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.
Ashley Borys
As someone who has been on my own arduous healing journey, I know what it feels like to experience the darkness. I also know that embracing it helped guide me towards the infinite light that is available to every one of us. Yoga, breathwork, sound healing, and meditation were gifts that helped me recover, and I truly believe that they hold everything we need to make it through. I love connecting with people and empowering them with tools that will enrich their lives for years to come. Read More>>
Brittany Briana
I found my purpose through Christ. My Lord & Savior,
I found purpose, healing, restoration, renewal and direction & many other things.
I just submitted & surrendered fully to God & he does the rest. Read More>>
Forrest Greenslade
My lifepath started and evolved primarily through unexpected opportunities. I grew up in a somewhat poor family, and I was not a stellar high school student. Ass graduation grew close, the HS guidance counselor called me to his office, and said, “Greenslade, what are you going to do with yourself.” I just shrugged. He said, “You have to do something.” I just shrugged. Read More>>
Lindsey Dunnagan
I always loved making art, but it was hard for me to lean into as a career. I was encouraged to be creative for fun, but was told to choose a more practical career. My family knew art was a hard field, where making a secure life seemed rare. I understood their warnings; I also wanted security and independence. I spent a lot of my free time drawing and making things, but when it came to a career, I sought something more traditional that seemed creative: architecture. Read More>>
Madison Marchegiano
In March 2010, two-year-old Colt Walker Catalina tragically drowned while in the care of a relative. When Colt passed away, his death hit me hard, changed my life in so many ways, and left a hole in my heart. He was the cutest, blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby boy I’d ever known. I have so many fond memories of him and miss him every day, especially his winning smile. For years, I’ve had to watch Colt’s family suffer the unimaginable. There is nothing more painful than watching a family go through the loss of a child. Read More>>
Celeste Fernandez
For more than ten years, I followed what seemed like society’s checklist for a “good life.” Top schools? Check. Solid grades and a steady job? Check and check. But amidst the congratulations and nods of approval, there was a quiet voice inside asking, “Is this it?” Read More>>
Jenny Archer
I had chosen to go to physical therapy school primarily thinking I’d become a pediatric PT and get to work with kids all day and was excited to avoid a desk job. But, just before PT school started, I found out I was pregnant. On the same day after getting an ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy, I also found out it was an ectopic pregnancy and would need life saving immediate surgery. Read More>>
Morgan Thomas
I consider myself a very lucky person, because I found my sense of purpose in music at an early age. The story-telling and emotional expression in music held meaning for me in a way that nothing else did. As I got older, sharing my love of music with others became an important part of my life and that continues to this day. Read More>>
Adam Oestreich
Ever since I can remember, I have loved art. I have always enjoyed making art and still have works I made in elementary school. After a year in college not making art, I immediately switched majors to ensure I took art classes. Like many young people trying to make it in the art world, I struggled a lot and felt my work needed to be better. I found my niche in the artwork when I saw the work of William Hawkins. I was immediately humbled. Read More>>
Allison Williams
I uncovered my purpose by paying attention to what consistently came to the surface in my life. For example, being in a position to help always came up whether at work, in school, or in the community. I realized my purpose is to help where and when led to do so. Through my life experiences, I am able to help people in my unique way. Finding solutions to problems and creative problem-solving come easily to me and I enjoy helping people uncover their purpose and strengths. Read More>>
Kenny Williams
I believe I found my purpose after I started doing small forms of content creation, after I figured I could entertain people I knew entertaining others and helping others was my true Purpose on earth. I believe I found my purpose after I started doing small forms of content creation, after I figured I could entertain people I knew entertaining others and helping others was my true Purpose on earth. Read More>>
John Manning
I believe we found our purpose working in the hospitality industry. In that field of business making people happy is the business. If that isn’t your main focus then you are likely to fail. We realize that profitability coincides with making people feel good. We don’t sell products we sell the feeling of nostalgia and joy. Read More>>
Toni O’Dell
As a small business owner myself, I know the importance of support from my local community. I wanted to show my support of local small businesses by creating a shopping event that features talented makers as well as small local boutiques. My purpose in the small business world has always been to support and shop local. Bloom Market allows me to do both while bringing our community together. Read More>>
Amanda Mazzo
In 2020, our small business was fortunate to still have work, although it looked very different. Something internally shifted for me when the visibility of work went away and I started questioning what was left; who am I if I’m not “performing?” Through counseling, reading several books, and participating in the Brené Brown “Dare to Lead” cohort, I learned a lot about vulnerability, courage, and the importance of showing up authentically. Read More>>
Kathy Young
I think “finding purpose” can be a loaded term. It’s positioned as if it’s a defining, all-inclusive, one-time answer that we submit to for the rest of our lives. I say that because it’s something I used to believe for the longest time. It’s even more dangerous to believe that our purpose is somehow directly tied to our vocation (also not true). Read More>>
Tony Wilson
I don’t think I 100% know what my purpose is. I believe what I do is what I wasn’t meant to do, but I’m still so young, I still have a lot to learn and figure out. If being an artist was my purpose then I guess I’ll know for sure when it’s all said and done, but I’m interested in doing other things and I believe I can be just as good as those things as I am with art, for all I know being a videographer was my purpose. But, who knows, I’m just doing what I do best right now. Read More>>
Kendra Y. Hill
Purpose is by far the most elusive thing that exists on this planet. If I had a dollar for every time someone emailed or DM’d me about finding their purpose, I’d be richer than I’ve ever been. “What’s my purpose? How can I find my purpose? Why won’t God show me what I was made for?” It’s like nobody knows what the heck is going on. Read More>>
Serena Carretti
Great question! My purpose, right now, is to be a musician, but I believe I had found only one purpose. I am pretty sure we can have more than one purpose in our lifetime, or even have no purpose at all. Read More>>
Derek Donnelly
I think I found my purpose at a very young age, but may have denied it for many years. I always excelled at creative things growing up and ended up attending a magnet program for arts and high school. The starving artist stigma was still a very real thing in 2001 when I graduated, so there really didn’t seem to be too many options to make a living. Either become a teacher or get lucky enough to be part of the small percentage that would “make it” as a traditional fine artist. Read More>>
Lacey Schmitt
As a young child, creating things brought me so much joy. I think this is what drove me to continue doing it and venture into all kinds of mediums. I love painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, building things from wood, making jewelry and much more. No matter what I was creating, seeing it come together in the final product and knowing that I did that just sparked something in me. My motivation and passion for creating grew and grew with each new finished piece. Read More>>
Nicole Jeffries
I love learning about people… about who they are and why they are who they are, and why they do the things they do. I’ve had that kind of curiosity since I was very young, and it’s only continued to grow stronger. Read More>>
Marlow Fox
Being a real estate agent and helping clients either find a home that feel like a breath of fresh air when they come home fro a long day or finding an investment property that will yield a high return is so fulfilling. I love contributing and creating to our society as well as needed money to live a fun happy life! Read More>>
Hamiczech
When I started with Instagram, I knew from the beginning that it would not be a private account, that I would create it for a purpose. I am an entrepreneur, so why not monetize my experience and knowledge here as well. However, if someone thinks that they can create an account on social networks and immediately become a YouTuber or an influencer without lifting a finger, they are mistaken. Anyone who is successful has years of hard work hidden behind shiny social media photos. And you need to constantly improve and learn new things. Read More>>
William Luvaas
I had no idea what I wanted to do when I graduated from Berkeley years ago. I had been a VISTA Volunteer/community organizer in Alabama after my Sophomore year in college, fighting poverty and racism, and knew I wanted to do something significant with my life. But what? I majored in psychology and thought I would work in mental health. Waiting to be interviewed for a job at the Berkeley Public Health Division, I realized I didn’t want the job and walked out. I moved to the Mendocino Coast and built a shelter in a huge, burned out redwood stump and lived for a year in a magical place we called “The Meadows,” sleeping under the stars and communing with nature. Read More>>
Emily Esparza
Ever since I was little, I have always struggled to find a talent. I would jump around between different talents. To ballet, off-roading sports, skateboarding, and more. I would always get bored of them quickly and move on to another. When I started taking photos, that all changed. I knew I had found my passion from the start. I remember having my first phone; it was a flip phone, and I would always take pictures of the scenery or flowers. My family would always tell me that I have an “eye” for photography. Read More>>
Ava Wolf
I’ve learned over the years that it’s important to connect your values to your work; if you are only going after things to earn success and money, you will burn out quickly. When I think about my purpose as an artist/business owner, I think about human connection, creativity, fighting the patriarchy and self-trust. I want to show others that they can create their own income, their own job, their own business. Read More>>
Courtney Hill
My Tagline is “Bringing back the family meal with simple recipes, using real ingredients, that you’ll actually make.” I love the family and what it means to society. My background is in Family and Consumer Sciences education. I have my Undergrad and Master’s degree on the subject. God’s design for the family is a beautiful thing. It used to be a common thing for families to sit together around the dinner table but now our schedule are often so busy that we barely have time to talk to each other let alone sit down for a meal. I want to teach my audience that cooking at home isn’t impossible. It can be budget and healthy diet friendly as well as time efficient. Read More>>
Yiwa Lau
It was really hard to find my purpose throughout high school and University. Not until I travelled more and went to film school did I find start figuring out what I was meant to do. I went to film school at Beijing Film Academy and really fell in love with storytelling as a visual medium. During that time, I was also volunteering with the asylum seeker community in my spare time. I formed really deep and meaningful relationships through that process. Read More>>
Regina Ippolitova
Last December, I found myself in a place where nothing I did before was working for me anymore, and I had no clue how to build my life in a new way.
To help myself get out of this condition, I started searching for the answers, and not only did I find them, I found my new purpose! Read More>>
Vuyo Joboda
My journey to purpose discovery has been a hope filled one. I discovered my purpose at a young age and I believe God had intended it that way so that I am steadfast in my walk of faith with Him. In 2019 I wrote a book titled ’21’ which I describe as my 21st birthday gift to the world. I wrote this book in the journey of my purpose discovery. In the book I share the challenges, realities and in depth of the exercises and practises that I had to employ during that time to 1. Discover my purpose, 2. to become comfortable with that discovery and 3. to take the unapologetic steps to going wherever that purpose leads me. Read More>>
Lovepreet Romana
I believed that those who are unable to visit and experience the natural wonders should still have some method of experiencing the amazing places. So I started taking pictures of stunning scenery so that my visitors might enjoy those locations. Read More>>
Marshelle Johnston
Our mission at MJ Fit is “inspiring women and children to be strong,” and we realize that means something different to everyone. To me, it means literal strength, like deadlifting 400 pounds. To another, it may be picking her grandchild up without suffering from back pain, or being able to run a marathon in under 4 hours, and we strive to accommodate a variety of goals at our gym. My vision is for the gym to continue growing, where we can open another location within the next 5 years. Read More>>
Nikki Smith
At the age of 2 years old, I started my journey towards discovering my passion for transformation and style. Even at such a young age, I exhibited an innate curiosity and fascination with appearances and personal presentation. Read More>>
Christian Osborne
Finding my purpose has been quite the journey, but I credit my faith for finally being able to walk boldly in it. I had to realize that my passions and purpose were two different things. My passions are fleeting, forever changing, and evolving. Whereas, my purpose, my sole—soul purpose is to glorify God in all that I do. When I met that realization, my walk in my purpose shifted from stagnation to beautiful movement. Read More>>
MEGAN FURBY
With finding my purpose my first step was trusting in God and asking to help me with confidence, to find what I am good at and share my life, beliefs and happiness through that. I thought long and hard about what content creating meant to me and what I get from it. I wanted to show my audience that that there is always someone here for you, that someone cares. Also to show off my creative eye, that is a different point of view and to show that it’s okay to be different. Read More>>
Anita Cordell
I’m not sure exactly. But, I honestly thing that my purpose found me. In multiple ways. I believe in destiny and paths crossing at the right time. But, not just at the right time, your heart has to be open to challenges and change. When your heart is ready for the challenges and change, then the chance comes. That chance is to step into purpose. If we fight the challenges and change, the we most likely will miss the chances that come our way. So, I try and be open to daily moments to embrace. Read More>>
Anavi
My journey took a minute. Maybe all of ours do. However my journey was definitely the quickest path to finding my purpose. I am a fashion Photo Art Director/Photographer. So I don’t just take the picture, I set the whole look and feel. I create mood boards and come up with a strong concept. I often wardrobe style my own shoots or work closely with my stylist. Because I started an an Art Director I learned big picture and tiny detail management all at once. This makes my career exactly right for me, but it was not a straight line. When I look back however it all makes absolute sense. Read More>>
Sammy Kay
It started when I was around 11 years old. The second song I ever wrote was for the family of a young girl named Nevaeh. Her mother was a family friend, but I never got the chance to meet her daughter because they lived in a different state. Nevaeh was fighting a battle against HLH, a rare condition in which certain blood cells build up in and damage organs. Read More>>
Leticia Amaya
It kind of fell into my lap. I thought about going to law school, but I didn’t know why I wanted to do that. I started working at elementary schools while in college as a mentor and tutor. There began my love for education. I started to think about how can I turn this into a career. So, I started asking more questions about it and learning about the classes I had to take. Although I started teaching for a few years, I knew I wanted to do more. I began to perfect my craft as an educator, develop curriculum for the dual immersion program at my school, and take classes. Read More>>
Quincy Lewis
I’d be hesitant to say that I found my purpose. I think I’d be more comfortable saying that my purpose found me. I have been creative my entire life. As far back as I can remember, I’d draw pictures, write stories, record songs and movies. By doing all of these things, my purpose found me. Found me in a position to help others enhance their creativity and inspire others who look like me. Who come from a place like me. Who are forced to overcome educational, financial and political hurdles like me. Often times our circumstance hinders us from being who we really are and my purpose has always been to disrupt that way of thinking through art, creativity and individuality. Read More>>
