Stories & Lessons for Finding Your Purpose

Below you’ll find the stories and lessons of some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs, artists and creatives in the community and how they found their purpose.

Nicole Fiorentino

From the time I was a small child I have always been obsessed with animals. I didn’t grow up on a farm but you would think I did because we had ALL the animals we could possibly fit in our house/yard! My Dad fostered my love for animals and would put me in charge of caring for many of them. I had other regular chores and responsibilities but this never felt like a chore to me. I loved it so it came easy and naturally.  Read more>>

Nancy Rivera

Having a purpose in life is an experience that is pleasant and exciting, a new way to live your life more fully. It is a fact that when we live with a purpose, our life flows with less effort. Taking action allows us to pursue our dreams and goals, and it is much more pleasurable for us. That is why each of our actions seems to take on a new meaning. Read more>>

Michael Riley

I grew up drawing in my room, all the time. It was the place I was able to be creative and expressive. I’d draw for hours, and not know where the time went. From a young age I knew I wanted to be an artist and a designer. There were several people in my path that recognized my interest in art and encouraged me to develop my skills. In particular, I’m so thankful for my amazing high school art teacher, John Robinson at Gunn High School in Palo Alto,. Read more>>

roy toft

I believe purpose in life comes through finding a passion. This passion creates a drive to excel and master something. My passion for animals and wild places came early as a boy growing up in Southern California. Going out for the day in our local hills searching for snakes and lizards became my favorite past time. Read more>>

Dr. Joanne Royer, Ph.D., P.C.C.

What a fabulous question to be asked. I am 63 and to be honest, it’s only within the last few years that I have become clear what my purpose is. I believe that finding one’s purpose is a journey and it’s never a straight road from Point A to Point B. I coach my clients that wisdom comes from our low life points, not from happiness.  Read more>>

Michael and Amanda Quinones

We got engaged in 2020 and started looking for a Venue for our Wedding. We couldn’t find anything we loved or envisioned anywhere in Los Angeles. We built an office in our basement with a vision board and planned for two years during the pandemic. Everything we wanted at our Wedding Venue was on this board. Read more>>

Pilar Adara

My love for acting, creating, and screenwriting is inspired by the desire to change the narrative and add more inclusive stories focusing on QTBIPOC experiences. As filmmakers, we have the power to influence the cultural milieu. I create with the passion of humanizing our QTBIPOC community. I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, with a deep love for the arts. Read more>>

Travis Ware

Thankfully, I found my purpose at the young age of 16. Growing up I loved everything about the entertainment industry from events, red carpets, reality shows, etc. I knew that one day I would be on the industry. Didn’t at the time know how it would happened but it happened and when it did it made me happy. It was my safe place and my most comfortable space where I felt I could truly be me. Read more>>

Cielomar Puccio

I’ve always had a love for the arts, especially ballet and combing law and the arts gives me a sense of purpose. I’m helping with their legal adversities those that I feel most connected to, my artist community. Read more>>

Christopher Kennedy

I wanted to be an architect since I was about 10 years old. My dad gave me my first book on Frank Lloyd Wright about that time. I started drawing floor plans and furniture designs as a teenager. In high school. When the guidance counselors would ask me about college, the only schools I would apply for were ones with an architecture program. Read more>>

Cartier Tre’

You can find your purpose in many ways but for me, taking action and analyzing your mistakes is the best way. God leads us through the journey of growth always. I found my purpose by trying everything I was interested in, Along with my brother, Cousin and close friends. Music was always in the back of my mind and just felt right every time I went back to create. Read more>>

Phillip Gazca

Finding purpose was a challenge for me during the early part of my career. Initially, I believed that purpose had to be tied to grand, altruistic endeavors like building wells in underdeveloped countries or funding orphanages. While these are incredibly worthy causes, they didn’t resonate with me personally. Read more>>

Emma Xu

Finding the purpose can be divided into two parts. The first part is what you want to do. To me, the purpose or motivation behind good business goals stems from frustration. These frustrations, whether they’re nonsensical matters, unfair practices, or areas that can be improved, generate me strong, uncomfortable feelings and the desire to make things better. Read more>>

Mary Grace King

The interesting thing about finding your purpose, is how do you know when you have found it? Answering “how did you find your purpose?” infers that I am confident I have found mine, and I’m not, but I do feel purposeful in my career so far, and I am excited to see where it continues to take me. Read more>>

Taylor Smythe

It has been a journey to find, but the foundation of my purpose is my deep, personal faith in God. When I was younger, the conversation was always: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I think as kids we answer that question with whatever seems fun and cool to us at the time, like being an astronaut or a firefighter (or for me, a farmer or a cowboy).  Read more>>

Vishvak Prakkruth

In 2012, I was walking around Cologne, Germany with my friends. we came across a performer – a clown. He was all alone, looking sad. I pulled out my camera and took a picture of him. For many years, I would gaze at the picture of the sad clown wondering what kept him going. Read more>>

Shizuka Kusayanagi

I think we are all born here with a purpose that may look like various things at various points in our lives, and my definition of “purpose” is being your most authentic self within a network of people who are all different. It’s the meandering path of answering that big old question, “Who am I, and what am I here for?” and there is no one answer, but the answer is in the journey of looking for that answer. Read more>>

Margo Scarlett

I found my purpose by reflecting on my childhood trauma, and using it as motivation. After that I searched deeply within myself and I found a camera. Read more>>

Verenice Castillo

My life has been full of changes and challenges. From the time I came to the USA at 16 years from Mexico to the time I married a military member. I was 16 years old when my parents decided to come to the USA. It was my first time having to leave everything behind; my family, my friends, my school… Read more>>

David Martin

I found my purpose once I put GOD first in my life. GOD started to show me, why he created in me. I started serving in my local church just driving the church van, cleaning up the church and would help any kind of way the church needed. Then after a couple of years, I started teaching in the church. That all started in 2012 but if we fast forward to now, I see how it all came together. I was born to serve people.  Read more>>

Danielle Ozymandias

I found my purpose later in life than I expected. I thought I’d have everything figured out by thirty, and boy, was I in for a shock! And then, I figured I’d get it all together by forty, and that deadline whipped past too. I’ve only found my place and purpose in the last few years.  Read more>>

Purvi Shah

I love that question. For me, this is a journey that hasn’t ended and I think I will continue to find different versions of my purpose my entire life. Having said that, let’s start with how it all started and what I do today. I’m a Mixed-Media artist based in Dallas, Texas specializing in creating art that demonstrates human connection with nature as we yearn for moments of tranquility and self-discovery. Read more>>

Taylor Stevens

As cheesy as it may be, I found my purpose through passion. Growing up, I never would have imagined my full time career being an acrobat for one of Cirque du Soleil’s longest running residential shows in Las Vegas, while simultaneously reigniting my passions for music and going after that dream as well. Read more>>

Matt Bahen

I like to make the joke that my autobiography will be titled, “Well, THAT Didn’t Happen!” Funny, but true. Growing up in the 80s, I remember seeing “Top Gun” and immediately deciding I was gonna go to the US Naval Academy and fly fighter jets for the Navy. Well, that didn’t happen. Read more>>

Paulette Kennedy

I’ve always loved books and writing, but I believe I found my purpose as an author due to the evolution of my overall outlook on life. My core values developed from my experiences and from the sense of gratitude with which I learned to approach the world. Read more>>

Shelly Lombard

I had a demanding Wall Street job at a firm that allowed me to work from home which was perfect for raising a family. But after 10 years of working long hours, from my house in the suburbs, while balancing child care, I realized that my network of business relationships had evaporated. Read more>>

Shannon McGorry

Well that’s a weighty question, and yet once you are in that space, it’s anything but weighty…because when you know you know. I found my purpose: By. Turning. Inward. By turning down the noise of the past, the expectations of others, the “shoulds” and “have to’s” of life; By figuring out who I am that’s how and when I found my purpose. Read more>>

Marty Rotella

I find my purpose in motivational retreats. One of the questions that I ask the group is, What is your purpose? We exchange feelings and thoughts. One of my teachings is that our purpose is to love. Love where you are. Love with whom is crossing your path everyday. Read more>>

Harri Magaldi

I found my purpose through a combination of becoming a mother and creating my new company, My Neighbor’s Tallow. As a new mother, I was deeply concerned about my daughter’s eczema and the lack of safe, natural skincare products available on the market. This concern led me to leave my Wall Street career and immerse myself in the local community of the Hudson Valley, where I discovered regenerative farming and the benefits of using tallow in skincare. Read more>>

Dr. Norissa Williams

Finding my purpose had everything to do with my obsession with time. I remember being 8 years old and on the driveway of my cousins’ house. Someone from the neighborhood was driving down the road and stopped. When they realized it was me, they asked how old I was now. Read more>>

Vanessa Necolettos

My purpose fluctuates. My purpose depends on the need. When I think I am being purposeful in one way or another, another door of opportunity opens that I didn’t even know was a possibility. I don’t mean to use metaphors, but it’s true. When I have gone to my fullest potential, something else presents itself. Read more>>

Tyler Scher

Finding my purpose happened by accident to be honest— at least in the beginning.
I have always had a natural skill for art and drawing as a child, eventually leading me to digital art. My experience then expanded into video editing, videography, photography and a list of other media & marketing skills.  Read more>>

Alicia Kern

For years, I would pray and ask God what my purpose was. As a child, my first dream was to become an astronaut. Even when I watched the Challenger space shuttle explode live on TV with my first grade class as we watched in horror as the horrible scene unfolded, I was still determined to be able to “touch the stars” one day. Read more>>

Miriam Altman-Reyes

The drive to make a positive impact on the world was always an important family value. My Jewish mother taught us tikkun olam, the concept of repairing the world by advocating for social justice. An attorney, my mother lived tikkun olam by example as she was an advocate for equity of women and people of color in the legal profession. Read more>>

Kimberli Davino

When I was diagnosed with endometriosis, I realized I was made to help others. Whether they were struggling with endometriosis themselves, or were dealing with something entirely different, I just felt this pull to be available to those who felt alone. When I started sharing my endometriosis journey, a lot of people reached out to me, telling me it was so helpful to hear my story.  Read more>>

Brad Alden Mowry

Finding my purpose started by coming to the end of myself at my lowest moment.
I have been a musician my entire life – initially playing in rock bands, and pop bands, and funk bands – that means tours and late nights in clubs, hotels, bars, & venues & eventually moving to Los Angeles in pursuit of a recording/touring career.  Read more>>

Sheena Patel

Yoga. Yoga gave me the tools to allow me to walk into things that felt very uncomfortable. Tools to be aware of all the doors opening to me everyday and then have the courage to walk through them, to see where they would lead me. However, most importantly, yoga taught me to meditate, the place where I just listened to what my conciousness, by true self was telling the human me. Read more>>

Nik Libby

I found my purpose quite unexpectedly during my teenage years. At 15, I picked up an old timepiece at a garage sale out of simple curiosity. That moment sparked a profound passion for vintage watches. The intricate craftsmanship and rich history behind each watch fascinated me, and I knew I had found something truly special. Read more>>

CoCo Wade

If there is one thing I know about my existence, is the fact that I was born to sing. I’ve literally been belting out harmonies since early on. My first public appearance as a singer was during kindergarten graduation. A classmate and I were chosen to sing “Greatest Love of All” as a duet. We truly nailed it and got a standing ovation. Read more>>

Blanca Chivichon

Finding my purpose has been a journey that has unfolded and continued developing over the years. It took a deep exploration of my passions, spirituality, and all of my artistic endeavors to find the ways I can contribute to the world. I have found that my purpose is to inspire, create art, connect with others, bring light and positivity into the world and others’ lives. Read more>>

Lil Prince Charmin

At 2yrs old I saw the movie Get On Up and fell in love with Mr James Brown. I have watched every video or documentary and commercial Mr Brown has ever done. At the age of 6yrs old I told my mom, “Momma back in the day when I was 2yrs old I discovered I had James Brown’s legs and I need to show the world these legs” and my mother has been on a mission every since to help me make my dreams come true. Read more>>

Allisha Minor-Gaines

There are several experiences that led me to finding my purpose in wanting to work with couples to build healthier relationships and eventually women who struggle with relationship and dating issues. I remember starting as a pre-teen helping my grandmother along side her children and my cousins to help care for my grandfather who had a progressive stage of Alzheimer’s. Read more>>

Gracey Leep

As a kid, I always strived to want to include everyone and share kindness. I was adopted as a baby and the pain of rejection always followed me throughout my childhood and never wanted others to feel left out. Alongside that, I grew up in a family that always encouraged creativity and seeing the world differently. Read more>>

Alex Luster

I had to dig for this answer, but I realized my purpose by connecting the dots. It is to tell stories through video and photography, highlighting unique narratives by everyday people from all walks of life. Today, I co-own The Storyhive, where we create documentaries and animations for various clients. Read more>>

Sushila Love

In my experience, purpose is something that is continually reevaluated throughout one’s journey. At times, I’ve felt like I “should” follow a particular path, but once I start moving that way, something in my periphery piques my interest and pulls me in a different, unplanned direction. However, the through line for me has always been service. Read more>>

Marie Gonzalez

In July of 2020 I made eye contact with myself in the mirror for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. We all brush our teeth, brush our hair, check out our outfit in the mirror every day, but how often do we stop and look ourselves in the eye? When I did, I couldn’t believe what I saw. An exhausted “old” woman was staring back at me!  Read more>>

Orestia Shestov

For many, many, many years – too many years (way too many to count) – I felt aimless, rudderless, hapless, and adrift. I deftly went through three husbands, two bankruptcies, four evictions, and one, 6-month stint in a uniquely draconian rehab facility in New Mexico. I was 31 years-old with an associates degree in marketing from community college and I hated myself. Read more>>