JOSH HARTMAN is an educator, creator, and adventurer who thrives on sharing knowledge and inspiring others to reach their potential. With a foundation in elementary education and over a decade of experience as a professional photographer, Josh has blended his passions for teaching, creativity, and connection into a unique journey. From living life on the road for four years in a van to exploring the beauty of Iceland, Romania, and beyond, Josh’s experiences have shaped his belief in the power of growth and exploration. Now based in Traverse City, Michigan, he continues to build meaningful connections through his yoga classes, photography, and creative education at JoshHartman.studio. Whether guiding others to build impactful websites, leading restorative yoga flows, or mountain unicycling down a trail, Josh is driven by a desire to help others find balance, embrace creativity, and live authentically.

VLAD BORZA grew up in Romania, playing outside any chance he had. Immigrating to southern Canada's industrial corridor in the mid 90's, he always sought refuge and adventure in the outdoors. After studying biology in college, he became a middle & high school teacher in Grand Rapids, but found himself traveling up the coast nearly every weekend to take in the Lake. He dreamt of finding a way to live up here. In 2019, Vlad was granted a 1-year sabbatical to study the ecology of a remote Island in Northern Lake Michigan; it was a dream come true. 6 years later, he still serves as the Island's year-round caretaker. In his free time, Vlad has a deep passion for sauna and created the West Michigan Sauna Club in 2015 to help people connect to Michigan's outdoors in every season. He also owns Sleeping Bear Saunas in Traverse City and rents portable sauna tents that can enhance a beachside experience. 

SUSIE GRACE is a free spirit with a creative soul, an eternal adventurer who loves traveling, doing anything active, and trying to catch even the smallest wave. Known for diving headfirst into situations that (often) scare her later, she thrives on doing things her own way. A lifelong learner and maker, Susie pours her passion into everything from skateboarding, repurposing scrap fabric into functional items to crafting sustainable skincare and personal care products for Valor Skincare (her company). She’s deeply connected to our beautiful Earth, endlessly curious about the natural world, picking up trash everywhere she goes, and taking time to appreciate the magic and beauty all around us, and has a knack for living life with intention and joy.

PETE FARMER is the brains behind all Farmer Foot Drum instruments and single-handedly turned his ideas into a full-time business, despite being a self-taught musician, craftsman, and businessman. Pete has been drawn to music his entire life and stumbled in to the world of foot percussion in his twenties. He then started making and playing his own creations for friends and busking on the streets of Seattle, his home town. While he now spends most of his time working in the shop and doesn’t get to play as much music as he would like, he is very fulfilled knowing that his creations are helping others to find their sound and captivate audiences in new ways.

Sam LaSusa is professionally trained in architecture which has led him to focus on community development and municipal planning. His passion is facilitating affordable housing, improving multimodal transportation routes, increasing pedestrian safety, protecting the natural beauty of the area and supporting the local agricultural industry. He finds joy in getting his hands in the dirt, building edible landscaping projects or restoring natural areas. He also helps to supports two of the local farmers markets in the area and enjoys the interactions he has with local agricultural producers. Having grown up in Traverse City, he can often be found hiking on a trail, sunbathing on a local beach or in general enjoying the outdoors with his dog Bean. If you see him swimming in Lake Michigan, he is in his happy place, connected to water.

“I’m Clay Maas, making pottery and teaching ceramics is my jam! The Ceramics spark was lit during my final year of college and that passion is burning even brighter today. Being the co-owner of Clay Space TC allows me to share my love of art and pottery with others. I grew up in a small Ohio town and moved to Traverse City in 2015. My wife, Emily, our daughter Wren and our buoyant doodle Lincoln, the mascot of ClaySpaceTC, are in love with the community we live in. We enjoy hiking, paddling, beach days, brewery visits and rounds of golf throughout Northern Michigan.”

Here is Clay's life story from October 2024 in TC, MI

Heather Spooner is a multi-passionate lettering artist and pen pal enthusiast who shares her journey, projects, and inspirations through her Instagram. Her feed is a mix of vibrant hand-lettered pieces, personal reflections, and updates on her creative endeavors, such as her “Letter League” community (and documentary!) In her writing, Heather often explores topics like embracing change, overcoming unhealthy comparisons, and following passion projects. Prior to art, Heather was teaching fifth grade outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Her time as a teacher and artist were separated by a year living in New Zealand. The year was spent doing odd jobs with and for strangers with no money exchanged. A one way trip in search of joy after being burned out from public teaching, Heather found happiness in the simplest ways and continually seeks ways to share her joy with others. To see more of Heather’s work, you can check out her socials at Ampersand Lettering Lab

https://www.ampersandletteringlab.com/

Chad Lindsey is the Executive Director of City Opera House. Before coming to Traverse City, he helmed The Mark O’Donnell Theater - a black box experimental theater and mixed-use arts and residential building in Brooklyn, NY in association with the Entertainment Community Fund. Chad is an actor, director, and artist. He holds a degree in music from Valparaiso University. He founded Hook & Eye Theater - an award winning devised theater company. On his way to assuming his ultimate form in Michigan, he danced with modern dance companies in Chicago and LA, apprenticed with a furniture designer for six years, won a snow sculpting contest, played a chicken farmer and many cops on TV, choreographed a ballet or two, was in a boy band, and now jumps in the Grand Traverse Bay as much as possible, and bike commutes to work at the Opera House. 

October 2024, Traverse City, MI

SkyeLea is a dynamic force in the local music scene and  brings a unique blend of heartfelt melodies and powerful stage presence to every performance. With a rich and soulful approach to musical storytelling, she captures audiences with her blend of guitar and vocal prowess. As a solo artist and a member if Trillium Groove. And you can most likely find her wondering around or working at The Alluvion.

And if you haven’t seen her dance - Skye brings the light and energy! She spent most of her childhood in a dance studio learning or teaching.

Daniel Sarya is passionate about helping others find their smile. He is the owner of Sarya Orthodontics, a business that has been around for over 50 years.  Growing up in Traverse City, Dan was raised to have pride in his Finnish heritage. All of his ancestors emigrated from Finland, and one of his trips back to visit his relatives with his family he realized that he wanted to bring the traditional Finnish sauna culture to Northern Michigan. So MI Sauna, a mobile wood fired sauna on Lake Michigan was created in 2020 to bring culture, community, care and SMILES to us all!