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.

Ofelia Pelayo

But through every challenge, I learned something new about myself. I discovered strength I didn’t know I had, and I learned that difficult seasons can also become opportunities for growth. What started as a great challenge has become a journey of learning, perseverance, and personal growth. Read more>>

Cierra Seymon’e

My journey as a creator has always been rooted in storytelling, creativity, and connection. Long before social media, I was a kid who genuinely thought my life was a reality show. A lot of my inspiration came from my childhood, from adventure books like Cam Jansen, shows like That’s So Raven and The Proud Family, and, of course, dance. Read more>>

Raja Green-Hornes

My name is RAJA. I’m an 18-year-old singer, songwriter, and dancer from Atlanta, Georgia, and I’m currently a senior at Utopian Academy of the Arts. I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 6 and autism at age 9, and those experiences have played a major role in shaping who I am as both a person and an artist. Read more>>

Renee Burwell-Billie

I have been in the health and fitness industry for more than 20 years, and throughout my journey, I have learned that two of the most important keys to building a successful brand are authenticity and passion. For me, authenticity means staying true to who I am, why I started, and the passion that continues to fuel my purpose. Read more>>

LaThea Adams

Sometimes what feels like an interruption is actually preparation for purpose. At 17 years old, I woke up one morning completely paralyzed. It was the third day of my senior year of high school. I had just been hired as a cashier at our local Farm Fresh in Hampton, Virginia, and I had so many plans for my future. Suddenly, everything changed. Read more>>

Tuesdee Williams

I have always been the kind of person who wants to know how something is made. If I could take it apart, study it, and recreate it in a way that felt more beautiful or more like me, I would. That curiosity developed into a lifelong love of DIY, design, and transforming simple ideas into something special. Read more>>

Victoria Dalcour

I started my content journey in middle school, originally just as something I did for fun. Over time, it grew into a genuine love for creative direction, photography, and storytelling, while also becoming a way for me to express my love for fashion, beauty, and self expression. Read more>>

Destiny Singleton

My name is Destiny Singleton, my journey into graphic design started unexpectedly in 2019 while I was still in high school. At the time, I was working part time at Macy’s, completing an internship through a tech program, and also pursuing freelance makeup artistry. Read more>>

Luzmarie Castillo Rivera

I grew up in Santiago de Veraguas, a small city in Panama, in a family that valued curiosity, honesty and critical thinking above almost everything else. That upbringing gave me a childhood full of scattered passions, music, dance, literature, science, among others, all circling around one question I couldn’t quite answer yet: what was I actually here to do? Read more>>

Messiah Adonis

Messiah Adonis wasn’t created overnight. He was built through struggle, sacrifice, survival, and the courage to become exactly who I was meant to be. My journey started with a dream to entertain, but along the way, that dream became much bigger than performing. It became about finding my voice, discovering my identity, and turning every obstacle I faced into fuel. Read more>>

Marcus Tabb

My story begins in Chicago where I grew up. There I always practiced performing whether it was at church, doing theatre or slam poetry. Then I graduated high school and went to college at Clark Atlanta University where I expanded my network as well as my talent. Read more>>

Emily Pitcairn

I feel like my love for music was something that I was not only born with, but lucky enough to have a father who nurtured it. He was a DJ, and put me onto some really great music and always encouraged my big rockstar dreams. He died when I was 17, and the only thing that seemed to matter during that time was music. Read more>>

Laura Soleil

My story starts in Venezuela. My parents made the brave decision to leave and pursue a better life here in America. Growing up I was always involved in the performing arts with dreams of being an actress and also helping people. I studied ballet, jazz, musical theater, chorus; I was that kid that would find any reason to sing or hum a tune. Read more>>

Shallise Johnson

My journey into financial services began after I was laid off from my corporate job June 2025. Prior to that, I spent five years working as a data analyst for several companies, where I experienced firsthand how unpredictable corporate employment can be. That experience motivated me to pursue a career where I could take control of my own future while helping others do the same. Read more>>

Linda Fabry

Like most artists, I have had the compulsion to create for as long as I remember. I got in trouble a lot as a child, mostly in school, but found solace in the art room. It stayed in the background most of my adult life, until I started my career as an artist at age 26, while pregnant with my son. Read more>>

Katya Vilchyk

My story is really a story of reinvention. I was born and raised in Ukraine and moved to the United States when I was 20. Coming from a post-Soviet upbringing, I learned very early to be resourceful, independent, and willing to figure things out on my own. Read more>>

Doniece Moore

Moore Events started out as a hobby, as my close friends and family would always ask me to help plan events. With, planning it was little as picking out decor, a venue or even an Airbnb (for those traveling), but overall assisting with logistics. Read more>>

Dralon Moreland

Absolutely! When I was a child growing up, I remember enjoying going for car rides with my Dad, and he would always be playing 2 Pac through the CD player. I loved listening to everything that my Dad played, and at some point I found myself trying to understand why I enjoyed the music that I enjoyed so much. Read more>>

Kris Bird

It is my mission in life to get women excited about the SciFi genre. I grew up watching Star Trek, Star Wars, Back to the Future. But back then, when you walked down the SciFi section of a bookstore, it was like that’s where toxic masculinity went to die. Read more>>

Kelley Daughtrey

My name is Kelley Daughtrey, and I am a creative entrepreneur, recording artist, and founder of MOSAÏQUE ARCHIVE. Growing up in the Bronx, I developed a passion for storytelling, culture, and creative expression at an early age. Read more>>

Kellen Porter

Hello! Thank you so much for reaching out and taking an interest in my work. I’m excited to talk with you today. My work as an animator started at a young age. I believe I was around 7 when I first took an interest in stop-motion animation specifically. Read more>>

Breanna Minter

I started gaining an interest in music when I was very young. I was inspired the most by classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the Beatles. They’re my big 3 of inspiration even though I’m a metal musician. I started playing guitar when I was around 11. I taught myself everything so I do a lot of things differently. Read more>>

Dr. Nicole Bronson

One of the most interesting parts of my journey is that I had no idea I would wind up here. For most of my childhood into my college career, my goal was to be an attorney. In college, I was told that I could major in anything and go to law school. So, I decided to major in Mathematics because I loved math. Read more>>

Dana Lieberman

My path to becoming an abstract artist has taken a few turns. I studied photography in college, and while studying abroad in England and traveling through Europe, I found myself becoming more and more interested in painting, drawing, and art history. Later, I lived in Santa Fe, where being surrounded by such a strong visual culture—and that extraordinary landscape—had a lasting impact on me. Read more>>

kiarita

My first body of work, home[body], emerged as I cleaned out my grandfathers room after he passed. Coming across so much hoarded furniture, unused, just as I was beginning to paint moments with people that felt like home, initiated this body of work. I came to understand furniture as vessels to hold paintings of my chosen family sleeping, noting the importance of shared rest. Read more>>

Connie Cusick

I’ve always been someone who follows curiosity. I spent years in corporate sales before becoming an entrepreneur, and over the last two decades I’ve built businesses, designed a jewelry line, worked as a photographer, developed brands, sold my work to places I once only dreamed of, traveled constantly, raised two sons and reinvented myself more than once. Read more>>

Sandra P-Edwards

Star Artistry was born from the belief that beauty should be more than something we put on, but it should be something that makes us feel seen, confident, and empowered. Stars shining! Read more>>

Jaquese ‘JQ’ Smith

The Counted Me Out Podcast was created by me, Jaquese ‘JQ’ Smith in January 2023 with a simple but powerful goal: to provide a media platform where current and former athletes, entrepreneurs, artists, influencers, and other individuals could share their personal journeys of overcoming rejection, adversity, obstacles, and doubt. The podcast is powered by my athlete public relations and management company, JQSportsPR, LLC. Read more>>

Alexandra McInnis

I’m a born-and-raised Bostonian turned ATLien. I started my career at Hill Holliday, a Boston-based advertising hot shop at the time, as a Digital Producer on some genuinely brutal, foundational pharma accounts. I should say upfront: I was bad at that job, pathetically so. Read more>>

Jennifer Etchison

I started cooking at a young age around 15. After graduating high school I did a chef apprenticeship and after two years went off to Culinary school in Charleston SC. Read more>>

Tiffani Jai

Determination would be the word I’d use to describe how I got to where I am today. What started as an aimless pick of categories in a scholars program for high-achieving Black students in academics and the arts (ACT-SO) led to a continuous act of choosing to capture stories that often get left behind. Read more>>

Miles Foster

Being from Atlanta , I was born in the culture. It’s something about being from the city. Everyone has some type of creativity and sauce about them. Mines happens to be music. Read more>>

Oluremi Hart

Early in my childhood I always had an attraction to cameras. These instruments could take a moment in time, and capture it, or even freeze it by generating an image, or images. And in doing so, we can always refer back to those specific moments in our lives, it’s a easy recall. Read more>>

Joonyer Brijmon

Well I’m pk(preacher’s-kid) who started and still in the church. I’m born and raised in Augusta,GA. I found my love for music the first time not at church but on the morning bus to school, I was 6 years old and radio played three songs in a row that caught my attention. Read more>>

Lindy Blosser

I’ve always enjoyed drawing, so I decided to make it my major in college. I graduated with a bachelor’s in Drawing and Painting in 2014. Afterwards I directed my creativity towards family and raising my kids. When my health declined and I found myself needing extra funds for medical expenses I started making commissions. It’s amazing how something like chronic illness can be a blessing. Read more>>

Gabriella Fox

My journey to becoming a fashion designer– and honestly an artist in general– began as a little girl, when I was about 5 or 6 years old; the late 2000s was definitely the golden age of computer games, virtual worlds, and girly fashion accessories and toys. Read more>>

Sharilyn Metellus

My culinary passion began at age four, cooking alongside my grandmother in her kitchen. That experience, combined with growing up watching my mother’s incredible cooking, set me on the path I’m still on today. By elementary school, I was already cooking for friends, bringing treats to school, and planning menus for family gatherings like Mother’s Day. Read more>>

Shanaz Gardiner

I’m originally from the Turks and Caicos Islands, and I think growing up there has influenced so much of who I am and how I see the world. I’ve always been creative, very visual and naturally drawn to storytelling. Growing up in the Caribbean, storytelling is woven into everyday life. Read more>>

Lisa Prodigo-Nimorwicz

As a seasoned Instructional Technology Educator with over 25 years of experience, my first love has always been art. I hold an Undergraduate Degree in Fine Arts, and my passion spans across many mediums, including drawing, painting, sculpture, and photography. As my professional career grew, the time I could dedicate to my own art began to shrink. Read more>>

Shannon Sherrell Baker

Hair By Shannon Sherrell began in 2009, and what started as my passion for doing hair has grown into so much more than I could have ever imagined. In 2018, I took another major step in my journey and founded SSBeauty Bar, my brick-and-mortar hair salon. Read more>>

Michael Diaz

It all started one day in my early 20s. I would wake up daily without a plan or motivation. Yet somehow I would be up at night unable to fall asleep. I talked to my future mentor in video production about it. “Old Man Bigham” is what I would some times call him. Even though he was in my age bracket. Read more>>

Ebba Zhang

My name is Ebba Zhang, a Chinese illustrator, bookmaker, and print enthusiast currently based in New York. Ink drawing is my specialty, and bookmaking is my passion. Like most artists, I developed the habit early. I started drawing before I learned to write my name, and gradually upgraded from half-chewed crayons to ballpoint pens and quality pencils. Read more>>

John Romanski

My path as an artist started before I even knew it had began. I was born in New York to two young parents who instilled in me, from an early age, to go for my dreams. Do the thing that makes you happy. After all, isn’t that the whole point? It was beautiful, looking back on it, how supportive they were in that regard. Read more>>

Dr. Valencia Beckley Hildreth

I believe everyone has the capacity to flourish. For me, flourishing begins with a mindset; a willingness to accept God’s invitation to live intentionally and walk in a faith-aligned purpose. I could begin by sharing my credentials, professional accomplishments, or even a little about my family lineage, but none of those things fully captures who I am. Read more>>

Nicole Chase

I was a stay-at-home mom of 4 girls for 14 years. My husband and I were selling our home while simultaneously purchasing a new construction home. Our real estate agent and her assistant were a dream to work with. Taking into consideration what the assistant was doing and that she was working from home, I started wondering if I could do something similar. Read more>>

Michael Williams

I started Mpressions Boutique in 2007 as an extension of something that had always been a part of me—my love for fashion, creativity, individuality, and the way personal style can make someone feel confident in who they are. Read more>>

Julianna Sma

I grew up on the south side of Atlanta. My household had a family member where I faced certain kinds of abuse. I grew up with very low self-esteem and health issues. I always loved music though. I would write songs as early as 15 about how people were walking contradictions. I would play at funerals, play for my church. Read more>>

Shalisa West

My story has always been rooted in creativity, ambition, and the desire to build something that feels bigger than myself. I’ve always been a creative at heart. My journey has taken me through modeling, photography, art, fashion, sneaker design, and entrepreneurship, and each chapter has helped shape what I’m building today. Read more>>

Ozi Opurum

Hi hi! Such a honor to be sharing my story! My story starts in Jacksonville, FL, where I was born to Nigerian immigrants. When I was little, I wanted to be two things: a model and a journalist. Fast forward to now, I feel like I’m touching both of these in ways I never imagined — but in a good way. Read more>>

Ivan John

Nine years ago I began training in martial arts. From my childhood into high school I had endured intense bullying. I felt God was calling me to begin learning martial arts as an outlet, and as a way to rebuild my confidence. I trained relentlessly so I could become the best version of myself as a stuntman and martial artist. Read more>>

Sanae Barber

My path into perfumery wasn’t built on a strategic, master plan—it was built on surrender, obsession, and by the grace of God. Early on, when I transitioned away from a career in advertising, I was searching for what was next. Read more>>

Karma Sanai

I have always had a deep passion for creation and music. My parents would always say that I never cried as a baby, I would sing. Day and night I loved to hear myself sing as loud as I could. Read more>>

Agapè Jasimine Pennywell

My story really begins with a lifelong relationship with creativity. I have always experienced art as more than something we make; it is a way of seeing, processing, connecting, and understanding ourselves. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, and my own artistic practice has continued to evolve through textiles, contemporary quilting, fashion, collage, sewing, storytelling, and wearable art. Read more>>

Alyssa Knapp

My story started long before Lyme Advise existed. In 2007, I became extremely ill with Lyme disease and Babesiosis, eventually developing neurological complications that completely changed the course of my life. Due to a severely delayed diagnosis of Lyme disease and Babesiosis, I developed meningoencephalitis and was given two weeks to live. We found a Lyme-literate physician, Dr. Read more>>

Arin Mclaughlin

Everything I make is found and never killed. I love working with what the earth gives me, plus what holds it together. I started traveling the country twenty two years ago and have collected amazing and gorgeous gifts to create a new life for things I have collected. I am settled now here in Georgia and continue to cultivate and create. Read more>>

Robert Powell

My DJ journey began in Los Angeles when I was 28. I had started building momentum, booking gigs, and finding my sound, but everything came to a sudden halt when the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down. In 2020, I relocated to Atlanta, where I spent about a year navigating the uncertainty while the country was on pause. Read more>>

Suchet Pierre

Starts when I was five years old as my parents introduced me to the Atlanta boys choir. I had the opportunity to sing with the Atlanta boys choir under the direction of the late Fletcher Wolfe for six years. At the age of 12 I had the opportunity to tour and travel the world going to cities such as Philadelphia Norfolk, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Finland St. Read more>>

Randi D. Ward & Chaudhry Masood Mahmood Bhalli

As they got to know each other, they discovered they shared the same high moral values and standards both personally and professionally. Their various and numerous areas of business expertise also complemented each other perfectly. So, on May 10, 2021, Dr. Masood created RM Infinite (OneStop Possibilities) and registered their company in Pakistan. They provide the following services. Read more>>

Brittney Carter

I have faced some tough family loved-ones losses (deaths) where it had been completely hard for me to maintain the consistency and focus, My sister & my cousin both last year in 2025, they were 2 of my BIGGEST supporters 24/7! But God got me through it and still does daily. Knowing that they’re proud of Me, it helps me to just keep showing up and pushing forward! Tanetta & Gevod , I Love You. I also have moments because I lost my Grandma in 2019 and my Father at the age of 9. God gets me through that as well, I just try not to keep my head down for too long, I love yall too. Read more>>