The heart of our mission at VoyageMIA is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our city. In the recent weeks, we’ve had the privilege to connect with some of the Miami’s finest artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with our city’s incredibly deep talent pool. Check out inspiring stories from Palm Beach below.
Taylor Volkens
When I was a Freshman in college, I made silly videos for my friends to help cheer them up after a rough week or just to make them feel loved and seen. Numerous people throughout that year complimented my comical short stories and encouraged me to look more into that “talent” I possessed. Talent? Never really thought about it that way, I was just having fun! I was always a creative–always exploring different forms of art, but never considered making films, or taking photography seriously… That is, until the beginning of my Sophomore Year of college. Read more>>
Jonathan Villano
My money Hart’s started from a relationship that I got cheated on and me always being creative and very artistic I turned my broken heart into art. And with money being the turn-of-the-century to talk about I incorporated it with my broken heart and named it money hearts.. that drip down the heart means it’s broken. All my inspiration for my MoneyHearts comes through my feelings from relationships — most bad. I don’t work well when life is good there’s no feelings. Read more>>
Matt Brown
I was born into a musical family. As far back as I can remember, I have been pretty much obsessed with the idea of music. I would always find myself playing my dad’s piano, trying to mimic what I heard on a daily basis. My father, Rudy Brown Jr, is a jazz pianist that grew up playing the organ in church. He got me my first guitar at 12. Shortly after discovering that I gravitated towards the low end of the guitar, he got me a Fender Squire bass guitar and thought it was a good idea for me to start playing at church. Read more>>
Erin Cascioli
Mona Lisa Tribe started about two years ago with the band’s founding members, Tabitha Meeks, Caroline Schrope, and Erin Thompson got together to play for an open mic night that Palm Beach Atlantic University hosted. The group came to be known as the Mona Lisa Tribe because Tabitha thought that Caroline looked a little bit like the Mona Lisa. From there, the trio went on to play in some coffee shops and open mic settings, thinking that they would just play at coffee shops here and there. Read more>>
Sherley Desir
I’ve always had a passion for decorating and putting together events. I’ve hosted parties since I was a little girl for family and friends. One day, I was praying and asking God to reveal my talent to me, so I could become an entrepreneur. It wasn’t until I went through a difficult time in my life that I realized that I could become a Professional Event Planner, but was still fearful of how to even begin this journey. After meditating on this and speaking to friends and family, I was connected to an Event Company in Boca Raton, FL and that is where I began interning and learning all the background of event planning. Read more>>
Kelly Rooney
I was born into a very international family. My mom is Mexican, my dad is Irish by nationality but born and raised in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and I was born in Mexico. I was raised in Ecuador, Australia, Paraguay, and Bolivia, and grew up traveling for fun, business and family. I have always been passionate about fashion, business and helping others. I have been working on several of my own business projects throughout the years, and each one reached a point where it was no longer viable for me and I moved on to the next. Read more>>
Lisa Collum
My story starts about 14 years ago when I graduated from college with the anticipation of entering the teaching profession. I always wanted to become a teacher ever since I held “classes” with my stuffed animals in my room every Saturday morning. My dream finally came true… as I secured my first job as a 4th grade writing teacher. This opportunity happened to be at one of the lowest performing Title I schools in Palm Beach County. I was ecstatic, but right away, I realized there was something missing… there was no specific writing curriculum available for me to use with my students. Read more>>
Shandra Stringer
Grassroots Consulting, Inc. was birthed to help individuals and organizations to be paramount of themselves. The name was inspired by God as He showed me everything grows from the root. Grassroots Consulting, Inc. has the most important role of a business and that is the foundation. We embrace the fact that small in operations does not mean small in impact. The name represents the development, growth, & sustainability right from the root. We are celebrating our 12th year as a registered for-profit business in the state of Florida that provides services in all 50 States and the surrounding areas. Read more>>
Keri Morrison
I lost my son Jake in a drowning accident on November 30, 2013. He was six weeks away from his 3rd birthday. At the time of his passing, his baby sister was three months old and I made the decision right away when she was old enough that she was going to take survival swim lessons. When she (Julia) was eight months old, we enrolled her in Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) lessons and we were so impressed with the program that we decided to start a nonprofit, so we could help families that couldn’t afford the lessons still have the opportunity to participate. Read more>>
Stephane Elias
At the time, I was an Office Manager at the Center for Haitian Studies, Health & Human Services, Inc; a duly registered non-profit, tax-exempt health and social service organization founded in 1988 for the purpose of serving the disenfranchised populations of Little Haiti/Little River in Miami, Florida. At CHS, we were undergoing changes as a result of the Affordable Care Act. One of the many changes included physicians transitioning from paper charting to electronic charting. The government was providing medical facilities with financial incentives to implement paperless charting. Read more>>
Alicia Williams-Saffold
My journey as a nationally accredited training provider began long before I ever imagined it. I matriculated from early childhood classroom teacher to director of a preschool. However, after 18 years of employment, something happened on the inside that prompted me to desire more. I believed that I could make a broader difference. So with the help of a family member (Shilondra Sheppard), we brainstormed and decided that I would provide tutorial services to children ages 5 to 12 years old. The idea became a thriving tutorial company (Script- Fully U Enrichment, Inc.) that morphed into a training company. Read more>>
