Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly, but so often folks live life without thinking about their purpose. We believe that thinking about your purpose and trying to identify what it might be is one of the most impactful things you can do to level up your life, career, and general level of happiness and fulfillment. Having a sense of what your why is will help you become a better decision maker which inevitably will improve your life. Below, you’ll find some interesting discussions, stories and perspectives around find your purpose.
Robyn Von Arx
Playing Bilbo Baggins in a musical version of The Hobbit at age nine helped imbue me with a deep sense of purpose. As stood alone on the stage, in front of a South Florida audience of about 1000 people, I first realized the power of storytelling. Read more>>
Shelly McCallister
I’ve always been drawn to capturing moments since I was a child. I remember playing with my parents’ old camera, taking pictures of anything and everything around me. As I grew older, I realized that photography wasn’t just a hobby; it was a way for me to express myself and tell stories. Read more>>
Jordan & Princess Glover
we find our purpose through understanding. too many times people go through life and stay mundane. we have been victims through that as well but when I (Jordan) was introduced to podcasting it was a breath of fresh air. before that, I was a DJ behind a group of artists, and it’s going to sound crazy but I know my star power. Read more>>
Josie Howe
It was the middle of my third year at the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), with just a couple of weeks left in the quarter. I was enrolled in three studio classes, one of which was Stop-Motion 1. Prior to this course, I had zero experience with puppet fabrication. Read more>>
Gina R. Briggs
My life changed forever on August 12, 2021. This was the day of my first prenatal appointment, and the day I lost my daughter to miscarriage. There was nothing I wanted more than to be a mother. I had planned and prepared and followed all the “rules;” I had changed my diet, tracked my cycle, and even tried acupuncture though I can barely sit through the flu shot. Read more>>
Lisa Watson
My journey to finding purpose began with a realization: I wasn’t living as my authentic self. I felt constrained by disempowering beliefs and fear-based thinking that had accumulated over the years. Read more>>
Julie Kennedy
I learned to turned my challenges into acts of service that would help others in similar situations. Read more>>
Mackenna Allard
Growing up I always knew I loved art, I never thought I could be a “real” artist unless I could sustain myself by doing it full time. I pursued so many artistic careers but always ended up back in a stiff workplace where creativity lacked and was the last priority. Read more>>
CJ Spann
I found my purpose through drag. My purpose is to encourage and uplift others through my art form. Realizing how great it felt to perform for people and have them feel lively mad me want to do drag almost everyday! Read more>>
Veronica Thomas
Finding my purpose wasn’t easy. It took many years for me to understand what my purpose even was. Unfortunately, I grew up not fully comprehending the things that had happened to me as a child. Read more>>
Chawin Piriyagagul
I found my purpose through a journey of exploration and self-discovery. Initially, I experimented with various hobbies and creative outlets, but photography stood out to me. I spent time learning and practicing, taking courses, and seeking feedback from mentors and peers. Over time, I realized that photography not only allowed me to express my creativity but also brought joy and meaning to my life. Capturing and sharing moments that resonate deeply with both myself and others solidified my passion and purpose in photography Read more>>
Shantel Sheeka
It’s been a long journey. As a child, I was always so interested in photography. The art, beauty and story that can be captured in a single photo captivated me. And there’s something about a candid photo that captures raw emotion that just gets to me. However, I never thought it would be a career that would sustain a living financially, so I went into teaching preschool. I taught at schools where a certain percent of children were statistically ‘at risk’ of failing in the future because of their current environment/circumstances, ie, living in poverty, parent incarcerated, mental illness etc. It was extremely rewarding and has taught me so much about myself, patience, understanding and giving grace. Read more>>
Jerome Forde
If a “purpose” is something you feel is worth doing, just for its own sake and nothing else, then music has definitely been one for me. Since I can first remember hearing it, music has affected me in a really strong way. Music is like a language. It speaks to you. But on a deeper level than ordinary ways of speaking can handle. Music has never been something I had to try and be interested in. Never even had to think about it. It just came naturally, like an instinctive reflex or something. Read more>>
Jordan Moore
I was one of the rare ones who knew from a very young age what I wanted to do. as far back as 10 years old, I was shooting my own movies with the home video camera. Some of my earliest memories are of me pretending to film people on the playground with a camera I made out of a goldfish box. My ambition to become a filmmaker only grew once I discovered TCM (Turner Classic Movies) on cable. I would watch all of the old classics during the hot summers in Arizona while there was nothing else to do. most of my early short films were me emulating the old movies I had seen. Read more>>
Nubian Traxx
In all of my coaching sessions – I often describe finding one’s purpose, by encouraging you to reflect on your childhood pursuits. As children – we are specifically drawn to the very outlets, spaces, and theme’s, that foreshadow our purpose. These pursuits A.K.A your passions – often times than not, will travel with you through to adulthood. Whether that be singing, culinary arts or philanthropy work – recognizing your passions for what they are, is the first key to understanding your potential and unlocking your success as an individual. Read more>>
Shima Toyserkani
I had a very non-linear path into the field of interior design. As a young kid, I immersed myself in various forms of artistic expression. I spent a decade of my life honing my skills as a violinist, finding solace and creativity in the intricate melodies and harmonies. When I wasn’t playing music, I was on the ice, where figure skating became another outlet for me to express myself physically and artistically for a period of 4 very passionate and devoted years. Beyond music and skating, I found joy in painting and drawing in my free time since discovering this talent as a young child. Whether it was capturing the beauty of nature or experimenting with abstract forms, art became a vital part of how I interpreted and communicated my emotions and ideas. Read more>>
Valerie Ruha
I’ve been organized my whole life. I just thought that was normal. I had been working in marketing for over 20 years and then COVID hit. I had a great job but going through a pandemic made me start thinking more about what makes me happy and what I want to do for the rest of my life. I knew for years that I wanted to become a Professional Organizer. As a kid I loved spending time in my room organizing my drawers and redoing my closet. This ability resonated with me my whole life. I love organizing my home and found organizing as a way to destress as well. Read more>>
Sennika pressley
The way I found my purpose is noticing how I put my all into my work. The anticipation of getting your customers/supporters reaction when you release new work. Finding your purpose is a major part of life and many people do not like talking about the many failures it took to get to your full potential. Read more>>
Melanie Brock
My background has been a journey. When I started college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I took a wide variety of courses trying to find a major that stuck. I ended up eventually deciding on business and I graduated with my Bachelors degree in Business Management. I then entered the workforce for a few years. Eventually I decided that I should build some more specific skills so I got a certificate in project management. Read more>>
Ashli Ellis, Kassidy Martin, Haley Martin
We are three sisters who just wanted to take our interests and connect with others to try and contribute to their lives in a meaningful way. We love supporting our community and offering affordable spirit wear and other items that bring people joy. We value gratitude and giving back, and running these boutiques has given us the opportunity to do so in many different capacities. We get to make a lot of connections with others and surround ourselves with a lot of positive people which brings us a lot of joy. We are super close and being able to work together, be creative and laugh all the time gives us a great sense of purpose and happiness! Read more>>
Sarah Ploeg
How did I find my purpose? I don’t think I found it. I think it was in me all along, a part of me from the moment I became a sentient person. I honestly can’t remember ever not wanting to be an artist. One of my earliest memories is sitting at the coloring table in the church nursery and one of the ladies asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was an innocent question an adult asks a kid but in my little mind, already in love with paper and crayons and pencils, I knew that I wanted to be an artist. That I already was an artist. Nothing else stuck with me quite as much as the creative arts, not soccer or ballet, singing or clarinet. Being an artist has been the singular constant thing about me for my whole life, the one passion that has never, ever left me even if I tried to abandon it. Read more>>
Brianna Walsh
For most of my life, my purpose was clear to me from a very young age. For example, in kindergarten, I said I wanted to be an art teacher. I wouldn’t know that my lifelong clairvoyant and psychic experiences were part of my purpose until recently. But I essentially always knew I was born to make art and help others. However, I questioned my life as an artist in my twenties. I ended up dropping out of two art colleges three times total due to undiagnosed Bipolar 1 and C-PTSD. These experiences, along with my spiritual awakening, were blessings in disguise because I then started Kinetic Auras and offered my aura drawings to the public. Read more>>
Jordan Kasedy
Every journey is trial and error but you have to trust the process. I always knew I wanted to be involved in music and that I was very passionate about events, content production, and working directly with artists/creatives. It took some time to figure out what exactly that looked like, but by blending the things I was most passionate about I found music marketing. Understanding what I love has been instrumental in shaping my career choices. Read more>>
Hidalgo Daley
I found my purpose when I saw how my music inspired others to do music Read more>>
Stanley Bostwick
I think finding purpose is something that a lot of people struggle with right now. I know from experience it can be easy to fall into a place waiting for purpose to find us instead of looking for it actively. For me, to get out of that place, it was instrumental to get to know myself. I know too many people that have incredible potential that aren’t comfortable with themselves. I had to learn who I was and who I wanted to be. Then it’s a daily struggle to become that person. Ultimately I believe we must each decide what kind of influence we want to have on the world, and decide for ourselves how to accomplish it. It’s always been my goal and purpose to make the world a little bit of a better place. I spent a lot of time wondering how to do it or even being upset that I haven’t been able to do anything based on the limitations I placed on myself. Read more>>
Lili Arnold
Finding my purpose has actually been a journey of my purpose finding me. I spent many of my early adult years trying to fit a mold of what others expected of me, to choose a more stable career, to convince myself of what I “should” be. After the growing feeling of inauthenticity became too heavy to shoulder every day, I began to explore my truest creative self. This began by way of experimentation and exploration with different mediums and subjects. Though I didn’t have the freedom to dive in full-time (still had to make a living!), I was able to begin satisfying the creative spark that continued to grow as I kept moving through my “weekend art projects”. Read more>>
Liz Steffes
Driven by a desire to empower others after overcoming a challenging personal experience, I founded Rise & Ride Ranch. For almost six years, I endured an abusive relationship that left me feeling depleted and lost. With the unwavering support of my husband, Carson, I found the strength to break free and embark on a path of healing. Our first step was welcoming Charlie, our Clydesdale , into our lives. Charlie, much like myself, carried the scars of past trauma. Together, we formed an unbreakable bond, our shared experiences fostering empathy and resilience. This journey ignited a passion within me to help others overcome similar struggles. Read more>>
Letta The Queen
After years of being a closeted child and preteen who grew up in church in a little costal city, Belfast, in the state of Maine, and always feeling out of place, I knew from a young age I wanted to make a change and difference in the world. I just didn’t know how, and what that would look like. When I came out of the closet my sophomore year of High School, I found a calling for advocacy work for the lgbtqia+ community, and joined the Belfast Area High School Gay Straight Trans Alliance. I was soon introduced to RuPaul’s Drag Race, and as theatre kid, I knew I had to try Drag. I found myself playing a drag character in my Senior Year One Act Competition in High School and I won Best Actor in the One Act play in the reginal level. Read more>>
Jessica Wilson
Finding my purpose wasn’t easy and I still think I have more to discover. Throughout my life, health and wellness have played a huge part. I have always been interested in healthy foods, how to make unhealthy things healthy, how to help others change their eating patterns and heal my body through foods. It wasn’t until a few years ago that it all click for me. “Why am I here?” “What am I here to do?”… I felt as if I was constantly asking myself these questions. Right before the pandemic first hit I started a meal prep company as a side business. Honestly not thinking I would ever make money from it but more of a passion project getting healthy, whole food plant based meals to people who wanted them. Read more>>
Christopher Rhodes
Truthfully, it feels more like my purpose found me. I knew from a young age that I wanted to entertain people. It’s always brought great joy to me, making people smile or laugh. When I first found “the stage”, was in middle school theatre class where I knew for a fact that I would be an actor one day. As I grew, that vision changed to Stand-Up Comedian then to Movie Star. I put those dreams somewhat behind me as I ventured into the world after high school, deciding I didn’t want to spend my youth chasing fame in some hotshot city. I wanted to experience life like a “normal person”. Venturing deeper into that “normal person” life, half-thought decisions and consequences began piling up. Read more>>
Jessica Vadovicky
Finding my purpose has been an incredible journey, one that beautifully intertwined with becoming a mother. On the day I graduated with my psychiatric mental health degree, I also welcomed my first child into the world—a day that marked the beginning of two profound paths in my life. I’ve always been drawn to the medical field, driven by a desire to help others. While initially contemplating a career in medicine, my decision to prioritize family life led me to nursing. It was during nursing school that I discovered my true passion lay not just in the science, but in the stories and experiences of the people I cared for. My interest in psychology as a hobby evolved into a calling when I encountered patients facing mental health challenges and witnessed the stigma they endured, even within the medical community. Read more>>
Fabian Magana
I was fortunate enough to find my purpose by exploring my interest, taking a lot of risk and turning my failures into lessons , Read more>>
Kayla Weber
When I was growing up, my father unfortunately became among the first of the victims of the opioid crisis. He was in active addiction on and off starting when I was four years old until he died of an overdose in 2006 when I was 15. Growing up with a parent who is an addict is hard enough, but losing them during an important part of your growing up comes with another mixed bag of challenges. I struggled with my grief as I was trying to grow up and experience the normal things that teenagers do. I was fortunate to have a deep connection with nature, my version of religion and spirituality, and an incredibly important group of friends to help get me through the thick of it. Read more>>
Erna Toepfer
My father is a multifaceted artist, so from a very young age I have always been surrounded by art and spent a lot of time painting and drawing. Following the path of illustration came naturally to me. Illustration also allows me to give voice or talk about issues such as nature conservation, respect for animals and equality among humans, issues that have always sensitized me a lot and with which I wanted to contribute in some way. Read more>>
Diane Covington Carter
How did you find your purpose? I am an award-winning writer, but if someone had told me early in my life that I would become one, I would have told them they were crazy. As a Freshman at UCLA, age 17, a teaching assistant in my freshman English class wrote all over my papers in red ink and gave me grades like C-. I had never received a C- in my life. I decided that I was a terrible writer and would avoid all English classes or any others that required writing.That worked for the first two years when I was taking basic requirements. But in my junior year, when I began taking classes that required writing papers, I felt terrified. By chance, I stumbled across a place on campus called the “Learning Skills Center”. I crept in and talked to a nice man and burst into tears, crying out, “I can’t write!” He handed me a box of tissues and listened. Read more>>
Wuyang Yu
I consider myself a lucky person. From a very young age, I realized that I was good at drawing, and this kind of creation give me a sense of fulfilling and enjoyable. At the same time, my family supported me in my choice. When I was 12,they sent me to art school so I could start the professional training in painting . I chose illustration as my specialization for my master’s degree. I decided to become a freelance illustrator instead of being a teacher or working in a design company after I graduated in 2015. So I tried to look for opportunities to work with publishers or magazines, and to choose projects I am interested in. Fortunately, I am able to stand on my own two feet in this way. Read more>>
Ariel Watson
Finding my purpose was a bit of a painful process that has yielded a truly exciting path in life for me. I’ve always wanted to help others and began my early 20s working in veterinary hospitals as a receptionist and a nurse. I explored the field until I decided to pursue a Bachelor’s in Communications at SJSU, where I studied communication theories and conflict resolution. I also earned a minor in environmental science, focusing on sustainability. I fell in love with my first qualitative research course and was particularly drawn to ethical, unbiased approaches to research, which eventually led me to pursue user experience research in the tech field. Read more>>
Juliana Ruggiero
This is a great starting question. Before i begin though, i want to say thnk you to everyone here at Bold Journey for having me back again, it’s a true honor! I found my purpose in May of 2022. About a year and half prior to me gettinto the profession of being a Best-Selling Author, as well as an International/Motovational speaker, I tragically and unexpectedly lost my dad at 19 and a half years old. His death broke me, devestated me and regressed me back into a hild. I spent those next three and a half years wondering if i would ever come back from such a loss. When he left this earth on January 1, 2019, i thought my life was over and I had no purpose in the world- My dad was one of my bigest supporters and cheerleaders. When he died a huge part of me as well as all of my potental in writing/ being an online author (at the time) died as well. Read more>>
Eva Staronova
I think finding one’s purpose is a journey. It’s full of unexpected turns and ad hoc surprises. Often, I feel like I go to sleep an expert and wake up a novice. Every day, I aspire to lead myself through the practice of keeping my heart and mind open, embracing the flow of life. I observe. One friend once told me, “Watch life as a movie,” and this advice has been invaluable. By stepping back, sitting quietly, and observing, many insights come to light, guiding me toward my purpose. In this ever-evolving journey, I’ve discovered that my purpose lies in helping others achieve mutual higher good. I love to connect people, cultures, and opportunities, weaving a tapestry of shared growth and understanding. I believe we must uplift one another as we are all intertwined in this multiverse. My inspiration stems from a simple yet profound prayer: “May everything work for my highest good and the good of everyone concerned.” This sutra serves as my compass, directing my actions and intentions. Read more>>
Mattalynn Mason
2020 was a very hard year for a lot of us. Amidst all of the uncertainties and chaos in our country, I, (a healthy 25 year old) was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, cancer. Getting diagnosed with cancer at 25 was a life-altering experience that reshaped my entire perspective. Cancer is such a scary word. In the beginning it brought fear, uncertainty, and a whirlwind of emotions. But like most trials in life, it completely changed my outlook on life and allowed me to think about what truly made me happy, and what mattered in my life.My solace has always been nature, it has always been where I feel the most like myself and experienced the most joy. I tried to get outside as much as possible during my chemo treatments and I do think it made a huge difference in my recovery. The great outdoors has always been my muse for creativity. It was the reason I started my journey as a photographer. I was hiking all of these beautiful mountains and I wanted to learn how to capture them and preserve these memories. Read more>>
Wendy Hope
This is a great question and one I ask myself often! After a 25+ years career in advertising photography, working in beauty, fashion and celebrity, I found myself exploring my next chapter. I had moved from Brooklyn, NY to sunny Los Angeles, and eventually I was persuaded to give my “long distance relationship” a bit more consideration and explore the city of New Orleans. Within 1 year of moving, we were engaged, and I was beyond excited for this new chapter of my life. It was the first time I let anything slow down or compete with my career, but I knew in my heart, I had to give it a shot 💫📷💫 (no pun intended). Until the pandemic I thrived, as it was all discovery, art, culture, music and new flavors of everything. Read more>>
CaTameron Bobino
I found my purpose through a combination of my upbringing, education, and experiences. Growing up in Oakland, CA, with two parents originally from the South, I was immersed in Black culture and resilience from a young age. My parents instilled a strong sense of identity and pride in our heritage, teaching me the importance of perseverance and community. Attending an HBCU further solidified these values. I attended Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, AL. The environment at my HBCU was one where Black excellence was not just encouraged but expected. I saw people who looked like me excelling in various fields, which reinforced my belief in my potential and the importance of contributing to our community’s legacy. Read more>>
Yitao Yuan
I was a film student in the academy during undergraduate. Ming-liang Tsai, the film director whose work constantly motivates me, embodies the spirit of open-minded and independent creation. His film Stray Dogs was showcased exclusively in galleries, emphasizing that filmmaking is merely one of many expressive avenues for an artist. A medium may beany means, mode, or material of making, transporting. Inspired by this, I ventured beyond traditional film creation, collaborating with new media artists and teams. I decided to embarked on my journey as an independent new media artist. In facing unknown difficulties and obstacles, I always have the determination to succeed. I am thrilled to be an active learner because it constantly motivates me to research, develop new skills, and apply a wide range of software and techniques. Read more>>
