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.
Liberty Canzater
The Butterfly Foundation was established in 2007. As the founder and CEO of the organization, I took 2 years to develop processes and procedures for the non-profit organization. The mission of the organization is committed to the empowerment, transformation and transitioning of economically challenged individuals and families into self-sufficient and self-confident citizens. Read more>>
Zandrina Dunning
I’ve always believed my story started long before I ever stepped onto a professional stage. I was raised by a single mother alongside my two sisters, and watching her navigate life with strength and determination shaped me deeply. I also had a grandmother—my Nana—who worked as an administrator at UMass Boston, where I attended daycare and preschool. Read more>>
Leanne Cooper
I’ve been an educator for almost 20 years, and 16 of those years were spent teaching Kindergarten, including 8 years in Fort Mill. During my time in the classroom, I became very passionate about helping students who were struggling to learn to read, especially the students who were working hard but still not making the progress they should have been making. Read more>>
Amy Wright
I grew up in Travelers Rest and went on to Clemson University where I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts. But life changes and after trying to decide what career path to follow I found accounting. I then went back to Furman University where I earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Accounting from Furman University. Read more>>
Destiny Ruth
I started with a love for photography at a young age, always creating scrapbooks out of my photos. Once in college, I pursued my passion, but found myself graduating during Covid. After meeting my husband through our church, we got married and moved to the area, where I was able to expand on my love for photography and grow my business. Read more>>
Kyle Smith
I started working with clay in high school and continued studying ceramics and art through college. After graduating, I became an art teacher in South Carolina and taught for about 11 years while building my pottery business on the side. I officially started Kyle Smith Pottery in 2008 while teaching art full time. Read more>>
Kim Finger, Ph.D.
My story has really been shaped by one consistent theme: helping people build something better. I began my career in the ABA field more than two decades ago, and from the beginning, I was drawn not only to the clinical impact of ABA, but also to the systems that make quality care possible. Read more>>
Stephanie Dasher, LPC-A, NCC, RYT
Dr. Maia Gill and I began our collaboration in 2018 through Warrior Surf Foundation, where I served as Director of Operations and later as Executive Director. Read more>>
Jamie Callaway
I’m one of those really fortunate people who figured out my path early on. I was about five years old, standing in the kitchen with my mom and my grandmother making egg custard, and I was done for. That was it. The kitchen made sense to me in a way the rest of the world didn’t. Read more>>
Jo Oliva
I was born in Cuba and came to America as a child. As an immigrant my family did not have any money for college and I struggled a lot when I was young. After high school I went straight into the work force and started my career in the signage industry. Read more>>
Mia Gentry
My journey begin in a small cubicle at a pharmacy. One day as I sat at my desk I heard the Holy Spirt say there is something else for you. So one day in prayer I heard you will work for me. You will see. After wrestling with that I finally had clarity concerning what I was supposed to do. Read more>>
Adam Gainer
I started in restaurants 2 weeks before my 16th birthday and quickly fell in love with the industry. I was applying to colleges with the intention of majoring in Marine Biology, but quickly made the switch to Hospitality and Tourism Management once I arrived at the College of Charleston. After college, I wanted to bartend a bit and get some more experience before pursuing management. Read more>>
Mariah Mathews
At just 12 years old, I picked up my dad’s camera and from that moment on, I never stopped documenting life through photographs. What began as simple curiosity as a child quickly turned into a lifelong passion for capturing moments as an adult! Originally born and raised in San Diego, California, I now call Greenville, South Carolina home. Read more>>
ATRIXALAN
Well my love for music started pretty early since my mom was also a musician, i was around music my whole life. It started as a hobby really. I started making beats in my head around 2nd grade and from then on i knew i wanted to be a producer. Read more>>
Ryan LaPierre
My journey with wildlife began at a young age. My father played a huge role in shaping my passion—teaching me not just to observe nature, but to truly connect with it. Read more>>
Lee S Elmore
My story is an interesting one. I am lawyer by education, a jeweler by experience, and the Executive Director of the Carolina Youth Symphony by serendipity—or perhaps by fate. Let me explain. When my older daughter was in 6th grade, her best friend, a harpist, encouraged her to join the Carolina Youth Symphony. My daughter, who played percussion, auditioned and was accepted into the orchestra. Read more>>
Paul Walter
For ten years now, I’ve been helping closely held businesses and the owners navigate the income tax landscape. But the way I landed in tax specifically was all an accident. After showing up to an internship interview that I found out would be tax-related, I never looked back. Read more>>
Rachel Mango
I have always been a bit of a rebel spirit. School was never my place. I wanted to be outside, building something, figuring it out on my own. Entrepreneur was wired into me before I had a word for it. My first business came straight from how I grew up, a pet resort. Read more>>
Jenna Light
I didn’t set out to become a wedding photographer, it started a lot simpler than that. I just wanted to capture my own kids. The little moments, the messy ones, the ones that go by way too fast. Then it turned into photographing other people’s children… and before I knew it, I was being trusted with something even bigger, people’s memories. Read more>>
Joshua & Brooke DeYoung
In 2020, Joshua’s life changed in an instant after a devastating motorcycle accident left him facing the possibility that he may never walk again. Overnight, he went from constantly being on the move to enduring a long and uncertain recovery. During that difficult season, someone pulled down their old LEGO sets from the attic to help pass the time. Read more>>
Barb Greb
I am originally from Long Island NY. I received a B.S. Degree in Speech Pathology in 1986. I moved to St. Louis MO in 1987 to study at Washington University and received my MS degree in Audiology in 1989. I stayed there for over ten years before moving back to New York. Read more>>
Sheila Fluker
My name is Sheila Fluker. I’m a business strategist, entrepreneur, and founder of The Balloon Squad and the Minding My Own Damn Business Retreat. But my story didn’t start with business it started with survival. I spent 15 years in the military, and on my final tour in Iraq, I was injured and medically discharged. Read more>>
Kimberly Anderson
I grew up with a darkroom in our basement in our house in Virginia and have always love working with images. I graduated with a degree in textile science from Va. Tech. in 1984. Read more>>
Gabriella Young
I’ve been working in mental health and addiction for close to 10 years now. I actually started more on the primary mental health side, then transitioned into addiction a little over four years ago. During college, I had my own experiences with mental health, which really pushed me toward pursuing a degree in psychology. Read more>>
Peter Maxey
My father was a welder by trade but it was messing with his eyesight so he started looking for something else to do and a friend of his was doing mobile car upholstery and asked him if he’d like to tag along. Read more>>
Travis Hoyt
My name is Travis Hoyt and I am Built to Brew coffee. I started my journey in the coffee industry back in 2015 at a little coffee kiosk on Saint Andrews Road in Irmo, SC called Loveland Coffee. My passion for community, relationships and coffee was cultivated at this special place. Read more>>
Jameka Murphy
My journey hasn’t been linear, but it’s been intentional. I started out simply doing what needed to be done, helping people, organizing, creating, and showing up in spaces where there were gaps. Over time, I realized that what I was naturally doing was brand strategy. Read more>>
Dierra Mouzon
I’ve been baking since 2018, but my love for it started way before that. I’m originally from Beaufort, South Carolina, and grew up as a military brat, so I was exposed to different places and people early on. Read more>>
Lindsey Gropman
I’m originally from Connecticut and moved to Charleston in 2013 to attend College of Charleston where I studied Business Administration and Sociology. After graduating, I spent a year serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA for a local Charleston nonprofit that hired me on full time and later left that organization to be the event coordinator for the College of Charleston School of Business. Read more>>
Matthew Camastro
I grew up in San Francisco in a low-income household. My parents sacrificed much to provide piano lessons, which granted me a deep love and appreciation for music and the arts. After much preparation, I studied piano at the collegiate level, earning my Bachelor’s in Classical Performance. Read more>>
Josh Garcia
Coastal Paint Pros began in 2022 in a way that was never part of a formal plan. While I was in between jobs, I helped a friend, Roger, who had recently moved from Nicaragua, with a deck painting project. Read more>>
Nina Emory
I didn’t start out with a grand plan to build a business or write a book. I started by working hard, figuring things out as I went, and learning through real-life experience. From a young age, I naturally stepped into leadership roles, whether it was in school, fitness, or the workplace. Read more>>
Laura Smith
Hi, I’m Laura Smith, and my life has been one big, flavorful adventure. I grew up on the lush island of Java, one of ten children in a lively household where the kitchen was the heart of our home. My mother, my sisters, and I spent our days gathered around pots bubbling with fragrant spices, cooking meals that brought everyone together. Read more>>
Angela Stringer
In 2003, a group of wonderful, caring residents including community leader Kathryn Smith, oncology doctors Drs. Read more>>
Charles Cascio
Where I am today is a product of accidents, childhood compulsions, and a deep urge to seek the truth. Music played a big part of my childhood, and I always saw music as an expression of my heart. Music taught me that life is a story, and sometimes we don’t know who we are in this story.. which character we’re playing. Read more>>
Jessica Mirrielees
My story begins with a simple but powerful instinct: I wanted to make people smile-literally and figuratively. As a young girl, I was a spirited cheerleader, always wanting to make others feel seen, valued, and happy. That natural warmth and drive to uplift people would later become the foundation for my career. Life, however, didn’t follow a straight and easy path. Read more>>
Don DuBose M.D.
I want to tell you about a funeral. Early in my career, I lost a patient to suicide. He was a man — a son, a husband, a father. And I went to his memorial because I needed to be there. Not as his doctor. Just as someone who cared. His mother found me. Read more>>
Aaron McCarty
I started the journey to becoming a Kuboo basket maker and Bamboo Craftsman due to an interest in bamboo as a living privacy hedge in the landscape. That was the reason for my internship with Keiji Oshima. I started as an intern at his bamboo nursery, Haiku Bamboo Nursery, located in Hendersonville NC. That internship turned into an apprenticeship in bamboo craft. Read more>>
Todd & Angela Barnett
This wonderful journey began in 2006 when Todd purchased a Nikon camera to document a family vacation. He instantly fell in love with photography and spent years learning and refining his craft while serving in the Air Force as a firefighter. What started as a side passion photographing local portrait sessions eventually grew into weddings and a full time business. Read more>>
Stephanie Gibson
There are a handful of mediums that were “born that way”. There are many who were catapulted into it by a traumatic event like the passing of a significant loved one. I got into it sheerly through interest. As a kid I often wondered about philosophical concepts like religion, the afterlife and the meaning behind life itself. Read more>>
Phoebe Crouse
Health has always been my North Star. Raised by a health-nut mother and a triathlete dad, I learned early on that health is happiness. My mom was an excellent cook and gathered my family at the kitchen table each night (no TV whatsoever!), and my dad set the standard for having a disciplined movement practice. Read more>>
Courtney Epps
I started in accounting about 19 years ago, and for a while, things were really good. I had a thriving practice with thousands of clients. Then I hit some cash flow issues and made the decision to sell my business. The buyer stopped paying me after just four months. Read more>>
Princess Dozier-Everage
I started March 10,2021!! My sons had grown out the bounce house stage and there was nothing in the area, that we had not already done. So initially, I created the company to service kids out the bounce house age. So we started out buying nerf and water guns and bunkers for nerf wars. Read more>>
