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.
Kimberly Von Bank
I grew up on a farm in a small town in central North Dakota with majority of my time being spent with my twin sister, Stephanie, and my older brother, Marc. Some of my favorite childhood memories are being outdoors—building forts in the trees, riding bikes through our trails in the sunflower fields, and spending countless hours exploring nature. Read more>>
Michele Beardsley
I attended the Musical String Instrument Repair program at the Red Wing Technical College immediately after high school. I went on to work for a prominent Minneapolis repair shop for the next 25 years where I learned a lot and gained huge experience, which is everything in this field. Read more>>
Kameron White
I am a comic artist, illustrator, and designer from Houston, TX, now residing in Minneapolis, MN. I graduated with a BFA in comic art from Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2018. I’ve always wanted to make my own stories and comics. My favorite things to create are original characters, worlds, fashion designs, and fun, eccentric stories. Read more>>
Ed and Amy Sandberg
Amy and her family began coming to Idlewild in the early 2000s when she was a teenager. She would spend the week fishing, playing games, and enjoying the wilderness with her parents, brother, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This remained a family tradition until she met me (Ed) in grad school and I started coming up to join the trip. Read more>>
kesean white
Hello my name is (Kp) Ke’Sean A White. I am a business owner, content creator, entrepreneur, actor, creative director, and a hustler. I am originally from Toledo Ohio. where I was born and raised. I recently moved to Minnesota in 2022 for a change in my career and in my life. Read more>>
Annie Johnson
I am currently a board member for the Mantorville Theatre Company which holds performances in the old Mantorville Opera House. This company has been up and running for over 50 years. Are “claim to fame” is always are Melodrama plays that we perform every summer. Several of these plays have been written by local playwrights who frequently also direct our shows. Read more>>
Jana K. Lensing
I have been an artist, my entire life-drawing, painting and creating. From a very young age, I developed a deep appreciation for the arts. I love visual arts, playing the piano, enjoy bringing characters to life on stage and I continued dancing and performing into adulthood. Read more>>
Emily & Dillon Martin
Dillon and Emily grew up in Maple Grove, but both of them spent their summers on the shores of Green Lake or hunting by Timber Lake. We both have family ties to the New London-Spicer area. Emily’s great, great grandfather built a home on the shores of Indian Beach Rd, while Dillon’s grandparent’s built their homestead on Lake Henry over 80 years ago. Read more>>
Sook Jin Ong
EquaSpace is a nonprofit shared workspace hub located at Court International in St. Paul, opened in Fall 2024 and currently hosts 21 diverse nonprofit organizations. Read more>>
Cassy Blum
It all started after I got married. Like a lot of couples, we spent months planning our wedding, but once it was over, I realized no one had prepared us for everything that came next. There were so many things to update, organize, and keep track of, and I constantly felt like I was forgetting something important. Read more>>
Justice Erickson
My name is Justice and I’m a 24 year old creative photographer based in Minneapolis but I’m from and currently still live in Wisconsin. I’ve loved taking photos ever since I can remember. Starting out with my grandpas old Samsung Flip phone to getting my first battery powered pink camera around age 10. Read more>>
Crystal Sayen
I started Crystal Sayen Photography almost 17 years ago because I loved capturing the little moments that tell a story. What began as a hobby quickly turned into something much bigger than I ever imagined. Over the years, my business has grown right alongside my own family. Read more>>
Veronica Geisenhof
Welcome to Country Sunshine! We are a family owned and operated business 13 miles, south of Brainerd, 15 north of Pierz on State Hwy 25. I, Veronica, grew up around plants and flowers as my parents gardened and grew plants in a few greenhouses to sell. I learned growing practices and techniques as well as customer service skills as it was a family project. Read more>>
Laura Duholm
In High school I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I responded, ‘a photographer.’ My teacher said, ‘think of something else. You will never make that a job.’ I honestly didn’t feel discouraged but I simply set that idea aside. In college, I was the friend that was always taking photos. Read more>>
Cali Zumdahl
Creativity has never been a single path for me. I fill my soul by exploring it from every angle—designing brands, styling florals, creating mindful merchandise, photographing beautiful moments, writing, and constantly bringing new ideas to life. I don’t believe creativity belongs in one box, and I never want mine to. Read more>>
Aeron Maurbjorn
My step dad was in the national guard. In second grade the Gulf War popped off and he was deployed. We drove him to Colorado Springs to ship out and while we were there he and my mom got tattooed together. Read more>>
Dillon Rust
I have always had a fascination with woodworking, tools, and the artistic side of the craft. I remember when I was around 11 years old, I asked my dad for a wood-burning iron from Hobby Lobby. I had no clue what I was doing, but I would take pieces of scrap wood from the garage and sit by the fireplace and burn away. Read more>>
Jeanne Mrozek
I spent my career in the NICU as a neonatologist, working alongside families at one of the most overwhelming and fragile moments of life. Read more>>
Amy Gorowsky
I started baking in high school, when I was on a quest to develop a ‘healthy’ chocolate chip cookie. To this day chocolate chip cookies are probably my favorite dessert to eat (and not the healthy kind)! In 2021, I saw a YouTube video of a cake being stacked and frosted and became inspired to try making a cake for my child’s birthday. Read more>>
Holly Kragthorpe-Shirley
My story began in a family that opened our home to foster care, so from a young age I saw both the brilliance of young people and the ways that systems can fail them. That experience shaped me deeply and inspired me to become a classroom teacher, where I spent 14 years working directly with students and families. Read more>>
Kaylee Peil
My career in healthcare began 10 years ago as a certified nursing assistant, and since then I have worked in a variety of settings, including orthopedics and emergency medicine. In 2020 I completed a nurse coach certification program that introduced me to the world of alternative and holistic healing. Read more>>
Denon Schaefer
Musecraft Studios began with a simple belief: creativity has the power to bring people together, build confidence, and strengthen communities. I wanted to create opportunities for people to discover that creativity doesn’t belong to a select few -it belongs to everyone. Read more>>
Ogechukwu Edward
My story actually starts with an act of kindness my father made about forty years before Nolele ever existed. I grew up in Ajegunle, Lagos — one of the toughest neighborhoods in Nigeria. It is the kind of place where survival is not an idea; it is a daily reality. Read more>>
Jessica Tirado
My story really started when I was in high school. I’ve always been creative and loved drawing, but things really began to grow when I saw a need in my church. At the time, we didn’t really have a budget for a web developer or someone dedicated to creating graphics, so I started helping wherever I could. Read more>>
Jason Karnes
My wife Paige and I had just moved to Wisconsin when she surprised me with a date night at Tippy Canoes. At the time, I had no idea there was anything more to this evening besides us enjoying a much-needed dinner together. Read more>>
Laura Hilliard
My husband and I took over the business from Marsha Ingram who is James’s mother. She has previously owned the business for about 30 years including the cafe that is also on the property. The cafe has been closed for approx 10 years due to Marsha wanting to transition to retirement. Read more>>
Wendy Reese
My journey with yoga began more than 25 years ago as a form of physical exercise. As a lifelong athlete, I was initially drawn to the strength and movement yoga offered, though at the time I did not fully understand why it left me feeling so grounded, balanced, and renewed. With a background in business, my path originally looked very different. Read more>>
Fallon Hagy
Golden Garden Botanicals began with a simple nudge. In October 2024, I felt a quiet stirring in my heart to get prepared. At the time, I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant or where it would lead. Looking back now, I can clearly see that it was the beginning of what would become Golden Garden Botanicals. Read more>>
Laura Hamilton Gomez
My reiki journey started in 2010, my husband and I were in search of alternative pain management for our 3 1/2 year old son. A coworker had suggested reaching out to one of the reiki practitioner who had been hired by our organization. Unfortunately that practitioner was not the best fit for a child with special needs. Read more>>
Devord Jr Allen
My story doesn’t begin with a plan. It begins with a moment — the kind of moment where life forces you to decide whether you’re going to be defined by what happened to you, or whether you’re going to become something greater because of it. I grew up understanding adversity from the inside out. Read more>>
Anthony Eaton
I was born in Minnesota and mostly raised in Saint Paul. My late husband who was born in Hastings and I operated an art studio in Lowertown before deciding to move to Florida in 1997. Nearly thirty years later, we were living outside Dallas, Texas, when my husband lost a three-year battle with cancer in 2022. Read more>>
Soren Olesen
SLOUGHGRASS How a family in Birchdale started learning together, kept going, and sent two young musicians onto the national bluegrass stage I never planned to be in a bluegrass band. Neither did my wife Judith. Neither did Christine or Dave. Grandma Audrey did not wake up one morning and decide to put together a family act. It happened a little at a time. Read more>>
Kayla Nayes
I started as an independent stylist in 2016, hired by first employee in 2018, and transitioned our business to LGBTQ+ inclusive in 2021 after covid made me realize just how important it was to make sure everyone who walked in our doors felt safe in all aspects of their wellbeing. Read more>>
Katie Hickman
I spent over 15 years working across PR agencies, corporate marketing teams, global brands, and media before launching Confluent. That cross-sector path wasn’t always linear, but it gave me something most communicators don’t have: a clear view of the same challenges from every side of the table. Read more>>
Kasey Rajotte
My story actually starts at the very beginning – literally. I was born at 12:52, with Amniotic Band Syndrome, a limb difference that affects my hands. That moment is actually where my business name Studio Twelve:52 comes from. I started my photography business when I was just 16 years old, and I was full time by 18. Read more>>
Lin Eckland
When my son was 12 he asked for a Shih Tzu because several of his friends had one. I researched the breed and we adopted one, Shimi. I fell in love with the breed and soon was volunteering with another rescue.After transport and temp fostering with them, I adopted a mill dog from them. Read more>>
Lindsey Busch
I started my journey at Hennepin Technical College in 2004 graduating with a Professional Florist diploma in 2007. I have worked in and managed in a handful of well known flower shops in the twin cities area over the last 20 years, and decided to take the leap into owning my own studio, for I love the floral industry and what I do. Read more>>
Melissa Hathaway
Up until nearly four years ago, I didn’t know the first thing about watercolor. Shortly before picking up my first paintbrush, I was challenged by a health diagnosis that slowed my body down. I needed an outlet; a way to fight the lack of energy I was experiencing. So I picked up my daughter’s watercolors, and began to paint. Read more>>
Jordan Pfeninger
In early 2023, I started up the boutique online, after attending many weekend craft sales selling hot cocoa bombs. It sparked the entrepreneur in me, and I was ready to do something bigger. I decided on an online boutique offering a little bit of everything. Read more>>
Lori Hogen
My career path has not been a straight line, but when I look back, there has always been one common thread: helping people make sense of complicated, emotional situations. After high school, I started at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin with plans to study elementary education and math. Read more>>
MICHAEL BOYD
I served in the U.S. Army Infantry from 2000 to 2013, with two combat tours in Iraq. My first tour was in Ramadi and on the outskirts of Fallujah with 1/503rd Infantry. My second tour was at Al Asad Air Base with 1/16th Infantry. Shortly after returning, I was stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana, as a Combat Advisor. Read more>>
Sandra Sargent
This journey started with an art class in high school. I made several pieces on my own but I set the hobby aside as life got busier. I pulled out my old tools again once my kids were grown. With encouragement from friends and one very special gallery owner in Faribault I began selling my work. Read more>>
Penni Brenke
What is Cowabunga Cresties? Cowabunga Cresties is located in Southern Minnesota. Primarily focused on breeding Correlophus Ciliatus, commonly known as the crested gecko. My 3 main focuses on breeding crested geckos are Olives, Tigers, and Dark Phantoms. I take a lot of pride in my animals, and how they are represented. Read More>>
De’Andre ‘JaeMyth’ McKee
I started out rapping and making my own music at the young age of 8 with my older cousin WestMo producing and making my beats. This would go on for 10 years straight until I started to do my very first show at the age of 18 at the Profile Center in Minneapolis. Read More>>
