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.
Ryan Gubrud
I’ve been passionate about fishing for as long as I can remember. Like many anglers, I spent years on the water experimenting with different techniques and tackle, always looking for ways to catch more fish. Read more>>
Elham Jalali
My Story – Elham Jalali I am Elham Jalali. Nature was my first teacher. As a child, I spent hours listening to birdsong, watching flowing water, and finding peace in the quiet of the natural world. Long before I knew the words mindfulness or presence, nature had already introduced me to them. Read more>>
Janise Johnson
Bodyology was born from one of the most challenging seasons of my life. After the birth of my second child in 2020, I experienced postpartum depression following a difficult pregnancy that left me nearly 100 pounds heavier. I lost over 80 pounds by changing my eating habits and committing to movement, but I was left with loose skin that affected my confidence. Read more>>
Antonia Wordlaw
I’m an independent artist and a single mother of two, chasing my dreams with everything I’ve got. Every song I create is built from real life, real pain, real love, and real resilience. My journey isn’t easy, but I’m determined to show my children that no matter where you come from, you can build the life you believe in through faith, hard work, and persistence. Read more>>
Jenna Gerszewski
I have a Bachelor of Arts w/ Emphasis in Drawing from MSU-Moorhead in 2010. After a few years of not utilizing my degree beyond being a grocery store cake decorator, I started doing a bunch of DIY projects for my wedding back in 2014. Read more>>
Erica Martin
I’ve always been a small-town girl with big dreams. I grew up in a town of fewer than 1,000 people, but even as a kid, I knew I wanted to live in the city and work in marketing. After college, I took a few marketing jobs, but my dream was always to work at Target Corporate. It didn’t happen overnight. Read more>>
Josy TholeZ
My grandmother was always my inspiration for joining the beauty industry and becoming an entrepreneur. She had her own business where she helped women with makeup, weight loss, and fashion. I always admired how put together she was, even in her later years. Read more>>
Scruffy Tails Humane Society
Scruffy Tails Humane Society has been serving homeless animals and the Crookston community since 1982. Over the past four decades, the shelter has weathered challenges that many small nonprofit shelters face – including financial hardships, leadership changes, name changes, and even periods when closure seemed possible. Through it all, one thing has remained constant: the community’s commitment to giving homeless animals a second chance. Read more>>
Oleksandra Chyrkova
My journey into aesthetic medicine began more than 15 years ago after completing my medical education in Ukraine. Throughout my career, I have always believed that aesthetic treatments should not only improve appearance but also restore confidence and improve people’s quality of life. Read more>>
Carisa Jurek
I’ve always been ‘crafty’ and used to focus on things like cross-stitching and hand-sewing felt play food. However, after I herniated a couple cervical discs in my neck, I could no longer do those things because looking down for long periods of time was super painful. I really missed having a creative outlet until I discovered makeup during COVID. Read more>>
Ember Jade Williams
Ever since I was a kid, the creative arts have been a part of who I am. I was always the person dancing around the house, outside with my headphones listening to every instrument and the emotion behind a song. As I got older, I realized performing wasn’t just something I enjoyed. It became how I expressed myself. Read more>>
Blair Dumba
I started my career as a labor and delivery nurse, where I spent years caring for women during some of the most important moments of their lives. That experience taught me the value of listening, building trust, and treating the whole person, not just the diagnosis. After becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner, I realized there was a gap between traditional healthcare and preventative, personalized wellness. Read more>>
kristina.hefty@gmail.com Anderson
My journey to a life in parks & recreation felt inevitable. My first jobs in high school were teaching ice skating and working as a golf caddy. I worked in campus recreation as a student at the University of Minnesota for 5 years, even serving as the Rec Sports Advisory Board Chair. Read more>>
Gavin Buckentine
Started out writing songs with my friend, BK. He was the one who introduced me to the first audio engineer I met, who at the time, went by “Speakers”. Speakers taught me the beginning steps of music, producing, and audio engineering and showed me there was more to music than just words in rhythm recorded on a DAW. Read more>>
Derest Craig-Fagge’Tt
I was born into a musical family as the youngest of 9 children to the late Supt. Charles E. Craig and Supervisor Janice Iglehart Craig. Read more>>
Lydia Kruse
I learned how to crochet from Youtube in January of 2021! Like anything, it took a lot of patience and practice to feel confident in what I was creating. At the time, I was studying for my marketing degree at University of St. Thomas. Flash forward to January of 2024, I launched my website to begin officially selling my pieces! Read more>>
Michael Hennes
I’ve been in healthcare since I graduated high school 20 years ago. I started on an ambulance and found my way to a doctoral degree in Chiropractic. In Chiropractic school, I quickly realized I wanted to learn more of the ‘why’ this was helping, or more importantly, not helping my patients. Read more>>
Adam Burke
When you set out to make an independent movie, what you’re really doing is starting a company. That’s the honest origin of Wet Paper Bag. Jud Nichols and I started it in Minneapolis, no studio, no map, just a script I’d written. We thought we were making a film. Read more>>
Nini Lee-Xiong
My story starts in 2019, when I launched Nini’s Jewels. During this time, I worked for my parents in their business, which had been running successfully for 10 years. With free time on my hands, they encouraged me to start an everyday wear, dainty jewelry business alongside what they did. Read more>>
Holly Yahnke
I have grown up loving animals. Coming into adulthood and getting my own pets I wanted to find training options that I felt good about, something my pets would enjoy, and something that would build our relationship in a positive and enjoyable way. Read more>>
Sasilak Suriwong
My husband and I were born and raised in Thailand before coming to the United States as international students. My husband earned his Master’s and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, and I earned my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Accounting from the University of North Dakota. Read more>>
Michelle McCoy
Twenty-two years ago, I sat in the car with my eight-year-old daughter after the final appointment, where the neurologist said there was nothing wrong with her and nothing more they could do. I was exhausted… Mentally, emotionally, physically…and I still had no answers for my own child. My gut told me it was her food, that it was something she was eating. Read more>>
Iuliia Ishaeva
I have loved animals for as long as I can remember, but my passion for British Shorthair cats truly began after meeting this incredible breed. Their calm temperament, intelligence, and affectionate personalities completely captured my heart. Before starting my cattery, I spent many years building a career in another field. Read more>>
Piercarlo Bormida of Bardo
To put it briefly, I was born in Northern Italy (1970s) into a family with a rather baroque family tree: noblemen, knights, tutors, and swordsmen, but also sailors from Northern Europe and Ethiopian princes. I spent my childhood in Africa and my adolescence in Europe, making a career out of electronic music. Read more>>
Chris Thorson
I started making Scandinavian-style fixed-blade knives in 2015. It was part of a deeper dive into my own cultural background: Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish. My wife gifted me a “kit” that included a Swedish blade, a block of masur birch, a couple of antler pieces, and some leather. No instructions, just the pieces to make a Northern Sámi knife and sheath. Read more>>
Ellen Crain
When our firstborn was 5, his preschool teacher suggested we push the district to have him go into 1st grade instead of kindergarten because of his early Fall birthday and checking the necessary boxes academically. We were less sure that was the right decision, but we knew if we enrolled him in school moving him up or holding him back would be a big deal. Read more>>
Sarabear Kelly-Modlin
Hi! Bear and Philly here! We are so excited to introduce ourselves and our company to you! Lucky Strains is a woman majority owned, family operated small business. Philly and I are a husband and wife team that has had massive family support since we started in this amazing industry when the Farm Bill passed in 2018. Read more>>
Natiya Smith
So how I got started? It’s funny honestly because Growing up, I was always the tallest in my class, and I felt like I never fit in because of my height. I was shy and quiet because my height made me feel uncomfortable. Even though my siblings are tall, they are guys, and they are supposed to be tall. Read more>>
alexandra Zauner
I’ve been alcohol-free for eleven years. What I learned in that time is that the hardest part isn’t skipping the drink, it’s the room. It’s being at the part but not quite in it. Lucille’s started in 2023 with a simple idea: build the room I wanted to be in. Read more>>
Amanda Zoss
My journey into entrepreneurship began back in 2009 when I was laid off from my position as a graphic designer. The economy was tough at that time, making jobs hard to find, especially in my industry, where 100 applicants were vying for the same roles and the market was oversaturated. Read more>>
Stephanie Ross
We stayed the course when it was discouraging. When we officially launched the Sister Circle Membership, only one person signed up at the launch event. I’ll be honest—it was extremely discouraging and I almost quit right then and there. But instead of taking it as a sign to stop, I took it as challenge to keep refining, keep believing, and keep showing up and we ended up launching with 18 Founding Members! Read more>>
Candace Hensley
My journey behind the lens began nearly two decades ago out of a pure love for preserving life’s raw, unscripted moments. Over the years, I grew CMH Photography, LLC from a local passion into a highly diverse creative business and an internationally published photography business, with work featured in global magazines and showcased at the renowned Malta Festival in Poznań. Read more>>
Daisy Morris
When I came to the University of Minnesota, I had one thing on my mind: becoming a nurse. School has always been my top priority, but college also introduced me to an incredible community of creative people. One night, I was asked to model for a local clothing brand, and that opportunity completely changed my path. Read more>>
Mikhailo Lavender Wills
My interest in photography started around my freshman year of high school. I when to my first concert, Yungblud, and wanted to learn how to capture the best photos of not only the artists I was seeing but also the reactions of the fans. Read more>>
Emilyrose O’Donovan
My journey into the wellness world was born out of survival. Years ago, I suffered from debilitating chronic pelvic pain and women’s health issues that completely stripped away my quality of life. The physical and emotional torment was so severe that it brought me to the very edge of ending my life. Read more>>
Caty Brown
For years, I was searching for something I couldn’t explain but knew I needed. I found it through sound healing, and that experience eventually became Soul Body Finesse. I started Soul Body Finesse in 2019 after relocating to Minneapolis from Los Angeles with my 2 and 3 year old. Read more>>
