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.
No Face 
I began my project NoFace in January of 2025 but the actual story begins a few months prior. I was at a house party with some friends and someone brought out a DJ deck and I was immediately hooked. I watched that DJ all night trying to figure out how they were doing transitions and doubles and chops. Read more>>
Shane Watterson 
Level Beer was founded by Geoff Phillips, Jason Barbee and Shane Watterson. We opened in 2017. Geoff was the owner of Bailey’s Taproom, Jason and Shane met working at the Deschutes PDX Pub in 2007 and worked together for 3 years. Shane took a brewing job at Laurelwood in 2010 and worked there until 2016. Read more>>
Michelle Smith-Pratcher 
My journey into this work began with loss. I unexpectedly lost my baby girl, Miracle, at 19 weeks pregnant. As I tried to heal and make sense of what I had experienced, I started learning more about pregnancy and infant loss. Somewhere along that journey, I realized this was a community I wanted to support and create space for. Read more>>
Kayla Viramontes 
My story actually started in high school. I took a graphic design class my senior year and absolutely fell in love with it. I discovered that I had a natural talent for design, and it was something I genuinely enjoyed doing. By 18, I knew two things: I loved being creative, and I wanted to be an entrepreneur and build something of my own. Read more>>
Laura Black 
Born and raised in a cult, astrology found me at a young age and acted as a catalyst for my escape and became my main lifeline through a tumultuous decade of deconstruction and healing. Read more>>
Kelsey Engstrom 
My love of food doesn’t necessarily have an origin story. I could say my grandma taught me everything I know like most stories, but that’s not true — I taught myself through experience. I started working in restaurants at the age of 14. Read more>>
Matthew Kurowski 
Stumptown DJs was born out of necessity and a dream. Back in 2007, while living in Hermosa Beach, CA, I had a dream that I was living in Portland DJing in a giant warehouse. That dream caused me to decide that I had enough of California and that my new home should be Portland. Read more>>
Jack Graham
In the spring of 2021, the Portland Children’s Museum closed after 75 years of serving the community, becoming the only major metro area without one. The FLIP Museum was formed that fall to fill the void. FLIP stands for Fun, Learning, Inspiration, and Play, a nod to what makes children’s museums both unique and critical in our society today. Read more>>
Yelina Davis 
My love of dessert and my active lifestyle have always been two big parts of who I am. Sweet Yeli’s is where they came together. As a lifelong dancer and former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, staying active and being thoughtful about what I ate had always been important to me. But I also absolutely loved dessert. Read more>>
Fatou Ouattara 
I was born and raised in Côte d’Ivoire, with ancestral roots in Mali and Burkina Faso, and I grew up with the food of West Africa: food that carries family, history and identity in every pot. After earning my degree in Finance and Marketing at Portland State University, I opened Akadi PDX in 2017 as Portland’s first West African restaurant. Read more>>
Sonia Marie Leikam
What happens when a CPA-turned-brewer and a community organizer decide to start a brewery? You get Leikam Brewing. Founded in 2014, Leikam is a certified kosher, family-owned and operated 5BBL brewery in Southeast Portland. Read more>>
Jessica Chisholm 
The Jess Pies Story — “We Spread Joy, One Pie at a Time” In 2011, I baked my first pie — not for a business, but as a personal challenge. I didn’t expect that simple act to spark something so meaningful. Read more>>
Dan Spencer 
I actually got started in leatherworking because I was tired of buying cheap wallets that would fall apart after just a few months. I’d read an article in The Art of Manliness about making your own wallet that would last for years, and I thought that sounded like a great idea. The problem was finding leather. Read more>>
Kelsey Adams
Opening a bridal hair and makeup company has been a 20 year journey for me. In my early 20’s I started to help my then boyfriend (now husband) with photoshoots offering hair and makeup when we both had no idea what we were doing but started to get involved in the creative community. Read more>>
Amy Nichols 
I started as a server 1999. Worked hard moved up to management, went on to open other locations and help increase revenue. 2008 the previous owner sold me the business on contract. I was 9 payments away from paying off the previous owner struggling each month to make it work. 2020 hits and I go back to square one. Read more>>
Brian Steadham 
I grew up vegan, but for me, it was never just about the diet. It was a way to connect with my mom. She would put me to work in the kitchen, and cooking became a way for us to spend time together and build a relationship with food. Read more>>
Malachi (Kai) Hopkins 
My story began long before I was old enough to understand it. I was born in Portland, Oregon, on October 9, 1990, under the name Meikiel Young. Within days of my birth, I entered the foster care system and was eventually adopted into an African American family, where I was given the name Malachi Nathaniel Hopkins. Read more>>
Jessica Szabo 
PDX Insectarium was started by three PSU biology students in 2016 after noting Portland’s lack of a natural history museum, initially as a pop-up where we visited classrooms, the library, and other events. We opened our first location in 2021 and it has been co-owned by Jessica Szabo (founder) and Red Armstrong since then. Read more>>
Judy Bennett 
I’ve been intrigued by Bloody Marys as long as I can remember. My parents and their golfing/boating/business friends bragged about who made them ‘right.’ No other adult beverage inspired this sort of comeuppance, not even their beloved Beefeater martinis. As an adult, going out for boozy brunches was like a game of Choose Your Own Adventure: no two were ever alike. Read more>>
Thao Pham 
Buttercoop is named after our son, Cooper. At home we call him Cục Bơ, Vietnamese for ‘block of butter,’ a nickname that sounds a lot like ‘Cooper.’ Butter + Coop became Buttercoop. We started in 2021 as a small pop-up, baking Asian-inspired treats rooted in our family’s flavors. Read more>>
Bryan Steelman 
I have been working in restaurants since I was 14. It’s just part of who I am and has been for as long as I can remember. That first taste of being an early teenager and working with people who were older than me and coming from every imaginable walk of life was fascinating to me. Read more>>
Bronwyn Baz 
Bronwyn and her husband Blake met through music and promptly formed supergroup Baz Moto from their former cover bands, recruiting the top musicians from each project. Read more>>
Alexa Bourne 
Petrea Prints started about ten years ago, when my cousin asked me to design illustrations for her wedding invite and table number displays. People loved them, and gradually asking for custom watercolour cards, large paintings and the occasional wedding board. Read more>>
Delane Blackstock
When we first moved to LA in 2001, we were stunned to find eggplant and blue cheese on a pizza just a few blocks away from Gavin’s mom and dad’s house, where we were living at the time. It was a decidedly not-hip part of town, and the owner, Mike Freeman, was just as out of system as the menu. Read more>>
Joanna Guerra 
We have owned this property since 1990 when it was just a big pasture with a creek running through it. We raised our children here, and after they all left home we decided to make it into a wedding venue. We started having family weddings on occasion, then in 2020 started Sungate Place. Read more>>
Hanoi “Blu” Bellmas-Acosta 
My name is Hanoi, but most people know me as Blu. I’m 25 and I run Palopsee LLC here in Portland. Palopsee started from thrifting. I was spending all my time in the bins and thrift stores finding these old quilts, tapestries, and blankets that had so much history but no one wanted them anymore. Read more>>
Tristan Platt 
Growing up in a racing family, Cars have always been my passion. My Professional journey starting at 15 years old in 2015. I worked at and managed two different Local Detailing shops before starting Platt Precision in 2024. My main goal with Platt Precision is create a positive impact in our community while providing the highest quality services Imaginable. Read more>>
Maddie Foley 
Acupuncture for the People was started in 2006 by Rob Singer, who was inspired by practitioners in Portland that pioneered a different style of care called Community Acupuncture, modeled after clinics in Asia that treat people in a group. Before this movement started, acupuncture was most often delivered in the U.S. Read more>>
Andy Kou 
I moved from Diamond Bar, California to Portland, Oregon in 2019. Before that, I spent most of my life in Los Angeles working in the corporate world and climbing the corporate ladder. I had always loved cooking, but I had never cooked professionally or imagined that I would one day own a food business. Starting my food cart was a completely different world. Read more>>
Aaron Milam 
The Ladder I’m Still Standing On Before jiu jitsu became my work, I was a student of philosophy and intended to go into academia. I earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in philosophy, and somewhere along the way the goal changed, though I never really stopped studying. Read more>>
Kimberly Baker 
I have been in Sales for about 12 years. Been a top agent in multiple companies. Just finished my Bachelor’s of Science a few months ago and am currently an Insurance Broker. Read more>>
Jacqueline Madera Silva 
As a first-generation Mexican American, I grew up watching my family work hard and create opportunities for themselves, and that really shaped the way I view hard work, independence, and chasing your dreams. Beauty has always been something I genuinely loved. Read more>>
Tanya Hawkins 
Our mission is to get Our Veterans housed, keep them housed and keep their lights on. Read more>>
Hannah Bludworth 
My story is complicated (whose isn’t, really) and full of twists and turns. I’ve had many false starts in my life and as a child I had many interests and so it’s taken me a couple of decades to narrow in on what my life’s focus should be and to find my direction. Read more>>
Erin Fortin 
Thank you for inviting me on Oregon Voyager! My business journey definitely didn’t start in the conventional sense! I don’t have an MBA or even a degree in photography… I have a PhD in chemistry. Read more>>
Jonah Misner 
Orchard Point Kennels was founded in the 1950s by the Wagner family. When the father passed away in the 90s, the business closed with him. The property sat vacant until 2023, when Ryan and Jonah (current co-owners) caught wind that it was going up for sale and had an idea. Read more>>
Christina Hula 
Nineteen years ago, I found myself navigating life as a single parent with a baby daughter, and facing the daunting reality of needing to create a secure financial future for us entirely on my own. At the same time, I recognized a need for a uniform source in Lane County that served the local nurses, medical assistants, hospital staff. Read more>>
Cecilia Zuniga 
Growing up I was always looking for an outlet, something that would distract me from my home life. Wether it was playing softball or painting my nails, I craved a creative outlet. I dabbled in art, pottery, sports but overall kept my dreams small because at the time they seemed unrealistic and unreachable. Read more>>
Joshua Fernelius 
In March 2018 I got a job at the long standing vintage store, Lounge Lizard as their in house painter. I spent the next nearly eight years doing everything from painting/refinishing furniture, designing lamp shades, turning out home decor canvas paintings, and staging walls, along with many other odd jobs I was, by happenstance sometimes, uniquely qualified to pull off. Read more>>
Haley Nunes 
Our friendship began in the most unexpected way. Haley bought a high chair from Jess on Facebook Marketplace, and what could have been a completely forgettable interaction turned into something neither of us saw coming. What followed was a friendship that felt like a gift. Read more>>
Amika Bamrungsri 
An American dream was a put in my goal since I was a kid. Born in Thailand but based in Oregon. Being an Asian and living in America was not easy to pursue my dream at first start. Yet I fight for it even I was not graduated from Chef school, had zero knowledge how to cook. Working as a waitress for years. Read more>>
Domino Monet 
Nyx Division is a 4 piece post-punk/goth/rock n roll band that started as a covid project, meaning that we all started making music together to survive the dreadful uncertainty of those early pandemic years without any promise of ever being able to play live. Read more>>
Andrea HUNT 
I’m originally from Minnesota, and my story really starts after high school, in terms of my travels and starting the journey of my life. High school was a bit difficult for me because I didn’t have an easy time after my parents’ divorce. Read more>>
Thurman Willis
I’ve been involved in music since childhood in St. Louis, MO. Music has always been apart of my life no matter where life has taken me. I started to take music seriously in the summer of 2020, while moving to Las Vegas where I started producing & recording multiple artist full time. Read more>>
Reza Sadreddin 
My journey into veterinary medicine was not exactly a traditional one. Read more>>
