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.
Alex Cheparev
ThemeTown started with my wife Tara and me sitting at the kitchen table, house hunting, and drowning in browser tabs. We had listings open on one site, school ratings on another, flood maps on a third, and a spreadsheet trying to hold it all together. The homes themselves were the easy part. What we really wanted to know was everything around them. Read more>>
Sam Serkan Korkmaz
My story began far from New Jersey. I grew up in Turkey in a family that faced many hardships. After my parents divorced, my mother worked extremely hard to provide food and shelter for my siblings and me. Life was not easy, and I began working when I was only six years old. Read more>>
Sharon McCabe
Rogue Hair has always been a true mother-daughter partnership. We opened Rogue Hair together in 2016, and it was actually Brittani’s idea to create a salon that felt completely different from the traditional salon experience. Read more>>
Ariane Gorib
My name is Ariane. I’m a Brazilian immigrant and have been a photographer for about 15 years. Today, I own a photography studio in New Jersey, have clients who travel from other states to work with me, and have earned more than 160 five-star Google reviews. I’ve also had the opportunity to mentor other photographers and build the career I always dreamed of. Read more>>
Patrice Horvath
I spent several years working at medium-sized agencies, wearing a lot of hats. I had direct client contact and got to work across a wide variety of industries and design projects, which was great experience but also had me craving something different. I wanted more freedom and flexibility, both in how I worked and who I got to work with. Read more>>
Christine Jones
Creativity has always been at the heart of everything I do. I spent 15 years working as a commercial photographer, and in my free time, I’ve always been drawn to hands-on creative projects, whether that’s tackling DIYs, doing crafts, or baking for the people I love. Read more>>
Anna Mastroianni
I opened SOLE Shoes on August 2, 2001. Twenty-five years ago, I knew nothing about the shoe business, but a buying trip to Bologna, Italy changed everything. There, I discovered exquisite children’s shoes unlike anything I had seen in the United States, and I became determined to introduce them to our community. Read more>>
Michelle Freedman
I’ve always been drawn to movement. I grew up dancing, played soccer, and was raised by a hardworking first-generation Italian father from Italy and a mom who was incredibly active. Even though sports and dance were a big part of my childhood, I was never the naturally athletic kid. Read more>>
Chris Spina
I founded Media Ozone in September 2014 with a simple goal: help businesses grow through marketing that actually produces measurable results. Before starting the agency, I spent three years at a boutique public relations firm where I had the opportunity to work with nationally recognized consumer brands such as Duncan Hines, Vlasic, Birds Eye, and many others. Read more>>
Tom La Vecchia
Tom La Vecchia is the founder of X Factor Media, publisher of New Jersey Digest, and host of the New Theory Podcast. A marketing strategist, entrepreneur, and media executive, he helps brands grow through innovative digital marketing, content, and storytelling. I started. out in Pharmaceuticals and Medical Device space as I left corporate in 2012 and never looked back. Read more>>
Chris Sciarra
Kona Surf Co. started in 1969 when Mike Sciarra returned from Oahu with a surfboard, an economics degree, and the idea of building a surf brand of his own. After learning more about surfboard shaping on the North Shore, he came home to Wildwood, New Jersey, and began making boards by hand. Read more>>
YanLin Premo
My journey with Lingzi Art Center began with a simple passion: to create a space where art isn’t just taught as a rigid technical skill, but as an expressive, lifelong language. I’ve always believed that everyone has a unique creative voice—whether it’s a young child picking up a brush for the first time or an adult looking to reconnect with their artistic side. Read more>>
Lisa Collins
For most of my life, I believed my purpose was to care for other people. As a Registered Nurse, that’s exactly what I did for more than a decade. Then life unraveled. Not all at once, but piece by piece. I found myself facing challenges I never imagined, both personally and professionally. Read more>>
Orlando Oliveira
Like many great journeys, mine started by accident. a friend bought a digital camera, and jokingly, I bought one with one extra megapixel just to one up him. Not long after, another friend invited me to spend a day walking around New York City taking photos. That day changed everything. What began as friendly competition quickly turned into a genuine passion and, eventually, a career. Read more>>
Lisa Palombo
Art has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I began my formal art education at just nine years old, spending my summers studying at the Rhode Island School of Design. Those early experiences gave me the freedom to experiment, observe and begin developing my own visual language. Read more>>
Joann Lui
Every evening after dinner, my dad would bring out his tea set and quietly brew tea for our family. Read more>>
Katie Truk
In 1986, I received an acrylic tube filled with neon-colored knee highs as a birthday gift. Captivated by the enchanting colors and materials, I preserved them as a piece of art displayed in my bedroom. During my undergraduate years at Alfred University I began experimenting with pantyhose as a creative medium. I fused the translucent qualities of pantyhose with the vibrant luminescence of neon. Read more>>
Andrew Wilkinson
My story starts less with a single moment and more with a refusal to stay in one lane. I trained in fine arts and media communications, and spent a spell working in agency and corporate marketing. I’m grateful for that experience, but it confirmed I preferred working for myself. Early on, my approach was too radical, rather art-heavy, ostentatious, more repellent than magnetic. Read more>>
Aya Kikimova
I came to the U.S. from Kazakhstan at 16 as an exchange student — one year, one host family, and a crash course in a totally different culture and language. It planted a seed. I went back home, but I couldn’t stop thinking about coming back, so I did, first for college and then to build a career here. Read more>>
Claudia Jones
Oh where to begin! I come from a family of hard working, and dedicated tradespeople! My father is a mechanic, my uncle is a plumber, my grandfather is a carpenter, and last but certainly not least, my mom is a Cosmetologist! Long story short, they were all very inspiring! I pretty much grew up in the industry, salons were like a second home to me! Read more>>
