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.
Nene Gemini
I started hosting events for family, friends and being the MC for job events involuntary, lol. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, FL where I attended the Levine Slaughter Boys&Girls club. It was there that made me want to work with children and help people. I never knew the hidden talent I had to entertain people until I had a speech class in college, which helped me speak in front of people. I always did well at public speaking. I fell in love with entertaining kids at the parties and being the MC at special events. That is where I decided to start my own business, “Gemini Party Entertainment LLC” where I am a special event host and kid party host. I host/MC any event and I provide fun games at kid parties by keeping them busy and using my years of childcare experience. I love working with children and I love entertaining people. It’s my God-given talent. That’s why I am “Nene Gemini, the hostess with the most and a smile you won’t forget.” Read more>>
Drs. Joseph and Karina Taylor
Native to South Florida and working alongside other chiropractic offices for six years both Drs. Taylor knew how they wanted to educate and treat their patients in the community. In 2015, Dr. Joseph Taylor decided it was time to expand the vision of what was needed for their community. In May 2016, Dr. Joseph Taylor opened Renewed Wellness. At the time, Dr. Joseph Taylor was the only provider in the office treating patients and Renewed Wellness was centered around chiropractic care. During this time, Dr. Karina Taylor focused on their growing family of two little girls. Fast forward to 2021, and Renewed Wellness, now Renewed Wellness Integrative Medical Center focuses on a multidisciplinary team with health providers centered around the belief that with optimal spinal and nervous system health, regenerative medicine, proper nutrition and rehabilitating injured or weak areas of our body, our natural state of wellness can be “Renewed.” Read more>>
Alton Doe
I am a 20-year retired military veteran. Throughout my career, consistent activity, competitive sports, and a wide range of physically taxing training and operations kept me in decent shape. The problem I ran into was accounting for the deliberate recovery time needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Fast forward to the end of my career, four surgeries, a couple of procedures, and physical therapy referrals. I retired with physical concerns that need to be addressed. Unfortunately, COVID-19 stood in the way of my medical appointments and an appropriate transition from my military service. Fortunately, I spent my time at a Fitcamp that kept me in a community of positive-spirited people. This moment in time forced me to dedicate myself to being a healthier me. Understanding the effect the Fitcamp had on me and those I connected with, I decided to start one of my own. A place where there is no judgment, a program that could work with all fitness levels, and something that could bring the community together. Read more>>
Stella Nicole
I started singing when I was very young, in the crib my grandma used to say I was always singing. Then grew up singing in school and community choirs. Eventually, I wanted to do more with music and learn to accompany myself on piano and guitar. I was always independent and felt shy when asking for people to play with me. After I started learning piano, I really wanted to start writing. I always loved lyrics and beautifully crafted songs. It took a while before I started understanding “the formula” of what makes a commercially viable song. After I got my music degree, I felt comfortable with my songwriting and was showing people my songs. Everyone I showed my songs to help motivate me to finally start releasing music. Somebody New helped me find the confidence I needed and started this fire in me to start sharing my art with the world. Read more>>
Cy-Anne Small
The idea for Kierra’s Extraordinary Experiment came to me in 2017, but I didn’t release it to the world until 2021. I was a college student in a teacher preparation program, completing service hours at underserved school sites. During this time, I tutored students (of color) in reading using materials from my university to do so. I noticed most of the books were outdated and unrelatable for students – from the characters to the settings and activities. I shared my concerns with the directors of my program, who said they would “take it into consideration.” However, by the time I graduated in 2019, the library still lacked stories with diverse characters and experiences. It was frustrating but I chose to channel that energy into my own creation. I doodled the plot elements and characters into my planner and over time, the concept consistently lingered in the back of my mind. Read more>>
P Fadwah Halaby
It’s been a long and twisty road for me… circling and spiraling to bring me to where I am today! It began with Ina May Gaskin’s book Spiritual Midwifery. I was on my way to Medical School in 1983 when I was given that book and that was when my midwife soul was awakened. Personal circumstances prevented me from attending Med School, but in 1985 I did give birth to my first child in a house in Arcata, CA with only my partner in attendance. That was my first-hand introduction to birth and I was struck by the normalcy of it and the amazing ability of my body and my baby to accomplish that process. About a year or more later, I was asked by an acquaintance to help her and her partner have their baby at home. Her baby came out feet first with no problems – I had my copy of Spiritual Midwifery with me which has a step by step explanation of how to help a breech baby. Again, I was shown how normal birth is – even when its not normal! I learned to trust birth, women’s bodies and babies and I was on my way to becoming a midwife! Later on I attended nursing school and much later, 2005, I graduated from Nurse-Midwifery school. Along the way I had five more babies at home, and trained as a home birth midwife in the early 1990’s. Read more>>
Miranda Rae
I’m an R&B singer-songwriter. I first began my musical career by singing covers at local open mics between palm beach and Miami. Anywhere I could sing, I wanted to be on that stage. I didn’t have any original music so a friend connected me to a production duo by the name of DNAAO. This collaborative was made up of two producers by the names of Don Beamon and Andree Farmer. They helped create my first body of work in 2016. “Defying love” was my debut EP. Consisting of four original songs. I began to gain a buzz around the city with my singles “Prayer for love” and “Invitation for Love.” A sultry sound being compared to the likes of Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and India. Arie I knew I was on to something. In 2018 I moved to Boston to pursue music as well as help with my family. While being in Boston, I was awarded “2020 R&B artist of the year”. I still kept my roots in Florida. I released my second EP with DNAAO in 2019 entitled “Excuse My Baggage.” Another successful body of work with my top single “Thinkin bout you.” I’ve worked with an R&B collective called “Soul Era Records” and was part of their biggest showcase in Miami art Basel in 2019 as well. Read more>>
Jenny Rios
My love for the beauty industry started when I was 21. I remember it like it was yesterday, which is rare, I don’t remember a lot of things! LOL! It was 2011, I researched what I had to do in order to turn this passion into a career. So, I went to esthetician school. I became licensed in 2012. I would travel for weddings and events and charge the minimum to ensure that I could build my portfolio. I was determined to make a name of myself. I would practice in the middle of the night on myself, practice on friends and family, any chance I got. I worked a full-time job and makeup when my services were requested. Fast forward to 2018, I got an epiphany, I wanted to quit my job and enroll in the cosmetology program. My husband told me to hold off a few months and get my savings in order, but he supported my decision 110%! I was so excited! I enrolled into the cosmetology program at Indian River State College. I quit my job and went to school Monday thru Friday and did makeup every single weekend for the entire year. December 31, 2019, I started my first day at a salon. I was ecstatic. I couldn’t believe that I was able to quit my corporate job, pay my bills, and do what I loved! It felt surreal. Read more>>
Jai Tahlea Allen-Ible
There had been a series of school shootings in the year of 2018, and I was getting frustrated with how normalized it was becoming. I started the Uproar Project shortly after the Parkland Shooting in 2018. Although school shootings were the catalyst for the idea, we were also present to the violence amongst young black men like Treyvohnn Martin and Cory Jones. I started to brainstorm resolution ideas, and I thought, why not use art. Regardless of beliefs, religion, preferences, art is a universal language that can bring any kind of individual together peacefully (i.e. movies, concerts, plays, etc). So why not host art events? These weren’t just going to be any kind of event. These events include all forms of artistry with various styles or genres, and it would be gender/racially inclusive. We launched our first-ever Uproar showcase on May 11, 2019. It included all forms of art like spoken word, singing, rapping/lyricism, vendors, etc. for the cause of peace and inclusivity in our communities. Thankfully, we did not have to worry much about the focus of school shootings in 2020, but our attention morphed to “Black Lives Matter” following the unfortunate death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Read more>>
Jeniffer Erickson
Five months ago, I took the determination to educate myself on the candle subject, then to start my own business, ‘Jada Candle’. Here, I make candles with natural oil wax, soya wax (a material derived from plants). This makes the product sustainable, as it comes from a renewable and biodegradable source. Read more>>
Webbie C
I’ve always been around cameras my entire life. My father would buy disposable cameras and take pictures of me and my cousins all the time. I was fascinated as a child how something or someone could be captured and developed into a photograph. Technology is my thing and I like to train myself on a hands-on type of method. In my younger days, I’ve owned shoot and point digital cameras like Canon Powershots and what not. But I wanted something advance. So I took money I had leftover from my student loans and tax return one year and just started buying real equipment. Failing, failing and failing. It wasn’t failing to me at the time because I thought I knew what I was doing but I wasn’t. I wasn’t shy to ask those advance like Sean Woods or TheOVision for pointers to sharpen my skills. With the help those guys, extremely long nights on “YouTube University”… I’m the guy they call Dirty Lenz today. Still trying to be better than the day before. Read more>>
