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.
Lisa Case
New Owners to Collector Market David and Lisa took over the store on Jan 1, 2026 Lisa has been a vendor at Collectors Market since 2020 and has loved the store from the beginning. Lisa Retired from social work, David retired from providence Hospice. We have truly enjoyed cleaning and updating the store.., and love getting to know all the vendors. Read more>>
David L. Chalmers
I started Bridgetown Trucking the way a lot of small companies do: new to the business, learning just in time, and saying “yes” to whatever it took to keep things moving. In the early days, I was a co-owner, truck driver, dispatcher, accountant, and warehouse manager all at once. Growth came in stages—more trucks, more people, more hours on the road. Read more>>
Eric Stout
In the small coastal town of Coos Bay, Oregon finding a good job could be tough. Right after high school I was walking down my gravel road and saw my neighbor unloading surfboards out of his truck. I asked him how the surfing was and we struck up a conversation and I found out he has a landscaping business, Ocean Bay Landscape. Read more>>
Adam von Gaertner
I started GaertnerPC after a family member had an expensive bill for a simple repair. I had previously worked in the corporate world and was determined to find a more enjoyable profession than working for a soulless corporation. Read more>>
James Art Ville
I firmly believe that everyone is born an artist. Give a child a blank paper and crayon, stand back and watch them create something out of seemingly nothing. Human beings are blessed with not only the ability to consciously observe our environment, but also have an innate desire to leave a record of what we see be it through art, song, or script. Read more>>
Meggie & Aris Campbell
Feral Flora is pretty much the result of all the weird lettle things we’ve loved our entire lives. Long before there was ever a shop, there was collecting, creating, & following whatever sparked our curiosity. Read more>>
Georgia Conrad
In 2019, I was working at a local nonprofit and needed video support, so I put out an RFP. Her bid came back offering everything the others did—at a third of the price. As a small nonprofit in McMinnville, I figured, why not? She was local, well connected, and worth a shot. That single decision is how we met. Read more>>
Ryan Anderson
I have been working in digital marketing for the past 19 years and have been building my own agency Major Fluke, as of August 2024, so almost 2 years. Had a great start finding people who need SEO and online paid ads help without a large agency overhead. I serve mostly home-service based businesses here in Southern Oregon. Read more>>
Josh Gordon
My wife and I love to travel, and food and especially beer/breweries have always been a big part of the travel experience. Home brewing was also always a passion, something I have been doing for over 30 years. I worked for adidas, for almost 25 years, as a designer in product innovation. Read more>>
Kyle Herzberg
I am a business owner with the most untraditional path you could come up with. I studied kinesiology at George Fox, where I also met my now wife and mother to 2 kids, Olivia. Shortly after graduation, I worked fulltime as an EMT firefighter and started paramedic school. Read more>>
Paul Durant
Durant has roots that run deep in the Willamette Valley. Five generations deep, to be exact. My family originally farmed walnuts, hazelnuts, Italian prunes, and cherries. My parents, Ken and Penny Durant, were among the first families to plant wine grapes in the Dundee Hills back in 1973, driven by a pioneering spirit and my father’s passion as a home winemaker. Read more>>
Jono Slade
My journey hasn’t followed a straight line, but every step has contributed to where I am today. Over the years, I’ve built online training companies, worked in the trades, traveled internationally producing video content, earned certifications in enterprise IT management platforms and led large-scale implementations, and worked with a variety of technology startups. Read more>>
Nicolas Stanitsas
I moved to Bend in 2016 to attend the Cascade Culinary Institute. I grew up in restaurants, my dad owned a few diners in Southern California. I decide to go into the restaurant business too, but I wanted something different than a diner. The Culinary Institute gave me the skills and knowledge to expand on a concept, which eventually became Kefi. Read more>>
JAIKA YBER
My story is not one of overnight success. It is a story of faith, perseverance, humble beginnings, and trusting God’s plan even when it looked completely different from my own. Growing up in Dumaguete City, Philippines, I was heavily influenced by my grandfather, who was a physician. Read more>>
Ligia (Lulu) Babici
I’ve been obsessed with flowers for as long as I can remember. When I was 7 or 8, I started taking photos of every flower I saw: in our backyard, at the park, on trips, everywhere. My parents took me to Paris once and I came home with about 200 photos of flowers and maybe 5 of the Eiffel Tower. Read more>>
Kayla Brown
If you had told me when I graduated from college in 2011 that I would one day own a bakery in Downtown Gresham, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. I graduated with a degree in graphic design, but as I approached the end of college, I realized I wasn’t passionate about pursuing a traditional design career. Read more>>
Elizabeth Hoffmann
It began with my family; as a child, my parents were storytellers. We would travel around the southeast to festivals about four times a year. They taught me how to listen. I enjoyed studying people and their patterns, culture and emotions; stories allowed me to do that. I became an avid writer, reader, and believer of embodied truths. Read more>>
Jodhi Mather-pike
Back in 2022 I was working primarily as an audio engineer. I had been doing this for about a decade and was looking for a change, I just wasn’t sure what that could look like. I had tried working in mental health for several years, and while I enjoyed the work it was taking a toll on my own mental health. Read more>>
Debbie Rogers Siegel
I started my Lake Grove Kumon Math and Reading Center in 2003 to help my own kids study math and reading concepts in a way that assured mastery. My oldest daughter, lianne, was very excited about math and was a fast learner. She felt school was slow in moving her forward and wasn’t teaching her math that would lead to calculus. Read more>>
Karen Bates
We opened our quilt store on the 4th of July, fourteen years ago. We have always specialized in quilts that are unique to our store many using Australian Aboriginal fabrics, We have the largest collection of Aboriginal fabrics in the country. I also design many quilts called Block of the Months. Read more>>
Renée Butcher
In some ways, Parkside Acoustic Bed & Breakfast has been nearly forty years in the making. Rick and I both grew up in the Portland area and met in high school choir. By our junior year, we were engaged to be married. But life had other plans, and we eventually went our separate ways. Then, nearly thirty years later, we got a second chance. Read more>>
Amanda Rich
Born and raised in San Luis Obispo, California, I spent 25 years shaping the brand and visual identity of the iconic Madonna Inn. Having dedicated over two decades to such a legendary, high-volume property, I developed a deep mastery of hospitality marketing, from hands-on graphic design to multi-channel digital strategies. Read more>>
Tommy Smith
I grew up in central WA and spent the first 10 years of my grocery career cutting meat for a regional chain. After 10 years we decided to make a life change and sold our home and moved to the mid-west. We had a 2-year-old daughter and were pregnant with our second child at the time. Read more>>
Danika Tkacik
I went to massage school to get cheap massages on the GI Bill. That was the plan. Then three months in, something happened — I had a significant fascial release and felt pain leave my body that I’d been carrying so long I thought it was just… being alive. I didn’t know that wasn’t normal. Read more>>
Becky Vaughn-Masters
The morning of my best-friend’s wedding, I was freshly postpartum and sweating through my Spanx as I tried to breastfeed my infant daughter with one hand and curl my hair with the other. Read more>>
Janel Astor
Having moved to Portland (our dream city) during the pandemic and being in my early fifties, it took me awhile to find my footing. Read more>>
Brian Pundt
Serving the South Coast for over 2 decades — Orcoast Music has been providing your musical needs since 2001. We are a serious old-school, family-owned music store. We suceed by providing excellent customer service, a thorough range of product choices, specialized expertise in instrument service & repair, and music lessons & resources. Our passion for music runs deep. Read more>>
Roy Lee
I literally started from the bottom and now I’m here. In my mid 20’s I had avascular necrosis in my hip joint causing bone death. I was rushed to make an immediate decision and get a total hip replacement. Back in those days hip replacements weren’t as successful as they are now a days. Read more>>
Rik Villarreal
The Itty Bitty Inn in North Bend, Oregon, originally opened as a roadside motel in 1950. It was saved and transformed by current owner Rik Villarreal in 2015, who turned the faded vintage property into an acclaimed, geek-culture-meets-midcentury-exotica oasis. Read more>>
Braeden Counts
I grew up listening to all kinds of music. My mom was always playing artists like Rascal Flatts, Reba, Garth Brooks, P!nk, Hoobastank, Three Doors Down, and Cher. My dad was more into Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Beastie Boys. Between the two of them, I got a little bit of everything growing up. Read more>>
Greg Holdsworth
I’ve always been the “art kid” who gravitated toward drawing, drafting, and anything visual. I actually started in college as an architecture major, but halfway through I realized it wasn’t the right fit. I switched over to Graphic Communication, literally the next building over, and it clicked immediately. After graduating, I landed my first advertising agency job that fall. Read more>>
