Michigan’s Most Inspiring Stories

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.

Claudia Burns

I painted in acrylics and worked in mixed media, collaborative mosaics, and wrote icons overlapping my teaching career. I began painting in seriously in oils in 2020. I have been working to develop skills and vision, synthesizing all the information I imparted to my students over the years. I use traditional oil painting methods, layering color over a monochromatic underpainting. I also paint en plein air (outside, done within a few hours) counterbalancing my long-form paintings which often take over a hundred hours to produce. Read more>>

Corinne Denomme

We didn’t have much and were pretty isolated back there, but this rich land was where my deep reverence for the more-than-human world began. My regular engagement with the outdoors as a child, and then as an adult, set a foundational desire for ecological activism, collective liberation, and weaving reciprocal relationships within my community and green spaces. I always like to say that spending significant time in the woods and observing all the symbiotic threads between life there, taught me how to be in community.  Read more>>

Teresa Root

What sets us apart from others is that we are not just a tanning salon due to our other services we offer and our spray tan products are all plant-based and no bronzers added, which gives the customers a relief from confusing formulated color shades, streaking, orange tones, and mess. Our beet ingredient reacts to your skin to bring the color you would naturally tan in the sun. Read more>>

Auday Arabo

I found my career calling in working with retailers in California, where I grew up, and in Michigan, where my wife and I decided to raise a family. I led business associations and most recently led the Michigan Independent Retailers Association, where I gained experience working with great food and beverage companies, before deciding to focus full-time on Benchmark Beverage, where I’m now the CEO of a family-owned, Michigan-based company that is focusing on growth by developing great brands in spirits and beer. Read more>>

Callie Cupp

No, over the last few years one of the biggest struggles has been inflation. Fruits and vegetables can only go up so high in price to make up for costs of things such as; containers, boxes, pest/disease control supplies, jars, wages, straw, bags, etc., We also over the years have had to battle new types of diseases, insects, and viruses. Each crop has its own specific problem and each crop has to be treated differently. Read more>>

Pearl Price

The last time I was interviewed, I had just taken the leap from my 9–5 as an Executive Assistant to full-time social media manager in my own business, a job I genuinely loved. Back then, I was excited but also terrified. Everyone was talking about a recession (which we’re still talking about it in 2025), and I had every worst-case scenario on repeat in my head: Read more>>

Carley Freeman

Unfortunately a freak accident left Crackers with a broken leg, and the vet bills began piling up. That’s when Crackerz Corner officially became my side hustle. I opened my Etsy shop in August of 2023 and attended my first pet expo that same year. Since then, we’ve grown from just snuffle balls and mats to a full line of enrichment toys made for pets of all kinds. It all began with a need to help my own animals thrive—and now it’s become a way to help other pet owners do the same. Read more>>

Eliza Johnson

The road was not smooth but not too hard to navigate either. I’ve been lucky in that there was interest in the work almost immediately. Learning techniques was a little challenging as I am completely self taught. And affording equipment was a bit of a struggle. Fortunately my parents helped a LOT in gifting needed equipment. Read more>>

Angelina Richardson

I began with permanent makeup, originally wanting to serve cancer survivors, and my passion grew from there. I earned certifications from leading companies and became a franchise owner using top-tier, clinically studied equipment in the industry—trusted tools proven to deliver results. I launched my Mindful Beauty program using Neveskin (formerly Cryoskin), Endermologie, the Cocoon Pod, and more to help sculpt, tone, and rejuvenate the body without surgery. Read more>>

Lay’na Michelle

Because of this performance I became the 1st African American Independent music artist to perform original music for the Detroit Pistons inside of the Little Caesars Arena downtown Detroit, MI. Then on April 12-30, 2019 I was awarded an exhibit inside of the Charles H Wright Museum, because of my exhibit I was awarded this exhibit placed me the only music artist alive to an exhibit inside of any African American Museum. FYI African American Museums only honor the dead by the Grace of God I’m not dead so yes I am the only music artist on Earth to have an exhibit inside of any African American Museum. Read more>>