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.
Justin Walker
When I was just 19 years old, I started filming videos of cars on my iPhone with the intention to make car reviews for YouTube as I have a strong passion for cars. Shortly after starting this process, I started to fall in love with the actual filming and editing process. Read more>>
Brittany Styles
I can vividly remember being about nine years old and picking out the colors for my new room. I wanted it to be pink and green and spent several hours searching for the perfect comforter set and pastel pink wall color. During this time, wall stickers were very popular, so I had to have some of those as well. Pink and green polka-dots to be exact! Several years later, the night before my 13th birthday party, I was up all night creating my own party decorations. Out of everyone in my family I have always been the one most concerned with redecorating my room and spending large amounts of time selecting party themes. Read more>>
Kari Mulderink
My life’s calling had always centered around children. First as an elementary school teacher and then for 23 years at home with my own three as a full-time, homeschool mom. So, when my youngest son graduated high school and my home became an emptying nest…I wondered…”What’s next?”… “What am I going to be when I grow up?” I went to work with a local veggie farmer just down the road from my house. I learned a lot working that job and really enjoyed getting my hands in the dirt, working outdoors, and harvesting beautiful vegetables! A few years into working at the farm, I tried growing some flowers to offer alongside the veggies at the farmer’s market. Read more>>
Jamaal Jackson
I was born in Canton, OH, but I moved to Columbus at a young age. I’m the son of a high school coach, so I’ve known for a long time that I’ve wanted to coach. During the 1998-99 season, I interned with The Ohio State University Men’s Basketball Program. That season, we went to the NCAA Final Four. At that time Jim O’Brien was the head coach. I just did anything in the office that the coaches or the executive assistant, Debbie Cacchio, needed done. I learned a lot about some of the administrative aspects of a program. I attended college at Kentucky State University. That’s where I was truly immersed in to the profession. Read more>>
Jasemine Reed
I discovered my voice at age 12 when I started writing in my diary my innermost honest thoughts. I was introduced to poetry in 8th grade when I learned about writing Haiku poems. From then I used writing as a solace and peace at a time when I couldn’t make sense of my life or my personal afflictions. I moved around a lot between Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Kentucky until I settled in Louisville to start and finish my high school career. Following high school, I decided I wanted to go into the field of psychology to learn about the roots to human behavior. Read more>>
Maggie Flynn Hillyer
Starting at 4 years old, you would rarely see me without a camera in my hands. I’ve always loved everything about the artform, but it was just a hobby. It wasn’t until 2009 that I found the subject that inspired me to start spending serious time with my camera. When we adopted our second West Highland White Terrier, Aurora, we shared an instant bond and she quickly became the only thing I wanted to photograph. The feeling of joy and love that you can convey through a properly executed photo of a dog is unrivaled. I absolutely loved it, but it was always something fun I did for myself. I didn’t think of it as something I could pursue professionally until 2019, when our other Westie, Marshmallow, unexpectedly died of cancer. The pictures we had of him helped so much with getting through the pain of losing him, but these were far from quality photos. Read more>>
Catrena Bowman
My love for fashion started at a very young age. I would come home from school and my mother would have my entire outfit laid out for me. The shirt, pants, shoes, earrings, everything! I felt so special and I always wanted other women to feel special and beautiful. Once I started my professional career I always dabbled in fashion. Offering style sessions and style workshops. I had a fashion radio show and internet tv show. Then in 2020 when the pandemic hit, I knew it was time to take it to the next level. I launched my online boutique Inspired Fashion. Then last November we opened our first brick-and-mortar location and we are going strong! Read more>>
Lauren Morgan
Since I was a young girl, I have always been creative. It all started when I was roughly six years old and on a family vacation to New York City. I carried around a small disposable camera and would take photos of everything in sight. At first, it was just an activity that kept me occupied, but I, as well as my family, quickly realized that I had an eye for photography. Throughout middle school, high school, and college, photography was my passion and what I thought I wanted to do for the rest of my life until I took my first graphic design class. I instantly fell in love with creating things digitally, manipulating photography, using typography, illustration, and much more to bring a story to life. Read more>>
Maria Montgomery
Maria is a former Miss Kentucky USA. This leads her to place in the top 5 at Miss USA in Las Vegas, Nevada. After that event, Maria started her professional modeling career. She signed with world-renowned agencies such as FORD Models, Wilhelmina Models, Select Models, and in Nashville – The Block Agency! Read more>>
Gabrielle Rice
I have always appreciated the sentiment of a handwritten letter but I would always save it for a special occasion- now I know there is always a reason to send someone a sweet note! My newfound love of letter writing led me to a big problem- I didn’t have beautiful stationery that felt like “me”. That set me on a mission and since then I’ve spent countless hours designing paper goods that are sure to delight anyone who comes in contact with them. Read more>>
Madison Fields
As a general rule, I’m a pretty play-it-safe kind of person. I’ve always been someone who follow rules because I hate getting in trouble, and I especially hate disappointing myself or other people. However, starting my business is the one big risk that I can remember taking in my life. I went to college thinking to pursue a nursing degree because I wanted to “help people,” and everyone else said “people are always going to need nurses.” After one semester, I realized that wasn’t the path for me, but the healthcare cliches were so ingrained in me that I played it safe and decided to pursue a career as a speech language pathologist. I never really loved it, but I was helping people and that’s what I thought mattered. Dropping out of my master’s program crossed my mind on multiple occasions, but it was a risk that I thought I couldn’t afford to take. Read more>>
Roseann Willson
I’ve always had a camera in my hands. When the pandemic hit, I got furloughed from both my jobs in within two weeks. So, I dived into the world of photography head-on. In these past couple years, I’ve learned so much and continue to learn every time I shoot. I absolutely love it! I am now a full-time wedding photographer, shooting 46 weddings in two years. On the side, I like to dabble in all sorts of photography, whether it’s shooting our kiddos and playing outside or working on a more artistic projects. Right now, I’m really loving all things floral and floral art! Read more>>
Ime deCaussin
Starting my business Created By Koko was serendipitous. One day I was scrolling on Pinterest and stumbled upon a photo of polymer clay earrings. I was instantly intrigued and continued learning about polymer clay by reading books and watching tutorials. Rather than keeping all the earrings I created for myself I decided to start selling them. I have always loved wearing earrings and using my hands to create art. In June 2020, I combined these two things to start my business selling wearable art. I enjoy my full-time career working in higher education, but I missed having an artistic outlet. The thought process behind starting my business was to spend more time using my imagination and creativity. Created By Koko keeps me accountable to creating. It makes me happy sharing my love for earrings and art with people. Read more>>
Bailey Jordan Warner
I was born and raised in Bowling Green, KY., in an environment of art, music, reading, photography, dance, academics, athletics, travel, and other activities. I inherited a lot of my artistic ability from my dad and creativity from my mom. My mother tells the story of when I was a preschooler, she walked in to find me drawing a magazine cover. I apparently drew not only the designs on the cover, but “drew” the words in their various fonts. I could not read at that point but saw the entire magazine cover as art to copy. I always have been very fortunate to have a family who supports my art explorations. My parents made sure I experienced a new form of art at every possible opportunity. Read more>>
