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.
Shelby Tuffentsamer
In 2021, I was a fifth-grade teacher in Buda, Texas, creating TikToks as a way to unwind after challenging days in the classroom. What started as lighthearted videos about my three class pet guinea pigs quickly grew into something much bigger. My goal was simply to bring positivity to other teachers who were navigating the same struggles I was. Read more>>
Bella McClelland
Truthfully, I never exactly planned on tattooing, especially as a career. I was finishing my bachelor’s degree, fully expecting to end up in corporate advertising or marketing, dreading the 9-5 that felt inevitable. Read more>>
Julia Garcia
My name is Julia Garcia, but most people know me as Jewels. I am the owner of Blessed Beauty & Skin in Austin, Texas. My journey into the beauty industry started long before I ever opened a treatment room. For many years, I struggled with self-confidence and spent a lot of time focusing on my flaws instead of recognizing my worth. Read more>>
Brandon Kollmorgen
We are a Husband and Wife team who met through our love of music. We were both teaching a local high school marching band and blossomed from there! Both of us love coffee and were quickly sucked into the rabbit-hole of the specialty coffee world and wanted to find a way to combine our Passion for Music and Love for Coffee. Read more>>
Emma Bartlett
I totally can! This chapter of my story began late in 2021- my father was terminally ill and I was just diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic vision condition with no cure. It would eventually cause permanent vision loss and with there being no cure it literally seemed as my life as I knew it was fading from sight. Read more>>
Aliyah Hernandez
Modeling has been a dream of mine since I was young. I’ve always been drawn to fashion and the way it allows people to express themselves with confidence and creativity. Over the years, that passion has only grown stronger, and what started as a childhood dream is now something I’m actively pursuing. Growing up wasn’t always easy. Read more>>
Vanessa Rivera
I was born and raised in Austin, Texas, in a close-knit Hispanic family. My parents had me at a young age my mom was 17 and my dad was 19 but they worked tirelessly to give my siblings and me the best life they could. Read more>>
Sammy Smith
I started doing stand-up comedy in Columbia, South Carolina, and fell in love with it the moment I stepped off stage for the first time. Growing up, I was always a creative kid, naturally drawn to art and theater. By the time I finally started comedy at 23, I knew it was what I was meant to do. Read more>>
Nancy Wallace
I am a painter with 46 years of experience making abstract artwork. I went back to school in my 40’s to study painting and drawing to learn the ways that abstraction is an artform. I have a BFA in drawing and painting from the University of North Texas and an MFA in Studio Art from Southern Methodist University. Read more>>
Vanessa Mena
I’m originally from California & have officially been a Texan for 14 years now (that makes me official if I do say so myself🤠) I am a mother of 2 amazing girls Melanie & Ellianna who keep me extremely busy with dance, sports & all of their other endeavors they decide they want to do. Read more>>
Alex (Anjelica) Martinez
I got into design early. Growing up, my mom and I watched home design shows. As a kid I was always building something: Lincoln Logs, Legos. My first real woodworking project was a bookshelf I made with my mom in high school. That’s still basically what I do. Read more>>
Camille Cooper
In my 28 years, I’ve lived a lot of different eras, and graduating college in the middle of a pandemic didn’t make figuring out the life I wanted to live any clearer. Like a lot of people, I realized that making and maintaining friendships as an adult had become surprisingly difficult. Read more>>
Luke Allen
I grew up playing trumpet in the school band. I continued to play occasionally through college. After a broken front tooth kept me from playing trumpet, I learned to sing. After college, I became more deeply involved in the Austin music scene and I now play professionally. Read more>>
Kim Flor
I’ve been curating events and building community around arts and culture in Austin for a long time. In the 2010s, I produced an arts magazine, and that early work of connecting artists, audiences, and ideas never really left me – even when I did. After a few years living in Los Angeles and Florida, I came back to Austin in 2022 and started Flores Market. Read more>>
Pat Dean
The Velveeta Room opened in 1988 on 6th Street, when the block was still run by outlaws and madmen, still seedy as all hell. Owners Shannon Sedwick and Michael Shelton (also the founders of Esther’s Follies) took over the lease of the old Embassy Room, the last strip club on 6th Street before the city shut it down. The ladies room still had a shower. Read more>>
James Wheeldon
In 2022, my wife and I traveled to Moldova to assist a friend with his newly established charity, Hope4. After returning home, we attempted to raise funds for him but struggled to make progress. During this time, I discovered beekeeping and decided to leverage this skill to help alleviate global poverty, leading to the creation of Beekeeping For Hope. Read more>>
Jill Skinner
I’ve had an interesting career, starting in 1988 after graduating from UT and moving out to Los Angeles where I worked at MCA Records for a short time, before being hired on as an assistant to the Chairman of MCA Music Group, Irving Azoff. Shortly after starting with him, we left MCA to start a joint venture record label, Giant Records, with Warner Bros. Read more>>
Yvonne Acosta
I’ve been autistic since birth, and I’ve always been naturally curious and drawn to making people smile. I also grew up loving ice cream, Japanese culture, and the simple comfort of sweet treats and tea. For years, I set my dream aside and worked different jobs in restaurants, housekeeping, grocery stores, and welding. Read more>>
Erin Boudreau
I decided to start my engraving business after having my first born son. I wanted to have something for myself and still have the opportunity to make things for him that would be personalized. I also wanted to have a little side job that my husband and I could do together. Read more>>
Tory Paranagua
My name is Tory Paranagua! I was born in Brazil where I lived until I was 11, then moved to Austin, Texas. I grew up playing sports and knew early on that would become an important part of my life. I started with Tennis and Soccer, then moved to swimming and volleyball, and last but not least, I fell in love with beach volleyball. Read more>>
Remi Mae
Originally from Pea Green, CO, started playing music professionally at 17, moved to Austin area for music specifically at 20 years old: ‘It was there where she caught the attention of many of that area’s leading lights, among them, Cody Canada and Sunny Sweeney, who then, in turn, loaned their voices to the aforementioned EP. Read more>>
Sierra Vernon
I have a pretty standard story for a musician – I have always loved performing and decided very early in my life (about 8 or so) that I wanted to do this all my life. Not being from a family with lots of extra money I developed a solid ‘just keep working’ ethic that has set me right through difficulties. Read more>>
Melissa Trajano
Bluebonnet & Brie started from my love of bringing people together through food. What began as creating charcuterie boards for friends, family, and local events quickly turned into a business as more people started asking for custom boards and grazing tables for their own celebrations. Read more>>
Michelle Quintanilla
My journey to founding Kids Chem Cook began during one of the most challenging periods of my career—the COVID-19 pandemic. For more than a decade, I served in leadership roles at a private parochial school where my two daughters attended. My responsibilities included Admissions, Marketing, and Advancement. Read more>>
Cat Valladares
I started my business after seeing a need in the nail industry for spaces that were safe and clean. I encountered many environments that either weren’t following proper sanitation protocols or weren’t complying with employment laws, and sometimes both. Nail salons had developed a reputation for being dirty and exploitative, and I wanted to help change that. Read more>>
Brenton Prosise
My name is Brenton Prosise, and I am a 19 year old photographer and entrepreneur. I am the owner of One Way Photography and am currently building my own photography studio. My journey began when I was 16 years old. One day, I picked up a camera that my grandmother had lying around and started taking photos. Read more>>
Nayeli Martinez
I’ve always had a passion for health and fitness. After raising two boys I had the opportunity to become a personal trainer and help others reach their goals. It was then when I really started to find my purpose. I knew the importance of recovery after workouts and I started to get curious about massage therapy and all of it’s wonderful benefits. Read more>>
Ali Raza
I got my start in digital marketing on the SEO side, and pretty early on something started to bother me. Businesses were treating two things as completely separate problems: getting found in search, and being seen as credible. They’d hire one team to chase rankings and a different team to chase press, and the two almost never talked to each other. Read more>>
Lana Kaufman
I have been a creative person for as long as I can remember. Even as a child, I was always drawing, imagining, and creating. Creativity was never simply something I enjoyed—it was the way I experienced life. For me, life and creativity have always been inseparable. Read more>>
Santiago Clark
My story starts in the driveway at my parents’ house a week after being cut yet again from the high school basketball team. I was hopelessly shooting in the driveway at a dream that would never come true. After one last shot, I stopped. It was over. Read more>>
Michael Thomas
My story with Rumble Boxing Southpark Meadows has been a long yet rewarding one. This journey has been centered around leadership, people, and community. At first, I was just the Head Trainer of the studio, but I have been at the helm as both General Manager and Head Trainer for about a year and some change now. Read more>>
Jacob Sklodowski
We all met at Berklee and quickly started writing. Within a couple of months we had an album’s worth of material. We recorded that and released it in 2023- and after that released a double single in July of 2025. After years of working, we are finally releasing our 2nd album titled ‘The Great Fires,’ which is coming out in a short 4 days. Read more>>
Justine Henderson
I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember. As a true 90s kid, I spent most of my childhood outside running around in nature climbing trees, collecting treasures and turning whatever I found into some kind of creative project. Painting became one of my earliest forms of expression. For much of my life, creativity and movement were both things I loved. Read more>>
Andrew Chen
I have always loved food and trying different cuisines from different cultures. I first started filming in NYC but then took a break when I moved to Austin. I started exploring the Austin food scene and was surprised by how many mom and pop restaurants/food trucks serve high quality and authentic cuisines that highlight their own culture. Read more>>
Diana Aguayo
As a first gen Latina I started my thrifting society as a way to bridge cost friendly fashion and sustainability. I also host free events and help foster friendships within the community. My mission is to look good while doing good. I believe fashion is an art and a way that I express myself to others. Read more>>
Melissa Fontenette-Mitchell
My journey as an artist began with a passion for photography and storytelling. I have always been drawn to capturing meaningful moments, people, and places that reflect the beauty, history. Over the years, that passion evolved into a fine art practice that combines photography, digital art, and mixed media to explore themes of culture, identity, history, and social impact. Read more>>
Thomas Luong
Growing up, I have always been drawn to animated shows and movies. Shows like Dragon Ball, Assassination Classroom, Regular Show, and Amazing World of Gumball were a big part of my childhood. But there was a show that changed the trajectory of my life, and it was called RWBY, a 3D action anime that I was completely obsessed with. Read more>>
Julie Turkel
I’m a NYC-based brand management and licensing consultant working with a range of creative, founder-led brands, and more recently, I’ve also become a content creator on TikTok. I started my career in media, working at Nickelodeon and Discovery, where I managed licensed toy businesses with partners like Mattel and Target. Read more>>
Lizzie Pincoffs
Absolutely! I actually grew up here in Austin, Texas. I had great parents and they always encouraged being outside, they took us fun places, and allowed us to be ourselves. My creative genes carry through my family and my grandmother, who also lived in Austin was an artist. Read more>>
Alysse Benavides
Road to Reverie started in the open mic community of Austin, specifically the late Hive Open Mic on Menchaca that ended last year. Yusuf and I worked at the same restaurant, and we both had our own solo artist projects we were pursuing before we met. Read more>>
Thomas Piscitello
I began my career in fashion, and that really shaped the way I see interiors today. Working in luxury fashion taught me about proportion, texture, detail, presentation, and the feeling beauty can create. Fashion is never just about clothing. It is about identity, atmosphere, and the way someone wants to feel. That naturally evolved into interiors for me. Read more>>
Calista Garcia
I began writing and performing music around age 10, I’d been playing piano since 6 and guitar since 8. It very quickly became my entire identity and life as a young person, it took priority over school, a social life, it felt like who I was during an age whether identity is otherwise tricky to define. Read more>>
Dawn Howell
I grew up steeped in creativity and beauty — my mother is an artist who mentored me from a young age, and my father owns an antique mall, so I was raised on weekend treasure hunts through vintage finds and forgotten objects. That sense of memory, nostalgia, and storytelling has never left me. Read more>>
Devoreaux Walton
I booked my first international solo luxury trip in June 2013 to Paris, France. I didn’t know how to best prepare, so I followed advice from a few friends that had been abroad before and made some guesses about how to plan, pack, and navigate a foreign country with a dominant language I couldn’t fluently speak. Read more>>
Cameron Belloit
My name is Cameron Belloit, i’ve been a DJ/Producer for over 15 years, but the experience has been more of a rollercoaster than anything. From starting as an open format DJ in Florida at house parties, to releasing hit remixes, playing major festivals like EDC Orlando, Breakaway Carolina, Sunset Music Festival in Tampa, & headlining major venues across the country — i’ve seen it all. Read more>>
Abby Senger
Here it is: I started dancing at three years old. Growing up in northern Minnesota, I trained in jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, hip hop, and even a little riverdance. Dance was everything to me. By the time I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to teach it. But the path didn’t open the way I had imagined. Read more>>
Pingback: Homepage