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.

Frank Pilarski Jr.

Born wet and dreaming in 1971 I was mashed potatoes and gravy from the moment my flesh released from mother to become human product. My character was ill-formed but joyous, my spirit lacked shape because tragedy had yet to dump its foamy mess into my head diaper. This all changed on January 28th 1986 when my parents exploded. It happened on the same day as the NASA Challenger disaster, they got into a car accident while driving, ominously, a Dodge Challenger. I look back and I realize there were three “challenger explosions” that day…the space ship, my parents and the challenging spirit of creation within me. Looking back, it was on that day I became a filmmaker. Read more>>

Pax Terra

I started making music on an old android phone using a cracked version of G Stomper, which I stumbled upon trying to cheat on Subway Surfer. I had family and friends in music at the time and found myself in the studio as an extra frequently. Read more>>

Death Bard Thanny

Growing up I had many mediums of creativity or fun. Video games, painting, drawing, sculpting, writing poetry, riding my bike, and hanging out with my friends. But the one that has been the most consistently recurring part of my life was Music. I was in the church chorus for a large portion of elementary school, and played various instruments from fourth grade into high school. Read more>>

Wanye Brown

My story really started with simply wanting to help people in my city. Being born and raised in West Baltimore, homelessness was never something that felt far away. We saw people struggling and always believed helping didn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes it starts with a hot meal, fresh clothes, a conversation, or simply treating someone like a person. Read more>>

Del’Vaughn Rooks

I am a Baltimore native through and through. A few of my elementary school years were spent over in East Baltimore living in Perkins Homes, an area that was heavily impoverished and overlooked at the time, where I attended City Springs Elementary School back in the nineties. Read more>>

Miki “Ayane” Sakamoto

I I was born in Osaka, Japan. When I was an infant, an injection I received while being treated for an illness caused the muscles in my legs to become contracted, leaving me unable to bend my knees normally. I had many happy memories growing up, but I also experienced hurtful bullying because of my condition. Read more>>

Joshua Johnson

Fashion has always been my true calling. Since the age of 5, I have had a passion for fashion. I used to love watching the women in my family get ready, the way the clothes would transform them into new people. I loved seeing their confidence and alter egos come to life as they prepared to conquer the day. Read more>>

Tatiana Seeser

I started off studying during the pandemic to become a birth doula. One of my book reports was based on natural herbs and essential oils. During the pandemic I was also pregnant and experiencing a bunch of skin issues such as eczema and reactions to scrubs I had been using. Read more>>

Gabriela Fernanda Scotto

Niña Federica was born about ten years ago from a simple idea: we wanted Argentinians to feel more confident using spice blends in their everyday cooking, just as people do in many other parts of the world. We make spice blends for cooking, but we have never thought of ourselves as a traditional spice or seasoning company. Read more>>

Nusrat umi

Dance has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up Bengali, music, dance, and culture were always around me, but what started simply as something I loved eventually became something much bigger than I ever expected. Read more>>

Vermeka White

Allure Boards really started from my love of creating beautiful food experiences and bringing people together. What began as me making charcuterie boards and displays for family, friends, and small gatherings grew into a business once people started asking me to create the same experience for their events. Read more>>

Menhefen Rasberry

As a child I was fascinated and enamored by cartoons. I initially thought they lived inside the TV like in a seperate dimension, then I saw a short documentary behind the scenes of Snow white, how it was made and I immediately thought ‘Oh wow I can draw these myself! Read more>>

Desiree Rew

Great to be back with Voyage Baltimore. It’s been a while since our last conversation, and my life and my work have grown so much. My story? I’m a Baltimore girl, born and raised in Northwest Baltimore. My life and my career both started there. At this very moment, I’m in Brussels. Read more>>

Aston Dollars

My journey as Aston Dollars started with a passion for music, creativity, and the belief that I had something unique to say. Music was never just about making songs for me it became a way to express my experiences, my ambition, and the person I was becoming. Over the years, I’ve continued to develop myself as an artist, songwriter, performer, and entrepreneur. Read more>>

Maisha McAllister

My Story I was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, but moving around was a big part of my childhood. My journey has taken me through a lot of different places, careers, and experiences—and somehow, they all led me exactly where I am today. I attended Morgan State University for two years, where I decided to pursue a degree in B.A. Read more>>

Unique Lassiter

I started my lash career in 2016 while working a full-time job at Comcast, now known as Xfinity. At the time, I was working from 12–9 while also being a mom, and I knew I wanted something different for my life. I wanted more time with my daughter, more financial freedom, and most importantly, the freedom to create a life on my own terms. Read more>>

Angela Enwezor

My story began in the motherland, Nigeria, where I grew up learning from my mother—my first creative blueprint. Watching her create with her hands taught me to see possibilities in what was around me. Those early experiences planted seeds that continue to shape my work today. Read more>>

Eric & Tina Miller

The Infinite Love Project started in 2018 as a small, genuine offering of kindness from Eric & Tina Miller. They were giving out stickers and unique wooden Infinite Love Hearts to people they encountered. A few years before Eric had begun creating custom signs with positive messages on commission and to give as gifts which included variations of the Be Kind message. Read more>>

David Barmer Jr

My name is David Barmer Jr, Im a photographer and creative director who specializes in film and digital photography. I started off taking pictures of my friends a lot of them are creatives/athletes so it made it pretty easy. I also went to as many shows, studio sessions, and pop-ups as I could just to network and build and I still do along with commissions. Read more>>

Michael Miller

Our journey initially started when one of our Co-founders revamped a design found in a tattoo book which became the NAMBARII logo prior to establishing NAMBARII in 2021. At that time the NAMBARII logo was tattooed on all three of the Co-founders and later by one of the Co-founder’s children. Read more>>

Bill Watson

My journey as an artist has been a pretty winding road. I’ve never really been someone who could fit neatly into one category. I’ve always been curious and interested in making things, whether that meant drawing, designing, building something, experimenting with color, or figuring out how an idea could become a finished piece. Read more>>

Brooke Mihoces

Vintage Views Bar started with a vintage Shasta camper and an idea. In 2018, I was working as a brand manager for a wine distributor and bought the camper to turn it into a cute mobile bar for wine tastings and events. As the renovation was nearing completion, people started asking if they could book it for weddings. Read more>>

Nika Kozyra

My story really began long before STO LAT Wellness ever had a name. I came to this country as an immigrant and grew up experiencing circumstances that forced me to become resilient at a very young age. My childhood included significant trauma—physical, emotional, sexual, and health-related—and for many years, I became very good at doing what so many people do: surviving. Read more>>

Youssef Abdelwahab

Founder Story Youssef was born in Cairo Egypt and grew up in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He taught Spanish in Washington DC for 5 years and currently works as a high school teacher in Philadelphia. From brothers in his Washington DC neighborhoods to his students in the inner city, he learned of art and style of the wave culture. Read more>>

Lakia McDaniel

My journey to Restore with Lakia has really been a journey of learning how important rest, reflection, and restoration are not just for me, but for the people I serve. I became a certified yoga teacher in 2020, and over time, I found myself more drawn to restorative yoga and to the connection among the body, breath, and nervous system. Read more>>

Olga and Dimitrey Didukh

Our story began long before ODDI Studio. As a kid, Olga dreamed of becoming a model, then a fashion designer. At school, she and her best friend shared a jvs camera and spent hours photographing each other and learning how to edit in Photoshop, trying to make every photo feel a little more magical. Dimitrey found his path through the sky. Read more>>

Brandon Elliott

I started over 4 years ago, showcasing and highlight black owned storefronts around the country. Coming from the DC area where black businesses are abundant and easy to find, I set out on brining more awareness to those spaces across the USA. Now I have visited over 300 black owned stores, restaurants, cultural spaces, museums and other businesses types. Read more>>

Jacob Dylan

the first time i thought about writing a song to a beat was 16. I went on youtube and found a tyler, the creator type beat. Something clicked when i finished writing that song. i was going through 1 of many breakups i had with my girlfriend at the moments. Read more>>

Enayet Hossain

The Rhythm I Never Planned to Follow I never set out to become a professional musician. That may be the simplest way to explain my journey. When I was six years old, my father, Ustad Hamid Hossain, began teaching me tabla. My parents were not trying to make me a musician. Read more>>

Autumn Long

I’ve always been a huge YouTube fan, especially when it came to daily/lifestyle vlogs, fashion, and hauls. In 2018, I decided to stop watching from the sidelines and start my own YouTube channel. At the time, I wanted to showcase what life looked like as a beautiful plus-size woman—from clothing hauls and fashion to everyday moments and just being myself. Read more>>

Htet San

Hi My name is Htet. I am a Myanmar-born artist based in Alabama now. On summer, Htet travels around for photoshoots and adventures and mostly probably will be found in New York City. Htet works with mixed media art, photography, and installation. Her work explores ideas of identity, existence, memories, nostalgia, societal problems and human experience in a meditative and contemplative manner. Read more>>

Sharell Myers

I’ve been in love with art since I was a kid, and that passion has stayed with me throughout my life. I’ve always had a natural ability to take the bare minimum and turn it into something meaningful and creative. My love for fashion started early as well. I would collect fashion magazines, cut out pictures, and create my own ideas and designs. Read more>>

Ximena Walker

X40 Designs began seven years ago with a passion for unique jewelry, creativity, and a desire to build something of my own. What started as a small business has grown into an evolving brand that celebrates artistry, culture, and individuality. Originally from Colombia, I came to the United States as a young girl. Read more>>

Caroline Guterres

Canton Run Club started with a pretty simple idea: my friend and co-founder, Alyssa, and I wanted to create a space where people could get active together, meet new like-minded individuals, and feel like they were part of something. We both loved running, but from the beginning, we knew we wanted the club to be about so much more than just running. Read more>>

Stefanie Wahl

10 years ago I was at a music festival with little spending money and a box of cereal as my weekend food, I searched for the utensils needed to eat and found some friends along the way. This inspired me to build connection with the strangers that would soon become friends and I started bringing multiple boxes of cereal to feed some camp mates. Read more>>

Jastin Artis

I never had a dream of being a music professional. It was never on my radar, though I was very involved in music. I played in band starting in elementary school, wrote poetry, and got published early. I was constantly being praised for my writing and my thinking. I grew up with my twin sister, raised by a single mom in suburban Northern Virginia. Read more>>

Julie Webb

I would say my story started long before I ever stepped in front of a professional camera. It began in childhood. Growing up in a multiracial family, I became aware very early that beauty could look different depending on who was defining it. Read more>>

Sharon VanBlarcom

My name is Sharon VanBlarcom. I am the Secretary/Treasurer of the Farpoint Foundation, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization with the mission to promote the cultural and educational advancement of literary, graphical, musical and theatrical art forms inspired by science fiction, anime, comics, fantasy, horror and all realms of the imagination. Read more>>

Matthew Mayer

My interest in design began in high school, when I stumbled into a newly offered commercial art class as a junior. I didn’t really know what graphic design was—I mostly wanted to make a logo for my ska band. That class set me on a path that would eventually become a career. Read more>>

Logan Townsend

My nursing career began in the ICU at Johns Hopkins, where I started with plans of becoming a CRNA. While I loved caring for patients and found bedside nursing incredibly rewarding, I realized I was craving something more—more connection, creativity, and the opportunity to help people feel their best. Read more>>

Audrey Angeles

I’m originally from the Philippines, and I moved to the US right after high school to enroll in the pastry program at the former Art Institute of Washington. I’m the typical chef story – ‘growing up in grandma’s kitchen’ and watching Food Network as a kid drew me into pursuing it as a career. Read more>>