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.
Ryan Cook
Growing up on a family farm, I naturally gravitated toward nature photography and spent years teaching myself how to use a camera, work with proper lighting, edit photos, and refine my skills. It wasn’t until my junior year of college that I made the transition to photographing people. That shift happened when my twin brother planned to propose to his now-wife and asked me to capture the surprise engagement in the mountains. Read more>>
Paul Chelmis
Fast forward to now and I’ve dragged my gear through 30-something nations across six continents, worked with some extremely talented people, had the privilege to tell some really incredible stories and put some meaningful art out into the world. I feel like I’m making at least some amount of a difference here, and that sustained thirst for learning more, seeing more, expressing more, gives me the potential to grow exponentially. And that’s all I could ever really ask for in life. Read more>>
Lacey Grooms
I won’t make you hear every detail of my story, but looking back I can see that God set up very specific steps in my life, and put very specific people along my path, to lead me to where I am today. It was a path with lots of stops and many forks in it, lol! What started as a high school job at a local dry cleaners (Shout out to my Smith Family Cleaners crew!) lead me to another job during my college years, and that job lead me to yet another job, which brought me to where I am now. I ran Solar Reflection as the sales and operations manager for just over 15 years, was a minority partner for a few years, and then became sole owner after purchasing the company when my partner was ready to retire in 2023. Read more>>
Hollie Gatewood
I began by researching the floral industry, learning about different types of flowers, and understanding what customers wanted. Me and my husband built our cart from scratch and painted it to match the vibe of our company. We filled it with an assortment of fresh blooms in different buckets to bring to events. We hope to set up shop at local events and markets, to create beautiful arrangements that would catch people’s eyes. For now, we’ve been selling countless bouquets for holidays and other events. Social media has become my best friend; I use platforms like Instagram and Facebook to showcase my work, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of my process and engaging with my growing community. Read more>>
Paul Birdsong, Deputy Chairman
We have a simple ideology in regards to clashes and civil unrest- “We mean no harm, but we will accept no harm”. We are engaged in such efforts as community patrols, community clean ups, free weekly barbeques, enrolling black children in black owned and operated schools such as Goshen Hebrew Academy, enrolling children in the 123 Reading program as well as free self defense training, gun safety training, conflict resolution and crisis management classes. We also do ethnic identity courses helping people trace their lineage and figure out what tribe they descend from and we are currently purchasing the land to create a homeland for our people. Read more>>
Ashlyn Greene
I started vocal training at the age of 8. My uncle frank was a guitar player and he was my first accompaniment in an elementary school showcase. Which this started me into entering local contests. I won my first all ages vocal competition in Spartanburg 2022 at the age of 13. That opened up the door for many opportunities. (In bio) Apollo Theater, JMA Grand Ole Opry, CMA Fest and many local venues in the southern states. My next release a song I wrote about Morgan Wallen will be releasing to all streaming service providers April 18th, 2025. I am very excited about this new song. I currently co-wrote with several NASI writers out of Nashville. I’m currently building my writing catalog. Read more>>
Monica Verde
I always had this drive to help people, to teach people and to empower people. I once wanted to be a teacher, before realizing, I didn’t want to be stuck in 4 walls all day, I wanted and needed to do more to reach the world. This passion led me to major in social work for my undergrad and later obtain my masters in social work. The education I received, in addition to, my lived experiences, encompasses me to be a social worker/therapist who celebrates diversity, and empower those who are lost in oppression to not only find their spark, but also their voice. Helping people reclaim their power one therapy session at a time. Read more>>
Emily Clark
I definitely have an entrepreneurial spirit. I want my life to be about bringing happiness and enjoyment to others. I started my career after graduating with a marketing degree. I worked in product management for Bicycle Playing cards and decided to switch my profession to help people. I went back to school for dental hygiene and have been doing that for the last 15 years. While I enjoy this in, I wanted to be more impactful and bring more joy to people. Modern Vibe was built from that idea. I am also starting another business called Designing Intimacy, a sexual wellness coaching practice. Read more>>
Debbi Moore
Some of the challenges we continue to face are storage and replacements. As our stock grows, our storage ability needs to grow as well. We currently keep all of our dishes, goblets, flatware and other tablescape items on our property in a 40 foot shipping container. We stay very organized but space can be an issue. The other big challenge is replacing broken pieces. Something gets broken at every event, that is a given. Sometimes, we break dishes and sometimes event guests break the dishes. So learning how to compensate for this loss and discovering how to replace has taken some trial and errors moments. Read more>>
Darius Starks
Darius Starks is a professional saxophonist, who delivers tranquil contemporary jazz to the music scene. A native of Irmo, South Carolina, Darius is a graduate of Newberry College where he studied Music and concentrated his studies in Jazz. For more than 18 years, Darius Starks has been sharing exhilarating music on a national scale. Darius developed his love and passion for music given the inspiration of his mother, Artena Starks, a Pianist and Choir Director. Developing a transcending a mesmerizing sound, Darius has earned numerous awards and recognitions including The Most Valuable Player with the Newberry College Big Band and The Outstanding Soloist Award at The New Orleans Jazz. Read more>>
Maryna Zahariuk
This journey was far from smooth—at every step, I faced challenges that tested my willpower and determination. The language barrier, my lack of experience in this field, and the need to build everything from scratch made the process even more difficult. There were moments when it felt impossible to move forward, but these obstacles strengthened me, helped me unlock my potential, and led me to where I am today. Read more>>
Dru Blair
I got my start taking art as an elective class at the end of my Junior year at Furman University. Before that, I was pursuing a medical career, but I changed my major from biology to art because I enjoyed art so much. The sudden switch to art didn’t provide me with a lot of training, so I decided to pursue a Masters degree at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Read more>>
Elise Partin
It was an uphill fight. I was the underdog, and there were a number of people who tried to dissuade me from running — including even some well-intentioned folks who believed I was setting myself up for disappointment. But while I lacked political experience and ‘connections’, I honestly felt I had the professional qualifications, the commitment and the work ethic to make a meaningful difference. So I dedicated myself not only to working harder than the other guy, but to meeting one-on-one with as many Cayce residents as possible. I decided to keep my campaign totally positive, focusing on issues and ideas and, most importantly, listening to peoples’ views and suggestions. And what I found out was that what people wanted, more than anything else, was for someone to listen to them. Read more>>
Ashley Strickland Freeman
I started off in the test kitchen of Oxmoor House, the cookbook division for the brands Southern Living, Cooking Light, Coastal Living, etc, developing and testing recipes and also styling food for photo shoots. After about 4 years, I moved over to the editorial division as a cookbook editor (and finally used that journalism degree). I helped create books from beginning to end, coming up with concepts, book outlines, organizing recipe development and testing, and ghostwriting. It was a blast. Read more>>
Latasha Robinson
I am from the small town of Lake City, South Carolina. Born in the 70’s to teenage parents and raised by my grandmother. I grew up along side my sister who is 8 months older than myself. Yes, we grew up very close and something similar to twins. During my rearing, money and resources were extremely limited and surely was in the bracket of what was deemed poverty level in the USA. I had absolutely no intentions of attending college after high school. Read more>>
Vanessa Baker
Having children at an early age didn’t provide a lot of time or finances for my husband or I to have any hobbies that we enjoyed. We focused all of our time on them and their wants and needs. Spending all of our extra time at their extra curricular activities. Fast forward to 2020. Our children were older. One out of school, one in high school and one in elementary. Then COVID hit and our world came to a crashing hault and everything that we did was put on hold (as was everyone else’s in the world). While my husband and children were at home, I was battling the pandemic as I am a full time respiratory therapist. Read more>>
Jessica Nunns
At 39, newly married and trying to start a family, I found myself hiding the most human part of my life from the people I worked with. I feared that if I showed up as someone with real needs, someone who might soon be a parent … I’d be seen as less valuable. That fear wasn’t just stressful. It was impacting my health, my relationships, and my ability to start the family I dreamed of. Eventually, I resigned – not because I wanted to leave, but because I felt like I had to. And that’s what lit the spark for the work I do today through my company, Sensibly Holistic. Read more>>
Adrian Velazquez
I personally have loved cars since childhood, being that I traveled so much child and adulthood my car was one thing I could say is mine. So I’ve always modified my vehicles. 2020 the lovely year of Covid caused this all to start for me being we had nothing to do. The individuals who were hosting events where super unorganized and a massivse waste of time and my tires nor pockets liked driving from location to location for no reason. Read more>>
Tara And Doug Pellegrino
Doug was introduced to pottery at a very young age as his Aunt and Uncle owned a ceramics studio where they would provide weekly lessons to adults and children. He would often spend his weekends assisting his Aunt and learning all he could from her. He carried that love of clay into his college experience and took many courses until he graduated with a degree in media arts. He continued with a local studio but as his career in the Film/TV industry took off he was forced to take a 40 year hiatus from clay as his career would take him all over the world. Read more>>
Annette Hammond
After completing chemotherapy and radiation, I was eager to hear that I was cancer-free. But when I went for my follow-up appointment, my blood work showed some concerning issues. Those results led to yet another devastating diagnosis—Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a blood cancer that seemed to come out of nowhere. My heart sank, and I didn’t know what to feel. But one thing I did know—I had GOD on my side and a praying family. Read more>>
Deon Generette
He returned to his first love of creativity and created 7Sunday, the best recurring live themed music show in the Carolinas and beyond, which features independent and Grammy-winning creatives. Every anniversary, they raise funds to support Dapper & Distinguished Gentlemen, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to empowering young men through mentoring, life skills education, financial literacy, etiquette, entrepreneurship, and more. The goal of this initiative is to mold young men into individuals of character, legacy, and vision. Read more>>
Taylor Johnson
I found joy and love in preserving those moments. While I don’t travel any more, my love for photography has morphed into a passion of capturing people’s story, whether it’s for families, high school seniors, branding or headshots. Each one of these genres requires me to dive deep in to knowing who these people are and what’s important to them so I can capture that moment, that personality in a simple photo. I still take my camera with me to hike and get those amazingly smooth waterfall photos but now it’s more. Now it’s about helping grow someone’s business through story telling pictures or capturing moments in time that will turn in to generational heirlooms. That’s meaningful to me because I have that for myself. I want to share that with others. Read more>>
Sharon Williams
Over the years, these discussions evolved from a simple exchange of ideas into a structured framework, carefully crafted with a focus on academic rigor, leadership development, and community engagement. Dr. Williams and Mrs. Bell recognized that realizing such a vision would require the right combination of talent, expertise, and leadership. Determined to make this dream a reality, they took the necessary steps to form a dedicated team that could transform their vision into action. Read more>>
Carrie Creech
There have been many challenges along the way—from navigating the world as an artist to owning a business to working in a region where ceramics is often seen as mere craft rather than an art form. But these challenges are part of my story. I like to think of them as threads woven into a larger tapestry. Do I enjoy them while I’m in the thick of it? Not usually. But stepping back to see the bigger picture brings a completely different perspective. I can say that with confidence because Christ gives me hope and a solid foundation. Without that hope, I’d be lost in the weight of such challenges. Read more>>
David Washack
I started going to college in the early 90’s. I was always interested on how to human body works. I have been a chiropractic patient since I was 10 years old. I went with my dad to his appointments. I saw the benefit after I had a low grade fever for 2 days then my dad took me to the chiropractor to get adjusted. During the ride home my fever broke and never came back. Read more>>
Glenn Courtney
My aunt and I are similar in many ways. We both love ideas, and I especially love to “run with it” as I’ve always said. She asked me in early 2024 about mahjong tiles. I had never even heard of them. I said yes as a personal creative challenge, and the rest is history. We play off of each other’s energy and creativity, and we honestly are thrilled to be where we are today. Liza loves the term “surprise and delight”, and we often say that when we think about our tremendous growth over the past year plus. It’s so much fun to see our ideas transform to real items. Read more>>
Darren Young
Oh, absolutely not. I wish I could say it’s been all positives. Unfortunately, it’s had its speed bumps. The industry itself is a tough cut-throat business as we’ve all heard or been told. It’s very easy to get lead down the wrong path, taken advantage of, and manipulated. Read more>>
Stacey Weismann
My name is Stacey and I am the founder of Millie Lynn Boutique, which I started six years ago (a few years after graduation). I majored in Supply Chain and Information Systems at Penn State University and worked for both Mars, Inc. and Kraft Heinz after graduation. While I enjoyed my time in the corporate world, I eventually realized I was meant for something more fulfilling. So, I took a leap of faith, left my corporate job, and decided to start my own business. Fast forward to today, I now have two brick-and-mortar locations in Charleston and Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Read more>>
Marie-Laure Kosian Kosian
Instead I moved to London to learn English and study hotel management. It was only when I moved to New York City that I decided to change careers and enter the interior design program at Parsons School of Design. My back ground in hotel management has been helpful in running my interior design business. Read more>>
Anthony Clark
The Drip Bag & Clothing story is still being written, and we’re excited about each new chapter. Whether you’re looking for the latest urban trends, custom-designed pieces, or a welcoming community that celebrates individual style, you’ll find it here at Drip Bag & Clothing Boutique. Our commitment remains unchanged: providing quality, affordable fashion that helps everyone express their unique style with confidence. Read more>>
Zy’Reque Green
From that day forward, I knew music was where I was meant to be. The journey hasn’t always been smooth, but the passion has never wavered. I’ve had the honor of appearing on the news, performing on America’s Got Talent, and being a part of Could Have Been Records. I’ve also had the privilege of winning numerous awards and traveling across the country to perform, even for the NBA! But, the thing that truly means the most to me is how my music has empowered and inspired so many people along the way. Read more>>
Yuliya
Well, I should say that it wasn’t easy. Working on yourself is always a challenge. Changing the way I thought about myself, letting go of the fear around food, and truly learning how to take care of myself was far more difficult than I expected. It required shifting priorities and questioning habits that had always felt automatic. But I did it, and I’m incredibly proud of that. Read more>>
Danielle Smith
Carolina Holistic Tea Farm began as more than just a business—it was the result of a deeply personal journey. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to nature and its incredible ability to nourish, heal, and restore balance in our lives. But it wasn’t until 2020 that I truly began to explore this passion in depth. Like so many people, I was searching for a way to support my family’s health naturally, without relying on synthetic medications or quick fixes. That search led me to herbal medicine, and what started as curiosity quickly became a calling. Read more>>
Ashley Cohen Conner
I specialize in teaching Lindy Hop and Carolina Shag, but I also am trained in Balboa, Collegiate Shag, St. Louis Shag, Charleston, and 6-Count Swing. When I was 16 and 17, I gained 1 international and 2 international swing dance titles, which put me on the map. The special part about this was, it was with my sister, and we choreographed our routines, which is one of the things I am most proud of in my journey. After this, we taught, performed, and ran local events, up until the pandemic shut everything down. Post-pandemic, I started really exploring the world of Carolina Shag and bringing it to my home state of Arizona. Read more>>
Christina St Clair
I wanted to help others redefine their health using integrative techniques-not relying on medications. People are so much more than a number on a scale, or a waist measurement, or a lab result. They deserve individualized care with extended face-to-face time with their provider. Enter the beginning of Palmetto Integrative Medicine. Through hard work and prayer, I successfully launched this company in February of 2025. Since opening, I have been able to assist others in optimizing their health and their overall quality of life. This is an answered prayer, and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to serve others in this way. I am optimistic for what the future holds! Read more>>
Joe Power
The challenges a creative empath is exposed to as they mature can also be used as motivation to change the status quo and use their talents and skills to bring light and joy into the world while also disrupting the oppressive norms. I think of James Baldwin often when he said “artists are here to disturb the peace” and while a non-creative may misunderstand that I have to clarify this means artists have a unique responsibility to shed light on uncomfortable realities, and if one feels discomfort it is my hope that the art will cause one who is enjoying the bliss of ignorance to reflect and wonder why it does so. Read more>>
Danielle Howley + Michael Bauerschmidt
Danielle sought out the best in the field and convinced Dr. Michael Bauerschmidt, an expert in chronic illness, to join her mission. Together, they opened the doors to Deeper Healing in September 2019, operating out of a small office in Mount Pleasant, SC. They designed the Stay + Heal program to mirror what Danielle and Marty had long wished for—a comprehensive approach that combined cutting-edge medical care with genuine compassion. As patients recovered, word spread organically, and people began traveling from far and wide to experience Deeper Healing’s unique treatments. As demand grew, the practice expanded, the staff increased, and quickly, the need for a larger space. Read more>>
Jonathan Pearson
At our core, we are a church for the unchurched—those who have never been to church, those who have been hurt by church, and those who have been out of church for a while. We exist to meet people where they are, no matter their background or story. Our services are casual, welcoming, and designed to make the message of Jesus accessible to everyone. We believe that life change happens in community, and we are passionate about creating environments where kids, students, and adults can experience the love of Jesus in a way that makes sense to them. Read more>>
Rebecca Horne
Yes, for the most part it’s been very smooth and has felt very natural. I’ve been careful to try to only go with opportunities that felt right. If I don’t feel comfortable with it, I don’t do it. The whole experience has felt like the stars have lined up for me and everything has fallen into place. Of course, there have been struggles. Mostly due to illness or surgery that caused me to slow down but it hasn’t stopped me! Read more>>
Patricia Williams
My journey is one of resilience, healing, and purpose. I am a survivor—not just of my own battles, but of a system that often leaves women to navigate their healing alone. In the depths of my struggles, I longed for a community, a space where I didn’t have to explain my pain but could instead find strength in sisterhood. When I couldn’t find it, I built it. Read More>>
Nadezhda Semenova
I got to where I am today because of my father.
He was a professional boxer and a coach in Soviet Union.
I grew up around athletes and competitions.
I was so inspired by my father’s ability to help people to change their life’s for better.
He taught me of a discipline, how to be patient and an independent woman. Read More>>
Mikki Ramey
For over 20 years, I’ve been dedicated to helping buyers and sellers in the Charleston market, selling over 1,700 homes along the way. I still love working with clients and finding solutions that make their real estate dreams a reality. In addition to helping others buy and sell homes, I’m also a real estate investor and own multiple investment properties. Some girls buy shoes—I prefer buying houses! 🙂 Currently, I am the leader of the top female real estate team in Charleston! Read more>>
Michelle Wright
I started tinting windows with my violent controlling X-husband. I really enjoyed this line of work and started trying to learn as much as I could online and learning about what all window film can do besides just make a car look good. Window tinting was my escape from what my life had become. I developed a passion and a sense of pride which encouraged me to be more in life. Problem was I was beaten down mentally and physically and didn’t think I could do it on my own. Read more>>
