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.
Jayde ‘Scooby’ Graham
My story really started with curiosity. Growing up in a military family, I had the opportunity to live in different places, including Germany, and was exposed to different cultures, people, and ways of life at a young age. I think that experience gave me a natural interest in exploring the world and telling stories. Read more>>
(531.am) Armando Cajide
Thanks for having me. I started up my brand 531.am just this last year in 2025. I’ve been living in Austin since 2005 when I originally moved from Dallas. I was born in Miami to first generation Cuban immigrants. Music has always been a part of my identity since I’ve been young. Read more>>
Heather Medau
I’m Winkstyles, a graffiti artist originally inspired by demolition and construction sites. I was drawn to the broken structures, exposed architecture, and controlled chaos. Over time, I began evolving those ideas further, combining graffiti with surreal environments, current events, and cultural history. Graffiti has given me opportunities to travel, collaborate, and constantly challenge myself mentally. Read more>>
Dani Shepherd
I’ve spent the past nine years working in marketing, both within agencies and directly with brands and clients. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work across so many different areas of the industry, from branding and digital marketing to partnerships, PR, content, and events. Read more>>
Sheridan Reed
I began writing music during high school, and I remember every song was a bit of a struggle. It wasn’t something that just flowed out of me naturally, but as I started my first band and starting moving through it, I saw progress slowly but surely. Read more>>
Vanessa Kolacny
I started learning how to bake kolaches from my Grandmother’s cookbook 8 years ago at Christmas-time and started selling to teachers that I worked with. I had always grown up around Czech foods with my Grandma and Grandpa but I never baked kolaches with them, so I thought it was time. Read more>>
Emeka Ofobike
As an orthopedic surgeon serving in the Navy from 2008-2018, I loved caring for a healthy, active population whose main health goal was maintaining and improving their performance and activity level. It became very clear to me as I looked at our health care system that their priorities were not aligned with the priorities of the patients I was caring for. Read more>>
Veronica (Vee) Salinas
I grew up in North Austin with my mom and dad. My father owned a karate school, so I spent much of my childhood surrounded by discipline, movement, and energy. My mother worked for the State of Texas, and when I visited her office, I spent my time running through the halls, collecting highlighters, markers, and paper to draw on. Read more>>
Inana & The Band Sonnet Whitaker & Evan Jacob
Inana & the Band began as a creative vision expressed through music and experience. Music has always been one of the places where the band feels the most freedom — it’s way to tell stories, process life, and connect with people without having to explain everything. Inana is building something that feels emotionally honest, melodic, and a little outside the traditional boundaries of rock. Read more>>
James Ramm
I moved to Austin 11 years ago when I was 18. Originally I started going to college for Business. After 2 years, I decided I wouldnt be happy long term. I had always done my friends and family’s hair in high school and thought I would give cosmetology school a try. Read more>>
Vidya Moorthy
I was twenty-something, newly married, and standing in an airport with a suitcase and a one-way ticket to a country I had never lived in — next to a man I barely knew. That’s how arranged marriages work. You say yes. You pack your life. You go. Growing up in India, most women around me were expected to follow a set path. Read more>>
Leyanes Roman
Gather & Bloom started during a really difficult time in my life. After having my baby, I went through a challenging postpartum period and was struggling to find myself again outside of being a mom. I’ve always loved flowers and creating beautiful things, so I decided to turn that passion into something of my own. Read more>>
Tyrone Murphy
My story is really a story about creativity, perseverance, and believing in myself even when there wasn’t a clear path laid out in front of me. I’ve always been a creative person. From an early age, I was drawn to fashion, art, style, music, and the way people express themselves. Read more>>
Rikki Wang
My path into hospitality was not a traditional one. I studied computer science at Indiana University and began my career working in the corporate and technology worlds, including at General Motors. Read more>>
Marie Skye
I’ve always been the type of girl who told elaborate stories as a kid—mostly to myself, because I’m the middle child and, let’s be honest, no one actually listens to me. Read more>>
Dalanie Downing
For as long as I can remember I have always been so drawn to the artistry that is hairdressing. Growing up in a very small west texas town I looked at starting a career in hair as a way out of that small town and into a big city. Read more>>
Ishani Kundaria
Long before I ever evaluated behavior clinically, I was obsessed with a very specific feeling: getting people to stop rushing toward the future and just be present with me. As a kid, my favorite place in the world was the zoo for that exact reason. Read more>>
Janice Maynard
My journey into holistic and functional health didn’t begin as a career choice. It began as a lifelong search to understand why I was so sick. I spent most of my childhood not feeling well. Read more>>
Larry Goode
I went to the University of Texas at Austin in the 1980’s where I studied graphic design and painting, after which I worked at various design firms in Austin. In 1994 I started my own design firm. In 2009 I went back to school and got my MFA in visual communication. Read more>>
Michel Asperas
I started my sneaker collecting journey back in 2011 when I fell in love with the Nike Air Max 90. I soon turned my passion for sneakers into my first company, Archangel Kicks, in June 2013, after spending about a year restoring, creating, and selling custom shoes (most notably the ‘Galaxy’ Vans). Read more>>
Eric Cain
I grew up on a cattle farm in Iowa, and although my mother had a video camera and filmed us kids growing up, I didn’t really get a proper introduction into using a camera until I got to high school. Read more>>
Tom Gera
My name is Tom Gera and I run DC Wine & Spirits, a family-owned wine, champagne and spirits gifting company based in the Washington, DC area. We’ve been going since 2014. Today we deliver to every state where alcohol delivery is allowed, and we also have a non-alcoholic range for everyone else. Read more>>
Ashley Salazar
I started my hustle back when I was at Martin Jr. High, selling candy, Kool-Aid, sodas, pickles—pretty much anything I could fit inside my backpack. I kept doing it all the way through my senior year. Looking back now, I realize that entrepreneurial spirit has always been in me. Read more>>
Lauren Lee
I started in retail, eventually found Pilates and fitness, and completely fell in love with movement and the way it can change how you feel in your body and in your life. I’m a Polestar-certified Pilates instructor, NASM-certified personal trainer, and certified nutrition and health coach. In 2025, I took the leap and opened VITA Well Pilates Studio in Austin. Read more>>
Cindy P. Canty
I was born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where I first discovered my love of art. I studied studio arts at Converse University (formerly Converse College), and it was there that my passion for photography and painting began. I later attended Greenville Technical College to study graphic arts, rounding out a foundation that would eventually shape my career. Read more>>
kelsey McCrink
Chesties really started from a problem I had been trying to solve for myself for years. I’m a lifelong side sleeper, and as I got older, I started noticing the deep lines and creases on my chest every morning. Read more>>
Andrea JANSEN
At 43, I’m a mom of three who spent the last 15 years as a stay-at-home parent, pouring myself into raising my kids. Four years ago, my family made the leap from California to Texas, and we quickly built a community here that we now call home. Read more>>
Marsha Stephanson
Cater to Mom was born from my own experience with motherhood. Like so many new moms, I quickly learned that while there is so much attention placed on preparing for the baby, there is often far less focus on the person who just gave birth. Read more>>
Shannon Perry
My journey into wellness really began long before I ever considered it a career. I grew up in Abilene, Texas, in a family surrounded by natural health and hands-on care, including two generations of chiropractors, an herbalist, and massage therapists. Understanding the body, caring for people, and looking at wellness from a whole-person perspective was simply part of my upbringing. Read more>>
Amanda Baughman
I always say the entrepreneurial path chose me long before I realized it. While I was obtaining my bachelor’s degree in interior design, I took on projects through the most random and casual experiences. I’d be sitting at a baseball game talking to a friend’s dad, and the next thing I knew, I was driving to Dallas to help design and renovate his home. Read more>>
Funmi Osatuyi
My journey has always been rooted in food, hospitality and the belief that African cuisine deserves to occupy beautiful, intentional spaces. I am Chef Funmi, founder and Executive Chef of LagosChop Catering Canada Inc., a Calgary-based hospitality and catering company creating elevated African and Afro-fusion food experiences. What started with cooking and catering gradually became much bigger than simply serving food. Read more>>
Jordin Rivera
I’m a Texas native, and Austin has always been “home” to me. Growing up here shaped a lot of what I value now—community, creativity, time outside, and creating a life that feels a little more personal and intentional. I’ve worked with children for more than 13 years, but my path hasn’t exactly been traditional. Read more>>
Moises Quintero
Shin Ku Karate began with a passion for Karate-Do and a desire to create a place where students could grow not only as athletes, but also as confident, disciplined, and respectful individuals. Our journey started with Sensei Moisés Quintero’s many years of experience in karate and his commitment to teaching the values that martial arts had given him throughout his life. Read more>>
Tatiana Mechinus
I have always loved coffee! I remember as a young kid going to Trident (a coffee shop in Boulder, CO) and taking sips of my dad’s cappuccino. That started my love of all things coffee. When my kids were younger I would always tell them that one day I wanted to start a coffee shop. Read more>>
Mona Cheri
I have always been drawn to beauty. It feels natural to me, and honestly, it is in my blood. My grandmother was a cosmetologist, so I grew up watching her make people feel beautiful. That energy stayed with me and shaped the kind of artist I wanted to become. Before I ever stepped into a beauty school, I started my journey through YouTube tutorials. Read more>>
Erin Budd
The first incarnation of my sewing business was started back in 2013. I had previously worked at a vintage clothing store doing in house alterations and repairs. The store went out of business and I ended up inheriting their industrial sewing machines. After losing my job I decided the next course of action for me would be to start my own alterations & repairs business. Read more>>
Tyler Wade
In the winter of 2023, I found myself at a crossroads. I had been the catalyst for the end of my longest relationship, and I was utterly miserable with my career. More than anything, I was dissatisfied with the person I had become. So I started Chasing Change. At first, it wasn’t a business. It was a personal improvement project. Read more>>
Dominique Simmons
My journey into coaching was really birthed from my own journey of becoming. Long before Mindset Warrior Coaching had a name, I naturally found myself being the person people came to for encouragement, perspective, accountability, and support. Read more>>
Ash Coates
I think I was probably always going to end up doing hair. I was the kid who absolutely ruined every Barbie and doll I owned because I couldn’t stop cutting their hair. Eventually, my parents figured if I was determined to cut hair, I could at least make myself useful and started having me groom our dogs. Read more>>
Tiffany Trichter
I’m Tiffany, and I’ve spent years inside Austin homes fixing what board-and-train facilities keep shipping back broken. My method is results-driven and relationship-first: no fear, no gimmicks, just the precise habits and presence that make your dog want to follow your lead. Read more>>
Carlita Vinciguerra
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be an actress. According to my father, when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I replied ‘A singer actor dancer because they are all kind of the same thing’.I took my first dance class when I was three years old. Read more>>
Josh Johnson
From World Champion to Independent Disruptor: My Journey to Intrepid Fit Co People always ask me how I ended up building a fitness brand from scratch, and honestly, the roots go way back. My story really started in Houston, Texas, when I was 15 turning 16 and discovered competitive cheerleading. Read more>>
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