The heart of our mission at VoyageDallas is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our city. In the recent weeks we’ve had the privilege to connect with some of the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s finest artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with our city’s incredibly deep talent pool. Check out rising stars from Garland and surrounding areas below.
Tori Salazar
My husband, at the time, was working over 40 hours a week. I was a stay-at-home mom and college student. We did not have a lot of money, just enough to make it by and feed our children. We were very happy, though; we both come from difficult childhoods, so not having much, we could manage and appreciate the little things. Our children never noticed, but I knew I wanted more for us, my husband as well. Read More>>
Herbert Walters, Jr.
As a child, my dad gifted me a keyboard for my birthday, and I fell in love with the piano. As I became a teenager, I began building instrumentals on the few recording slots I had on my piano. I would record short songs on my phone and send them to my friends for feedback. Fast forward to my senior year in high school where I wrote my first full song. Read More>>
Stephanie Benedetto
As long as I can remember, I have been drawn to home design and decor. I remember as a little girl in school designing neighborhoods and houses that me and all my friends would live in. I remember turning our garage into a playhouse and decorating it with all the things. I remember setting up and decorating big Barbie houses but never actually playing with the Barbies. Read More>>
Johnny Kirkpatrick
I have always had a passion for figuring out how things work and was drawn to technology at an early age. I built my first computer when I was 12 years old. I got my first IT job when I found vulnerabilities in my high school computer system, and shortly after graduating in 2007, I was offered a job as a computer technician for the school district. I continued to work there until I graduated college. Read More>>
Armando Parrish
When I was younger, I would spend many summer days with my mom in her office near High Five. Whenever we left the office, we always checked in on Lorenzo, my friend who lived under the highway. Over nine years, I developed a deep friendship with Lorenzo, and it crushed my heart to see him live on the streets. In June 2021, I started a GoFundMe for him, raising over $4,000, which enabled my family and I to put Lorenzo in an extended-stay hotel. After seeing this fundraiser, Project Lorenzo’s co-founder, Julie Condy, reached out with a plan to start a non-profit. Read More>>
Zeenat Khan
DFWROS was established in 2016 by me handling all the organizational needs. I volunteered with many refugee organizations but wasn’t satisfied with dropping items off at the door of a needy family. I wanted to know the people behind the door, their journey, their loss, and the home they left behind. Read More>>
Michelle Carmona
During my formative years, articulating my thoughts verbally proved challenging. Being an introverted child compounded the difficulty in forming connections and seeking guidance from teachers. It was rather difficult as my parents expressed their love through their actions rather than words. Photography became my sanctuary—an avenue to articulate my emotions and find solace. Read More>>
Jala Tryon
I started doing locs in college by offering to do some of my classmates’ hair for free. The process as a whole was interesting to me, so I self-studied, found classes, and eventually found a salon to work in, whether I could further my knowledge and experience. Read More>>
Wade O’Neal
I’ve always enjoyed photography. I started by taking photos on vacation this progressed to a general hobby, and later morphed into an “elaborate hobby”. Eventually friends and family started asking me to bring my camera with me to events and family functions after a while I eventually started a business shooting photography after studying the craft independently and eventually taking classes to get a sound foundation for shooting photography. Read More>>
Amanda Snow
I’ve always been intrigued by social media platforms, especially during my time in the education field as a college advisor at our local high school. When I moved to East Texas three years ago, I noticed the lack of social media marketing firms in our area catering to small business owners. I simply got started because our oldest daughter opened her own handmade clay jewelry company, and that’s when Amanda’s Marketing Services was created. We just celebrated our one-year anniversary! Read More>>
Erika Wortham
Fast forward to 2020. My daughter was 2, and I was working from home due to the pandemic. Hybrid online lash schooling was introduced, and I was able to complete my schooling for my license in person on the evenings/ weekends and online within a 4-month period. Read More>>
