Miami’s Most Inspiring Stories

Every neighborhood in South Florida has its own vibe, style, culture and history, but what consistently amazes us is not what differentiates the various neighborhoods but rather what they all have in common.  From South Beach to Boca (and everywhere in between) we’ve been blown away by how many creative and talented people call South Florida home.  Check out some of the inspiring stories we’ve discovered throughout Miami and the surrounding areas.

Victoria Chierico

It all started many years ago with my amazing grandmother, Barbara Miller! She is the one who taught me everything I know and inspired me to be the leader I am today. Starting at the age of 18, she grew 4 rental units to a total of 84 units between 1949 and 2019. Read more>>

Anya Jordan

My journey into aesthetics started with curiosity, hustle, and a strong desire to build something of my own. Mary Kay first introduced me to skincare and entrepreneurship, and from there I went all in—working in spas, renting a single room, and even doing mobile facial services just to keep growing. Read more>>

Elisheva Rogoff

When I graduated from Tufts University I started working as an account executive at an advertising agency, but after I had my first child, I no longer wanted to work the long hours. I quit to be a full time caregiver to my 3 children. Read more>>

Amber Lopes

Loveleigh Sips began during a period of transition for our family, when my husband retired from his 12-year professional baseball career. As a stay-at-home mom of two, I found myself navigating this major life change alongside him. During that time, we felt that starting a small business could not only provide extra support, but also serve as a creative outlet. Read more>>

alex Palumbo

My story really begins in Italy, where my father started our family business over 20 years ago. I grew up surrounded by food, tradition, and the belief that cooking is a way to bring people together. Those early memories shaped who I am today. Over the years, I built my career in hospitality, becoming an F&B Director and owning a restaurant in New York City. Read more>>

Darcy Graf

I started shooting and developing my own film in high school and it was like a new world had been opened to me. It was a way of telling a story, capturing a moment and expressing deep emotion-all without words. I loved images that weren’t just pretty-I loved when an image made me FEEL. Read more>> 

Orlando Cuevas Sr

My journey into dog training started when I got my first dog—a pitbull—after moving out on my own. At the time, a coworker connected me with a family friend who was a professional dog trainer located about six hours away. I enrolled my dog in a board-and-train program and later returned for the follow-up lessons. I was completely amazed by the transformation. Read more>>

Raheem Nelson

I’m an Artist based in New Haven, CT. I went to the School of Visual Arts and completed my education with a BFA in Cartooning. I have a background in traditional cartooning and oil painting. Currently I create my personal and professional work on an iPad using the Procreate app and specialize in Graphic Recording, Portraits and Pop Art. Read more>>

Dr. Karen Lewis

I didn’t enter real estate from a place of passion—at least not in the traditional sense. I got into the business because of a lack of finances. My best friend, Lisa Jones, had started in real estate, and like many people, I followed what was working around me. But what I discovered very quickly was that the passion had always been there—it was internal. Read more>>

Laura Barbieri

My career in Human Resources has been shaped by over 30 years in the hospitality industry. I began my career in 1993 with Marriott International, where I spent over 23 years, building the foundation for a career centered around people, operations, and growth. Read more>>

Diana Mitrea

My journey started in the corporate world, where I spent years in Fortune 500 marketing leading billion-dollar campaigns at companies like Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo. It was an incredible training ground, but eventually I wanted to build something of my own, something where the outcomes felt closer to me and to the people they served. Read more>>

Jackie Lopez

I got into photography pretty organically. One Christmas, I was gifted a digital camera, and that’s really where everything started. I spent a lot of time just experimenting, figuring things out as I went, and building an eye for what I liked to capture. In 2019, I made the switch to film, and that completely changed things for me. Read more>>

Sorayda ‘Sory’ Rivera

As far as I can remember, life has always felt like a beautiful, fun, and sometimes terrifying rollercoaster ride. When I was three, I was diagnosed with a neuromuscular disease called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and my parents were told I wouldn’t live past seven. Now, at 38, every day feels like a gift. Read more>>

Caroline Seekings

I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as a big time tom boy. I played every sport I possibly could- at one point I remember begging my parents to let me be on the boys football team-they were reasonable and said absolutely not. Read more>> 

Kimberly Viecelli

I started Viecelli Ventures LLC because I genuinely love marketing and what it can do for a business when it is done right. I have a degree in Business Management and Administration, but what really shaped me was being hands on and seeing how businesses actually operate day to day. I kept noticing the same thing over and over. Read more>>

Nicole Monroe

I have always been a lover of reading. My mom had her own book club and I would sit by the door and listen to what her book club sisters were reading. Now some of those books I had no busy hearing about at that age, but my passion for stepping into the books and imagining myself as those characters was it for me. Read more>>

Elsa Delgado

I came to USA 9 years ago, back in my country Venezuela I was an Art lover and friend and I have done part of my studies in journalism. Read more>>

Ella Furness

My name is Ella Furness! I am a photographer based in South Florida. I mainly specialize in fashion photography – model test shoots, digitals, brand shoots, and so on. However, I love pretty much every style of photography! I originally started my professional career as a photographer about 2 years ago, working for an interior designer as her social media manager and photographer. Read more>>

Savannah McClendon

I’ve always loved bringing people together and creating things that feel meaningful. I’m currently a communications student building a career in public relations and branding, while also growing my own agency, Multifaceted Media. The Spoiled Rotten Club started from something personal, my two dogs. They’re my world, and through them I realized how many women are just like me. Read more>>

Jess Penuela

I didn’t originally start in photography, my creative background actually began in fashion design, where I spent over a decade working closely with color, texture, and visual storytelling. That experience shaped the way I see and create, but over time, I found myself wanting something more personal and human-centered. Photography became that for me. Read more>>

Raksana Samokhvalova

I am a self-made woman. And this phrase probably describes my journey better than anything else. My story in blogging began around 10 years ago, when I created an Instagram account simply to share beauty recommendations with my close girlfriends. At that time, I was living in Saint Petersburg, and my life was nothing like the one people see today. Read more>>

Jenna Manning

Frontline Protective Services was founded more than 40 years after my parents/founders relocated to South Florida from Philadelphia Pennsylvania. , What started as a small, family-run operation grew into a trusted security presence spanning from Port St. Lucie to Hallandale, serving residential communities, gatehouses, condominiums, hotels, and private events. Which was all built from the ground up. Read more>>

Anita Ivancevic

I am Anita Ivancevic, founder and CEO of Dallas Gift Wrap Creations. I built my company on the belief that gift presentation should be as meaningful and memorable as the gift itself, an experience that reflects thoughtfulness, refinement, and intention. Read more>>

Dana Villaluz

I started as a public school teacher, guiding students from point A to B. It helped me developed a mind for goal setting, backwards planning, milestone setting, and data tracking. I found these skills to be highly transferrable to businesses when they have a goal to reach, to create a realistic plan to reach it. Read more>>

Todd White

Born in 1969 in Texas, he came from humble roots. During his twenties he relocated to Hollywood and worked in the animation field, developing characters at some of the most renowned production studios in the country. He was even part of the lead team for the international hit cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants. Read more>>

Winnie Tembea

My journey into the beauty industry started in my bedroom—really just a small setup with a dresser and a dining room chair, learning through YouTube tutorials and pure passion. At the time, I had just cut my hair and was looking for a way to still feel feminine and expressive, and makeup became that outlet for me. Read more>>

Gaelle Laroche (Co-Founder) Zayna Allien (Co-Founder

Terrazul was born from a shared love of travel, culture, and the quiet beauty found in objects shaped by hand and history. I am Haitian-Belgian, and Zayna is Moroccan. Our backgrounds naturally shaped a way of seeing the world where beauty, culture, and a deep respect for handmade work are deeply intertwined. Read more>>

Kelsey Kiefer

My name is Kelsey Kiefer, on socials I go by Kelso. It’s a nickname my younger sister gave (yes it’s from that 70s show). I’m originally from San Luis Obispo, California, and after a short time living in Mexico, I came back to the States to finish school, earning my degree in Communications and PR. Read more>>

Ardanny De Faria Bilhim Magallanes

I am a multidisciplinary artist, and my journey has been shaped by curiosity, discipline, and a deep need to create. I began my path in the creative world through visual storytelling, discovering filmmaking as a way to capture emotion, identity, and atmosphere through my lens. Read more>>

Olema Casuso

I came to the United States from Cuba in 2009, at 26 years old. I had a computer science degree, a lot of ambition, and almost no English. My first job in Miami was in a factory, packing vegetables. I had an engineering degree and I was packing vegetables. But I didn’t see it as failure, I saw it as the starting point. Read more>>

Justin Russ

I was involved in sports growing up; participating in American football, basketball, and lacrosse. Read more>>

Karl Milan

I was born and raised in Venezuela, moved to Miami in 2010 when I was 18yrs old. I went to Miami Dade college for Music Business and started working in audio very early on. Read more>>

Latanya Cooper

My path into digital media didn’t start in a boardroom; it started with a disposable camera and the painstaking effort of decorating my MySpace page. Even as a child, I had an instinctive pull toward digital expression—I just didn’t have a label for it yet. Read more>>

Maya Weber Hipskind

After high school I started taking college classes and feeling aimless as I had no clue what I was going to do the rest of my life. I started figuring out what I did not want, and quickly came to know that I wanted to find a way to help others. Read more>>

Colleen Hopkins

It is a funny story about how Coastal Reptiles came to be. My husband has been a lifelong reptile enthusiast. Ever since he was a little kid, he would have iguanas, poison dart frogs, boas and a variety of different reptiles as pets. As our 2 children started to get older, he started to pick up again on his love for reptiles. Read more>>

Taylor Rosenberg

My story start where I’m originally from Chicago, born and raised, and I still get asked all the time how I ended up in South Florida. It actually makes me laugh because the place I live now is where my nana lived my entire childhood, so in a way, it always felt familiar. Read more>>

Jayger McGough Tomasino

The Prime Cleaner started as a side hustle while I was working at Salesforce, I grew The Prime Cleaner to about 20k per month. Two years in, my Mom joined and thats when we really started to scale. We saw an opportunity to build something in Miami that actually treated clients and cleaning professionals with real respect, not just another faceless service. Read more>>

Indiana Phoenix

Indiana is a 19-year-old artist and soap artisan with Severe Nonverbal Autism. He struggled in school for a very long time and actually was diagnosed with C-PTSD at the age of 7 due to many sad and terrifying events. In March of last year we pulled him from school and used the scholarship money to get him some new equipment. Read more>>

Tyrecho (Ty B) Bonaby

My venture within the creative field was one of many trial-and-error moments. Read more>>

Diana March

Here’s a shorter version that still hits: ⸻ I started Bacan Guaro with the idea that aguardiente deserved a more elevated, modern identity. Growing up in Colombia, it’s such a big part of our culture, but it was never positioned in a way that reflected its true potential. Read more>>

Gustavo Bulldog Tattoo

I started very young. I remember being a kid and seeing a tattoo on a friend of my father’s, and it really caught my attention, I couldn’t believe someone could have a drawing on their skin that wouldn’t just wash away. I think that moment sparked something in me. As a teenager, I got more into drawing and eventually into tattooing. Read more>>

Devounte Ho-Hing

Growing up, I was always immersed in the arts. Whether it was dancing, drawing, or anything creative, that was how I naturally expressed myself to the world. It wasn’t something I had to force. It was just who I was. At the same time, my first real example of entrepreneurship came from my mother. Read more>>

Daniel Acero

My journey into art has never been linear—it’s been a constant process of exploration, challenge, and reinvention. I’ve always been drawn to creativity, but my work truly began to take shape when I started questioning how far I could push a painting beyond a flat surface. That curiosity led me to experiment with tridimensional forms—blending painting and sculpture into a single experience. Read more>>

Hennessy Darling

Well at the age of 13, I was going through a lot mentality so in middle school I had a friend this specific day it was field day and we were playing we started acting as if we were in a movie, so once the day finished he said to me”hey we need to write a movie about this” and me I agree so from that day forward we called each other our characters name. Read more>>

Sebastien Giorgetti

I’m originally from France, where I built my career in social media and marketing, helping businesses grow their visibility and connect with their audience through strong storytelling and strategy. A few years ago, my family and I decided to start a new chapter in the United States. After a short time in Miami, we settled in Celebration, near Orlando. Read more>>

Steffany Bell

I’m a wife, a mom, and a former teacher turned entrepreneur. My journey into the online space began around 2021–2022 when I started working as a virtual assistant. That role opened the door to a whole new world for me one where I could build something of my own while still being present for my family. Read more>>

Melissa Mildort

It began in 2020, when I was living in Spain. I used to go to these street markets called El Rastro. I found myself collecting pieces, small things at first, that would later remind me of Madrid, its people, its livelihood. When I moved back to Florida, putting on jewelry became a ritual. Read more>>

Nic Collins

I picked up the sticks at the age of 3 and never looked back. My first vivid memories come from watching my father, Phil Collins, on his “Final Farewell Tour” in 2004. I was able to watch my dad play drums and sing every night which ignited my passion for music. Read more>>

Chelsea Randolph

Yardie Cocktails is my love letter to Jamaica, sealed with rum. I never imagined I’d build a rum canned cocktail company, but looking back, the signs were always there. Read more>>