Finding & Living with Purpose

Over the years we’ve had the good fortunate of speaking with thousands of successful entrepreneurs, artists and creatives. Some are happy, some are not. The happy ones almost always had a strong sense of purpose and so we are very focused on trying to help our community members and audience find their purpose. This series is our attempt to create more dialogue around finding your purpose.

Niceli Portugal

My journey to find purpose has been long and deeply informed with experiences as an immigrant. Born and raised in Peru, where I initially studied Psychology and didn’t see a clear path ahead. It wasn’t until I arrived in NYC and became undocumented that I began to understand the deeper ways in which I could serve and create community. Working in a restaurant alongside newly arrived immigrants, I found myself connecting with people who shared similar struggles like accessing healthcare and continuing education. In community I found encouragement navigating a world where we were often invisible and our voices unheard. It was during this time that I realized the power of shared experience and the strength found in community. Read more>>

Angela Grant

I found my purpose from undergoing a ton of trial and error. For years I sat on desks, yearning for more, hoping for more and ultimately trusting my gut to leave the comfy positions I had, and search for it – however challenging that proved to be. I would say my intuition was the one constant that guided me the most. I felt unfulfilled in the corporate life and knew that my full talents were not being utilized. I found a coaching program that ultimately helped me define my values, something I had never really dived too deeply into and from there, I found a shortcut to my purpose – which ultimately included both coaching and managing content creators. It turned out to be an extension of everything I had learned in my career, adding in some organization and coaching elements and from there – attracting the right people into my circle. Read more>>

Sherry-ann Zepherin

There was a time in my life when I felt a deep sense of discontentment. I wasn’t happy with where I was, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to life than what I was experiencing. In the midst of that dissatisfaction, I began to pray and seek God earnestly, asking Him to reveal my purpose. I didn’t know it at the time, but God was already at work, preparing me for something greater. Read more>>

Tehya Tournier

I’ve always felt a deep calling to help others, inspired by my parents, family, and friends. From a young age, it brought me a sense of hope and purpose. My mom was always volunteering for ‘Make a Wish’, my family was known for being a helping hand, and my sister even founded her own non-profit at 13 years old, ‘Furries 4 Fosters’, inspired by our family being a foster home and adopting my younger brother. Read more>>

Dawon Jones

It started when I had a family member start a similar business in my late teens. I just graduated from high school in June and I was waiting to go off to boot camp for the Marines that October. My family member asked me if I would like to help him out for the summer until I left. I wasn’t going to be doing much until that time so I agreed to help. When he started his business he had contracts and agreements lined up with certain companies as well as some personal relationships he had with friends and co-workers. Through the process I began to realize that I really enjoyed what I was doing. There were times he would even leave me there to do the work and have me in charge because of my eye for doing the assignments. Read more>>

Leslie Colburn

When I lost my mom to cancer at the age of twenty-seven, it felt as though the world beneath me had shifted, leading to a profound sense of loss and uncertainty. My mom’s words of encouragement had always been a guiding light in my life, a beacon that assured me I was valued and loved. Her absence left a void that was overwhelming, and I found myself questioning my purpose. Read more>>

Cecily Witt-muhammad

I like to say that my purpose found me. In one way or another, I’ve been coaching my entire life. As a teen, I would get accused of “trying to tell everyone what to do”. LOL The truth is, I could see things differently and always wanted to offer a solution. Strategizing has been in me since I was young. That decision-making property has transferred into my careers in education, human resources, and life coaching. Read more>>

La Toya Randolph

Since I was a little girl I would pray to own a business, but I never knew what kind of business I wanted to own. In my early 30’s I decided to go back to school to become a dental professional where I worked in the dental field for 11 years. When COVID came about I was temporarily laid off until dental professionals were able to go back to work. Once I was able to return to work things started to get stressful to the point I realized I wanted to work for myself. I would pray about it. One day God answered my prayers. That’s when I decided to step out on faith. I took classes to learn how to do microblading and lash extensions. That’s when I realized I have a niche for beauty. After I got certified. I went to get all my licenses so that I was able to open my business. I’m now living in my purpose. I love helping people feel their best. Knowing that I can give my clients a new look to boost their confidence, making them feel pampered, or offering advice on how they can bring out the best look in themselves, it’s extremely rewarding. Read more>>

Elizabeth Unger

To be honest, for a very long time I felt lost about my purpose. I vividly remember writing a long list of career options when I was in my 20s, desperately searching to find a job that would encapsulate all the things I wanted to do. Adventure, freedom, and making an impact were things that I deeply desired for myself. How to achieve those things and create a sustainable livelihood…I wasn’t sure. With a lot of careful consideration, I began to pursue a career in photojournalism and honed those skills during a graduate program at NYU. It was during those years that I received my first grant from National Geographic Society for a photojournalism project based in Japan and Brazil. Read more>>

John Richards

When I look back, I see that my purpose revealed itself from several angles, each one building on the other. The first was a deep-seated desire to be around people. For over 30 years, I lived my life on stage, in front of crowds, promoting tourism, and working in customer-facing roles. It was in these interactions with friends I hadn’t met yet, that I found my energy, my joy. Read more>>

Nemanja Zdravkovic

From a young age, I was always curious and liked to explore my thoughts and the world around me. I wanted to express myself and, being a visual person, I chose photography as my medium. I officially started photography in my early 20s. Before I had a camera, I was already fascinated by the details in architecture and my surroundings. This is how I found my purpose through photography.

After that, I fell in love with photography, and that passion has never left me. It keeps pushing me to learn more and grow in my craft. Read more>>

Veronica Chiang

How I found my purpose was something that I wasn’t even looking to find. I kept trying to do new things. Kept trying to accomplish what I thought would be my next big break. But as time went on, the more I tried to accomplish that and to find my purpose, the more I failed to know what that was.

But failure was not an option for me, So I kept trying to change my perspective of things and take opportunities as it comes and as of today, I can say, that, that has paid off. Read more>>

Peter Malone Elliott

Growing up as the son of a NY Times bestselling novelist, I think it’s pretty fair to say that I had the magic (and the absolute vitalness) of storytelling baked into my DNA. From a very early age, it was instilled in me that exploring the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of the human experience through storytelling was one of the most rewarding professions that a person could pursue. Watching my mother write, edit, and put books out to market—and then have the joy of sharing them with hundreds of thousands of readers—was truly the best education that an aspiring scribe could have. I learned what it truly takes to become a successful, self-sustaining writer—and the amount of tenacity, self-discipline, and will-to-succeed that you need to possess. Suffice to say, I was hooked—it was inevitable that I ended up becoming a creator of some stripe. It was more a matter of determining what medium I wanted to enter into! Read more>>

Tobi Liston

I’ve moved around to different cities for most of my life. From early childhood, my single mom did her best to provide for me, and while she cared for me deeply, stability was something that often felt just out of reach. As a result, I switched schools frequently—private, public, even boarding school. From one city to the next, I was constantly thrust into new environments, meeting different groups of people. Read more>>

Gabriel Jonas

In my humble opinion, lack of purpose comes from a lack of love and support: an insufficient dose of bold supported experimenting within the environment we are in, and a fear of listening to our inner voice. Support, and resilience better show up at the party, because the number of mistakes we will do in the process might discourage us from taking the choices that will truly bring us to who we are supposed to be. Read more>>

Lynn Hurley

Finding my purpose was less like a dramatic movie montage and more like losing my car keys—it was there all along, just hiding under a pile of life’s chaos.

As a kid, I spent countless hours on the floor with crayons, sketching scenes from my wild imagination. I didn’t call it “art” back then; it was just fun. Fast-forward to adulthood, and the world started shouting, “Be practical!” So I tucked my creativity away like an old sweater I thought I’d outgrown and chased “serious” things—degrees, jobs, societal approval. Spoiler alert: none of them fit. Read more>>

Anant Jain

I was severely dyslexic as a child, 9,p,b,and q all these letters and numbers appeared the same to me. I could never draw a ‘5’ till I was eight years old, ascending and descending order questions frightened me. So obviously school and math were a difficult place. I ended up spending a lot of my time by myself, often with a sketchbook.

Sketching became an escape, escape from the boring classes. The tree outside, the couple standing under it, and all the distractions out of the four walls of the classroom were my subjects. I have always been super observant, thanks to how less I used to speak and how much more I used to listen. Read more>>

Rachel Louisme’ Rogers

Discovering my purpose has been a transformative journey. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a pediatrician, driven by a desire to help young people. I pursued a Biology Pre-Med degree, but by the time I graduated, I felt exhausted and unprepared for the rigors of medical school. This led me to ask, “What’s next?” Read more>>

Mame Fremah Bonsu

I have found purpose by staying dedicated to the things that give me a sense of fulfillment. I love skateboarding and I also love storytelling in its various forms. I spend my time skateboarding, teaching skateboarding, writing and recording music

I have also found purpose in moving forward despite not having clarity on my destination. Spending time in spaces that weren’t in line with my sense of fulfillment helped to clarify my purpose. There were times during which I tried things with the intent to earn a living, but discovered that they were taking from other enriching parts of my life experience. Read more>>

Pebbles Prince

Well it’s funny, I’ve come to realize that I didn’t find my purpose, my purpose found ME. Growing up I’ve always encountered very supernatural things. Halloween was ALWAYS my favorite holiday, I’d see spirits and I’d have dreams that would always seem to come true. I would always know how things would play out and I realized that if I centered my thoughts on something, I’d actually get it. My grandma, whom passed away 3 years before I was born actually revealed herself to me. She led me to her obituary in my dads drawer and I want to say about a week later I started seeing her around the house. I’ve encountered people in my dreams after after they’ve passed away and they’d tell me things that were actually TRUE.  Read more>>

Steven Salerno

The purpose in my life presented itself at a very early age. Like having a seed within just waiting for me to water it! Beginning when I first picked up a pencil as a young child I found the action of drawing came as a very fluid, natural process for me. I could easily draw what I saw or imagined in my mind. I remember when I was 8 years old the teacher handed out paper, brushes, and a little watercolor tray kit to all the kids in the classroom with instruction to paint whatever we wanted. About a half hour later she strolled past each of the students at their desks reviewing their artistic efforts and making encouraging comments. She halted beside my desk and stared at the painting I had made from my imagination of a tropical island with palm trees, beach, and surrounded by ocean and sky. She then looked at me with a very quizzical look on her face. Without saying a word the teacher grabbed my painting and abruptly left the classroom. Read more>>

Nas’tassia Simpson

This is an ongoing question that I have and choose to answer daily- but I would say the most important aspect of determining your purpose is to give yourself one. I think it’s a practice for many of us to look outward to discover what our purpose is, but in reality, it’s a task that you must give yourself if it hasn’t already been done for you. In some countries, children are placed through various assessments to determine what skills they are strongest at, and find out which of them may need more practice. Read more>>

April Vuong

Growing up, I was captivated by fantasy-kung fu (wuxia) movies—the superpowers, the ability to heal through energy work. What stood out to me wasn’t just the action but the underlying message of harnessing one’s inner power. While society viewed it as fantasy, a part of me always felt it was real, even if I couldn’t explain why. Read more>>