Baltimore’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.

Tiara Johnson

I am the Owner of Crowned Glamour Beauty, LLC, a beauty business that I officially launched in 2021. The inspiration behind the name is deeply personal. My name is Tiara, which is a type of crown, and I have always loved all things glam and beauty. Read more>>

Kelly Murray

I was a single mother, raised my kids in this town of Linthicum that I now have my shop in. This space was occupied by a hallmark store for the 40 years prior my sewing shop. People are still upset that they can’t buy candy here. Read more>>

Adnan Khan

I came to the United States as a teenager from a small city in Pakistan. My sister sponsored me and helped bring me to America. During my first few years here, I lived with my sister and later with a distant cousin in the Boston area while attending school. To help support myself, I worked in my cousin’s GNC nutrition store. Read more>>

Marcella Verchio

I have created art since I was young and received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Art, majoring in a digital art field. That degree originally brought me to the DC area for an internship at the Smithsonian in their exhibits department. I stayed after the internship and got a job working as a brand designer. Read more>>

Josh Baynham

It all started with burning mix CDs in high school quickly turned into DJing college house parties at UMD and eventually headlining packed clubs and bars across Baltimore, DC, and Virginia. I have been DJing since 2007 and performed my first wedding in 2010. Read more>>

Coach Ella Destiny

My journey into coaching wasn’t something I planned overnight, it was born out of pain, purpose, resilience, and faith. After surviving a life-threatening brain aneurysm, my entire perspective on life changed. I realized how many people were silently struggling mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically while still trying to show up for everyone else. I knew my survival had to mean something bigger. Read more>>

Taja McDuffie

I am cosmetologist with over 10 years of experience in the beauty industry. I received my training at Carver Vocational-Technical High School, a trade-focused institution so i had the privilege of being licensed right after high school. As a highly versatile hairstylist, I offer a wide range of services, including weaves, stitch braids, knotless braids, and wig installations. Read more>>

Kozy FAWEHINMI

Laud Shawarma was born during COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but its roots go back to a simple mission: recreating my sister’s favorite shawarma from Lagos, Nigeria. My sister often talked about a shawarma spot she loved back home in Lagos and how much she missed those flavors. I decided to take on the challenge of recreating it. Read more>>

Emily Coccia

I moved to the DMV from Michigan in 2005 and completely fell in love with it. What started as a temporary summer job led to years spent exploring neighborhoods, trying new restaurants, wandering through events and communities, and meeting people who were deeply passionate about making a difference. Read more>>

david hercenberg

For nearly two decades, I’ve worked in visual media helping businesses and individuals communicate their story in a way that feels real, strategic, and valuable. What started as a passion for creating has grown into Documented Video Productions, LLC—a media agency built around helping clients solve communication challenges through strong visual assets and ongoing creative support. Read more>>

Shardè Harrison

Shardè Harrison, a creative, and enthusiastic baker who found her love for baking in 2019. As a child, Shardè valued moments with her grandmother in the kitchen cooking everything: from mac & cheese, greens to double chocolate cake. Shardè’s grandmother planted the seed of cooking and baking into her life at a young age. Read more>>

Choppa Bandzz

(real name Michael pyles) is an independent hip-hop artist and songwriter whose background and upbringing are heavily rooted in an urban, street-centric environment. Read more>>

Eean Logan

I am a native Baltimorean, the proud product of a single-mother household, a father, a public health professional, a certified driving instructor, and the founder of I Got Drive. Honestly, getting to where I am today started with a deep dive into self-discovery. I had to analyze who I was as a human being, a son, a brother, a father, and a soon-to-be husband. Read more>>

Andrea Williams

Lynne’s Libations is a luxury mobile bartending and mixology business serving the DMV area, specializing in curating hand crafted cocktails and elevated experiences for our clients and guests alike. Prior to the creation of the business, Lynne’s Libations has always been a dream of mine. Read more>>

Ellie Rutledge Silver

My journey to supporting home and business owners in their design projects has been a somewhat unconventional one. I went to school here in DC and fell in love with the area. I stayed here after graduation and spent more than a decade working in mission-driven non-profit organizations, where I supported causes I’m passionate about through communications and advocacy efforts. Read more>>

Russell Smith

I’ve been working in restaurants since I was old enough to get a job, starting as a dishwasher at a Ponderosa Steakhouse in Erie, PA. I began cooking seriously about 20 years ago when I moved to DC and got my first job in fine dining. Read more>>

Trinity Bratton

I made my first wig in high school with hair I ordered off Amazon and my friend wore it and got so any compliments. From there I started to do things like color my own extensions and learn how to curl my own hair. I just had a love for hair. Read more>>

Crystal Judy

I have always been highly sensitive, experiencing the world through precognitive dreams and deep, unshakable knowing’s that others simply didn’t understand. Growing up in a Methodist, and later Evangelical Presbyterian home, I was taught that my gifts were dangerous and given every reason why I was wrong. Read more>>

Mandi Bridge

It all started in high school, when I was encouraged by mom (an avid photographer) to take a film photography class. I ended up falling in love with the craft, and majored in Visual Communication Design at Stevenson University. I did freelance photography after graduation; with some of my classmates being my first clients! The more I shot, the more I loved it. Read more>>

Kona Ice of Rosedale

We (Alex McArtor and Nik Diaz) bought our Kona Ice franchise at the beginning of 2024. We bought two trucks out first year and recently purchased our third at the end of 2025. Our longtime friend Tony Leftridge and his family have owned the Kona Ice of Bel Air in Harford County for about 15 years. Read more>>

Chris Frantz

My name is Chris Frantz. I am the singer, songwriter, and producer for my Baltimore-based alternative rock/Shoegaze adjacent project Palm Trees In Moscow. I have been playing in bands since I was 15. My primary instrument is guitar, but I also provide the voacls, program drums, play bass, and dabble with synths. Read more>>

Victor Oriza

I grew up in Mexico City, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by magic. As a kid, I’ve always been captivated by the grand illusions of David Copperfield, but back then, figuring out how to learn magic was a massive challenge. The internet wasn’t what it is today, and my parents had no idea how I could learn. Read more>>

Patrick Sullivan

Senior Helpers of Baltimore and Central Maryland was born from both personal experience and a deep desire to serve our community in a more meaningful way. For both of us, caregiving was something we experienced firsthand within our own families. We watched grandparents and loved ones navigate challenges related to aging, including Alzheimer’s, dementia, COPD, and other chronic conditions. Read more>>

Patria Alexander

My story starts on an island. I grew up in Dominica, in the Caribbean, and around the age of five I became completely transfixed by the nurses I saw in our community. Women in white. Graceful, purposeful, deeply respected. Read more>>

Jennifer Gularson, PA-C, IFMCP

I didn’t take a straight path into this work, and honestly, I think that’s part of what makes me good at it. I started my career in traditional family medicine and spent years seeing women come into appointments feeling exhausted, anxious, foggy, disconnected from themselves, and often being told that everything was “normal” or simply part of aging. Read more>>

Jazmin & Brice Coleman

Picture The Joy was born out of a season of transition, creativity, and a desire to create happiness for others. While balancing long work days, newlywed life, and dreams about the future, we realized how much joy can be in the little moments that people want to remember forever. Read more>>

Aster Soluna

We’ll have to go back quite a ways. When I was younger, I was one of those kids that loved to read. I would frequent the local library on the weekends and eventually, a small, tucked away section called out to me. It started with books on mythology, and eventually I found myself in the world of the occult, palmistry, divination, and symbolism. Read more>>

Athena Brown

I’ve been competing in pageants since December 2020! I started out as a normal girl and then I joined pageantry which changed my life forever. I used to be very shy and quiet, but now I am able to speak in front of large groups and am unafraid to share my thoughts and opinions. Read more>>

Kate Conway

I opened Pickett Brewing Company with my neighbor, Jason Howard, in 2022. Pickett is in the Pigtown neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland and includes on-site craft beer production and a taproom just blocks from Ravens Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards. We focus everything we do on four core values: our beer, our team, our community and giving back. Read more>>

Michael Meador

I started my journey with photography in 2007 when I was contacted by a friend and photographer by the name of Oleg Volk who asked if I needed photos for my business. He ended up suggesting I buy a camera and he would mentor me in the art of photography. Read more>>

Mũmbi Kĩgũtha

I think the first piece of the story really begins with the organization itself. Friends in Solidarity was incorporated about ten years ago. In November of last year, we celebrated that milestone. The organization was originally founded by my sister, Sr. Joan Mumaw, an Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister from Monroe, Michigan. Read more>>

Ashley Kenny

Heirloom started from a personal experience and a simple realization: some of the most meaningful things we leave behind are our stories, voices, and memories—not physical possessions. We saw an opportunity to help families preserve those moments in a more emotional, lasting format by combining video with a keepsake people could hold onto and revisit. Read more>>

Granite Dancer

We started our journey during a high school math class, where we distracted ourselves by writing song lyrics instead of equations. Then we started pulling lyrics from random library books when outside of math class. We tried to write melodies that fit the lyrics, and then chords that fit those melodies. Read more>>

Calissa Rodriguez

Laurel Field Company started with us simply loving the outdoors. Matt and I were already spending so much of our free time gardening, birding, learning native plants, and noticing how much life a yard can support when the right plants are there. I’m currently studying conservation biology and ecology, and Matt has always loved working with his hands, growing plants, and building things. Read more>>

Brookelle Bombshelle

I’ve always been an artist — ever since I could hold a pencil, I was constantly drawing and creating. Art was something I naturally gravitated toward, so I pursued fine art and design throughout high school and continued studying it in college. Read more>>

Hilari Rinehart

For me, the path to owning Brampton 1860 started long before I ever signed the papers. As a 2001 graduate of Purdue’s Daniels School of Management Executive MBA Program, I had always been drawn to the idea of owning a business and creating something that felt personal—something rooted in strategy, service, and a real sense of place. Read more>>

Patrina Puller

I discovered my passion for event planning in 2008, organizing various official events at the Department of State. From there, I explored party planning for friends and family before diving into the wedding planning industry. Since then, I’ve been designing events down to the smallest of details, always striving to surpass clients’ expectations. Read more>>

Kathryn Martin

Our Martin Legacy Legal story started in 2014 with the marriage of the law firm’s partners, Jason & Katie Martin. At that point in time, we were both mid-level military officers in the United States Air Force, where we were leaders and experts in the areas of military aviation and military law, respectively. Upon getting married in 2014, our careers and family life became a world wind by creating a blended family of 6 kids, countless moves and military deployments, career changes, and culminating with the creation of our law firm. Read More>>