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.
Angenika Mack
I am a 37-year-old, single mother of three boys. DeMario (20), JaMaal (14), ChaRvez (10) started working as a loan processor while in high school. I worked in the mortgage field from 1998-2007. My first year in college, I was making $52,000/year. My second year I dropped out and focused on making a career on loan processing. During the Great Recession in 2007, the mortgage industry took a huge hit. At the time, I was working for Option One Mortgage. They literally called us in for a meeting on our lunch hour and told everyone that we could go home. From that day forward, I had it set in my head to never be apart of corporate America again. Though they provided great severance packages, imagine going from make $64k a year to looking for a new job. Read more>>
Chantel Yearwood
I was born and raised in Miami, Fl (specifically cutler ridge- now cutler bay). I always knew that I wanted to work in the health field. In high school, after being diagnosed with a sport injury, I knew that Physical Therapy was what I wanted to do. After completing my undergrad in Athletic Training I sought out a paid internship in VA. I later applied and was accepted into the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at the university where I interned. However, I had a set back (my fault), that landed me back in Florida- which I hadn’t planned. But God had another plan! During the chaos I remained steadfast and sought high and low for a place of employment where I could heal, refocus, and grow into the woman that I wanted to be. Read more>>
Taneisha Graham
So my story is what I’d consider a walk with God. As a small child, I was raised in a two-parent household until the age of six. Up until that age, my siblings and I were placed in foster care multiple times due to my parents being in a domestic violence relationship. Those events eventually led to my grandmother adopting us, giving each of my siblings and me an opportunity to excel. Although my grandmother didn’t have a lot, she still her best. After seeing and experiencing what it feels like to be extremely less fortunate and parent-less, I vowed to build something, not only for myself for my future and current family. I am a First-Generation college student and business owner, all at the age of 19. Read more>>
Michy E. Morillo
At the age of 14, my Mom moved my sister and me to the outskirts of Boston for a better life. The move itself was difficult for me because I had no friends and was unfamiliar with everything. I began to get in trouble and those troubles became increasingly worse. I ended up with a probation officer and not complying with their orders and found myself incarcerated. When I got released, I found myself going back to my old destructive behaviors and was incarcerated another three times. I realized the last year that if I didn’t make changes, I would end up in a state prison. After working on myself the last year I was incarcerated, I made amends and took responsibility. Read more>>
Kendia Williams
Caribbean Links first came about when I joined CSA UCF, I saw how everyone would rep their flags and it started to make me think of ideas that people could wear everyday instead of having to carry their flag around. Also, shortly after the country that I’m from, The Bahamas was hit with hurricane Dorian I figured what better time than now. I always had a love for jewelry so all in all it made sense to me. I started looking for vendors to actually make the jewelry, then came the name, and shortly after, the logo. I started my business off with about $100 and that allowed me to get my name out there and expand to what you see now. Read more>>
Diamond Moore
Growing up I was always told that the arts weren’t profitable and was discouraged from following any dream in that direction. After a failed attempted at college, and dealing with various traumatic situations I fell on painting to express my feelings. In 2018 I started by just playing with colors and shapes and beginning the journey of finding my style. Once people showed interest in buying my work, I felt I found where I belong. I battled my anxiety to start showing my work at events and growing. I learned that art is not only an outlet but a gateway to amazing relationships and that I had support behind me. The Summer of 2019 I started making Earrings from shrink plastic and it has grown wildly from what I could Imagine. Read more>>
Tara Gray
I am a wife to Luc and mama to Channing (currently nine years old). I am an only child, from Palisade Colorado. My love of interior design grew from trips my parents and I went on each summer. My dad would always drive around the older historic neighborhoods and look at the beautiful homes in those areas. I wrote a career day report on interior design in middle school and attended a summer camp at the Art Institute of Colorado, focused on interior design, my junior hear of high school. One month after high school graduation, I headed off to the city and enrolled in the Interior Design Program at the Art Institute of Colorado with the intention of focusing on Historical Preservation. Read more>>
May Martin
My journey as a Pilates Instructor began in 2017 when I began studying Pilates as a way to overcome the pain of my scoliosis. All the hard work and effort paid off, and I now live pain-free and strong. Since that time, I have seen a tremendous improvement in my life and in the overall look of my body. I was so pleased with the outcome that I wanted to share the benefits I had gained through Pilates with everyone. Every year I continue my education studying different pathologies and how to teach the method to everybody; whether you are an athlete, older or young I am here to help people improve their body awareness, strengthen their core muscles, and create lean, long muscles. Read more>>
