Nashville’s Most Inspiring Stories

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.

David And Courtney Sloan

Courtney has an artistic knack for things such as photography, graphic design, painting, and interior design; and David grew up working in a woodshop lending him a good understanding of how to build intricate, useful things. These skills helped create their vision for a company that specialized in handmaking Wood and Wax Homewares. Over the 4 Years Cedar & Howl has been in business we have done countless Craft Shows, had our products in multiple Nashville based stores, created an online store, and shipped country-wide. Read More>>

Grey Kenna

Throughout college I kept doing portraits, slowly expanding into photographing families and couples, and then I photographed my first wedding in 2020. By that point I knew photography was more than just a hobby, I knew I really loved it and wanted to pursue it professionally. Although I didn’t major in photography in college, I did minor in art which allowed me to take a bunch of classes in film photography, traditional darkroom work, and documentary photography. I fell in love with analog photography, specifically the slowness and intentionality required of the process. That experience was huge in shaping me as a person and artist, and it still informs my practice to this day. Read More>>

Vita Palmeri

At the conclusion of each class, participants have the opportunity to enjoy the food while sitting around the table and sharing their experiences from the class. From 2019 until know Vita Pasta Lab has grown in a way that has brought me more exposure, allowing me to create menus for private kitchens, train chefs and staff in restaurants, and showcase my products at local retail stores such as Double L Market, Saugatuck Provision, and the Westport Farmers Market. Read More>>

Madelyn (Madebit) Reyes

After that, i was just making little beats and songs in logic for a while but everything kinda sucked. I looked into finding a producer to help me realize my vision, and while i learned a lot, i actually realized that i didn’t have good vocabulary to talk about what i wanted. I didn’t even know how i wanted them to sound so how was i supposed to communicate that to someone else? So even though we recorded a couple of songs together, i realized that if i was going to really create something that i truly loved i had to really take on the role of producing them myself. Read More>>

Annie Masarie

In 2018, I relocated to Nashville and was floored to find so much talent and creativity in the growing fashion industry. While I do work with larger companies such as Imogene + Willie and Able Clothing, my passion lies in helping the newcomers get going. I realized these Nashville based creatives needed help with more than just patterning, there’s a great need for assistance with the full development process. Over the last few years I have grown my team and we now offer everything you need to get production ready: sourcing, tech packs, sampling, sizing, and more! Read More>>

Michael Jay Cresswell

Was managed by Greg lewerke for 18 months until illness took Greg out of the picture, he managed Bruce Springsteen, aerosmith, Boston with his father jack from vault records, owned with Sharon Osborne’s father. Read More>>

Carmen Boone

The signs would take lots of work and time and I wanted to document it all. After much encouragement from my friends and family, in 2022 CatalinaCreated was born on Instagram! I would mostly do work for friends and family and then people started asking me if I would teach them. I was looking into what that would look like as far as supplies, cost etc. My friend took a Sip and Script calligraphy class in Atlanta and loved it and told me that I should teach with them. I had never heard of this business and looked it up immediately. I reached out to them and in March 2023 I officially joined as an instructor! Read More>>

Carly Kirkham

Getting mid-July designs off the ground has been an incredible adventure. When I first started my business, I was working 80 hour work weeks at a very intense corporate finance job. I would come home around 7 pm each night and work until around midnight learning new design softwares, making sample products, and reaching out to brides and businesses trying to get new customers. I even volunteered on weekends to work with other local wedding vendors for extra cash to invest in my business and try to build my network. Read More>>

Brock Williams

After years spent on the road, playing music and continuing to work on guitars in any way I could, I relocated to Anaheim, California. When the Pandemic hit in 2020, I was placed on furlough at my job, and found myself with more time to dedicate to my dream – building guitars. I spent the next year refining various prototypes and gathering feedback from any local musician who was willing to test them. Read More>>

Marie Golden

As I reflect on my journey to real estate and my exciting move to the EXIT Realty Refined office, I realize how this path has always been in my heart. While I’ve often flirted with the idea of becoming a Realtor, my career began as an independent business owner in the high-end salon and spa industry. Over the years, I’ve owned multiple businesses in Arizona, all focused on delivering exceptional customer service. Along the way, I even achieved one of my long-time goals—earning my real estate license there. Read More>>

Kendra Hughes

Some of the struggles were finding the right employees. It’s important to me that my employees share my vision and uphold a certain standard. It’s also difficult to hire people for a service that many of them hadn’t even heard of at the time I was recruiting them. My employees also have to be licensed by the state, so my spa was subject to state board of Cosmetology inspections prior to opening. Read More>>

Crystal Blaylock

Walking through the walls of the hospital and seeing the joy the staff and patients felt during what could and should be such a solemn and scary time changed me. I returned to college and became passionate about telling the story of what I had experienced and raising money for the kids. It was incredible! I was Director of Philanthropy for Tri Delta and started Up ’til Dawn at my University. When I graduated from college I was laser focused on continuing my work for St. Jude as a member of the staff. I consider my time fundraising for St. Jude to be like non-profit boot camp. I learned from the best in the world at telling stories and raising funds. The foundation of what I still do to this day is deeply rooted in the training they gave me. Read More>>

Scott Peacock

I have been doing music my whole life. I first sang in church when I was 5 and I have been singing ever since. Only in the last few years have I really started to take my music seriously. Recording in Nashville has definitely been a game changer. Getting to record with some of the best musicians in the business has been amazing. Musicians such as Jon Conley, Nic Buda and producer Ken Royster. Those guys have taken my music to the next level. Read More>>

Daniel Rosemberg

the transition moment into the digital era, were nobody is moved by feelings anymore. art is dead, we cannot be emotional anymore, and the new generation knows it. it’s so sad we didn’t even had a chance. maybe next time. and please, DO NOT follow the light. Read More>>

Aly Dabbs

When my first born was a baby (luckily), he slept very well at bedtime (aside from cluster feeding every two hours!) – buttttt he absolutely refused to nap! I can very clearly remember absolutely dreading naps every day, pacing around my bedroom trying to just get him to sleep… and when that didn’t work – sitting down beside the bassinet crying along with him. Oh yea! And texting my best friend saying that this was the definition of insanity. It was wearing on me, not to mention my full time job – plus my marriage! I knew that something had to give. Read More>>