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.
Lara Leinen
Doggy Social started with a simple question: Why can’t dogs be part of life’s biggest celebrations in a safe, stress-free way? I’ve always loved animals, but as I watched more couples planning weddings, I kept seeing the same challenge. Their dogs were family, and they wanted them included in one of the most important days of their lives. Read more>>
Amanda Birnie
I spent more than a decade as a photographer, specializing in weddings, portraits, and interiors. Through photographing beautiful homes, I became increasingly fascinated by interior design and especially by the way a great rug can completely transform a space. In 2020, when the pandemic significantly impacted my photography business, I found myself at home with a newborn and a toddler, reevaluating what was next. Read more>>
Christopher Boykin
I grew up in Laurel, Mississippi, where I spent much of my childhood exploring the woods around my home and developing a fascination with wildlife. Some of my earliest memories involve catching three-toed box turtles, observing spiders, and simply being curious about the natural world. At 18, I moved to the Florida Keys, where a chance encounter helped shape the course of my life. Read more>>
Amy Schmitz
Some of the best ideas are born from necessity. In 2018, Amy Schmitz brought home a Saint Bernard puppy named Alice, and life as she knew it changed completely. Alice was everything at once, sweet and stubborn, beautiful and unstoppable. Chasing after her while balancing the full, beautiful demands of motherhood made one thing clear: Amy needed a bag that could keep up. Read more>>
Nicholas Froiland
Magical Mercantile is the result of a desire to create adventure, express art, and provide a safe space for a fantasy-filled break from screens and the world, if only for a few hours. In 2023, we began our business relationship with Level Up Games in St. Paul, filling in the need for a local Game Master to run Dungeons and Dragons. Read more>>
Lindsey Jacobson
YWCA Duluth began in 1893 to offer classes in typing, bookkeeping and domestic service for girls and women entering the job market – every third girl between ages 16-20 was a wage earner and needed support and skills. Read more>>
Dena Wilkins
I started my career in beauty at 18 years old as a Prestige Beauty Advisor at Ulta Beauty. Looking back, that role gave me the foundation for everything I do today. I quickly fell in love with connecting with clients, asking thoughtful questions, understanding their needs, and using education to help them feel more confident. Read more>>
Jack Miller
Growing up as a child my father was a jeweler and seeing him create unique and different pieces always intrigued me. I always had interest in his work and helping him and that inspired me to learn more and try it myself. My father mentored me with my first few pieces. After is unexpected passing I took it upon myself to learn and do more. Read more>>
Jillian Means
Knowledge is power, and healing is possible. That’s the one truth I’ve built my whole life on, and I learned it the hard way. I was a sick kid — strep throat, IBS, psoriasis, the works — and at 21 my body finally had enough and handed me a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. I could have let that be the end of my story. Read more>>
Mark Schlossman
orn and raised in Fargo, North Dakota, I didn’t come from a formal repair school or technical program. My journey started with a simple goal: get my foot in the door and learn how things work. I began my career at a small repair shop as a computer technician. Early on, I focused mainly on desktop and laptop repairs. Read more>>
Amy Kay Schramm
I started working at Roasted Rail Coffee House when I was 16. My mom told me to find somewhere I could get nice hours while going to high school and I thought, ‘well I love coffee so why not’! Through my years of high school, this job had so many ups, downs and fun memories in-between. Read more>>
Anne Kleeberger
I actually came to acupuncture through my own experience as an athlete. I studied Kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, where I played collegiate soccer as a goalkeeper. After college, I got really into long-distance running, which eventually led me to some pretty persistent aches and injuries. After graduating, I moved to South Korea and lived there for two years. Read more>>
Nathan Raines
I grew up as someone who was always drawn to responsibility, the outdoors, and equipment that had a real purpose. I was never really interested in things just because they looked good. I cared more about whether they worked when they were supposed to. That became a much bigger part of my life when I joined the Marine Corps. Read more>>
Kareem Mohamed
Our food truck journey really started long before I ever owned one. Growing up, I spent countless hours working alongside my dad at his restaurants, festivals, and food stands. He was one of the pioneers of the food truck industry in Minnesota, and from a young age I learned what hard work, customer service, and dedication looked like. Read more>>
Shantel Stanifer
My journey started more than 16 years ago as a massage therapist with a passion for helping people heal, recover, and feel their best. In 2017, I founded Escape to Paradise LLC with the vision of creating a space where clients could prioritize their wellness, recovery, and self-care while receiving compassionate, personalized treatment. Read more>>
Malia Fox
On Aug. 2, 2022, at 9:30pm I was in bed on the last days of a round of COVID. The phone is ringing and it’s my oldest grandson asking me “Grandma, what is Abbey talking about? Is it true?” I am confused and annoyed and tell him that I’m sick and in bed. He apologizes and says, “Grandma, she’s saying Dad is dead”. Read more>>
Anna and Oscar Nevermann
SISU has been part of the Plymouth community since 2012. I joined as a member in 2019 and quickly fell in love with both CrossFit and the incredible sense of community it created. At the same time, my husband, Oscar, was completing Physical Therapy school at the University of Minnesota. In 2023, the previous owner approached us about the opportunity to purchase the Plymouth location. Read more>>
Edgar Nsumba
I was born and raised in Uganda, East Africa. My childhood was marked by both hardship and love. My mother left when I was very young, and I was raised by my father until I was 13 years old. Life was difficult. My father worked tirelessly to provide for me, but our family lived in extreme poverty. Read more>>
Gretchen Reese
Since we’d spoken last, it’s been fun to reflect on how my business has changed. I’m still based in Minneapolis, but doing this interview from Miami where I’ve been for the last month expanding my client base. Read more>>
Nicole Anderson
Urban Organics has evolved significantly over the last 15 years. The journey began when my son was young, and I started paying close attention to the ingredients in the foods we ate and the products we used on our bodies. Read more>>
Jonathan Minks
Jonathan Minks is the owner and founder of Jonny Rock Bikes, a Twin Cities bicycle shop that began with a leap of faith in 2011. After spending 15 years in professional business-to-business sales and enduring two years of unemployment during the recession, Minks decided to reinvent himself by turning his lifelong passion for bicycles into a career. Read more>>
Bethann Gondeck
Grey Face Rescue was founded in 2015, and it really started from a personal experience that changed my perspective on senior dogs. My great uncle had a dog named Barnabee, and they had spent 13 years together on our family farm. Read more>>
Cory Rubald
CCLee Creations began in 2019 as a simple idea between my husband and me—we wanted to create something meaningful to help fundraise for our daughter’s high school band trip. We started making handmade snowmen, and what began as a small project quickly turned into something more. When COVID hit, the band trip was unfortunately canceled, but we decided to keep going. Read more>>
Anyse Mellott
My name is Anyse and I grew up in a small town in Iowa. I didn’t have a very good family upbringing beyond my great grandparents, who ensured I learned the best of life. My great grandmother, June, taught me needle-point at a young age by having me help on quilts, doing technical embroideries, and assisting on cross stitch patterns. Read more>>
Crystal Kohler
I’ve been interested in astrology and helping people understand themselves better for most of my life. As my children were nearing the end of their time at home and heading off to school, etc. Read more>>
Nick Burns
I have 15 years of recruiting experience at various Minneapolis-based recruiting firms. I had been thinking of starting my own firm for a few years, and an unexpected layoff in December of 2025, helped make that dream a reality. My wife homeschools our three children, so I find deep passion in providing for my family and making TrustedHire a huge success! Read more>>
chad Schroeder
Originally opened in 1960 as Midway Bowl, the space has seen multiple transformations over the decades. In the early 1990s, it became Thunder Alley, introducing mini golf and shifting away from its earlier setup. By the mid-2000s, another rebrand brought in an arcade and expanded the experience even further, becoming what is now known as Thunder Alley XL. Read more>>
Rachel Ostrowski
I started by doing custom pieces and invitations for family and friends, then I worked for a gal for a few years doing weddings. I decided to quit working for this company to figure out what I wanted for my family and myself. My husband was the one who pushed me to start my own business. Read more>>
Custom Catwalks LLC
Johannah and Lexie met at their first jobs out of college and became fast friends. They bonded over building a Custom Catwalk for Johannah’s three bored cats. Together they built a labyrinth of pathways spanning three rooms while taking care to maintain the integrity of Johannah’s new home. Since then, they have expanded to include apartment-friendly Custom Catwalks and modifications for cats with special needs. Read more>>
Catherine Lang
While my career began in college, my love for the social media industry started long before that. I have always been a creative person, and I always will be. When I was younger, I became interested in photography and fell in love with capturing those moments that make your heart smile. I’ve always loved scrapbooks too-looking back on memories and moments that sparked joy. Read more>>
Jason Erickson
We’re a church that’s about 4 years old. We started with about 20 people in my sisters living room in January of 2022. In June of 2022, we began to meet at the Northland Arboretum in Brainerd, MN. After beginning to outgrow that space, we were at a church planting conference in Houston in March of 2025 for 3 days. Read more>>
Poiab Vue
I’m a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and the founder of Your Own Pathway. I started the business about four years ago with a pretty straightforward plan: build a therapy practice, do good clinical work, and grow from there. But the journey didn’t stay straightforward for long. Read more>>
