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.
Ella Hephzibah 
We are Ella and Jeremiah Hephzibah, husband-and-wife owners of Big Guy Catering and The Luna Lux Lounge in Jackson, Michigan. Together, we’ve built two businesses around something that matters deeply to us: bringing people together through good food, thoughtful hospitality, and experiences that make them feel welcome. Our story began long before we opened a business. Read more>>
Kamaala Emmanuel 
My story begins on the island of St. Lucia. I migrated to Brooklyn, New York, as a young girl with a desire to become the best version of myself, even before I fully understood what that would look like. Creativity was always present in my home, especially through music. I started singing in church, surrounded by a family that helped shape my love for it. Read more>>
Quinten Harper 
I was born in Detroit on 9-4-85. Single mom. Spent most of my youth over my grandparents house. The home was loving but militant. I was taught the value of a dollar and discipline through daily chores at a young age. My mom taught me how to draw when I was very young so art has always been my main hobby since I can remember. Read more>>
Ashley Cummings 
I actually fell into nails on accident you could say. I had my cosmetology license and I wasn’t doing anything with it at the time. I had reached out to the salon I had worked at previously as housekeeper & they told me they weren’t looking for a housekeeper BUT we’re looking for a nail tech and they knew I had my license. Read more>>
Lauryn Haling 
My story starts with me dancing in a little red barn since I was three, so movement has always been one of the most natural ways for me to express myself, especially when words fall flat. For many years, I thought my path was just being a dancer, but my love for dance eventually grew into a more dimensional relationship with creativity. Read more>>
Blake Waldecker 
After college I was working in a sales position, unsure of where I really wanted to go in life. With the help of family, I bought a foreclosed house, fixed it up and fell in love with home renovations. I left my current job to become a framer, as I felt it the best way to prepare me to become a residential contractor. Read more>>
Alison Bozarth 
I used Art to communicate, also using it as a tool to function through life. I use that to enter into jury Art Fair‘s across the United States. I also went in with my mother into owning a gallery in Delmar Loop where we support community exhibitions, and host an annual Art Fair. Read more>>
Santiago Castrillo 
I’m an independent electronic music artist, DJ and producer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. My journey in music began around 2015, when I became deeply immersed in the world of electronic music and started developing my own approach to DJing and production. Read more>>
Gabriela Bulka 
From ballet, to theatre, through law school, to graduate school in acting and finally back to the stage, my story is simple, but the road certainly wasn’t. As an immigrant artist in the United States, I’m still reaching for my own version of the American Dream. Read more>>
Dani Hamilton 
I’ve always loved being outdoors. I grew up on land that has been in my family for generations, and we recently built our home there. We’re putting down roots for good and are committed to being good stewards of the land. Read more>>
Alyson Pfeiffer 
Roller skating has been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. I started skating when I was just **3 years old**, but my family’s connection to the sport began long before me. My mom had been skating her entire life, and she was the person who first introduced me to this incredible world. Read more>>
Janelle Darnell 
After graduating from college I began a career in the business world, serving as an executive director for a large retail chain. 6 years later, with a 2 year old at home and another on the way, I made the decision to leave the corporate life to focus on my family. Unexpectedly, this change opened the door to my now passion and current business. Read more>>
Kate Rypkema 
Hi! I’m Kate Rypkema, founder of One Cute Cart, West Michigan’s build-your-own bouquet experience. I spent 14+ years in the beauty industry, mostly doing on-location bridal hair and makeup, so I’ve spent a lot of my life in the middle of someone’s favorite day…the toasts, the nervous giggles, the getting-ready energy. Read more>>
Alaina Bamfield 
I have always been a funny kid. I am the oldest daughter in a brutally honest but funny family. My dad stayed at home with the kids which is why I think being funny stuck so hard. My mom is the best. Also very funny but in a more physical and goofy kind of way, never as cutting as my father. Read more>>
Tyraa Caldwell
I started in the industry 21 years ago by becoming an assistant to a real estate agent. He showed me the business and I soon learned the entire business and became a full time licensed agent about 3 years after. My niche became working with investor clients and this is what lead me into property management. Read more>>
Portia Barnes
My professional journey has not been a straight line, and I think that is part of what makes it valuable. For more than 15 years, I worked in multifamily housing and operations, leading teams, managing communities, solving problems, navigating competing priorities, and being accountable for both people and business outcomes. Read more>>
Jennifer Tangeman 
I founded Clean by Design so that I could support my three children—Conner, Lilly, and Shawn—while creating a schedule and building the values that supported the life I wanted to live. As a business owner and single mother, it’s my mission to help create customized cleaning solutions to assist busy and overwhelmed families. Read more>>
Ashley Braxton 
I’ve always loved wearing hair extensions, and over time, I developed a true passion for beauty and the hair industry. One day, I decided that instead of just being a customer, I wanted to create my own hair business. In May 2018, I took that leap and launched my brand, Exclusively Yours Hair Collection. Read more>>
Dawn Freeland
I have worked in the insurance industry since 2006 and founded my own health insurance agency in 2021. My focus has always been on providing exceptional, personalized service and making health insurance easier to understand. Read more>>
Ann-Marie Teasley 
Music has always been my calling. I saw some kids playing the violin on TV when I was four years old and I begged my parents every day for a violin until they bought me one. I trained in Suzuki classes as a child and ended up playing violin in a youth orchestra when I was in high school. Read more>>
Ty Mopkins 
I started my fashion journey at the iconic Strictly Sportswear in Detroit on West 7 mile by it being a traditional mom and Pop retail store it taught me how to do everything how to run a business how to maintain it how to care for it inside and out you can kind of say I was thrown to the wolves early, so that helped me to get to where I’m at today when I’m creating a new collection or when I’m consulting other businesses because I was so hands-on at Strictly Sportswear from day one Read more>>
KeanaMonique Smith 
If you ask me who Keana is underneath all the hats I wear, I’m still figuring that out. I’ve spent so much of my adult life being somebody to somebody that somewhere along the way, I got used to putting myself in the background. Read more>>
DC Washington 
My journey has always been driven by curiosity, creativity, and a desire to solve real-world problems. I began my career in robotics and advanced manufacturing, where I spent years teaching and training engineers and technicians. Working in technology taught me how to think systematically, but I’ve always had an inventor’s mindset. Whenever I saw a problem, I wanted to build a better solution. Read more>>
Paris Knight 
My journey into aviation started during one of the darkest periods of my life. After losing my son to domestic violence, I was in a place where I had to find something to give me purpose and keep me moving forward. While researching careers in the mechanical and aerospace fields, I discovered what an Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) mechanic was. Read more>>
Erica Meadows 
I started cleaning professionally in 2018, never really knowing where it would take me. What started as something I did on the side slowly grew into something I genuinely loved. I realized that I wasn’t just cleaning homes I was helping people feel less overwhelmed, giving them back time with their families, and creating spaces they could feel proud of. Read more>>
Chris Hankins 
I was born and raised in Detroit. As a kid, I vividly remember my mom holding this big, gray object and pointing it at my siblings and I all the time. I was fascinated by it. As I got older, I discovered that it was a camcorder. My parents knew we wouldn’t be young forever, and they wanted to document us as we grew up. Read more>>
Tania Kemp-Covington 
I am Dr. Tania M. Kemp-Covington, my story began when I was seven years old and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in July 1985. I grew up learning how to navigate the daily realities of living with a chronic illness while also learning that diabetes did not have to define who I was or what I could accomplish. Read more>>
LaToya Cross 
I was a pretty quiet, shy kid, observant may be more accurate—always soaking in the world around me and fascinated by behaviors and interactions; the rhythm of folk. When I was younger, I had these very vivid dreams. They were scenes filled with emotion, dialogue, and so much personality. Read more>>
Lorna Marshall
My journey into event planning really started with my church, where I began helping with and organizing different events. I always enjoyed the process of bringing people together and seeing an event come to life, but I never initially thought of it as a career. After I got married, I hired a wedding planner for my own wedding, and I absolutely loved working with her. Read more>>
Ruthanne Karel 
I grew up in a home that sewing was a huge part of our life. My mother was a self- taught seamstress and taught me how to sew as I was growing up. When I got married my parents gave me a sewing machine and I immediately started making clothes for my husband. We were blessed with three daughters. Read more>>
TJ Johnson 
I work full time in a corporate role, but there’s another part of my life that I enjoy sharing: what happens after work. That might be a basketball game, a concert, a good meal, or a short trip somewhere new. Daycation Nerd brings those interests together around one idea: life beyond the 9-5. My focus is on making weekends and paid time off count. Read more>>
Taj Pittman 
I’ve always had a love for music, my first artists that i was directly and indirectly introduced to was lil Wayne and Michael Jackson by my dad Read more>>
Sonya Grenell 
My story eh’… where do I begin… Well, I’m celebrating my 45th birthday, along with tattooing for 25 years this month, oct 2026. I have always been a natural creative person. Some of my earliest memories are of drawing. Yes, including the walls up every staircase I could get my hands on, haha! Read more>>
Anessa Tolbert 
I’ve always enjoyed cooking. I started cooking with my grandmother as a child, and it was always something I enjoyed doing for my family. Later, I worked at a job where cooking was part of my duties, and a coworker, Terri, told me I should go to culinary school and open a restaurant. Read more>>
Antmvla 
I’m a creative person with a background in music, videography, photography, and content creation. I’ve been making music for several years, which has taught me a lot about creativity, storytelling, branding, and connecting with an audience. Alongside music, I’ve developed my videography skills, from coming up with concepts and filming to editing and creating content for social media. Read more>>
Elijah “E-Kaine” Eubanks 
My story is really about becoming somebody I never thought I would live long enough to become. I come from Michigan, and for a long time my life was defined more by survival than purpose. I started struggling with addiction when I was around 17, and over the years that lifestyle took me through some very dark places. Read more>>
Isiah Barnes 
Hey guys, Well absolutely! I’ll try not to put you to sleep state lol but to answer the question; Ill start with just my entrance into film. As a lifelong theater actor, I was branching out and at 20 I went to a local casting for a small indie in Saginaw got cast. When I went on my first film set, I was hooked. Read more>>
Ali Sobh
My story is rooted in hard work, faith, family, and a desire to serve others. I grew up watching my father, a Lebanese immigrant and businessman, build a life in America through perseverance and sacrifice, and those lessons shaped the way I approached my own journey. Read more>>
Kaelyn Johnson 
My journey with Glow Up Detroit started in 2018, although at the time, I definitely didn’t know it would become what it is today. I originally entered the beauty industry through lash extensions under Lashed by Kaye. What began with one service continued to grow alongside me, my education, and the needs of my clients. Read more>>
LaKendra Norman 
My story has never been a straight line, and I think that is one of the things I appreciate most about it now. I’m Detroit born and raised, and I’ve lived enough life to understand that sometimes the very things meant to break you end up introducing you to yourself. Read more>>
Peter Truong 
My creative journey has been very random. Before I became a videographer, I started out as a DJ by being exposed to DJ Hero and DJ Grandmaster Flash when I was ten. I would get VHS tapes at my local library and study DJ battles from the DMC World Championships. I thought the craft was the most amazing thing in the world. Read more>>
Jake Rye 
I’ve been working as a music producer, mixer, and songwriter for 22 years to date this year. I began my professional career in 2004 with my first studio in Michigan, and I have split time between Michigan and Nashville often since I began my work. Read more>>
