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.
Kelsey Aucoin
9 years ago I moved to Nashville to pursue a career in the beauty industry. I started as a receptionist at a local salon with hopes that I would make the right connections and branch out on my own. In 2019 I began offering mobile spray tanning, hair styling, and makeup. Read more>>
Meghan Pulles
In a sonic realm where depth meets tenderness, Nashville-based heart-weaver, siren + songsmith Meghan Pulles creates music with a healing mission. A classically trained singer and lifelong drama kid, Meghan began her musical journey at 12, later spending a decade in New York City, where she deepened her roots as a songwriter and artist. Read more>>
Alexis Hernandez
I didn’t come from a coffee background, per se, but I did grow up drinking coffee from a very young age, so the love for it was always there. I just didn’t realize for a long time that I could love coffee in a different way besides simply drinking it. I’ve also always loved vintage things, especially the 1950s. Read more>>
Kimberly Fielding
Before there was Kicks & Flutters, before the credentials after my name, before Maternal Fetal Medicine, leadership, or more than a decade in medical imaging, there was a young single mom coming out of an abusive relationship with a young son who depended on her. I was trying to rebuild my life, but I was not rebuilding it for just myself anymore. Read more>>
Brehanna Joy Ryssemus
I think my work began long before I knew to call it interior design. When I was eight years old, an incredible artist and elder in my church named Cathy began picking me up every week and taking me to her studio for Impressionist oil-painting classes. Read more>>
Allie Nicole
I’ve always been a creative person, although I’ve somehow managed to turn that into about five different careers. I’m a singer, songwriter, artist, designer, and entrepreneur, and music was actually my first love. I’ve been singing since I was two years old. Read more>>
Valerie Victor
I think most of us spend a lot of time trying to figure ourselves out from the outside in. We think about who we are, what we want, what we should do next, and how we’re supposed to feel. For me, the biggest shift happened when I started realizing that I could also look to my body for those answers. Read more>>
Anne Perry
TestForToby started after we lost my husband, Toby, to colorectal cancer in 2019. He was only 51 years old. He had been diagnosed at 49, and our family learned very quickly just how important early detection and knowing the symptoms can be. After he passed away, my children and I wanted to do something positive with what our family had been through. Read more>>
Bryan & Martha Meggison of Arco & Reed
Bryan: When I was a toddler, my mom was a church organist and pianist, and I used to hide under the organ during service while my mom played. Later on, my grandparents started their own church and the church band primarily consisted of my mom on piano/vocals, my aunt on vocals, my dad on bass, my brother on guitar, and me on drums. Read more>>
Luca Stricagnoli
I started playing guitar when I was ten years old at a small music school in Italy. I later continued my studies at the Conservatory of Music, until I eventually decided to quit playing guitar and pursue martial arts competitively, specifically judo. A major turning point came when I was 19 and a friend showed me a video of fingerstyle guitar. Read more>>
Music City Mizfits
The Music City Mizfits started with a pretty simple idea: create a place where women in Nashville could play football, compete, and be part of something bigger than themselves. What started as a football team has grown into so much more. We’ve worked hard to build an organization that represents Nashville both on and off the field. Read more>>
Ben Sanders
I grew up in Milwaukee in a family of professional musicians. My parents were church musicians and both of my siblings were classical violinists, so I started music lessons pretty young. In middle school though I got pulled toward roots, folk, and rock music. Read more>>
Mollie Levy
I have been an avid sports fan all of my life – I grew up attending Padres games and San Diego Chargers games with my family and playing multiple sports myself, but I also loved performing and put my passion for sports aside from much of my adolescence in order to prioritize theater and hopefully making a career out of acting. Read more>>
Brenna Roll
My hair journey has been so much bigger than just a career. I moved from Las Vegas to Franklin, Tennessee, and completely restarted behind the chair because I felt the Lord calling me to Nashville. Read more>>
Vincent ‘Big Daddy’ Pitts
I am a born and raised Nashville native! Graduating from Pearl-Cohn High School in 2015 and Nossi College of Arts in May 2026. As a young boy, I have always had a heart to serve others and I know God has ordained me to do that. My mother started me in the kitchen helping her bake fudge pie’s and other simple dishes. Read more>>
Z1TA
I have been dramatic and inquisitive since I was very young, which required me to find an outlet for my large emotions and larger questions relatively early in life. I began writing in middle school, which helped me process the unknown, the new, and the overwhelming feelings everyone experiences at that age. Read more>>
Abigail Corman
My story has really been a journey of bringing the worlds I imagine into the physical world. I’ve always been drawn to beauty, fashion, storytelling, mythology, and objects that seem to carry a history of their own. I studied Merchandising, Apparel, and Textiles in college, which deepened my interest in the relationship between art, design, materials, and the objects we surround ourselves with. Read more>>
MacLaine Funsch
My story really started when I was two years old. My mom was a professional cheerleader, and I remember holding her poms and deciding that was exactly what I wanted to do. I started dancing at two and was quickly moved into advanced classes with dancers much older than me. Read more>>
Kyle Erickson
I was born and raised in Carbondale, Illinois, and for most of the first part of my life, I was known more as a track athlete than a cowboy. My dad was an NCAA national champion in the 400 meters, and I inherited some of his speed. I started competing when I was 10 years old and ultimately spent 17 years in the sport. Read more>>
Lily Targett
I had an unconventional journey. When I was 17 I moved to LA to be an actor— I loved musical theater. I then proceeded to live there for 2 years, performing in numerous professional productions. I loved it! But I missed my family. I am the oldest of 6 kids and they are my everything. I still do theater, performing whenever I can! Read more>>
Allison Mills
Honestly, AllieMillsStudio started from something pretty simple: I’ve always loved giving gifts, but I realized how much more meaningful a gift can be when it feels like it was made specifically for that person. Read more>>
Calitonic
I was drawn early to alternative rock, punk, grunge, through artists like Melissa Auf Der Maur, Kim Deal, and PJ Harvey. Coming from San Diego to New Orleans, it was hard to find my place in the music scene here. Read more>>
MaKayla Renee’
My story has evolved so much since I was first featured by Nashville Voyager several years ago. At that time, a big part of my story was Hair Like Kayla’s, the business I built around my passion for hair, beauty, and helping women feel confident. Read more>>
Dr. Dr Aaliayah Zaher Miller El
Dr. Dr Aaliayah Zaher Miller El is a visionary photographer, creative scholar, and multidimensional professional whose journey into the world of visual artistry began long before she ever picked up a camera. Her earliest inspiration came from observing her husband, Noble Dr. Aasim Zaher Miller El, whose photographic talent and mentorship, rooted in guidance from an award‑winning photographer, ignited her curiosity for the craft. Read more>>
Natalie Gee
My path hasn’t looked exactly the way I expected it to. Some difficult personal experiences and seasons of uncertainty forced me to reconsider many of my assumptions about success, timelines, and what a meaningful life looks like. My faith has been central throughout all of it. Read more>>
Brody Fackler
My story really starts in Oklahoma, where I was born, but I moved to Casper when I was around seven years old, and growing up there played a huge role in shaping who I am today. Read more>>
Landon O’Bryan
I started out as a nursing school student but found that nursing was not my passion. I went and worked on my own landscaping business but felt drawn back to the medical field. I had been experiencing a lot of neck and low back pain but could not find relief through any method I tried. I had been to multiple chiropractors with no success. Read more>>
Lauren-Michael Sellers
I started performing when I was six years old, so music has been the throughline of my life for as long as I can remember. Long before I understood it as a career, though, I understood it as a safe place. Read more>>
Josh Gray
When I was 16, I was gifted a guitar by my parents for Christmas. I never really had an interest in taking lessons. Part of that was my stubbornness, and part of it was not wanting to make music feel like school. I’m not someone who naturally seeks a lot of attention. Read more>>
Javaneh Hemmat
What began as a love for sharing food and bringing people together has grown into two Nashville-born brands rooted in flavor, culture, and connection. Javaneh “Java” Hemmat is the founder and CEO of Hummus Chick, a Mediterranean food brand she launched in 2014 inspired by her family’s generations old tradition of making hummus. Read more>>
Jill Harper
As a little girl I was always drawing or doodling something. I aspired to be an art teacher when I grew up. I continued pursuing art all throughout high school. In college I decided to get a degree in housing and design, minoring in art. After college I married my high school sweetheart and we had two sons. Read more>>
Arianna Hume
For sure! My name is Arianna, and I’m the owner and director of Liberty Music Academy (LMA). I’ve loved music for as long as I can remember and got involved at a young age through church and school choirs, musical theater productions, and, of course, countless hours singing along to my favorite songs in my bedroom. Read more>>
Shaquille Traywicks
Blu Jays Catering was founded by myself and my business partner, Julius Greenlaw, with a simple idea and a passion for bringing people together through great food. With the support and encouragement of our friends, family, and colleagues, what began as selling plates out of a residential kitchen quickly grew into something much bigger. Read more>>
John Spalding
John Spalding LOVES Peanut Brittle, and his family has been making it for over 150 years! In July of 1985, when John couldn’t find any quality peanut brittle (and when his Mother refused to make him any because it wasn’t Christmas), John relied on his family’s brittle making history and began to make his own. Read more>>
CONNOR SELANDER
My DJ story really started when I moved from Arizona to Nashville without much of a network or any real connections in the music scene. I had always loved music, especially EDM and progressive house, but DJing started as something I was passionate about rather than something I ever expected to turn into a serious opportunity. Read more>>
Lexy Hill
Hello my name is Lexy, I have been a piercer for almost 4 years. I started off just working front desk in a tattoo studio which I ended up in love with piercing culture. I have worked in multiple shops around Clarksville and I am currently in the process of opening my own private studio Cry baby piercing, located in Tiffany’s hair spa downtown Clarksville! Read more>>
Nicole Carver
I founded Carver Concierge in 2012, but in many ways the business started long before that. I had spent years in roles where I was the person behind the scenes making everything work. Read more>>
Jessa Hart
I started writing stories when I was about ten years old. I’d fill notebooks with them, and I had this whole system where different chapters and character POVs were written in different colored gel pens. Writing stayed with me as I got older, even when I wasn’t actively pursuing it. Read more>>
Savannah Rae
Savannah Rae is an all-American country singer-songwriter who proudly hails from San Antonio, Texas. Born into a music and arts loving family, Savannah’s own journey to becoming a fast-rising entertainer and songwriter was inspired by a trip to an Evanescence concert in 2009. Read more>>
Cashmen Ford
I was a quiet kid… My mom had an accident when I was 7 resulting in a major brain injury, Not long after her accident I started writing.. it gave me back my voice in a way. Now I’ve written over 100 songs myself and more with others. I plan on making a difference, and I figure Nashville is the right place. Read more>>
Sean Ryan
I started as a child performer age eleven – working as a drummer in my family’s band ‘Sunset Jazz’. We were working full time playing in Casinos, Private Parties and more. Eventually, I left the spotlight for a ‘normal’ job working as a Manger at a Pier One Imports. After nearly a decade of performances, I wanted a break. Read more>>
Sam Dingle
It all begins with a trip to the emergency room. In the 7th grade, my parents found me unresponsive and rushed me to the hospital where I was put into a medically induced coma. Turns out, I had a life threatening seizure. A week later, I was released from the hospital, and a few months after that, I wanted to play music. Read more>>
Byron Duffin
July 1, 2024 I walked into a meet at work with the owners of the Ag Manufacturing Co. where I was the Brand President. They informed me that they could no longer afford me and my job ended on the spot. Two weeks later they filed bankruptcy and it took me 18 months to receive the compensation they owed me. Read more>>
Andrea Olson
I am an artist, songwriter and business owner. I have been building my own music business for my whole life. Read more>>
Reggie Wayne
My journey as an artist has really been about learning how to trust my own voice and allowing my practice to grow with me. I started creating from a place of curiosity and experimentation, using portraiture, collage, mixed media, and found materials to explore history, culture, identity, and the people who have shaped the way we understand the world around us. Read more>>
Sadé Phillips
For a long time, I had every intention of climbing the corporate ladder. I built my career in project management and envisioned continuing to grow into higher-level leadership roles. But right before I got married, I was laid off, and what I thought would be a short career transition turned into seven months of unemployment. Read more>>
Abigail Davis
My story has never really followed a straight line, but looking back, every chapter seems to have prepared me for where I am today. I spent the first five years of my life in Arequipa, Peru, where my family served as missionaries. I was this blonde-haired, blue-eyed little girl running around speaking Spanish fluently and greeting everyone with a kiss on the cheek. Read more>>
Leon Timbo
I’m Leon Timbo. Singer-songwriter, son of pastors, from Northeast Florida – Duval County. I say Duval intentionally. Jacksonville is the name most people know, but Duval County is the actual boundary of the city. For people of color, when Jacksonville didn’t see us, Duval County did. Read more>>
Ashlen Jones
I grew up in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, a very small town where I still live today. I was raised on a farm, and I think growing up there shaped a lot of who I am. Being surrounded by a close-knit community and the people in my life taught me the importance of working hard, treating people with kindness and having confidence in who I am. Read more>>
Southeast Pack Trips
Southeast Pack Trips was founded by Larry in 1988 out of his lifelong love for horses, the Big South Fork, and the great outdoors. What started as a passion for sharing the beauty of this incredible region has grown into a destination where people can unplug, reconnect with nature, and experience unforgettable horseback adventures. Read more>>
Brittany Bishop
My inspiration began with my family. Everyone has always been talented and uniquely gifted in their own way. Growing up, I watched their passion, creativity, and determination as entrepreneurs, and it inspired me to pursue my own path. Their example motivated me not only to grow personally and professionally, but also to use my talents to uplift and help others around me. Read more>>
