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.
Casey Freitas
Pearl and Penna was owned by a very good friend of mine – she was going into retirement, and mentioned selling the bridal boutique. I have been very blessed to be a stay at home mom the last 7 years – but when the opportunity arose for me to buy this business it felt so completely right. Read more>>
Khoa To
It actually started pretty simply. When our kids were younger, every time we shopped we would purchase a few Pokémon packs for the kids to open. It was fun seeing the kids packs battling and traded with each other, but as the kids got older, we eventually moved on to other things and stopped collecting for a while. Read more>>
Jack Shelton
How The Hoodie Shoppe Got Started The Oregon Coast is known for its mild-to-cool weather, especially during the tourist season. Visitors often arrive from warmer climates, ready for the beach, sunshine, and ocean air, only to discover how quickly the temperature can drop when the coastal winds pick up. More often than not, they’ve underdressed or simply didn’t pack for the cooler weather. Read more>>
Susan Gotshall
Reading and the Squid really grew out of both my professional experience and my personal life. I’ve spent years working in education and reading intervention, but my understanding of struggling readers became much more clear when I attended my first International Dyslexia Conference in 2016. Read more>>
Cara Turnquist
PUSH was born out of a need I experienced firsthand. During my first pregnancy, I struggled with significant pelvic floor issues and quickly realized how little support existed for women who wanted to stay strong, active, and connected to their bodies through major life changes. Read more>>
Daniel Gandee
Born and raised in Canton, Ohio, Daniel Gandee is an entrepreneur, real estate investor, operator, and technology founder whose career has been defined by a willingness to take risks, build from the ground up, and create opportunities across multiple industries. His entrepreneurial foundation began at an early age, working alongside his grandfather in the family construction business and helping manage rental properties. Read more>>
Andaman Rosse
I got into real estate accidentally but have absolutely fallen in love. Over the last 7 years I’ve learned and grown so much and I love seeing the impact that I get to have on people as they navigate what can be very challenging or stressful seasons. Read more>>
Brennan Hamrin
1. When I was a child I had always wanted to be a painter, then my freshman year in high school I took a photography class. The first time I stood over my photo in the developer tray and watched an image materialize out of nothing it felt like magic and I fell in love with photography! Read more>>
Ava Bock
I have spent most of my life in motion. I grew up shifting between Brooklyn, Long Island, and the Catskill Mountains of New York. Moving between such different environments taught me early on that the world changes depending on where you stand. Long before I understood that I would become an artist, I was learning to observe those differences. Read more>>
Grant Tandy
Growing up in Sisters, Oregon, I was surrounded by dark skies without fully understanding how unusual that was compared to most of the world. As a kid, I was constantly asking questions about how things worked and why, but it wasn’t until high school that astronomy really clicked for me. Read more>>
SORA Shodo
How I started, and how I got to where I am today I was born in Usuki, Oita, Japan, in 1977, the youngest of four children. My father had beautiful handwriting — he used sumi ink to write Noshi, the traditional notes attached to gifts — and I grew up surrounded by the smell of ink and the sight of a brush moving across paper. Read more>>
Alex Vanderheid-Nye
After graduating from college in 2018, I started working at an ABA clinic in Eugene. I absolutely loved my supervisor and the way she supported both her clients and her team, and I knew I wanted to follow a similar path. A few years later, I moved to Bend and joined another clinic while continuing to work toward becoming a BCBA. Read more>>
Adam Schmidt
Our journey to owning the Village Bar & Grill was not a traditional one. Before entering the restaurant industry, we spent more than 20 years working together at an oil and gas company we started in the late 90’s. When we sold the company in 2018, we began thinking seriously about what we wanted the next chapter of our lives to look like. Read more>>
Ashley Serna-Ware
I started out in coffee very young coming to my stepmom’s coffee shop and learning from her. As soon as I turned 15 I started applying at different coffee shops and was hired at a local spot in my hometown where I would work before school, after school, sometimes both! Read more>>
Salwa Al Bicyclechi
My name is Salwa Al Bicyclechi, and long before fitness became my career, movement became a way for me to cope, feel strong, and create a sense of freedom during a time when very little around me felt within my control. I grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, and was a teenager during the 2003 war and the years of violence and instability that followed. Read more>>
Joshua Johnson
Ravenmark Customs started pretty simply. I’ve always enjoyed making things and figuring out how things work, and eventually that turned into experimenting with custom apparel and engraving. What initially started as something I was doing for myself, friends, and family slowly grew as more people started asking me to make things for them. Read more>>
Jenelle Woodlief
My professional story actually began far outside the world of massage and bodywork. I started my career in academia and health policy. I did my doctoral work in Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and went on to work in health policy research. Read more>>
Zachary Carter
In 2019, My wife and I got the opportunity to try fresh home roasted coffee for the first time from a friend. I didn’t know what to expect because I honestly never liked black coffee. It’s safe to say that my first reaction after trying it was shock. I was shocked that I have never knew that coffee could taste like this. Read more>>
David Mucci
OdditiesForSale (O4S) started pretty small. I’ve always had an interest in unusual things, antiques, art, natural history and things that are a little outside the norm, so the business really grew out of that. It started as an online business run from home, selling things I personally found interesting and thought other people would too. Over time, it just kept growing. Read more>>
Gina Vaughn
I have always been an athlete and loved to compete and try new things. When I was in my twenties I was competing in a lot of triathlons, marathons, century rides, you named it, I wanted to try it. My knees and hips started to hurt a lot and I was strong in many aspects but weak in others. Read more>>
Brooke Boskovich
Women’s health and fertility became my passion through my own struggles with irregular cycles, autoimmune diseases, gut troubles and fertility. I wasn’t happy with advice to just take a pill, so I went on a mission to learn why I was having these symptoms. Read more>>
Chelsii Gregory
We didn’t seek out starting a business, but then we fell in love with plants, and they fell in love with us! This business was founded from a love of plants and community. Without community we wouldn’t be here, and all of our first accounts were referral based. We were driven by a dream of having a career we love, while prioritizing family. Read more>>
Victoria Mathews
I grew up in Walla Walla and dreamt about becoming a veterinarian since I was 5 years old. After I graduated high school I went on to get my Bachelor’s degree in Biology at CSU in Fort Collins, Colorado. Although I applied to vet school I did not get in and elected to go do an internship in South Africa. Read more>>
Karen Linares
My story has never been a straight line—it has been built through resilience, hard work, and a genuine desire to create a better life while helping others along the way. I was adopted from Honduras when I was around six years old and came to the United States without knowing what my future would look like. Read more>>
Alesia Hardy
I originally went to Oregon State University to become a teacher and graduated with a psychology major and education minor, ready to start my master’s at PSU when Covid hit. During that time, I filmed my mom’s backyard wedding on an iphone and realized this was a side hustle I wanted to do during my summers off as a teacher. Read more>>
Kate Finley
Performing arts and working with people have been part of my life for a long time. Before aerial, I spent a decade as a figure skating coach, and then about 15 years as a pediatric nurse. Eventually, aerial became the place where so many of those parts of my life came together. Lava City Cirque really started with my aerial silks students. Read more>>
Jessica Jennings, MS
My path to Ma Yoga began more than 25 years ago, when I started teaching prenatal yoga. Read more>>
Megan and Michael Newton
M&M Petcare started in 2018, when my husband Michael and I decided to turn our love of animals into something of our own. What began as a local pet care business gradually became something much more meaningful to us. Over the years, we’ve cared for so many different dogs and cats, and many of the relationships we’ve built have lasted for years. Read more>>
Sarah Booth
I fell in love with crepes as a vehicle for all foods delicious and fresh while visiting my then partner’s home town of Santa Cruz, California in my early 20’s. ‘ The Crepe Place’, on Soquel ave. Read more>>
Michelle Wachsmuth
Dan & Louis Oyster Bar has been a Portland tradition since 1907, making it one of the city’s oldest family-owned restaurants. Founded by the Wachsmuth family, we’ve spent generations serving fresh seafood, oysters, and classic Northwest hospitality. Read more>>
Gus Berry
My dad owned a recording studio in the 90’s called Musicraft, so I grew up in that environment and was always fascinated by recording studios. I ended up going to Berklee College of Music to study production and engineering, and then I moved to Nashville after graduating and started my freelance career. Read more>>
Benjamin Canadas
I was born in Athens, Greece. I was there until the age of five. We then moved near Bordeaux, in a little town called La Brède. In the South Western part of France. I then moved to San Francisco in 2004 to find new opportunities and enjoy a new scenery. Then onto Oregon right before my first son was born. Read more>>
Kevin Twitty
My journey into the design world started with a natural curiosity about how spaces shape the way we live and feel. I received my degree from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. Graduating during the housing crisis of the early 2000’s never stopped my determination. I juggled three jobs, two in the design world and one slinging drinks at a restaurant. Read more>>
Cliff Barackman
My interest in Bigfoot research began in 1994, while I was studying music at California State University, Long Beach. What started as curiosity quickly developed into a serious pursuit. I began reading the available scientific literature, examining reports of alleged Sasquatch encounters, and eventually conducting my own field investigations, particularly in Northern California and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Read more>>
Sarah Kruit
In 2019 I took my love for vintage clothing and the heaps of art projects I had sitting around the house and started Bumble Boutique out of a cargo trailer with absolutely no idea I’d own a brick and mortar one day! For four years, while still working my day job, I towed my ‘dream on wheels’ from curb to curb, market to market. Read more>>
Emily Eilers
My love for photography started at a young age. I’ve always had a passion for taking photos, especially editorial and fashion magazine-style photography. As a little girl, I was inspired by pop culture and fashion, and that inspiration grew into a desire to create images that told a story. Read more>>
Susan Vaslev
I grew up at Enchanted Forest. My father, Roger Tofte, began building the park by hand in 1964 with a dream of creating a place where families could step into the pages of their favorite fairy tales. When the park opened, my brother and sisters and I helped wherever we could—working in the park and learning every aspect of the business. Read more>>
