Oregon’s Most Inspiring Stories

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.

Sara Kelly

I struggle with agoraphobia, panic disorder, health anxiety, OCD, and I was dependent on alcohol. At my worst, I became extremely paranoid. I thought every lump on my body was cancer, and I would visit doctors and hospitals constantly for reassurance. Every visit brought a new symptom. I remember going outside at two in the morning, screaming for help. Read more>>

Jaclyn Rae

Using Allergies to Fuel Change: Jaclyn Rae’s Path From Adversity to Achievement For readers of Oregon Voyager Magazine, the story of Jaclyn Creations is ultimately a story of healing that turned into infrastructure, personal research that evolved into programs, products, and purposeful community impact. Read more>>

Florence Cripe

I married young and we had three children. After 18 years of marriage, and seeing my children repeating the behaviors they saw modeled for them I realized I was in an unhealthy relationship. I asked him to get help and he divorced me. This led me to returning to school as I could not raise three teens on a part time minimum wage salary. Read more>>

Stuart Silberman

In 2005 I was working on finishing my doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with an Emphasis in Forensic Psychology interning with Colorado Department of Corrections. After completion of the internship, I remained onboard working as a psychologist candidate with maximum and administrative segregation custody level offenders. Read more>>

Stephanie Husk

I started out my mental health career doing therapeutic foster care. I have worked in a variety of settings including the juvenile department, out patient community mental health, k-12 schools and College settings. I now co-own an outpatient mental health clinic with an emphasis on training and supporting new counselors. Read more>>

Li Chen

I immigrated to the United States 21 years ago with limited English skills. After obtaining my acupuncture licence, while working for two clinics with multiple acupuncturists, I started by renting one room from a chiropractor’s office, working one or two days a week. Then after a year (in 2019), I moved to my current office. During the last 5 years, I earned my doctoral degree. Read more>>

Will Halsey

I first started cutting hair on myself in 5th grade after watching my older brother buzz his own. It wasn’t until I was a sophomore in high school that I realized I liked doing haircuts on other people. Back then it was mainly buzzcuts to get ready for football and the occasional mohawk. Read more>>

Kenn Gibney

My journey in laser technology spans over 31 years, built on a relentless pursuit of precision in industrial part marking for the most demanding applications—and it’s earned me a reputation as one of the very best in the world.It began in 1995 when I joined East Side Plating in Portland, Oregon, as a Laser Technician straight out of high school. Read more>>

Natalie Mich

My path to becoming an acupuncturist and burnout educator wasn’t linear—it was shaped by both science and personal experience. Before entering Chinese medicine, I earned a bachelor’s degree in Clinical Laboratory Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and worked for several years in hospital laboratories. Read more>>

Macie Schaeffer

I’ve spent 22 years teaching grades 6–12 in public schools as a teacher, dean of students, and curriculum coach. I left the system because trying to cram kids into a system that was too small for them wore on my heart. I knew we could do more for our most sensitive and brilliant learners. Public schools tend to produce anxiety and shutdown in sensitive kids. Read more>>

Heidi Moore

I’ve spent nearly 20 years with COUNTRY Financial, where I specialize in farm and ranch insurance solutions as well as small business coverage. I operate a full-service insurance agency proudly serving the Pacific Northwest, working closely with clients who live, work, and build businesses rooted in agriculture and rural communities. My passion for this work comes honestly. Read more>>

Lisa Holderby-Gersten

I grew up in Huntington West Virginia, my parents owned income properties and as a child I was exposed to all the aspects of managing rental homes and apartments. I’m sure that’s where that experience led to me to become a realtor later in life. Read more>>

ERIC RICHERS

It’s been a wild ride of bridging two completely different worlds: tech and mental health. I was raised here in Eugene by an East German chemical engineer and a Mexican electrical engineer, so technology was practically in my DNA from day one. I started coding when I was 14, built startups in my twenties, and even taught programming at a community college. Read more>>

Robert Hasse

I grew up in the Seattle area. Ive been in restaurant since I was 15. I started at Burger King as ‘the man in the box’, working drive thru. When I turned 18 I got a job tossing pizzas at Claim Jumpers. When I turned 21 I got a job as a bartender at a small sports bar. Read more>>

Cooper Boydston

We started at Tensegrity Physical Therapy in Eugene Oregon, AKA ‘Track Town USA’. Every day in the clinic we worked with injured runners. It turns out running related injuries are extremely common, some estimates as high as 75% of runners get injured each year and 25% are currently injured at any given time. Read more>>

Carolee Horning

I’m a trauma survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Beginning when I was 13 years of age, I was befriended, groomed, and sexually molested by a Catholic priest that became friends with my parents. That abuse lasted for approx. 8 years. For two decades after the abuse, I never spoke of it. I was a restaurant manager, and used work as a distraction. Read more>>

Eric Wood

Myself and my business partner, Richard Corey, started Ranch in 2017 as a pop-up. We were open on weekends only and borrowed space in the back kitchen of a bar to cook and prepare our pizzas. Read more>>

Andrew Loomis

I started out in ‘Marine Personnel’ and learned Labor Relations and employee relations working with US Merchant Marine. After nearly a decade, I accepted a role with a manufacturing company in Beaverton, Oregon, rounded out my HR Generalist experience and obtained the SPHR certification. After a couple of years, I moved into healthcare with Kaiser Permanente. At Kaiser, I grew into the leadership ranks. Read more>>

Ashley Hunt

Joe and I started The Hive as a catering company, focused on bringing people together over thoughtful, from-scratch food. Most of our work was centered around weddings and private gatherings, and being invited into those moments shaped everything for us. We were never just thinking about what was on the plate, but how it made people feel, how it fit into a larger memory. Read more>>

Sarah Ramakar

I’m Sarah Ramakar, the founder and president of Marley’s Monsters. I started the company out of a very personal problem: when I was cloth diapering my daughter, Marley, I became really aware of how much waste we create in day-to-day life, and I wanted better options that actually worked and felt good to use. Read more>>

Dr. Bailey Denno, PT, DPT

My personal history: I was raised as the 5th generation on a grass seed farm in Tangent, Oregon. I participated in 4-H showing my Arabian, Mynx. I was homeschooled from 1st-12th grades. I held jobs such as yard maintenance, waitress and barista to fund my equine and 5.0 Ford Mustang habits. I job shadowed PT and OT practitioners in pediatrics, work hardening and home health. Read more>>