The Most Inspiring Stories in Utah

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.

Rocky Jedick

It was during the extra year in med school pursuing my MBA that I become very intrigued with entrepreneurship and the unique problem solving required operating a business. During med school, I also applied and was granted a scholarship that would require me to serve in the USAF following graduation. Read more>>

Ashley Ciliezar

I enrolled at Paul Mitchell The School in Provo UT and graduated. I am only looking forward to what new things are coming my way. I have added new services from Brow lamination, waxing to facials. I love what I do. Sure, I still fear the unknown and get nervous to meet new people but I keep pushing forward. I haven’t thrown in the towel and I don’t plan to. Read more>>

Ashlee Love

My career in the healing arts began almost a decade ago- then, I was performing bodywork under certifications until I took the step to study massage therapy in school (at Healing Mountain Massage School in SLC, UT) and become professionally licensed. After that I was taken under the wing of a mentor, Penelope Bateman, who was 20 years into her bodywork career herself. Read more>>

Brandon

It all started back in high school, when my interest in the brain came from a very personal place. I struggled with anxiety myself and turned to psychology because I wanted to understand what was happening in my own mind and whether there was a way to truly fix it, not just manage it. Read more>>

Danesh Ajioka

My story really begins in my high school weight room at Highland High. Coaches Brody Benson and Ed Lloyd used that room to teach us young athletes that no matter who you are or where you came from, if you work hard you will be successful. Read more>>

Tori Saylor

In 2013, my family and I moved to Utah with a shared vision to create a kennel-free dog care facility where dogs could truly be dogs. Fetch is a family-run business, owned and operated by my parents, brother and me. We have 50 acres of natural terrain, including 5 acres of fenced yards where dogs can run, play, dig, and explore. Read more>>

George LeBoeuf

About a decade ago, I began struggling with chronic pain. After years of failed medical intervention, depression and hopelessness, I found Structural Intergration along with cognitive behavioral approaches to be the only things that worked to alleviate a significant amount of my pain. These efforts in tandem, helped to save my life. Read more>>

ErynLeigh Orgill

Touch has always been one of my primary love languages, and I’ve worked with my hands for as long as I can remember. As a teenager, my friends and I would buy massage books and practice on one another, long before I ever imagined it becoming a profession. I initially set out on a very different path—pre-med, with plans to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. Read more>>

dirk rockhill

we started with purchasing kamas storage in 2003. it contained about 260 rentable units including outside RV spaces. in 2025 kamas storage has expanded to 602 rentable units including Rv spaces. Read more>>

Dax Williamson

“I’m Dax Williamson, and Lucky Sole is more than a shoe shop—it’s a family legacy. I’m a fifth-generation cobbler. My grandpa ran Modern Shoe Repair in Provo, my uncle Vern taught my dad the trade and ran a shop near BYU back in the ’60s and ’70s, and the craft just kept getting passed down. Read more>>

Dr. Eli Rogers

I grew up in a small town in Montana, and I didn’t have access to high-level coaching or the kind of training resources a lot of athletes have now. A lot of my early development was self-taught — figuring things out through reps, mistakes, and learning what actually moved the needle. When I was younger, I honestly hated working out. Read more>>

Jessica Gurney

My name is Jessica Gurney, and my journey is one shaped by resilience, faith, and a deep belief that dreams are worth pursuing, no matter how long the road may be. I am originally from El Salvador, where Spanish is my first language. In December of 2017, just a couple of weeks before Christmas, I moved to the United States as an au pair. Read more>>

Amy Asherman and Calli Sorensen N/A

Amy – I am originally from Park City and have been at the Align Spa since 2003. I started as the receptionist and a massage therapist, working my way up to director and was given the opportunity to purchase the spa last year. I am also a registered nurse and have opened a small med spa within the spa called Align Elevated. Read more>>

Shanti Neal

I’ve been working professionally with dogs since before 2009 and started taking client dogs on the mountain trails in 2012, long before ‘pack hikes’ were trendy. I built Shanti & Me LLC as a single mom in Millcreek, hiking the same canyons over and over until they felt like a rolling temple and classroom. Read more>>

Mustafa Alqaderi

I started my journey by combining two things I’ve always cared about: building something of my own and delivering high quality service. Read more>>

Kathy Roberts

I am currently the Director for Hilltop Christian School in Sandy, UT. I have always loved teaching, people of all ages, and have finally found a position that utilizes all of my skills, as I also have extensive experience in management and human resources. I have always been driven to push for ‘more’ in any of the positions I have held. Read more>>

Jessica J Fox DeCarvalho

My journey to the floral industry began when I worked as my city’s flower bed architect/gardener. I planted thousands of flowers every summer for three years and it’s where my love for flowers started. I spent most of my time in the flowerbeds or in the mountains. The mountain started blooming and I found myself gathering the wildflowers and creating designs. Read more>>

Joselyn Romero

I’m a first-generation Ecuadorian American who grew up in New York. My parents divorced when I was young, and much of my childhood was spent living with extended family while my mother worked tirelessly to make ends meet. We moved often, and stability wasn’t always guaranteed, but those experiences taught me adaptability, resilience, and the importance of connection and belonging. Read more>>

Christy Dorrity

Legacy School of Dance has been an ongoing journey for me. I began as an adult student at the studio, later became a teacher, then took over ownership. I fell in love with Irish dancing when my husband took me to see Riverdance. Because of my background in ballet and tap I learned it very quickly. Read more>>

Diego Pazmino

From Immigrant to Electrical Contractor: A Story Built One Breaker at a Time By Diego Pazmino I immigrated to the United States from South America when I was 21 years old, chasing the same thing many immigrants do: opportunity. My first job was in a factory in New York, but after only a few months, it shut down. Read more>>

Erin Shepard

Yarrow Therapy was founded in 2017 from a simple but powerful realization: many people needing mental health support during pregancy and the postpartum period couldn’t easily access it. At a time, when telehealth was still emerging in mental health care, Erin recognized its potential to reach individuals who were often navigating overwhelming transitions with limited support. Read more>>

Yasaman Keshavarz

My path into this work was shaped early on by my experience working in a refugee resettlement foster care program. Supporting children and adolescents who had survived war, displacement, and profound loss exposed me to the depth and complexity of trauma at a very human level. Read more>>

Amy Erekson

My floral work started in 2016 when my oldest son went to his senior Homecoming dance. I wanted to make the corsage for his date myself and had no idea what I was doing. I had a yard full of pretty flowers and some wire. I did what I thought was a decent job. He told me it fell apart on the dance floor! Read more>>

Ben Jenkins

Wodobo started a little over 10 years ago as a side business running live classes that walked small business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketing professionals through designing, building and launching of a professional website. This class was 4 Saturdays in a row. By the 4th class, they’d have a website ready to launch. Read more>>

Betsy Bober Polivy

What began as a whimsical idea some fifteen years ago became a life’s work rooted in curiosity, advocacy, and a deep respect for small business owners. I set out to walk the side streets of Manhattan, believing that the true soul of New York City lives just beyond its main avenues. Read more>>

Bryce Wood

I was born in California. When i was 9 yrs old, My family moved to a cattle ranch where my younger brother and I learned how to work. We moved sprinkler pipe, fixed fence, and became masters of ‘redneck engineering’. We later moved to Wellsville, and I went to High school at Mountain Crest, graduating in 2000. Read more>>

Chantel Stratton Lund

I think I always knew that I was interested in helping people and doing something that felt impactful. From a young age, I was drawn to social causes and to those who were struggling, which led me to volunteer throughout my high school years. Through this work, I gained exposure to many different populations in need. Read more>>

Dalton Mickelsen

I started off in D2D sales, then insurance, then Saas software. Built teams and was a VP of Sales at a Govtech company. Then I met my business partner through a friend and we began discussing the idea of E3. When we decided that we were going to do it I went and raised the money and we started building it. Read more>>

Jaimee and Ruben Hernandez

Our vision for the business started a long time ago. We both had a dream about opening a coffee cart in our singleness. When we met we shared about our dreams that we had “put on a bookshelf” so to speak and discovered the shared passion we had for coffee. Read more>>

Jason Anderson

I’m from Salt Lake City originally, and I came back 3 years ago after living in New York 30 years, so I still say I’m from New York. I went to Skyline high school and was very active in all the music stuff. I started teaching lessons at a music store and at student’s homes when I was 13, so I kept studying and practicing. Read more>>

Fernanda Duron

This all started when I was deciding on what career pathway I wanted to take once I started college. I was originally wanting to go into the medical field to become a nurse practitioner, but one day I randomly drove by Aveda Institute in Provo and I got curious to know what that place was. I looked it up and it was a beauty school. Read more>>

Angela Gertino

The staff member that was helping me didn’t know about this permit until I found it on the law website and that is how I was finally able to get registered. I would say that was the biggest challenge and it was almost the end of my business idea however, luckily through sheer determination, I was able to get it done. Read more>>

Tom Smith

My story started young, spending summers at remote gold mining camps with my dad and grandpa. I thrived on the freedom of the outdoors—running heavy machinery, chasing that next big nugget, and learning early what hard work really means. By high school, I was taking it to another level: scuba diving in the icy Bering Strait with a suction dredge. Read more>>

Susie Mills

I started this really as a favor to friends and family visiting the Greatest Snow on Earth, as my husband and I lived up in Alta and had means to accommodate them. Read more>>

Gaby Griggs

My family is from Anchorage Alaska. When I lived there, I made and sold one-eyed pillows called ‘Cycloptitudes’ at the Forest Fair in Girdwood. I moved to St George, Utah in the middle of High School. I was extremely upset about this move and during my fit of angstiness my Cycloptitudes melded into Toast and Triangle doodles. Read more>>

Tyler Nerdin

I didn’t start Mountain Man Plumbing because I wanted to build a big company. I started it because I wanted to do the work the right way and still recognize myself at the end of the day. I’ve been in the trades most of my adult life. Read more>>

Zach Brown ‘The Van Man’

I started Simple Mobility Vans after watching way too many people in my community get stuck—not because they didn’t want to go somewhere, but because the ride just wasn’t there. When you use a wheelchair, getting from point A to point B isn’t a small inconvenience. It can mean missing a doctor’s appointment, a family dinner, or a life event. Read more>>

Adam Hansen

I studied painting and art history at the U of U, graduating in ’05. While I was working on my own painting career, and, alas, needing a real job, I got hired by Susan Meyer to run her new Salt Lake gallery. In a case of terrible timing, that gallery opened in December of 2008 – just a couple months after the financial crash. Read more>>

Nicholas Renfro

I started running in 2018 as a way to manage my physical health while working in law enforcement. What began as a fitness goal quickly became something much deeper. Running helped me process stress, clear my mind, and protect my mental health in a demanding profession. Around the same time, my wife began her own running journey and experienced those same mental and emotional benefits. Read more>>

Rita Arballo

I’ve been a small business owner since 2021, and I’m proud to be a Hispanic Mexican-American woman in business. My journey started long before ownership — I dedicated years to learning, growing, and pouring my heart into this work. I began working with this company back in 2014, and after seeing my dedication and potential, the previous owner, Dr. Read more>>

Elcio Zanatta

I was born and raised in Brazil, the son of a farmer. I followed what I would call the “traditional path” at first — college, corporate work, building a career. But even early on, I felt a strong desire to build something of my own, something aligned with what I believed, not just what was expected. Read more>>

Miriam Layton

Good Company grew out of my path through different cities and types of work. I studied interior design at BYU–Idaho and graduated in 2013, then moved to New York, where I spent several years working in residential and hospitality design. During that time, I worked on projects ranging from luxury residences to boutique hotels and restaurants. Read more>>

Todd Zamora

I started out doing the work long before I ever thought about branding or building anything bigger. What began as a hands-on practice rooted in connection, care, and craftsmanship slowly evolved as I realized people weren’t just responding to the service — they were responding to the experience, the intention behind it, and the way I showed up. Read more>>

Nick Joiner

At Slap Yo Mama, the menu celebrates the soul food tradition featuring tender smoked meats, creamy mac & cheese, savory collard greens, hearty turkey with rich gravy, and more all crafted from family-inspired recipes that evoke warmth and nostalgia. Whether you’re grabbing a casual meal or booking catering for your next event, the team brings flavor, Southern hospitality, and memorable meals to every table. Read more>>

Dennis Lifferth

TechCharities is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit company that provides affordabe computers and access to the internet. Since 2013, we have been providing refurbished computers for households and students in need. When I retired a few years earlier I felt inclined to do something to keep me from drifting into old age with nothing to do. Read more>>