Most Interesting People 2015: Marika Shioiri-Clark and Graham Veysey

WHY THEY'RE INTERESTING: Shioiri-Clark and Veysey don't shy away from big ideas, instead the couple bear-hugs them. Whether they are purchasing the 1854 relic Ohio City Firehouse and whipping its falling-apart walls and wooden beams into a live-work space for themselves, Rising Star Coffee Roasters, Urban Orchid and several independent businesses, or you know, revitalizing a part of Ohio City they've dubbed Hingetown, there's nothing this duo won't tackle together.

SECOND LIFE: Veysey was searching for a space he could both live and work in — he's also a video producer — when a broker approached him and took him on a tour of the long-shuttered Ohio City Firehouse on West 29th Street. Veysey stepped out of the two-story building and immediately called Shioiri-Clark, who was studying architecture in Boston. "I said, 'I'm just walking out of this really cool place, but it's too big and it just doesn't make sense for what we want,' " Veysey says. But when the two looked over the blueprints later, they saw its potential and closed on the building in 2011.

SAFETY FIRST: When Veysey and Shioiri-Clark moved into the firehouse, the surrounding properties were vacant aside from Man's World bar in the Block building across the street. "At first, I was like, Oh God, this neighborhood doesn't feel that safe," Shioiri-Clark says. "My car was broken into a few times when we first moved here, and we had a lot of drug dealing that would happen on the corner." They ended up buying the Block building and closing the bar.

CONNECTIVE TISSUE: The duo welcomed seven businesses — including Kutya Rev Ohio City Dog Haven, Cleveland Tea Revival and Harness Cycle — last year. Since then, a July Cleveland Museum of Art concert series called Ohio City Stages and the Hingetown Sunday Markets hosted by Cleveland Flea founder Stephanie Sheldon has drawn thousands to the street. "It's become a little village within Ohio City, which is great," says Veysey.

EAT UP: After a friend had a great experience at a Detroit potluck-style dinner where hundreds gather to discuss community projects and entrance fees go to the winning idea, Veysey and Shioiri-Clark decided to try it here. The couple hosted the first Cleveland Soup at their apartment in August and were surprised when 100 people showed up. They asked each person to consider a $20 donation and were able to hand $2,000 to the evening's winner, Rust Belt Riders. "We're just going to see if we can do it in a super grassroots way, and if it will catch on," Shioiri-Clark says of the quarterly event.

FAR AND AWAY: The couple is recently engaged and planning their wedding in Marfa, Texas — a southwestern town with a population of fewer than 2,000 people. Neither Veysey nor Shioiri-Clark has ever been there. "It just seemed like a really cool, artsy place," Shioiri-Clark says. "So why not?"