was fit, healthy and would have an unremarkable birth, guided by my medical team. Read more>>
Laura Gentry Carter 
After 20 years away, I’m back where I was born—living right next door to my mom here in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I kicked off that journey with 15 years in New York City, which is really where I came into adulthood, my career, and life. Read more>>
Geo Banks-Weston 
I’ve always been an avid fan of writing and had long wanted to create a blog, I started with my instagram around 2014 to casually chronicle my exploration of Philly’s food scene. After seeing some of my content a friend recommended I lean into it more seriously. Read more>>
Alexandra Doroshow 
I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and always knew I wanted a career where I could make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. I ultimately found my calling in family medicine because I loved the opportunity to build long-term relationships with patients and care for them through all stages of life. Read more>>
Rachel Kostelansky 
When I was a lil girl my grandma was a beautiful singer and my father played the piano and guitar and it made me love music. My grandma taught me how to sing jazzy music and blues and as I grew I fell in love with r and b from the 90s and 2000s it made me feel so much . Read more>>
Khadijah Butler 
I’m the Founder and President of the Craig D. Butler Scholarship Foundation; a memorial nonprofit I started to honor my father after he was murdered by a 14-year-old. Losing him at such a young age changed the trajectory of my life, and for years I carried that pain with me. Starting the foundation was my way of turning that pain into purpose. Read more>>
Brandon Johnson 
Brandon Johnson has been entertaining crowds with his brand of stand up comedy for 12 years. For some time before that he was affectionately known as ‘Pittsburgh’s #1 Superfan’ amongst other stand up comedians for seemingly always being at their open mics and shows. Read more>>
Dominic Patrick 
I’m Dominic Patrick. I’m a singer, songwriter, and storyteller from Philadelphia, and music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started singing when I was about five years old, but in many ways, my story with music started long before I did. I come from a family of singers and musicians. Read more>>
Michael Mahalis 
My professional journey has always revolved around business, entrepreneurship, and finding opportunities to build something of my own. I started my career in business management, working my way into leadership roles with Wawa. Those experiences taught me a tremendous amount about operations, customer service, leadership, and what it really takes to run a successful business. Read more>>
Lexi Stambaugh 
Hi! So I actually started as a food blogger in 2017. My friends and family had asked if there was a place that I could share my recipes for the meals that I was making at home. Through another blogger, I had found it was pretty easy to establish a domain, and that’s when I started my website, Passport Flavor. Read more>>
Lauren Long 
Since I was a little girl, I have always had a passion for all things fashion and beauty. I used to play in nail polish and sketch recreations of clothes from fashion magazines. I was always creative and loved art, knowing there are endless possibilities of how art can be created. Read more>>
Krista Bowman 
Ever since I was young, I had an inherent awareness of energy and sound which I explored mostly through my connection to natural world and was interested in the dynamics of relationships, communication and psychology. I also had a knack for looking at a situation and identifying what needed improvement, recognizing what else could be true, and exploring what else was possible. Read more>>
Anne Jamison 
My interest in physical fitness began about 24 years ago in high school in the weight room. What started as a conditioning ‘extra’ as an athlete turned into something I looked forward to doing as often as I could after school. Read more>>
Zachary Hain 
Im Zach. A full time laser operator and the guy behind @zachdoesfood. I started this page around 3 years ago and at first it was about homecooking and the hot sauce I use to make, but those things have taken a seat on the sideline. Read more>>
Stephanie Kinney 
Mercantile 1888 isn’t just a bar…it’s a story of passion, purpose, and a whole lot of heart. It all started with Stephanie and Amanda, two women with a shared dream of creating something truly unique for their community. Stephanie’s journey to sobriety was the spark that lit the fire. Read more>>
Dominique Smack 
My story is a very unconventional one, but I think that’s what makes it mine. I’ve always been the girl who carved her own lane, even when I wasn’t quite sure where that lane was taking me. I knew early on that I loved people, serving people, and finding ways to make an impact. I just wasn’t sure exactly what that looked like. Read more>>
Virgil Cardamone 
My love affair with movies started long before I ever set foot on the grounds of the Mahoning Drive-In Theater. I’ve been a lifelong film fanatic. I went to film school, spent nearly a decade running a video store, and have always been drawn to the theatrical experience of cinema. Not just the movies themselves, but everything surrounding them. Read more>>
Rachel Null 
Hi, my name is Rachel! I started cosmetology school at the age of 25 and already had a firm idea of what I wanted my career to look like. I bounced around from salon to salon, trying to fit in and find my forever home but I quickly confirmed what I already knew.. I prefer to work one on one with clients. Read more>>
Jordan Talbot 
I was working as an amazon delivery driver after high school. I used to deliver in wealthy areas seeing beautiful mansions and it made me want to achieve that myself. I was looking into businesses I felt uniquely equipped to do and food felt natural as I grew up watching the cooking channel and the food network as a kid. Read more>>
Christine Rauktis 
Ruckus began because of we felt our township was lacking a coffee shop. We searched for a property in & near our town that would work and ended up finding a space that had a full kitchen & event space. Because of that our concept expanded to a cafe. Shaler was really lacking a local coffee shop & breakfast lunch restaurant. Read more>>
Amber Grace 
My story goes way back to me as a little girl taking pretend photos with my fingers of my childhood home from the driveway. From a young age as a teen I always enjoyed the pure love of photographing anything and everything. Read more>>
Taylor Lutz 
I’ve always loved makeup since I was a little girl! After a quarter life century crisis I came to the realization that I wanted to do something with my life that encourages and uplifts others – that combined with my love for makeup and entrepreneurial spirit lead me to start BeauTAYful, Makeup by Taylor almost 6 years ago. Read more>>
Crystal Haynick 
I remember when I was younger, I got so frustrated with one of my Barbie dolls hair that I grabbed my little craft scissors and cut it all off. Leaving her completely bald! Even in elementary school, I would give the characters in my coloring books orange highlights and blue lowlights. Looking back, I guess the signs were always there! Read more>>
Michele Genzano 
I was working as a School Counselor when I suffered a grand mal seizure at home in the middle of the night. Believed to be triggered by chronic Lyme Disease, the seizure erased a lot of my short term memory. It also isolated me from the world I knew. I spent a year at home, primarily in bed, healing. Read more>>
Nicole Marques 
Fresh Skin Babes was built on a shared passion for beauty, skincare and helping women feel confident in their own skin. As sisters and business partners, we wanted to create something that went beyond traditional beauty services. Our vision was to build a space where clients could feel comfortable, empowered and genuinely cared for while receiving high-quality, results-driven treatments. Read more>>
Jennifer Lynn Robinson 
I am the queen of reinvention. My career began in the courtroom as a trial attorney, but after surviving a catastrophic accident that resulted in severe injuries and a traumatic brain injury (TBI), I rebuilt my life from the ground up. I launched a speaking and consulting practice and spent several years teaching at Wharton School of Communications. Read more>>
Audra Azoury 
My Story | Audra Azoury Design Growing up in Pittsburgh, a city built on steel, I developed an appreciation for architecture, history, and the places that shape our lives. Today, I bring those inspirations together through Audra Azoury Design, creating contemporary stainless steel ornaments and jewelry that capture meaningful places and moments in time. Every piece begins with an original illustration. Read more>>
Hannah Smolensky 
Although today I am a full time watercolor artist and have periodically taught watercolor workshops as well… I was never the kid in school who was the best at art or would have been seen as the ‘class artist.’ However, I was very creative, independent, and good at crafting. I also was extremely self-motivated. Read more>>
Natalie Rosa 
Honestly, my love for baking and entrepreneurship started when I was very young. I was only 8 years old when I started making cupcakes and lemonade and selling them every Saturday across the street from my house. So, I guess you could say I’ve always had a sweet hustle! Read more>>
Susan Rains 
I came to interior design after spending about thirteen years in my first career as a custom picture framer. By then, I had learned nearly every aspect of the business, except owning a shop myself. I felt that career had run its course, and with the economy struggling and many framing businesses closing, I knew it was time to explore a new direction. Read more>>
Hannah Washington 
I’ve always known that my purpose is to help Young Girls and Women improve their confidence and self-esteem. I enjoy Runway Modeling, Runway Choreography and Beauty Pageants. I thought about how I could combine all these things into one and I brought my vision to life by creating Sophisticated Struck by Hannah in April 2021. Read more>>
Kimberly Wardell 
How many times I can re-write this first opening sentence? It was 2014. I didn’t love being a stay at home parent, but with my husband’s career and the ability to be around with my hilarious 2 daughters (then 5 & 6) it allowed us flexibility. Read more>>
Nicole Michalik 
I grew up in a very small town in Northeastern Pennsylvania called Summit Hill. It’s so small it doesn’t even have traffic lights – just stop signs. Went to Catholic school for 12 years next to a farm and was always the kid who wanted to live in a big city and work in the entertainment business. Read more>>
Karis Miranda 
Dungeon Oddities is owned by husband and wife duo, Ivan and Karis Miranda. I (Karis) had been selling clothes online for about 10 years prior to getting into the oddities selling space. Read more>>
Ernest Owens 
I got my start in journalism as a college undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania in 2010. I explored various forms of media — radio, newspaper, television, blogging, social media, everything — and learned a lot from mentors and internships. What made me stay in Philadelphia was my love of the city and the community I had fostered here. Read more>>
