ATL’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.

Kenya Simpkins

The turning point came when a renowned food critic, Keith Lee, visited my establishment and recognized the exceptional quality of our services. This validation overnight transformed my life, affirming the power of perseverance, self-belief, and trust in the process. Through the ups and downs, I have learned that with unwavering determination and a steadfast commitment to one’s passions, even the most ambitious dreams can come to fruition. Read More>>

Zaniyah Medley

It hasn’t been a completely smooth road. When I relocated from Philly to Atlanta, one of the biggest challenges was having to constantly network and put myself out there to build a new client base in a city where I didn’t know many people. There were moments of doubt, especially in the beginning, when I had to figure out how to stand out in such a competitive market. Balancing the demands of running a business, managing supplies, and promoting my services was also a learning curve. But over time, with persistence and consistency, I started to see the results of my hard work. Each struggle taught me valuable lessons about resilience and the importance of staying focused on my goals. Read More>>

Tacoy Jarmaine

Next is owning a salon for a time and having such great success that it propelled me into celebrity hairstyling and styling for fashion shows. Along with that, having an events company. This has afforded me the opportunity to implement my decorative expertise for celebrity events and to work with other well known celebrity event planners. Also, being contracted to style for cinema, video productions, reality television and brand campaigns. Thriving in these creative spaces has truly kept me very busy! Read More>>

Saucelord

One surprising this people might not know about me is ,I’m also a song writer. I’ve written for some artists. Also, Personally, whenever I start writing or vibing to a song, I need to finish it. There’s been times where I’ve stayed up all night putting a song together just because I had that feeling it might be the one lol. Read More>>

Tad Murdock

We mostly host trips for beginners, introducing them to fly fishing. Teaching these beginners is certainly our specialty as we truly enjoy showing people what makes fly fishing special. We are the only fly fishing guide service that promotes kids fly fishing as we believe it’s essential to get young anglers outdoors to learn more about our local fisheries here in Georgia. Read More>>

Frederick Gordon

Photography began as a creative outlet for me during the summer of July 2014 and gradually evolved into a profession. My love for photography started at a young age, inspired by my grandmother, who had a collage of photographs throughout her home, featuring relatives that cherished moments. Looking through old photo albums and seeing images displayed on the walls made me realize how precious memories can be, especially those of my parents in their younger years. Read More>>

Ej Crenshaw

In rebuilding my life, I still have been creating music consistently creating a catalog of unreleased music and working on the album “Heartbreak Hotel” which brings huge singing choruses, ballads, and rock influences paired with Rap. I just recently released the single “Don’t Be Afraid” on December 13, 2024 with a music video, and documentary on the same day. I’ve taken on a new confidence and passion to succeed with all of my endeavors and dreams. Moving forward in this year, I will be releasing new music every 8 t0 12 weeks before releasing the new album. Read More>>

Yana Kasianchuk

I started with courses, learning from the best florists just for myself, to understand how it all works. Having immersed myself in this world, I realized that I wanted to try my hand as a florist. I got a job at a flower shop, initially I was only offered a five-day contract due to lack of experience and only because it was Mother’s Day and they needed extra help. My work was so well received that I was offered a permanent position. Read More>>

Patti Siegel

Because it’s been a long-time goal of mine to combine my business skills with my passion for the arts, I was one of 5 arts and business leaders who worked to save ArtsATL, Atlanta’s leading arts publication, from closing in 2020 and then became its executive director that same year working to rebuild, stabilize and grow the organization. I’ve been with ArtsATL almost five years and I’m very proud to say we’re financially healthy and going strong. Read More>>

Aki Yoo

This includes color theming, photo backdrop design, table centerpieces, menus, flower arrangements, custom desserts, and more. Additionally, a secondary part of the business, All Your Events Creations, does the fabrication for the designs, converting our clients’ dreams into reality. While we have done many types of events, we have come to specialize in designs for Korean 1st year birthday celebrations, referred to as “dohl”, which is a major life event in Korean culture. Read More>>

Perrine Prieur

After gaining experience, I had the incredible opportunity to work at Le Gavroche, a two Michelin-starred restaurant in London, as a sommelier. This role shaped my expertise and refined my approach to pairing wine and food. In 2006, I moved to Atlanta, where I eventually opened my first wine shop in 2010. Since then, I’ve expanded to include two additional locations and worked to bring a unique, approachable perspective to wine retail. Read More>>

Devonte Whitmore

There has been bumps in the road. I went from being a full radio personality to throwing my own fashion shows. So the transition of two different industries was hard. Also balancing the business and the actual passion for what you do is hard. I love what I do so if I could I would do it for free. The reality of it is that you can’t if this what you want to do as a career. So figuring out different ways to profit has been a challenge. Read More>>

Ebuka Onyirimba

As you can imagine with social events, having music was a key component but sometimes I wasn’t always aligned with the DJs and their style compared to the experiences I wanted to create and caught myself always having to direct a Dj in the direction I wanted to go. Eventually, I told myself the only way to guarantee exactly what I envision, was by becoming the DJ and MC myself to make sure the exact vibe my people wanted to have and that I promoted was a constant reality for anything I curated. Read More>>

Lisa Camp

LRC Social began as a small endeavor fueled by my passion for helping local businesses unlock their potential through digital platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. I initially started offering basic social media services from my home office, focusing primarily on community-based businesses that had little to no online presence. As we continued to tailor our offerings and focus on impactful results, we have been able to expand our services to include comprehensive solutions like content creation and web design. Our commitment to personalized service and innovative strategies has empowered numerous small to medium-sized businesses to enhance their online visibility and engagement. Read More>>

Brian Langford

My journey in music started as a kid. My mom was a piano teacher and taught me piano afterschool. I then took up band in middle and high school and it was in the summer before my sophomore year that I took up music production. I remember just browsing YouTube at night and for some reason a Ad for the new Maschine and I thought that looks cool. After that I got it for my birthday (s/o my parents for the b-day gift) and I just immersed myself in all the Metro/Southside cook up videos or bts studio footage I could trying to learn the sound and how to improve my beats. Read More>>

Perré Aye

It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. For a long time, I was afraid of being myself—putting my authentic self out there for the world to see. On top of that, I had to face people doubting me, which really tested my confidence and resolve. There’s been a lot of trial and error, especially when it comes to collaborating with others. I learned the hard way that not everyone shares the same level of commitment or vision, and that can be draining when you’re serious about your craft. Read More>>

Mike Walsh

In 2019, I had the opportunity to attend Barista Camp in Greece where I furthered my education and passion for 3rd wave coffee. I was able to deeper understand dialing in espresso, creating an espresso recipe and improve my latte art. In 2023, I opened my first brick and mortar coffee shop, called Venster Coffee in Portland, OR. Another milestone, was starting my coffee roasting journey by attending Roaster Academy in Mexico City. I returned recently and visited a coffee farm in Puebla Mexico to gain more in depth education of the process and work that goes into coffee farming and production. Read More>>

Olga Reinberg

At F.O.M we strongly believe that eyewear is a fashion statement, not just a medical device. For that reason, we carry a wide selection of amazing hand crafted glasses by European designers, that are bold, funky, and unique. Every year, we travel to the biggest eyewear trade shows in Milan and Paris to find new and unique designers. We actually have a saying, “once you go F.O.M, you never go back” because once a customer wears one of our frames, they always come back for more, and the funkier, the better! We also carry designer brands that are more well known such as Tom Ford, Celine, Cazal, Fendi, and so many more! Read More>>

Ousseynou Fall

We talk about these topics all the time and know so much about them why don’t we try to start something that we could share with others,people that share the same interest!when we got on a group call to decide if we wanted to start the journey or not,it took kenny 3 seconds if not less to come up with the name .The S.A.M.E(Sports Anime Media & Entertainment )convo.We love talking about sports,about anime,about music and movies.Why don’t we start something that incorporate all those topics.When he said the name out loud if just felt like fate. Read More>>

Denise Kirk-Murray

Not having a mentor knowledgeable about how things actually work in this industry and in an increasingly competitive space, has been my biggest challenge. I have a finance background so understanding the numbers was not an issue. It was more operational and administrative tasks that proved to be more challenging. I turned to various Facebook groups, YouTube and Google and figured out a lot of it from these resources. A little trial and error helped along the way as well. It’s a learning process every day, which I enjoy. Read More>>

Lesley Steinberg

Hi! I’m Lesley. I’m a fourth generation native Atlantan. I’m so lucky to do what I love, Interior Design. I started my business, Lesley Steinberg Interiors in 2012. I’ve always been surrounded by creative people. My mom was a watercolor artist and professional calligrapher. In college, while studying Art History at Georgia State University, I worked at a local alternative newspaper, Creative Loafing. There I met the most intriguing menagerie of visionaries, from writers and poets, to graphic designers, art directors, photographers. I knew I had to stay in the arts world. Read More>>

Yuwei Li

The truth is it’s not a very smooth road. It takes a lot of time and effort to create each piece of art, but I don’t find it very hard because I enjoy the process. In addition, I would like to thank my collectors in different countries for their support, which makes me feel very warm and happy! Read More>>

Kacey Primer

Before marrying, I spent a significant amount of time decorating and styling the home where my young daughter and I lived. I added piping to furniture, trim to lampshades; up-cycled whatever made sense to me. Our home was reflective of our personalities and I was proud of it. This was also the time where I really discovered and honed in on interior design and decorating and wanted to share my varied design style with friends, family and co-workers. That’s really where it started. It was before all the network television shows really took off and gained so much popularity amongst viewers. Read More>>

Cassidy Reid

As a kid, I always loved music. I remember having a lyric book where I would print out lyrics to all my favorite songs and rehearse them. In my pre teen years, my friends and I created a girl group and we started doing talent shows. Once I graduated, I started taking acting classes and landed an agent. From there I started auditioning and booking, while also starting my solo musical journey in the studio. Read More>>

Lissette Alexander

The benefits of having health insurance are immense—it provides peace of mind knowing that medical expenses are covered, helps in maintaining regular health check-ups, and ensures access to necessary treatments without the burden of unexpected medical bills. Similarly, having a professional tax preparer can save you time, reduce stress, and ensure accuracy in your tax filings, maximizing your deductions and credits. Read More>>

Lloyd And Natosha Jones

It all started with the ending of Naruto. We didn’t care for it. We like the old Greek tragedies. Stories that were realistis and may not always end happily. We have both always been storytellers and creatives. We also wanted to see more poeple like us headlining stories without falling into stereotypes. This Midnight Comics was born. Midnight Comics is a black owned, indie comic company that officially launched in 2020. We publish both traditional comics and manga. So far we have 12 titles and it’s been four years. Read More>>

Lamondre’ Bonney

I love Acting. I like more of Comical and Action Roles. Very active on Social Media. I don’t put myself in a Particular category or Specialize in anything. Because I consider myself versatile. Read More>>

Deantre Thornton

I was first introduced into music by sitting in on my cousins marching band practices when I was in elementary school. Me and my brother decided to start rapping my junior year in high school. In 2017 I went to the military and took an mobile recording studio with me wherever I went. Post military I went and got formal education for audio engineering and associates degree in entertainment business and I’m current attending SAE institute for my degree in film. My goal is to create a safe haven for creatives to support each other. Read More>>

Nina Cygan

I would create weekly menus, take my orders during week, gather ingredients by Saturday and cook everything on a Sunday, then deliver on Monday. I would be cooking 50+ meals by myself on a Sunday. I had extremely loyal customers, referrals, and new clients from Instagram. Everyone was tired of ordering Door Dash or Uber Eats since all the restaurants were closed so I was happy to provide them with much healthier options. Read More>>

Kate Butry

Life as an entrepreneur certainly has its struggles and one of my biggest challenges early on was building a consistent stream of clients. I quickly learned a recipe for success is a combination of networking and a positive attitude. The more I put myself out there, the more clients seemed to find their way to me. Maintaining a positive attitude is key to building strong client relationships and attracting new opportunities. Read More>>

Paris Monet

The word “PLAY” is the heart of The Pink Playhouse. Think about when you were a kid, and you were playing, that moment was all about embracing joy, freedom, and self-expression. We just did not know that at the time, and the qualities of makeup ignite those same feelings. Whether you’re swiping on a bold lipstick or experimenting with glitter shadows, there’s something magical about the process. It’s not just about looking beautiful; it’s about feeling joyous, uninhibited, and connected to your inner feeling. Makeup allows us to explore, create, and express who we are, and that playful spirit is what I strive to bring to every product and experience. Read More>>