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.
Naveen David Meagher
Later in life, my curiosity to learn about how businesses work and make profits inspired me to go to business school. I went on to get an MBA in finance from the University of Florida in Gainesville, and was recruited by NextEra Energy, a fortune 200 clean energy company based around West Palm Beach, Florida. There I learnt about renewable energy, solar, and wind power generation. I worked on utility scale projects worth hundreds of millions in capital investments and also worked as business manager for one of their biggest nuclear power plants based in the Northeast. Read more>>
Rebecca Aadland
Please refer to my EPK at https://rebeccaaadland.com/music/epk/ for a ton of information to answer this question. Short answer is that as a kid popular music of any kind was nearly forbidden. Classical music was all that was permitted to be played in our parsonage home. Read more>>
Gillette Kempf
My first bookstore was in a little town in central Minnesota, Wadena. I purchased the bookstore from the founding owner in August 2006 after I decided that this small town girl simply could not raise my boys in the big city of Chicago and found out on a visit to my mom in Wadena that the local bookstore was for sale. Read more>>
Calvin Corey
Four years ago I moved back to Winona with my son from the cities during covid. I had worked for multiple junk companies it the twin cities before deciding to start my own. I started new space junk removal in May on 2021 with the goal of helping local people with their removal needs. Read more>>
Anita Jones
My love for animals started long before I ever dreamed of owning a business. Years ago, I worked at Funk Animal Hospital as a veterinary tech assistant. Read more>>
Rachel Nudd
After becoming an Acupuncturist and living on an organic farm for 14 years, I learned so much about how the body heals. I kept seeing the same pain patterns over and over again. Although I know I helped a lot of people feel better, I wasn’t getting the kind of results I wanted to see. In frustration, I wondered what I was doing wrong. Read more>>
Justin Tolle
My journey in real estate started nearly 20 years ago, but the launch of Justin Tolle Real Estate last October marked a major new chapter. For years, I balanced my passion for real estate with other professional roles, always coming back to what I loved most – building relationships and helping people navigate one of life’s biggest decisions with confidence and trust. Read more>>
Joy McAfee
I have always had a passion for nurturing young children and families. My favorite toys were baby dolls. Prior to birth work, I held a career for many years as an Ealy childhood educator. My experience surviving the deep isolation of postpartum depression inspired me to explore birth work as a potential career path. Read more>>
Sandy Younger
As a young child, I was mesmerized by decorating dollhouses. Finding fabrics and wallpaper to enhance the rooms was a favorite shopping trip with my mom. At age 10, I turned to building forts in my backyard. Using crates scavenged from the nearby construction sites and nails provided by my dad, my friends joined me in building a carpeted ‘two-story’ fort. Yes…it leaked! Read more>>
Grace Wendels
I grew up playing sports my entire life and went on to play collegiate soccer at UW–Stevens Point, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion and Wellness and a minor in Spanish. During my sophomore year, I broke my leg, cutting my season short. While recovering, I began experiencing aches and pains throughout my body — until I started seeing a chiropractor weekly. Read more>>
Richard Erickson
From what began as a one time benefit concert for Bloomington Early Childhood Family Education, The Teddy Bear Band has become Minnesota’s most successful Children’s Music Group. Teddy Bear Band is dedicated to connecting with kids “where they live” through “developmentally appropriate” music, fun and participation, spontaneously adjusting to audience ages and stages. With over 10,000 shows /early childhood conference keynotes and presentations. Read more>>
Susan Mayfield
I am the 8th of 10 children, that is always a good conversation starter! I love being from a big family, most of us are very close and some are my best friends. I started our playing office with my two younger sisters, from that young age I loved working in a pretend office. Read more>>
Delaney Smith
In 2020 I started my own practice, specializing in Muscle Activation Techniques. As i learned more about the foot through continued education courses, I needed to know more. This led me to taking courses in gait analysis. Anytime you learn more about something, you start assessing it more. Read more>>
Bradley & Christina Kurtz
We’re Brad and Christina, a husband and wife team and proud co-owners of Safeside BBQ. Our journey began with faith, hard work, and a shared love for bringing people together through good food. Brad is a U.S. Air Force combat veteran who served five deployments, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Read more>>
Nicole Strafelda
I started out as an elementary teacher and taught 5th grade for five years. I loved working with kids, but my dad had some health issues, so I made my way back to our family’s farm to help. They grow row crops including wheat, soybeans, and corn. Read more>>
Alina Hornfeldt
Mastel’s Health Foods was founded in 1968 by John Mastel, a trailblazer who believed deeply in the power of natural health long before it was mainstream. Read more>>
Julia Peterson
Julia & Joe started Heartstrings shortly after their wedding in 2018. Julia is a classically-trained cellist and Joe is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. They met at an improvising orchestra event in Northeast Minneapolis. Though they have different musical backgrounds, they started playing music together for their different musical projects. They started Heartstrings as a duet for events, primarily weddings, because it seemed like a natural fit. Read more>>
Jordan Case-Allan
My passion for dance began at a young age. I grew up watching my older brother, Jesse, dance—from long practices to big performance days—and from there, dance became a central part of my life. My adoptive mothers enrolled me in my first dance class when I was about four years old. Surprisingly, I didn’t want to dance at first; instead, I hid behind a piano. Read more>>
Jill Pritchard
My love for working with people started nearly 30 years ago, when I was in my early 20’s. I was working for an agency that provided care for children who were in need of a temporary safe place to live. From there I spent the next 14 years working in various roles with victims of domestic violence. Read more>>
Christine Cliff
I began dancing at the age of 5 at Kay Marie and Carol’s school of dance in Robbinsdale. I danced for 15 years, 10 of them as a competitive dancer. I started choreographing my own solos at the age of 13 and was a choreographer of my high school dance team my junior an senior years. Read more>>
Teri Haig
After working as a seamstress at the store for a few years, in 1996, Bill and I purchased The Wedding Parlour. Then, after doing business for five years in the same location it was when we purchased it, we decided that our customers deserved more than the small, cramped spot we were in. Read more>>
Danae Johnson
In early 2020, before I knew what a doula was, I found out I was pregnant with my first kid. This news came just a few weeks after the world decided to shut down due to Covid-19. No in-person classes, no prenatal yoga sessions, limited in-person office visits, limited visits with family and friends, and major precautions with each prenatal visit. Read more>>
Lisa Tostenson
My faith got me started. After working in both the residential and commercial interior design industries, I discovered how much I love being a part of clients’ homes. There is nothing quite like being a part of the excitement and joy that homeowners feel when their space is finally a beautiful reflection of who they are. Read more>>
Melissa Plotnick
I started smoking when I was 10 years old; however, my actual first cigarette was at 8 years old. Since then, it had become something that I grew up with and was part of my day-to-day life. I continued smoking till 2010. At that time, it was getting very expensive, so I started buying my cigarettes overseas. Read more>>
Merri Guggisberg
Absolutely. My journey into parent coaching began with a deep understanding of what so many parents feel but rarely say out loud: that quiet fear of either doing too much-or not enough-for our kids. Read more>>
Kaylee Bond
Kaylee went to school for therapy in 2017 and when it came time for her internship she was surprised to find that mental health therapy internships were often unpaid or severely under paid. Kaylee did her internship at a community mental health clinic and rose to the Board of Directors over 5 years. Read more>>
Jon Oney
It really all began with a deep realization of the power of story. Every one of us carries a story—of someone who believed in us, a challenge we faced, or a moment that changed everything. Stories move us because they tap into emotion, and emotion is what connects people. It reveals what we value, what we believe, and what makes us human. Read more>>
Tina Watson
I found my way into this field almost by accident. Years ago, I was volunteering with a nonprofit that worked with teenagers and quickly realized I was in over my head. Many of the teens were navigating very complex personal and family challenges. Read more>>
Tamara Bertram
I grew up in Sydney, Australia, where music was always a central part of my life. I began performing at weddings back in 2004, and over time that grew into coordinating ensembles and connecting other musicians with performance opportunities. I loved seeing how live music could completely transform an event, creating moments people never forget. Read more>>
Bob Phillips
Since I was in high school, I’ve been involved in construction in one form or another. At one point while I was living in NY I was working for a paper mill. Due to the economy starting to fail, the company had a massive downsizing in where I was one of many that lost their jobs. Read more>>
Brittany Schank
My journey into the field of mental health began long before I ever became a therapist. I grew up in a family where mental health played a significant role, though I didn’t fully understand its impact until much later. Those early experiences sparked a deep curiosity in me, not only about how people heal, but how they keep going in the midst of difficulty. Read more>>
Taryn Surdy
My Father, who is a Neuropsychologist, provided early exposure to the world of Psychology which sparked my interest in working with people, especially children. I spent many years working with children before transitioning into the mental health field, starting as a direct support worker in a group home. Read more>>
Anna Steidl
My journey in the mental health field began at the University of Minnesota–Duluth, where I initially pursued a double major in Psychology and Criminology. I originally envisioned becoming a forensic psychologist or criminal profiler, but as I moved through my studies, I realized my true passion lay in psychology and human connection. Read more>>
Teylor Wolfe
I’ve always had a thing for going fast; cars, motorcycles, anything with an engine. I guess it’s just in my blood. I grew up jumping bikes, riding motorcycles, and taking plenty of spills along the way. Those bumps and bruises really shaped who I am. Read more>>
Brettly Kawaguchi
Someone recently said, you just like music, and well, so long as it’s good, I’ve come to believe they’re right, and I look forward to getting new music, looking for music that fits my sound and style of DJ nights, not to mention, working with couples on their wedding requests is really one of my favorite things. Read more>>
Alexa Rapp
I was desperately ill in my early 20’s and used colonics to recover. After experiencing a full body detox along with the mental reset this process instigates I was fully onboard. I was lucky enough to be offered an internship with a lady that had been doing colonics for over 30 years. Read more>>
Julie Fakler
I’m originally from Houston, Minnesota, located in the southeastern part of the state. I grew up between Houston and central California. After graduating from Houston High School, I attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design from 1992 to 1996, where I earned a BFA in Painting and Drawing. After college, my partner Paul Swanson and I moved to Faribault, MN. Read more>>
Brock Larson
Well, I started off as a wrestler as a farm kid and then went to college to wrestle. The college thing did not work out for me so I started assistant coaching wrestling at Brainerd Highschool while I was working at Anderson Brothers. I then got interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA so a buddy and I rented some VHS to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Read more>>
Alyssa Vang
Honestly, Vanguard Mental Health and Wellness Clinic started from a place of both hope and frustration. As a daughter of refugees, I grew up witnessing both the strength and the silence that came with my people’s survival. Read more>>
Claire steyaert
I studied Art History at the University of Leuven, Belgium where I met my future husband. First living in Ann Arbor MI , we moved to Minneapolis MN in the early 70s and I began helping his research thru photography and cataloging of late medieval/early northern renaissance art. Read more>>
Bernie Ozan
For as long as I can remember I wanted to own a wedding/event venue. I have always enjoyed planning events. Our lives were busy as my husband and I both worked full-time while we raised our three kids. With kids to raise and bills to pay we never wanted to take the risk to start our own business was in the cards. Read more>>
Megan Weber
I first discovered professional organizing during my senior year of college. Picture me in a dorm room with labeled shoeboxes, completely obsessed. My senior project became a business plan, name, logo, and interviews with professional organizers. With a degree in Business Management, I dreamed of launching my own business—but instead, I took the traditional route and started a career in corporate marketing. Read more>>
Jamie Weber
My interest in piercing began the first time I saw someone with one, I was immediately captivated. After getting many piercings myself, I tried to find an apprenticeship. I was unsuccessful so I went to college for graphic design &. Advertising art. With one semester left I was offered an apprenticeship and I have been doing it ever since. Read more>>
