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 the rising stars of West Dallas and surrounding areas below.
Jelani Ingram
I’m not nearly the best Ingram. I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Examples: My uncle Jon Ingram owned the first black-owned tuxedo shop in Dallas, Texas ‘Mr. Formal Tuxedo’ and my father, Jesse Ingram, PhD have owned a Psychology practice for 40+ years. During the 1980s, my dad decided to lay down roots in Desoto, Texas. I graduated from Desoto High School and went on to earn a BS in Psychology from Morehouse College. Read More>>
Mackenzie Fluharty
The Fluharty Group is a team of Seasoned Business Operations Professionals with a passion for bookkeeping, process improvement, and business operations. We have been fortunate to work in a variety of industries, such as food & beverage, power & communication, association management, medical devices, and financial services. We have found our niche in the areas of bookkeeping and business operations management. Read More>>
Michael Goode
It has not been an easy road, but a fun one. We rented a building with the electictric done wrong, so it took us an extra 6 months to open. This is my first business, so I’ve learned a lot. I had to learn everything from how to register a business all the way to having employees. Read More>>
Michelle Bilbrey
I was blessed to be born into a Western-style family. I have ridden horses before I could walk! Then I married a guy that raised and bred cutting horses! My passion for the cowgirl way of life, coupled with my lifelong love of horses, brought every bit of this to life. We wanted to honor with permission some of the greatest horses ever. Those horses are extensions of us. Read More>>
Kanya Michelle
I started my business in fall of 2020 after a layoff during COVID. I was a senior in college and finishing up my degrees. It started out as Shreveport Cottage Homestead, and I was selling scones and mini pies. Before Christmas, I started making biscuits (originally to be served with my partner Paul’s Bloody Marys at a popup event) and kept going with the biscuits through the holidays and into the New Year, Mardi Gras, and Easter seasons. Read More>>
Yashnika Leveille
My story as the founder of Madame Doula is deeply woven with threads of heritage, healing, and a relentless pursuit of knowledge. Born into a first-generation American family of Haitian descent in Boston, Massachusetts, I was raised amidst a rich tapestry of cultural traditions and wisdom. Read More>>
Marcus Foster
I’ve loved music since I was a child; I grew up in church, so I would sing church songs randomly and sometimes still do. Started listening to hip hop/rap the other I got and loved how different artists could play on words with double entendres and things of that nature. Where I’m from, there’s basically a certain type of sound with the rappers that are most popular, but I don’t rap like that, so I originally never wanted to rap because I didn’t want to be labeled a “Baltimore Rapper.” Read More>>
Rachel Strum
I’m originally from New York, born in Queens, grew up on Long Island, and attended college at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, where I studied Fine Arts. After graduation, I spent some time back on the East Coast before deciding to move down to Dallas to be closer to my then-boyfriend. It was that decision that changed my life completely. Read More>>
Crystal Bateman
In my experience with being employed at larger companies during the span of my career. There was always a specific person you would contact to assist you with each of your departmental needs. A representative to work on Marketing, an accounting department, a Credit division, an IT help desk, the Human Resources sector, and fingertip access to a massive amount of employees to help you with tasks based on specific daily demands that are outside of your focused wing. Read More>>
Allison Oliver
I moved to Denton in 2015 and Started out working at a salon and barbershop part-time. Promoting a safe space for queer/alternative people to come and get their hair done. Anyone who’s ever felt uncomfortable walking into a salon and felt judged for the cut they were asking for or just flat out for their appearance? We’re not your normal spot, we want it to feel like you’re at your crazy aunts’ house getting your hair done. Read More>>
Keely Brown & Lindsey Wing
Founders Keely Brown and Lindsey Wing started up the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Colorful Closets (www.colorfulclosetsama.org) in the summer of 2016 as co-founders and co-executive directors. Having children of their own enrolled in the public school system, it was hard to turn a blind eye to the need for clothing within their own children’s classrooms and schools, Read More>>
Phyllis Nickum-Golden
As a long-time hotelier, I had worked (and turned around hotels) from Seattle to New York City and all points in between. I found myself in Amarillo, Texas, to take over and restore 4 hotels, and I immediately fell in love with the Texas Panhandle and the Western Culture. Having grown up in Texas, it felt like I was coming back home. After numerous years restoring Amarillo’s Finest Hotel, I decided I wanted to start a Western Tourism Business on my ranch in Amarillo – and did. Read More>>
Petra Ashley Schmitt
Exactly in July 21, 1996, I began my Mission to step up and fight for children being consistently abused. My advocacy started expanding out, fighting for domestic abuse against women and senior citizens of all communities. Read More>>
Anisha Holla
My passion for restaurants started in high school when I would spend hours researching local restaurants to visit in my free time. But it turned into a profession when—in 2021–I was recruited by the Dallas Observer as a food writer, getting paid to travel across Dallas and write local restaurant reviews. And quite unintentionally, it turned into something even bigger when I started my own Instagram account to post local restaurant videos, which started as a humble hobby but has now grown to one of Dallas’s largest food influencer accounts. Read More>>
James Barber
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, James “J.Anthny” Barber is a singer, songwriter, producer, and audio engineer with a message for the world. A child of addicted parents, J.Anthny spent his life in the system, coping with early challenges through music. In his early teens, inspired by fellow rapper Lady G, now known as Gizzle, he moved from rapping to songwriting and freestyling. Read More>>
Michael Tavarez
Picadera was created out of a need for bars and breweries to offer food during the pandemic, as well as a desire to introduce Dominican cuisine to Dallas where there were previously no Dominican restaurants. Now, several years later, Dominican restaurants and food trucks are becoming more common in the DFW area, allowing Dallas residents to experience and appreciate our culture’s food. Currently operating out of a ghost kitchen, we hope to eventually open a physical location that will serve as a welcoming space for our community. Read More>>
