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.
Jade Brown
I started first making deep conditioner. I wanted something that not only could moisture your hair but a conditioner that would promote healthy hair growth. After seeing how my deep conditioner grew out my son’s hair I started researching ingredients for a hair oil. 2022 is when I started making hair oil. At first I only used it on my son’s and my hair but then my clients wanted me to use it on them. Then I had clients that wanted to buy my oil. If God would have told me that my life would be like this, I wouldn’t believe him. I would never imagine making and selling my own products and doing what I love to do and that’s doing hair. Read More>>
Dawn Blasingame
Rough road all the way. Challenging path of new information, lack of communication, one hand not knowing what the other was doing. I fought to be heard. Trying to be at a hospital or clinic, a school function, and get my 40 hours of work on. And then stay connected to friends, family and church Read More>>
Corey Phifer
Since then, I’ve played at major nightclubs across the U.S. and internationally in cities like Barcelona, Paris, Bangkok, Dubai, and Toronto. By leveraging the professional relationships I built through years of promoting events and supporting others, I’ve been able to create a lifestyle sustained by my talent. I can confidently say I didn’t become a DJ for the money—it’s always been about my passion for music and entertainment. Read More>>
Nekima “REPOCHIC” Horton
Those who choose this path will learn how to grow their vision and expand their mission with Nekima. As the President and CEO of RC Consulting Group, she works with businesses of all sizes and disciplines. Empowering companies to get structurally and programmatically organized. As a game-changer and system-buster, she is educating entrepreneurs on their options. Read More>>
Allyson Kiser
After my first wedding I was hooked. I moved on to intern with another wonderful and immensely successful photographer right after high school and the desire to pursue a career in photography grew fervently. Throughout college, where I pursued a degree in history and religion, I worked at building my company and my clientele. I can point back to very specific decisions within the early parts of my career that have led to my success today. The mantra of “investing in myself always comes back to me threefold” has been leading the current season of my career. Looking back to see very scary decisions make long lasting impacts has been incredibly refreshing. Seeing the trust I had in myself and God to provide all those years ago, has only strengthen my hope for big decisions today. Read More>>
Amanda Larmer
As I traveled from one client to another, I embraced the beauty of diversity. I encountered people of all ages, sizes, and backgrounds, each with their own stories and insecurities. Listening to their journeys deepened my commitment to body positivity. I learned that a tan could do more than enhance appearance; it could instill confidence and encourage self-love. Read More>>
Melissa Long
I found my passion in the field of Memory Care for people suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia and moved up the ranks to eventually become a Director of Nursing for several assisted living facilities there. I put my nursing career on pause shortly after the pandemic subsided to pursue a career in tech. I worked in the tech industry for two years before my employer sold the company and laid off the majority of staff. I decided to re-enter the healthcare field and I am currently working as a Charge Nurse for the Memory Care unit of my employer. Read More>>
Reggie Perkins
They we’re offering training for new students. After my first day of class I was hooked. I was studying new techniques everyday. I still study with my instructors to this day. In 2023, I decided to leave Stretch Lab and start my own mobile business. I would do private housecalls for some of my longtime clients. I’ve worked with a variety of clients from athletes, young children, Parkinson’s patients and your average working adult. My mobile business had started to grow. Moving forward I partnered up with Josh Wise of Wise World of fitness in Arlington TX and started to offer my services at his private gym. I just recently expanded and now offer my services at Self Made Training facility in Downtown Dallas. Read More>>
Finessegod Gene
I started recording music when I was 13, but it was always more than just a hobby. Music was therapeutic for me—it was my way of processing everything I’d been through. But it wasn’t my only focus. I’ve always been about making moves, whether it was running my own businesses like Coney Island restaurants or pursuing financial freedom in other ways. I’m not the type to rely on a 9-to-5. I’ve always been a go-getter, chasing my own path. Read More>>
Pamela D. Smith
While I have a long standing corporate career, and even knew early in life that I had a calling, it was the last few years that I realized that calling was in the outreach space and it consisted of a blend of my corporate experience and my ministry call. This calling does not fit the traditional mold of ministry. I spent the first few years of my ministry preaching from a pulpit and speaking from podiums but I’ve always felt as if my calling was different. and so today I find myself ministering through action, character, and integrity in my corporate career and doing outreach initiatives in my community. Read More>>
Kasia Badger
My journey to becoming a pilot began as a childhood dream, a flicker of hope that danced in my heart as I watched planes soar through the sky. I still remember the wonder that filled me as I gazed upward, imagining myself in the cockpit, navigating through clouds and charting my own path. However, as I grew older, societal whispers told me that girls like me didn’t belong in aviation. These messages created a heavy weight of doubt, but instead of letting them extinguish my dream, they ignited a fire within me—a determination to prove that every dreamer deserves a chance to soar. Read More>>
Juliann Balley
But, as we often come to find out, life has other plans. I graduated college in 2015, served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and then after that I got married. I worked a little bit subbing for the local school district, but I didn’t feel a desire to pursue a full-time teaching position, despite the fact that that “was the plan” the whole time I was in college. I got pregnant with my first child in 2017, and that was when things totally shifted. He was born at the end of that year. Read More>>
Rasya Ramakrishnan
As a high school student with a passion for business and technology, I constantly searched for opportunities to develop my interests and skills. While serving as the Executive Director of Frisco Ignite, a nonprofit organization, I launched Flaer, a nonprofit matchmaking platform, to mitigate an issue nonprofit directors like myself face, and this began to expose me firsthand with the challenges entrepreneurs and startups face in getting their ideas off the ground. Read More>>
Jadyn Freeman
The only challenge I’ve faced is relocating from New Jersey to Texas. Fortunately, I’ve met some incredibly welcoming Texans who have personally shown me around and introduced me to places I’ve come to truly appreciate. Moving from a familiar place to an unfamiliar one can be challenging, but when you open your heart and mind you begin to discover so much more. Read More>>
Janea Waddy
Inspired by Sydnie’s suggestion, I decided to take the plunge into real estate. I graduated with my degree and enrolled in real estate courses, earning my license in 2023. I was uncertain about my next steps, but I joined a real estate team led by Keleisha Anderson, who was in the process of opening her own brokerage! To support my new career, I took a position as an administrative assistant with her. Fast forward to today, I’m proud to say that I’m now a licensed realtor and the VP of Operations at The Vibe Brokerage! Read More>>
Owen Carlson
We make artisanal, Argentine-style gelato. Argentina has a love affair with gelato, in part due to a large amount of Italian immigration. This love drives them to keep experimenting to make the best flavors possible. Our Gelato differs from the Argentine style in that it contains a higher proportion of cream, resulting in bolder flavors and a more luxurious mouthfeel. It might seem like a small detail but if you try each of them side by side it makes a world of difference. Personally, with the amount of gelato I’ve eaten, I can’t go back to the Ice cream you find in supermarkets. Read More>>
Lajoshua Daniels
Lajoshua Daniels discovered his passion for law enforcement in 2016 and decided to embark on a career in security to test the waters. After two years of dedicated service as a patrolman and supervisor, he identified significant industry shortcomings and a pervasive lack of professionalism. This inspired him to establish his own security company, Criminal Investigation Division, in 2018. As his company thrived and expanded throughout Dallas-Fort Worth and into Houston, Lajoshua found a name change to Lonestar Defense Group necessary to better represent their growing presence and commitment to excellence. Read More>>
Madalyn Blanton
This year, after really missing those client relationships, I decided to open my books to the public and begin rebuilding my clientele. I now use my husbands chair in his suite to take clients on Sundays and Mondays. I have met some of the most amazing people, and already that passion has been reignited, and I am fully diving back into my craft and have been incredibly lucky to have the clients that I do. Read More>>
Zach Gilliam
Guitar, for me at least, was really just a way to make sense of the world around me, and the fact that I was meeting and rubbing shoulders with legendary musicians such as Mark Lettieri, Bobby Sparks, Keith Anderson, Gino Iglehart, and many others was one of the most inspiring moments of my life. It was like I’d fallen into a world that I’d always loved but never knew existed until these people showed me that I could do it if I worked hard enough. Read More>>
Barina Romero
It has evolved into Elevated food for ALL palates. Including Keto, Plant Based, Carnivore, Libido, Fertility, Bariatric and weight loss or muscle gain. With every review one thing is common, helping people Come Closer. Closer to their goals, their family or their health. My Cook Book Come Closer-Food the 6th Love Language will be out this year. I hope to continue to love people through my variety of foods. That is why we are called The Modern Spoon-Food Unscripted we are not a traditional meal prep company. We never have the same things twice on our menu so you will never get bored. Read More>>
Nikki Gonzalez
Liz and I once spoke about her desire to create greeting cards while she was getting through her cancer journey. She never got the chance to begin, so I was dedicated to shifting my focus and getting started for her. Since launching greeting cards, Nikki Doodles has also added handmade novelty earrings as a fun twist. We’ve expanded from online only to now also being sold in six shops across the U.S. within 2024! Read More>>
Alexis Marie
I got a job as soon as I turned 16 to fund my buisness and maintained a job, doing nails, and school fulltime for about a year and half until I was confident enough in my clientele to quit and go full time. I began to really give my all and most times would skip school and work on building my brand and studio or to take clients and work. By the time I graduated and got my license my buisness was thriving. I went from barely 1 client every few weeks, to 20+ clients a week. There were so many times that I would want to quit because I wasnt seeing progress or an increase and clientele but I am so beyond grateful that I never did. Read More>>
