Over the past few months we’ve reached out to members of the CanvasRebel community to dive deeper into their stories. We wanted to learn how they got to where they are today and we heard stories that will keep our inspiration cup full for a long time. Their stories, lessons and humor have lifted our spirits and we hope you’ll take a minute to check out the stories below.

Shiquasha Little

Well, I grew up in a house full of art, fashion, music and entertainment lovers. So, it all became a big interest to me to study and pursue. Also, my deceased father was into freestyling, singing and writing. So, it basically passed on to me and my older siblings. I’m told, he was a real good freestyler that won all his battles. After, I started going to the recording studio, buying beats, and releasing music. I had an opportunity to do my first EP project titled “ Times Exhaling,”produced by an LA producer, OsymBeats. I also posted videos of my freestyles, that got me attention in the music industry as well. Then, I officially released my first EP, and my first music video “ Game Over.”  Read more>>

Ty Osborne

The way I started voiceover work was actually a pretty interesting story. During the summer of my JR year during Covid I was getting haircut from my sister. In the middle of it her and my mom were in a conversation of what I was planning on doing after high school. I was always a very unserious kid especially when it came to the future. Once we started talking I was talking in voices when my mom said I should try and do that for a career. The next day she surprised me with my very first microphone and the rest is history. Read more>>

Nikki Mcgregory of Nik of Time Travel Agency

I was always the trip planner for my family and friends. Once I retired from the Navy, I decided to start my own business. It was the best decision I could have made. I live by my own rules now. Read more>>

Sally Seligman

Hi, there! Being from Texas and growing up in the 1960′-’70’s, almost all women sewed their own clothing and my family was no exception! My mother sewed beautifully and so did my grandmothers. As a matter of fact, three of my great grandmothers sewed professionally to make clothing for others when times were lean. I sat down to a sewing machine for the first time when I was six years old. My mother helped me make a simple apron for a friend whose birthday was a few days away. I was completely spellbound being able to start this craft at that young age. Read more>>

Davina Smith’s Story

From as early as I can remember, I always loved books. My earliest memories are filled with visiting the library, the excitement of learning new words and ideas, and letting my imagination run wild. This passion for reading sparked a love for all things creative, setting the foundation for who I am today. Despite my creative inclinations, my career path initially took me in a different direction. After high school, I joined the military. This experience changed me profoundly, for both good and not so good. The discipline, structure, and camaraderie of military life shaped me, but the intense and often challenging situations caused me to lose parts of myself along the way. Read more>>

Lucie Jiru

I was born in a very small town in the Czech Republic in the late 1980s. I was raised by hard working parents who always supported me in my choices. I was a very shy, timid child who never liked being the center of attention. In my late teens I got the opportunity to travel to the USA as an exchange student for my senior year of high school. As you can imagine, for a quiet person who never traveled alone across the ocean and whose English was not good, this was an extreme challenge. Not to mention the cultural shock. This one year, however, changed and shaped my life forever. That year I decided to pursue higher education. I wanted to expand my horizons and I was determined to one day become a successful independent woman in the USA. Today, about 17 years later, I have a career in behavioral health and I also work as a manager for a musician. I continue to work hard and I never ceased to challenge myself. It is my hope that reading these lines will perhaps inspire someone to follow their dreams. Read more>>

Victoria Rader of YU2SHINE

I was born in Ukraine when it was still a part of the former USSR with unique psychic intuitive gifts. As a child I wanted to be a teacher and a flight attendant. I would sit my stuffed animals and teach them anything I recently read in my book. And ever since having been on the plane to my cousin’s wedding, I dreamt of flying. At a time, travel was not a viable option as in order to entry visas, one needed to get an exit visa from the government to leave the USSR. Yet I dreamt. I would imagine myself on the great wall of China or inside the great pyramids of Egypt. Today, having been to 49 countries, and having experienced the dreams of my childhood as adventurous trips, I look back in amazement and with a decoded formula of how our mind, against all odds, co-creates our reality. Read more>>

David Yohe’s Story

Ah, the rollercoaster ride of my 40-year quest to become a filmmaker! The young, wide-eyed version of me, armed with nothing but a dream, Film Posters covering my walls, a camera, and an unhealthy obsession with Spielberg and John Carpenter movies, with no direction, just a deep love for the Movies and how they were made. As a kid, armed with a camcorder, running around the backyard, reenacting scenes from “Halloween” my parents thought I was a bit strange to say the least. Back then, it seemed impossible to break into the film industry “even more than today” and especially if you came from a small poor desert town in the middle of nowhere. But, that was just the beginning of my epic journey. Read more>>

Kells Morton

I am proud native of Chicago, IL! Coming from humble beginnings, I decided to leave home and join the Navy at a young age. It was the best life hack ever! My career was my focus for a very long time. In my heart, however I always have wanted to be a performer and be onstage. I love to laugh and feel a sense of completeness when I make others laugh. That’s the only way I can describe it. Read more>>

Kat Lieu

Something inside of me clicked when I watched my father breathe his final breath, and with that one exhale, all his hopes, dreams, and wishes became air. After reflecting, I decided moving forward, every day I would live with purpose in mind, and every dream and goal I fulfilled would be a part of my late father’s legacy. I was a doctor of physical therapy for over 13 years, a stable career my parents had chosen for me. But my father was now gone and my mother no longer cared about what I did for a living, so I took a leap of faith, ended my healthcare career, and became a full-time food writer and cookbook author. I also moonlight as an activist and a founder of the largest online Asian baking group.  Read more>>

Trevor O’connor

I guess i’ve always embraced a DIY attitude. I would even go as far to say I can be a bit of a punk ass, I certainly don’t like being told what to do. When I commit to something its generally 150%. These days my life is a little more stable for sure. I think I kind of burnt myself out over the years, and I had to be in a rough spot to become humbled and remember the things that truly matter. Family, healthy relationships and being truly happy with yourself. I graduated college, grabbed a few internships which turned into jobs that I ultimately didn’t like. I am pretty much squirming if I can’t have a certain amount of freedom to be creative and make my own decisions. Read more>>

Nicole Jocleen

You know how singers say they started singing when they were 3 or 4 years old, and it sounds crazy. Well, I’ve been telling stories since at least 8 or 9 years old. My original writing form was script. My older brother was involved in a neighborhood dispute that led to what felt like a witch hunt. In my adolescent mind I was like this feels like a movie. So, I decided to turn it into one. I wrote about five pages before moving on to something else. That something else turned into writing my first poem in the eighth grade, submitting it to an online competition, and being selected. I was so shocked and confused at my selection that I stopped writing poetry. Read more>>

Blessing B’s Story

Hey everyone it’s Queen “Blessing” B here! My story is fairly simple. Born in Liberia, West Africa. At age three I was adopted and moved to Washington State. Grew up in Yakima, WA. From a very young age I knew I was created for big things. I always loved music, art, and fashion. But it was not until 2020 did I actually step into my now career of modeling. Read more>>

Peyton Mcelvy’s Story

Thank you for having me again. As some may know from reading my last interview, I was very young when I took to art passionately. Even my childhood dream was one of a professional artist. That’s where the fuel for my business began, and I continued to explore deeper into my artistic skills & expressions. Along with my drawings, I also explored a lot of self-expression. My style and belief set me very apart from others. Of course, this came with the cons of being judged & misunderstood, but it gave me more color to paint my future with! Read more>>

Sarah Clemens

Though I didn’t know it at the time, the first little seed for Noble Rind was planted in the early 2000’s. I had gotten a job at a small women owned business that specialized in local food and it was my very first experience working with specialty cheese. Right away a fire was ignited for learning more about where all of our food was coming from but especially the little farmstead creameries I had never heard of. After many years of studying and working in cheese & moving to Wisconsin. Getting married and having babies. A pandemic. I decided, why not start my own small business! An idea that truly had never crossed my mind before. A radical act of hope I suppose? Most of the cheese shops you come across in WI are selling mass produced cheese, pre cut and wrapped in plastic. I wanted to sell cheese in a way where people could taste it before they purchased it. I knew our foodie farm to table community was hungry for more. I wanted to highlight our small family dairy farms and get away from wrapping this treasured nutrition in plastic wrap! By 2019 we had gotten pretty excited about this idea and by February of 2022 we open the doors to Noble Rind Cheese Shop. Read more>>

Sandra Charlap

When I was about 10 years old my family took a trip to Washington D.C. to visit with family friends. This family owned an extensive art collection and the husband gifted me a large, expensive coffee table art book of the collected works of Alexander Calder. This was such a grown up present and I felt privileged with having such a valuable object. I felt in that moment that they saw something in me that I hadn’t yet recognized, and it was important to pass along that gift. I read that book from cover to cover many times over and still have it in my collection. Calder’s work, as well as his passion and curiosity about the world from a visual lens has been profoundly impactful in my formation as an artist. That was the origin point of my life as a visual artist and I began to perceive the world really differently from that point forward. Read more>>

Madison Hawkins

It all started when I was in tenth grade and got my first job. I started working at Indigo in the Short Hills Mall as a customer experience representative and then took on the responsibility as the social media manager! I found my passion for creating content for businesses and brands! After realizing how I could take something I’m passionate about and make it into a side hustle or even a career I became fascinated by doing what you love! I started asking everyone around me about their career paths and how they got to where they are today! My junior year I created my podcast, The Jersey Girl Podcast where I interviewed people on their careers and side hustles! I got to learn about all these amazing opportunities people had to turn what they love into a career and post them for others to hear! My goal is to inspire others to take risks and create a career they love! A year after I started the podcast I launched my social media marketing agency! I signed two clients in the first month and got to learn how I wanted to run and manage my small business! Still to this day I’m working out how I want everything to operate and learning day by day how to be my own boss! I am so grateful to have a space where I get to create content and help others maximize their presence on social media! Currently, I am working on creating a smoothly operating social media marketing agency and building out my podcast brand to help reach more people! I am also starting up my clothing brand “Gone Coastal”! Back in November, I created the concept for a brand that designs coastal-inspired loungewear and it has been so much fun creating the designs and selling to people who are just as excited as me! I am so excited about what the future will hold! Read more>>

Kayla Caldwell of KC Virtual Bookkeeping LLC

When I was pregnant, my husband decided he wanted to start a personal training business and I was trying to find out what was next so I could be home with my baby. Then COVID hit. Then came time to do our taxes and I quickly found out my husband wasn’t tracking any of his expenses. I’ve always been good with numbers so I did some investigating and found all his expenses mixed in all our our personal accounts. So as I was pulling out my hair organizing it all, I realized he couldn’t be the only business owner that did this. After I had quit my job and my son was just a few months old, I found Bookkeeper Training School with Kristin Ingram knowing I was destined to do more than be a mom and a wife. Then in just two months, I gain my first two bookkeeping clients (three if you include my husband). Because we had opened two businesses in one year, it gave me an advantage to help other new businesses navigate the needed requirements and avoid the constant google search to answer what’s next?  Read more>>

John Newhouse

After graduating from Syracuse as an Illustration major, I found myself in Television News Graphics for almost 40 years, and I loved every exciting minute of it. I recently pivoted my career to go back to my true passion as an illustrator. I draw portraits as gifts and commissions. I draw both pets and people so my clients can give them as something more inventive than the normal purchase or for someone who simply is “impossible to buy for”. Turning a passion into a profession is a challenge. Ask any musician, dancer or artist, and they’ll tell you how hard it can be. Doing something for fun is…well…fun. But changing that into a business is…well…you get the point. Read more>>

Amanda Hudes

With a background in fashion and communications, and as a graduate from the Fashion Institute of Technology, as long as I’m able to be creative, I’m in my element. Naturally, when I worked in corporate management, I also planned the company events, and I was able to utilize my love of color palettes and styling. And when people started questioning why I wasn’t stressed while planning the events, I realized that planning and managing, building and maintaining relationships, and using my ability to be self-motivated could equate to a successful Event Planning business. I included my certifications as a Health Counselor and Behavior Change Specialist to differentiate myself and incorporate this specialties into my business, helping to plan amazing events while also, if they chose to add the service, helping clients to look and feel their best for their event. In March of 2016, I started, “Smiling Through Chaos.” Read more>>

Nalisha Estrellas

I’ve been creating art in one way or another since I was a kid and was fortunate to have encouraging parents who provided me with supplies to explore different mediums. In college I was an art major for only a semester because I found the curriculum a bit suffocating, so I pursued a different degree altogether keeping art as a hobby and eventually a side-gig once I entered the workforce as a 20-something. I worked 9-5s in offices where I could spend my evening hours working on logo designs for clients and drawing/painting as a creative outlet. After years of fine-tuning my skills, and realizing I wasn’t fulfilled by my office jobs, I chose to pursue art full-time with logo commissions and mural gigs while selling my framed originals. Read more>>

Rhiannon Stuiso

When I was 13, I came across a black and white photo of a man sitting on a park bench. It was taken at night and the only source of light was the lamp post near him plus the NYC skyline he was facing. In that moment, I just felt it in my bones that I wanted to create. I wanted to be a photographer. So, since then I never really looked back. I taught myself a lot during my younger years and after high school I got my hands on any photography job I could find, practicing almost every genre of photography there is. And once I began photographing children, babies and families, that’s where I knew I found my happy place. Read more>>

Daniel Ginsberg of Utrain The #1 Booking App for Basketball Trainers

Sure! The journey of Utrain began with my own experiences as a basketball player and trainer. After playing basketball at various levels, including high school, college, and professionally as a 5’9″ point guard, I encountered the challenges of finding quality training and connecting with skilled trainers. This inspired me to create a solution that would make it easier for athletes to access top-notch training. Together with my co-founders, Cade Lemcke and Joseph Toe, we identified the pain points in the existing system and set out to develop a platform that would revolutionize basketball training. We invested our time, money, and effort into building Utrain, starting with extensive research and development to ensure the platform met the needs of both athletes and trainers. Read more>>

Kelly Garcia

By my second pregnancy, I was OVER the maternity clothes on the market! They were uncomfortable, unflattering, and expensive! I had a background in Merchandise Product Development from FIDM so I decided I was going to find a solution to my frustration. After much testing and prototypes, The Momper was born! The Momper is a one-piece that met all my requirements- super soft and comfortable, stylish, versatile for dressing whatever the season and the design is meant to be worn throughout all nine months of pregnancy. As an added bonus, I also created Mompers for children of all ages to match! Read more>>

Celia Milton’s Story

Let’s be honest, most memorable wedding receptions ideally end with whispers of “Wow, that food was amazing!” For years, that was my jam. Right after fire was discovered, I opened an upscale catering company in NJ with my chef/ husband. We were the masterminds of the mousse; the sculptors of the skewers, the creators of the charcuterie. But the pressure of making sure the 200 filet mignons were cooked to different degrees of doneness in a driveway and served at precisely 7:14 pm for maximum melt-in-your-mouth magic? Well, it takes its toll. Everything about that situation lasted about two decades until my enthusiasm for making thousands of teeny tiny hors d’oeuvres every weekend began to wane. One day, after a particularly harrowing event involving a rogue chocolate fountain, two missing oyster shuckers, and a fainting bridesmaid (not my fault, I swear!), I realized there had to be a less frenetic and more authentic way to express my creativity. Read more>>

Nakota Garza

I’ve been a visual artist as long as I can remember. Probably the earliest memory I have of doing art was with my mom when I was 4 or 5 years old. She was always so enthusiastic about my artistic creations, it was a great confidence boost that probably started this whole career. I started my tattooing journey at 18 though. Traveled the world with it and now I’m nestled comfortably in Seattle, Washington Read more>>

Marcia Hoffheins

I actually just attended my 30 year college reunion. This is really where my story starts. I went to a small – all women’s school that – honestly – I had no desire to really go to. However, it was chosen for me – and like with everything in life, it was exactly what I needed – even though I had no idea. I learned to love myself. I learned how to be fully ME and to love myself there. At the same time, I/we learned how to support each other as women. On this small campus full of traditions, rituals and history – we all grew together, supporting one another. In such a small class, we all knew each other. We might not have all been running in the exact same circles – but it was impossible to not be inspired by each other and what we did and did well. Read more>>

Andrea Alonge’s Story

I grew up in a household with parents who were both creative and enjoyed working with their hands. Creativity was encouraged and supported among my siblings and I. When I was about eight, I started sewing with my mother, and making sculptures and doing other forms of art. In high school, I was drawn to ceramics and began working with clay. I continued a ceramics practice throughout my pursuit of higher education, but I felt like I couldn’t reliably maintain working with clay and firing it/ glazing it, etc without a dedicated space. Textiles, however, provided a medium I could work with on a small scale, in my apartment, using machine tools or not, and I started focusing on this form of media as a main feature of my studio practice, eventually receiving my MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2015. Read more>>

Art Paul Schlosser

I was brought up on the Beatles, The Monkees and Comedy and was told by my sisters I could not sing but when I discovered a Rolling Stone record I felt if McJagger could sing why can’t I. When I got older I was in a summer work program that taught us how to be actors and encouraged us to write in our journals. All of us in the group became good friends and sometimes we would pretend to be the Beatles. One friend of mine suggested I write some lyrics.I wrote some he said they were bad but I continues to write anyhow and after I had a class on Edger Allen Poe I caught onto rhyme and rhythm. Around this time or so I asked my Mom for a guitar for my birthday and began to learn and make up songs. But I didn’t start playing live until I was out of a job when I turn 26 and I saw you play your guitar on State street and get money. At first I did cover songs but then someone had me open for them and said play only covers. So I did and after the gig people asked me to play my covers on the street. So I did and made some cassette tapes and people started to buy them and later when CDs came out I sold CDs and sent one to Sly in the Morning and he started playing me on his radio show and I also sent some to Dr Demento and he started playing me. Read more>>

Keenan Powell

I was wrestled to the ground in Chicago, IL. At the age of 15, I was forcibly exiled from Chicago. I currently reside in Kentucky, but I still consider Chicago my home. You can take the child out of the smog, but you can never get the smog out of the child. After wandering in the desert for years and years, I returned to my roots as a creative person. I’m trying, again, To run an Internet Radio Station, to create two or three radio comedy shows and to create some documentaries. Do I feel like I’m not doing anything without over loading myself with projects? You decide, I’m too busy. Read more>>

Stefany Gittleman of The Gold Maze

I am incredibly obsessed with all things media. I have 20+ years experience from The New York Times, MTV, Warner Bros, VP of Advertising for Luxury Link and being a top ranked NWM with the #1 skincare company in the US. I have launched thousands of brands (From Start Up to Multi-Billion Dollar ones) online and cultivated their digital identity & presence. I pride myself on whip smart ideas that pop and I have the ability to bring those ideas to life through a brand socially. Read more>>

Ethan Feider’s Story

I’ve worked in the performing arts nearly my whole life. I Started out doing shows with Missoula Children’s Theatre when their traveling troupe came to my hometown in kelso, Washington. I was pretty much in love with the craft from then on. Shout out to one of my elementary school teachers in Castle Rock, Washington for letting my friend and I put on two person plays during class time as well! Read more>>

Deon Staffelbach’s Story

My name is Deon Staffelbach, and my artist name is Kachina! Kachina! I’m a designer and I create, customize and paint designer toys and make related artwork and collateral based on my toys and other designers creations. Designer Toys are collectable pieces of art that are usually produced in resin or vinyl in small runs with unique characteristics differentiating them between runs. Prices can range from twenty-five dollars to several thousands of dollars for a vinyl or resin art toy depending on the artist and scarcity of the release. Read more>>

Victoria Marmet

My name is Victoria, I was born in Montreal but grew up in France. I moved to the USA when I was 18 to start a new life! After 2 years in Miami, and after graduating from an interior design school, I decided to move to NJ in 2020 to feel closer to Europe. I always wanted to combine my passion for baked goods and design by creating a Parisian boutique bakery where everyone feels at home! Read more>>

Avarex Nj

I’ve been doing music & art since a kid. These are skills that runs through my family bloodline. My grandfathers were singers back in there time also my uncles were Dj’s & rappers. A couple of my aunts, cousins including my mother would sing here & there. Music has been in my household for many years from R&B to Hip hop & a little bit of Pop. The art skill came from looking at graffiti walls in the hoods I grew up in New Jersey. Read more>>

Amy & Sarah

In 2021, we started reading an author’s backlist of books together and having lengthy discussions about the books we read, how they made us feel, and our excitement over reading the next book together. Over the year, our discussions led to a deeper friendship and connection between the two of us in our shared love for books. After reading a Mia Sheridan duet together, our conversation led to a suggestion of starting a book discussion podcast. A few months later our podcast was launched. Read more>>

Gina Marie Agderian’s Story

My name is Gina Marie Agderian. I am the author of a novel titled The Letters in the Old House, and I am the Chief Development Officer of Conrad’s Concessions Events. I started my career in franchise development 13 years ago with an established education franchise brand, and later transitioned to a role with a growing home services franchise brand. During my tenure in franchise development, I wore many different hats, from sales to copywriting to contract management. I’ve always been a very direct person and took a no-nonsense approach to the sales process. It was important to me that the candidate knew exactly what was entailed with owning a franchise, and I wanted to make sure that they were 100% on board. I had no problem telling someone that they weren’t a good fit for the brand, even if it meant losing a deal, and I wanted to make sure we were bringing the right franchise owners into our franchise system. I loved the feeling of helping someone make a life change and start their own business, and I loved watching so many of those folks become very successful and build wealth for their family. Read more>>

Mandy Grotie

I started my journey as an artist in a somewhat unconventional way. Initially, I studied Physiology at the University of Minnesota, aiming for a career in medicine. After spending 10 years in Minneapolis, I moved to Portland, OR, with aspirations of being a full time artist. After a few years in Oregon, I found a job in education and decided to pursue a master’s degree in special education at Portland State University. While working as a special education teacher, I continued to pursue my true passion for creating art, always attempting to bring it into the classroom. Over the past 15 years, my journey as an artist has been vibrant and full of life, much like my artwork. I have developed a unique style that combines bright colors, fluid lines, and a touch of humor or nostalgia. My use of color is bold and expressive, often evoking strong emotional responses. I’ve created using multiple mediums, including graphic design work, merchandise, murals, and woodworking. Read more>>

Tiara Holloway of Vivacious Interior by Tiara

A self taught Interior Designer and painter, Tiara R Holloway is a licensed Interior Designer with a passion for Interior Styling. Tiara has spent the last 13 years learning everything in the Interior Designer industry. At Vivacious Interior By Tiara she offers Full Services Interior design for residential and commercial spaces. Tiara can adapt and translate ideas that are comfortable, captivating and simplicity. You may know her from her work from taking spaces from Drag to Classy and Sophistication, with her company Vivacious Interior By Tiara LLC. Tiara Holloway has created a non-profit org for other Interior Designers. The group is called RVA Design Group. Tiara has over 40 members world-wide and still growing. Read more>>

Verified Youngin’s Story

Always been rapping and around music all my life. I always use to freestyle with my friends and they would always tell me that I should start making music or take it serious i think I recorded my first song at the age of I say maybe like eight or seven in my room I was sharing a room with my older brother at the time, he recorded me but I really made my first song in the year of 2020 or 2021 I was recording songs and never releasing them and I really didn’t start taking it serious till 2022 Read more>>

Karie Engels’s Story

My journey with Basil & Salt began several years ago when my three children were small. I started with a modest Facebook page and gradually began contributing to various media outlets. Over the years, this small endeavor has blossomed into what it is today: a thriving digital website, a print magazine, and an exciting new lifestyle show set to debut this fall on our own Roku TV channel. Like many small businesses, we faced challenges during the pandemic, which slowed our progress for a moment. However, the brand has rebounded with renewed energy and passion. Read more>>

Clara Medalen of Cloudberry Lane Animal Chiropractic

When I first started my schooling for chiropractic, I thought I would be treating both people and animals. That changed when my dog Nero suffered a concussion as a puppy. He was hit in the head with a tennis ball while playing fetch. To adjust a puppy, it only takes the same amount of pressure you would use to test the ripeness of a tomato. The hit on the head was more than enough to misalign his skull bones. He was left with uneven pupils, anxiety and headaches. His eyes would not track together or respond to light in sync. After seeing him recover from that trauma over time and with the help of an animal chiropractor, I knew that I wanted to dedicate all my time and focus on the needs of animals. My goal was to provide a high level of care that rivaled what we see in human chiropractic. That is why we have various ways of measuring pain and progress in our animals. We never want to guess with a pet’s health, instead we use our tools to establish a baseline of health and to track their progress through care. Read more>>

Sarina Byron

Sure! Today, I am a published author and Non-Profit leader. However, I arrived at this point after a decade-long career in Investment Banking and a burning passion for immortalizing my everyday observations on paper. I was born with a passion for the written word and as time went on it became impossible to resist that urge. I started by writing for the United Nations in parallel to my time on Wall Street and moved on to multi-genre articles during the pandemic. Read more>>

Kaylamar

We met during the pandemic, one of the scariest moments of our lives, but it turned into one of the happiest! Being single in a world that was shut down made dating tough, so we embraced the digital age and downloaded Bumble. We swiped right on each other and BOOM—we were a match! On Bumble, the woman has to write first, so I messaged, “Hey Marcus! How are you?” and Marcus replied with, “Better now.” From there, things moved quickly. We exchanged numbers in one day, met in person three days later, and became an official couple in just two weeks. Thanks to quarantine, we were able to spend every day together, as working from home gave us daily date nights. We got creative with our activities, met each other’s friends and family, and everything just clicked! Marcus even asked me to move in with him 30 days after we met in person. Read more>>

Heather Hahn

Lantern Records opened Friday the 13th of May 2022. Olympia, Wa lost a lot of venues and creative spots during the Covid lockdown. We wanted to open a shop dedicated to local music and our creative scene as a whole. We host weekly Lantern Lights in-shop performances, Gallery space for our Artists of the month, and monthly live music shows at our downtown Olympia Timberland Library! Read more>>

Rachel Paverman

My name is Rachel Paverman and I’m from New Jersey. Four and a half years ago when I was 25, a cavernous malformation was discovered on my brainstem. Prior to this, I was living a completely normal life. I had one brain surgery in September of 2019 and suffered a few additional bleeds, which are considered strokes. I then underwent a second surgery in early December, and a third surgery in late December of 2019 which my surgeon called the “Hail Mary” to save my life. Prior to the third surgery, I was unable to talk, hear, see, or sit up on my own. The third surgery removed the rest of the cavernoma and the most severe of the symptoms, but I was left with many deficits. I was released from the hospital in February of 2020 and in March of 2020, the COVID pandemic struck the country which impacted my ability to access rehab and get the outpatient medical care that I required. I started to do a lot of physical therapy at home and started documenting the memories that I had of my surgeries. I also started journaling what life was like for me. About a year later I published this all in a memoir titled To the Abyss. Four and a half years later, I am an advocate for finding a cure for cavernous malformation, the condition that changed my life forever. I volunteer and work closely with an organization called Alliance to Cure Cavernous Malformation. Their goal is to raise awareness and find a cure, but they also have so much information and so many resources such as support groups that mean the world to the community. I’m also working with Ovid Therapeutics who is currently researching possible treatments for cavernous malformation since surgery is currently the only treatment option. Read more>>