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.
Gillian Arnold Atlas
Woman television directors were so rare they were almost mythical. No one I knew had ever seen one! Life intervened early. I became a teenage mother and developed an alcohol problem. The path ahead narrowed quickly, at least in they eyes of others. But underneath the chaos, something in me stayed intact. I always believed I had nothing to lose, and that belief gave me a strange kind of courage. Read more>>
Erin Sevigny
I started my career in Dermatology, was doing that for 14 years and always wanted to open my own place. I loved how I could help people with their skin journey. I found this historic house 3 years ago and knew it was the exact place to start Franklin Skin Studio. Read more>>
Maricia Beach
I was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. I have always wanted to own my own business because my father owned one years before I was born. I just didn’t know what I wanted the business to be. Initially, I opted for fashion design, but when I showed no interest in sewing, I knew I had to move on. Read more>>
Joshua Derr
Originally from Ohio, I came to Nashville to attend Lipscomb University. Upon graduation I became a teacher and I was a teacher for 22 years. Life threw some changes at my family and I found another path and in 2023 started my own inspection business. Read more>>
Celeste Masters
My journey into tattooing began in the early 2000s, guided by my mentor, Andy Casali, in Clarksville, just outside Fort Campbell. Those early years were a whirlwind of learning and growing, as I connected with local artists and traveled to my first conventions. Then, life threw me a curveball—I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. Read more>>
Sheryl Magdaleno
Sheryl Magdaleno Floyd, Music City Health Coach My journey into health and wellness was not something I planned, it was something I was called into. For many years, I worked in a successful, people-centered career, caring for others and building deep relationships. But beneath that, my own health was quietly unraveling. Read more>>
Alis Vibe
I was born and raised in Milan, Italy, where I connected with music from a very early age. I’ve always experienced life very deeply, and music became the first place where I could translate emotions that didn’t have words yet. Performing early on made me realize that music wasn’t just something I loved — it was where I felt most myself. Read more>>
Emma Naumovska
It all started in my childhood bedroom, where I would put on one woman shows for my family, and any of my parents’ friends who dared to come over for dinner. I started training in dance when I was 13, at a small competition school in Franklin, TN. Throughout that year, I had gained a deep passion for ballet. Read more>>
Brandon Bingman
My wife Kurstin and I have lived in Murfreesboro for about a decade. When our kids were younger, we realized we did not have many local options where we could go out as a family and still enjoy the craft beer experience we loved. Read more>>
Nicole Seely
My journey is exciting because it’s just getting started. In 2025, at the East Nashville Tomato Art Fest, I was interested in buying stained glass. To my surprise, there were no stained glass vendors. My best friend who was with me said “Hey, I bet you could do that”. Read more>>
Gavin Walker
I am a former collegiate basketball athlete who developed a clear vision for coaching beyond my playing career. That is where I feel in love with the world of physical development. Over the past decade, I have built my professional experience at several high-level collegiate institutions, where long days and demanding weeks were essential to mastering the craft. Read more>>
Jack Brunson
My business started as a “side hustle.” I was working at a pretty prominent luthier in Murfreesboro — Mario Guitars / Guitar Mill. I got a job there right after college, and worked there for seven years. Read more>>
Tiffany Kelley
As a professional of the Child Welfare System for over 20+ years, I have worked within the public and private sectors, including for-profit and non-profits organizations, with the goal and passion to support and stabilize children and families. Read more>>
Tamara (Tammy) Gentuso
Creating art has always been a part of my life. I grew up in the midwest with my early childhood filled with the scent of oil paints and turpentine, and the forbidden joy of playing on the massive easel our dining room. My mother was an oil portrait and landscape painter. In middle school, I discovered some degree of skill with drawing and then watercolor. Read more>>
Steve Sadler
After a successful 18 year career as a nurse and problem solver for a nationwide blood and biologics manufacturer, I found myself at the completion and crossroads of.my career. I had six month’s worth of severance to figure out something new. One morning, I realized I was sitting on a sizable retirement account. I knew I had to use that account start a business. Read more>>
Anna Kat Napier
I’m a Tennessee native who grew up with a love for all things vintage and antique. I became an interior designer 26 years ago and always loved incorporating older pieces into my designs. Six years ago, I got the opportunity to get my first antique booth in Murfreesboro. That grew to a total of 5 booths in three different stores in Murfreesboro and Nashville. Read more>>
Austin Moody
I was raised on a farm in East Tennessee around real work. Not the kind you talk about, but the kind that gets done whether anyone’s watching or not. Early mornings, long days, and the understanding that if something needed doing, you were responsible for doing it right. That mindset never left me. I moved to Nashville young to chase music. Read more>>
Lisa Crawford
Faith Enrichment Center was founded by Lisa Campbell Crawford, who had worked with at-risk populations for over 20 years. During her years of service, especially working with at-risk youths, she realized that there was almost always a common denominator. The families had compounded issues that needed to be addressed at the source to create lasting change financially and otherwise. Read more>>
Sarah & Dr. Anthony Apa
I’ve been a pharmacist for 15 years and have always had an earnest desire to help others. After years of practicing pharmacy and noticing that my patients were only getting sicker, I grew tired of not giving people the help they so desperately needed. We realized there was a huge gap in care and that all allopathic medicine comes with consequences. Read more>>
Kelly Marie
My daughter and I moved to springfield TN in August of 2017. From the Canary Islands. We bought a large piece of land with several homes and turned it into a hospitality business called Kelly’s Jubilee Read more>>
Isaac Wantland
I was born in the foothills of the Cumberland Plateau to Ed, an engineer, and Nancy, a stylist raised on generational Tennessee farm. You might say I was born for the artistic, intuitive, yet technical work I endeavor to undertake. Read more>>
Jessi Dressler
I’m a registered OB/GYN sonographer, and after years of working in hospitals and clinics, I realized my favorite part of the job was the connection with families. I saw a need for a more personal, comfortable experience, one where parents could slow down and truly enjoy seeing their baby. That’s what inspired me to start my mobile, in-home ultrasound business. Read more>>
Flower Dreams
We (Jared and Angela) had a meeting at BMI to write music. After that, we kept making music. Read more>>
Taylor Mann
Cultivate Church began in November of 2019—not in a building, but in a home at Whispering Valley Farm. What started as a simple Saturday night Bible study with a few families quickly became something more as God began forming a church rooted in community, prayer, and the Word. Read more>>
Kenny Ames
KENNY AMES BIO Music has taken me to 63 countries over the years. In the Country Music Hall of Fame as a member of Jason & the Scorchers. Grand Ole Opry veteran with 33 appearances. BANDS: Voices of Rock Radio, Jason & the Scorchers, Eddy Raven, Kelley Hunt, Johnny Lee, Savannah Jack, Dash Rip Rock, Steve Forbert. Read more>>
Leslie Embry
I had been a school teacher and coach for 12 years and loved it. I never imagined myself doing anything else until a trip to California in September of 2011. I was newly pregnant and had gone on a run and found a salon that only did blowouts. I had never heard of a blowout. Read more>>
Cecilia Edwards
I was raised in East Tennessee, and I always knew that I wanted to come back here to serve this community with history. I received my Masters in Curating from the Courtauld Institute in London, and then took my first curatorial job with William King Museum of Art in Abingdon, Virginia. Read more>>
Anthony Paladino
I grew up in a real estate development family in Buffalo, New York, so the business was always around me. I watched projects move from dirt to finished buildings and saw firsthand how much coordination, risk, and patience it takes to create something lasting. Read more>>
Diana Cavender
Sometimes it takes decades of different industries to realize the one central theme. With me it is I love to educate and help people. I have been in Support Services of a nuclear power plant, part of a HMO startup, in the financial planning industry, and my last eight years of being a Realtor/Broker. Throughout my career I have also kept time for volunteering. Read more>>
Rachel Durham
There’s so much I could share !! When I was in college I worked in a community pottery studio and was used to creating around lots of people all the time. Read more>>
Steve Hadley
Music City Quarter MIdget Racing Association was located on Central Pike in Hermitage for 23 years. In September of 2025, the gentleman that owned the property informed us that we could no longer use the location on Central Pike. We are currently set up in a parking lot on Highway 231 in Lebanon. We are currently looking for a permanent home. Read more>>
April Peters LMT, CT
My professional journey is profoundly rooted in my experience as a mother. Everything changed when my son received a diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis, a rare condition. Being the only child at Vanderbilt with that diagnosis was both scary and incredibly isolating. It forced me to look beyond conventional treatments and ask deeper, alternative questions. Read more>>
Eric and Anna Grace Limbird and Derryberry-Carter
Sublime Haven: Healing, Place, and the Story of Sewanee Just an hour south of Nashville, off Interstate 24 at the Monteagle exit, lies Sewanee, a mountain village perched high on the Cumberland Plateau. It is a place that feels discovered rather than promoted. Read more>>
Jake Smith
I went down the hardest road ever to get to where i am today currently. I had the best childhood, the best parents, and everything setup for me to have an amazing future. Read more>>
Hiral Vakilwala
Hiral Vakilwala’s journey in physical therapy when she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Physical Therapy. What started as a desire to help others heal and regain independence soon transformed into a lifelong mission rooted in both professional excellence and deep personal experience. Read more>>
Tyler Roberts
I grew up in a small town outside Nashville called White Bluff and studied Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. While at UT, I studied abroad in Barcelona and backpacked around Europe in 2011. Experiencing the history, food, culture, and meeting people from everywhere completely flipped my world upside down—I was hooked. When I returned home, I couldn’t stop thinking about living abroad. Read more>>
Dillon Kotsch
I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Commercial Construction Management from Middle Tennessee State University, where I built a strong foundation in both the technical and leadership aspects of the construction industry. Immediately after graduation, I stepped into the field with Skanska, one of the largest construction companies in the world, beginning my career as a Project Engineer. Read more>>
John Hochstetler
I grew up Amish, raised on a farm and immersed from an early age in working with my hands—farming, blacksmithing, leather and tack work, horse training, building, agriculture, and horticulture. That upbringing instilled a deep respect for craftsmanship, discipline, and hard work, as well as an understanding that quality is built through patience and care. Read more>>
Richard Moss
Our journey started small, with a single hot dog cart. and a big belief in good food and even better service. What began as a way to serve the community quickly grew into something much bigger as word spread and customers kept coming back. Read more>>
Branan Logan
For nearly two decades, I toured the US, Caribbean, and South America as a Country artist, sharing my music on international stages and living the life of a performer. In 2006, I took a leap into entrepreneurship and founded my own record label, Sandbar Records, releasing two albums, Rare & Well Done and Tradewinds. Read more>>
Erin Ryder & Emma May-Bradley Playmakers Nashville
Playmakers Nashville was born out of a very real need for community. When Emma May-Bradley and I met, we quickly realized we were having the same conversation from two different starting points. Emma had just returned home to Nashville after years working at the highest levels of sports, suddenly finding herself a newcomer in her own hometown. Read more>>
Evan Millárd
I’ve always believed that design is a way of creating feeling — creating home — and that belief really started with my mom. I was adopted from Seoul as an infant, and she filled our home with color, imagination, and warmth. That shaped everything about the way I see spaces today. Read more>>
Ashley Huntington
I went on to attend Rutgers University, where I earned my undergraduate degree and later my Masters degree in Social Work. My clinical career developed in traditional healthcare systems, where I worked across inpatient psychiatry, group home settings, acute medicine, long-term care, and home health. In these roles, I supported individuals and families through trauma, grief, chronic illness, and major life transitions. Read more>>
