Phoenix’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.

Jeff Brown

The path into this work is deeply rooted in lived experience and community support. After nearly twenty years of struggling with addiction and involvement in the justice system, the challenges of rebuilding a life became very real — not just achieving sobriety, but finding stable housing, meaningful support, and genuine opportunities for long-term recovery. These experiences highlighted the gaps that many individuals face when trying to transition from crisis to stability. Read more>>

Brett Ellenson

The “Accidental” Beginning (2018) Boho Vans was born from a love of travel and the freedom that a van provides over a traditional RV. Read more>>

Mike Stevens

I started Stevens Bookkeeping because I noticed a common theme: brilliant business owners were losing sleep over their numbers. They were experts at their craft, but the ‘back-office’ side of things was a constant source of stress. I’m a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, but I’ve always felt more at home in a barn or on a ranch than in a corporate cubicle. Read more>>

Teniecka ‘ T.Drake’ Drake

My journey of being a public speaker,author and podcaster and business owner now. It has been a long road but, the journey has been interesting. Lord has placed in spaces I never thought I would be in. When I first started public speaking that was in 2006. That was part of my HIV advocacy work. Read more>>

Jacob Kloster

Our Community Kitchen is the first shared kitchen in the Phoenix metro area, originally established in 2009. I’m the third owner of the kitchen, but before that, I was actually a client here for eight years. During that time, I built and operated two food trucks out of this kitchen, so I experienced firsthand what this space can do for a small food business. Read more>>

Larissa Rzemienski

Just over 10 years ago, I started to attend heated vinyasa yoga quite regularly. Almost daily! Then one of my favorite yoga teachers announced that there would be an upcoming yoga teacher training that she would be co-leading. I wanted to learn more about the yoga training program, but was not even sure if I would pursue yoga teaching. Read more>>

Maria Vazquez

I have a background in sociology, human psychology, and now dog psychology. I was a successful sales rep for a very long time before I decided to dive in the world of fitness and cycling. Read more>>

Dania Wales

As a single mother, I was always looking for a ‘side hustle’. Because both of us are’clean freaks’, we decided to start a cleaning service. At first, I put a picture of my daughter and I on Facebook Marketplace. Very simple and unpolished. It spread like wildfire! Word of mouth took over. Read more>>

David Lesaffre

I was in the car business for 20+ years. I managed the parts and service departments of dealerships. At the end of that career path I was a traveling consultant. I would travel all over the United States, helping dealerships with their customer satisfaction scores and profitability. Read more>>

Zachary Glenn Tutor

I’m a 2nd generation artist who grew up in my father, Glennray Tutor’s, studio. His early paintings were of Arizona and New Mexico Mesas and those had a lasting impact on my artistic narrative. Read more>>

Robert Bortner

Over 15 years ago we were living in Ferndale, WA and operating an online antique business. Clients of a friend/colleague of ours that ran estate sales frequently asked her for appraisals but she didn’t have the time or inclination to perform them. Read more>>

Oslo DiRosaria

My names is Olso DiRosaria – though I didn’t always go by that name. My mother named me Rachaela DiRosaria and by that name I was a full time artist, designer and builder, traveling all over the united states for work and to show my art. Read more>>

Davis Rains

Born in 1996 I was the first of three children to be raised in the small town retirement town of Carefree, Arizona. My parents were small town kids from Colorado and Wyoming and Carefree checked all the boxes for them. Read more>>

Brandon Lane

My name is Brandon and I am the founder of One Swing Away Golf. My golf experience started in my mid 20s and like many, I became obsessed and wanted to figure out how I could become a better golfer. I quickly realized that the barrier of entry to golf is steep. Read more>>