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.
Kate Crouse
Hi my name is Kate, I am the owner and face of A Touch of Whimsi Weddings & Events. We are an award-winning (we just won best of Tennessee for wedding planning) wedding planning and design company who also offers silk florals. We specialize in elegant, romantic, exquisite, and purposely executed weddings. It’s all in the details! Read more>>
Marti Baker
It all began when I joined (the late) Maxine Raines and Lost Sheep Ministry under the bridge to serve our homeless community. As a master barber, I realized that something as simple as a good haircut could be the first step toward restoring dignity, and ultimately restoring lives. After the haircut came another realization: they needed a shower. And after a shower, clean clothes. Read more>>
Courtney & Les Center
From One Cow to a Community Treasure: The Story Behind Our Family Farm When we started searching for a home, one thing was certain—we wanted land. After finding the perfect property, we began imagining what to do with it. Our daughter’s wish for a Highland cow sparked an idea that would soon transform our lives. Read more>>
Mallori Gates
My path to law began at Maryville College in Tennessee, where I initially pursued pre-med studies as a biochemistry major. However, a life-changing accident during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years steered me toward a completely different career (pun-intended). Read more>>
Lauren Lyles
I have always had a passion for natural medicine. I remember as a kid my parents had this giant book of natural remedies and I’d love reading it. I learned about Acupuncute after a friend’s dad had been in a bad farming accident and acupuncture really helped him. Read more>>
Kim Stephenson
I love all animals, especially cats. And — I love exploring new ways to see the world around me. I have explored the world with my camera since I was about 10 years old. Like many photographers, I took photos of everything. In my film days, I enjoyed experimenting with different darkroom technics to get unusual effects. Read more>>
Cindy Webb
I began a career in bookkeeping almost 30 years ago, working for a small oil & gas company in East Tennessee. At the birth of my first son, I began working remotely for this same company. I transitioned from there to a publicly listed oil & gas company, where I remained until 2012. Read more>>
Courtney Pollack
I started as a hospitality major at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and fell in love with the event planning industry. Upon graduation, I worked in several different event planning roles from hotel catering sales, to Government meeting planning, to corporate event planning before starting my own business in late 2020. Read more>>
Sabrina Turner
I’m born and raised in Knoxville, TN. Growing up my dad had a briefcase and albums of 4×6 stories (prints). Randomly I would go through and look at the pictures which brought me happiness. Viewing the pictures showed me events that happened even when I didn’t remember. Read more>>
Brenton Roesner
I’ve always been the person tinkering with electronics—first RC helicopters, then planes. When drones first emerged, I knew it wasn’t just a new gadget; it was the future, and I had to build a career around it. Like many, I initially thought that meant aerial photography. Read more>>
Amber Rountree
My perfumery adventure began when I couldn’t find a perfume to capture my favorite summer scent. Using my skills as a researcher, I scoured the web, read any book about creating perfume that I could get my hands on, and tuned in to well-known perfumers like Sarah McCartney. The result of my experimentation is Knoxville’s first micro perfumery that blends high quality scents by hand. Read more>>
Patrick Lee Hebert II
I started learning languages in earnest when I was about 13. Growing up my father spoke to me in Canadian French and I learned phrases here and there. The first language I studied was French and I became infatuated with everything French! After that I started to dabble with other language like Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German. Read more>>
Samuel George
I began my business in 1982 while working a full time job at Methodist medical center during the day and then doing flowers in the afternoon and evenings at my first store on Main street in Clinton. At that time with a partner. Mostly doing weddings on the weekends where I always took my suit on Saturdays to direct the wedding as well. Read more>>
Staci Meyer
My family has always had a love for baking and hospitality. In 2018, when we were all burned out with our healthcare jobs and looking for a change, my mom, two sisters and myself decided to take a leap and buy a food truck. The next year we opened serving homemade doughnuts and soft pretzels. Read more>>
Skee Orr
I’ve lived and served in the Greater Knoxville Area since 2016. I relocated to Tennessee from my home town of Andrews, North Carolina. Helping, serving, and teaching others is in my DNA being raised by a long lineage of school and college teachers. Read more>>
Rob Mitchell
I’ve spent over 30 years in the printing and photography industry — starting out in a wholesale photo lab, then moving to a pro photo lab, and later spending two decades with a printing company. Those years taught me everything about craftsmanship, color, and what great service really means. Read more>>
Meagan Mixon
Hey I’m Meg! I’m 32, mom to a wild six-year-old boy, and I’ve also got a basset hound and two cats who basically run the house. Life at home is equal parts chaos and cuddles — which honestly fits perfectly with my personality. I didn’t take the typical path to get here. Read more>>
Cara Grigsby
Ever since I was a child I have been absolutely facinated with pregnancy and birth. I have a degree in Medical Sociology with an emphasis on birth and death, and while I’ve had many jobs since college, the dream of working as a midwife was always at the top of my list. Read more>>
Ran Brady
My story starts with failure. Or at least, that’s what I thought at the time. In January 2023, I began losing weight without realizing it. I lost 17lbs in 20 days, and I felt like my body was deteriorating. I couldn’t keep food down, I was fatigued and dizzy to the point of passing out, my blood pressure and heart rate were like a rollercoaster. Read more>>
Nate Nelson
I started In 2018 I was in Cades cove taking photos for myself , several people came up to me that first week of spring and asked for help with camera settings. I was looking for a new career path. And did lots of research to find that being licensed with the GSMNP for photography classes /tours and portrait photography would be worth pursuing! Read more>>
Misty Ford
But long before the lunchboxes and late-night lullabies, I felt called to care for others. I entered the medical field at 18 as an emergency room intake clerk. That led to becoming an EMT-IV on the ambulance, then a registered nurse, and eventually a family nurse practitioner. Most of that journey, I walked as a single mom — balancing textbooks in one hand, a full-time job in the other all to secure my son’s future. Read more>>
Akash Patel
There is no such thing as a smooth road in business. There will always be struggles when starting a business, but how a person handles the struggles is what matters. There have been many times in the past year when my family and I have missed family functions and most of the weekends. There are many days when my family and I have worked our regular 9-to-5 jobs and then gone straight to deliveries for party rental items. With God’s grace, we have overcome every struggle that came our way and are moving forward strongly. Read more>>
Kaysee Collins
Teaching yoga at the fitness center helped me find myself again. I began teaching at four different locations, but the Maryville community was something special — so much warmth, heart, and connection that I felt called to plant roots there. Honestly, one of my students believed in me before I believed in myself. My students loved my classes, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had finally embraced my true calling. Read more>>
Tennessine Titans FTC#21457
We are a competitive robotics team based out of Maryville, Tennessee. We do the First Tech Challenge (FTC) and compete in local and worldwide competitions. Last April we competed in FTC’s World Championship placing in the top 80 out of hundreds of teams and ranked in the top 1,000 of teams. Read more>>
