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.

Michelle Read

I have always loved children and have known that I would work with them in some way. Also, I have always loved teaching. So I combined the two early on in my life especially if you count the many times I played school as a young girl. That was in the days of chalkboards. I was an elementary teacher for 23 years and found great purpose and satisfaction in loving, guiding and teaching young children. Read More>>

Addison Kanoelani

For a long time, I looked for purpose outside of myself, through religion, expectations, and roles I was taught to play. But it never felt right. I eventually reached a breaking point, where I had to choose between continuing to live disconnected from who I was, or finally honoring what my soul had been asking for all along: to create. Read More>>

Henry Stutman

Before college, I was attacked at a bus stop. Two men came up to me and jumped me—completely unprovoked. In just a few minutes, my sense of safety and control vanished. That moment changed everything.

In the days and weeks that followed, I couldn’t shake the feeling of helplessness. I made a promise to myself: I would never be that vulnerable again—and more than that, I wanted to be someone who could protect others if they were ever in danger. Read More>>

Kine Fall

I used to believe discovering your purpose would feel like some grand epiphany arriving right on time with perfect clarity, applause, and everything laid out already mastered. I thought I’d wake up one day, know, and by the next day be living it. But that’s not how mine came. My purpose didn’t arrive with confidence. It didn’t show up with a cheering crowd. In fact, most people didn’t care. My purpose dragged me through grief, heartbreak, abandonment , and rejection, so much rejection ! Until I had no choice but to sit still and listen. Read More>>

Ana

Drawing was one of my favorite activities as a child, and as I grew up, my interest in visual expression deepened. Choosing to focus my professional life on this field came very naturally. I feel incredibly lucky to have always had this passion—and to have been able to dedicate my career to it.

My purpose has always been to create engaging visual experiences. In recent years, I’ve been developing a more artistic branch of my career through personal projects. It is in this space that I feel I am finding the greatest sense of purpose. I always strive to create pieces that spark curiosity, since that is one of the most positive and generative desires—it invites exploration, openness, and a willingness to learn and try new things. Read More>>

Stefanie Warner

Like any starry-eyed teenager, I used to think that finding your purpose meant doing what made you happy. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to understand that purpose isn’t just about happiness, it’s about finding ways to use all your talents and skills in one place. Purpose is what drives you to grow, to keep learning, and to show up again and again. I found mine through my work with tea and by sharing that with others. Read More>>

Dan And Jaime Goulet

This is a great question! I believe wholeheartedly that we are born with innate talents and interests, but life and time fosters it. Growing up, my paternal grandmother loved animals and had many, so I was constantly around them. She worked with animal rescues and always had a foster at her home (and most of the time foster-failed and ended up adopting). She had birds (peacocks, pheasants, chickens) horses, cats, and pups all throughout my childhood. Read More>>

Liv Kolman

I graduated cosmetology school in 2023 and wanted to be a nail technician. Once I got a job as one in March of 2024, I felt miserable. My anxiety sky-rocketed and clients were often not nice to me. I had 0 training and was confused and upset. So I quit to pursue press on nails. I felt like my purpose was to become a micro-influencer and sell my artwork. Read More>>

Laura Bektemirova

Since childhood, I’ve always been close to beauty. I loved makeup and nails from an early age — I would paint my own nails and experiment with makeup all the time. After I graduated from school, I got my first professional manicure, and from that moment on, I couldn’t stop. Nails became a part of my life. Read More>>

Salvo

I’m honestly still not sure what my purpose is in a definitive sense, but I know it has something to do with teaching and helping others through music.

As a kid, I always wanted to take guitar and piano lessons, but growing up with five siblings, that wasn’t financially feasible for my parents. My dad taught me the few chords he knew on guitar, and from there, I decided to teach myself. I think learning things on my own became a major part of my journey and ultimately led me to teach others; to give them the opportunity I never had as a child. Read More>>

Marco Guerrero

Growing up, I never really thought about finding a purpose. Even now, I’m not sure I’ll ever fully know or understand what mine is. Maybe some people stumble upon something they believe is their purpose, while others live feeling like they never find one at all.

If I had to guess, I’d like to think my reason for being here is to entertain—to bring people a little joy, a moment of escape from the real world through what I create. But even that feels like an assumption. Read More>>

Gabriel Maysonet

What started as baking bread at home quickly turned into a curiosity for the kitchen, then pastry, then chocolate, then flavor development and design. I was working in the medical field—studying nursing and paramedics—so on paper, my path looked very different. But the more I cooked, the more I realized that I felt most alive in the kitchen. That’s where I could be creative, hands-on, focused—and where I could make people genuinely happy. Read More>>

Aldo Uribe

Wow. Purpose.
That feels like such a loaded word. It’s not every day that you have to sit down and try to define what purpose means to you but it is one of those things you need to dedicate time to, in order to solidify it for yourself. Like most things, I feel like I have to separate wants from needs. Read More>>

Lekeith Williams-Jones

I don’t think I found my purpose; my purpose found me. Hopefully that doesn’t sound corny. I grew up an unorthodox kid, with interests that didn’t exactly match what was considered ‘normal’ in my community. I was a black boy obsessed with soap operas and white teen dramas lol – that was my world. Read More>>

Evelyn Neel

I think I have always loved nature and art since I was a child, it just took some time to decide to combine them into a career. When I was a child I would memorize field guides, especially the bird and wildflower guides. In middle school, we took a class trip to the Chesapeake Bay and my project was to create a field guide. I carefully researched and drew plants that we could find on our trip. I studied Natural Resources and Fine Arts in college, and painted a mural in the stairwell of my Forestry and Geology building depicting 10 species of trees native to the campus.  Read More>>

Cece Woods

My purpose found me! It was a natural progression of events that unfolded in my life that lead me to my true purpose. The key is to “go with the flow”. It’s all about the journey. Read More>>

ANTONIO DI IORIO

Music has always been inseparable from who I am. I started playing piano at two, and by five, I was already composing short pieces. At thirteen, I wrote my first orchestral work, and in that moment, I discovered a new language, one that allowed me to express what words never could. Read More>>

Sara LaTorre & Lindsay Viducic

Our purpose started with a simple but powerful need: helping our own kids learn to read. As moms and educators, we were frustrated by the lack of early reader books that were both decodable and enjoyable. We saw our kids lose interest in stories that were too hard—or too boring—and realized we weren’t alone. That’s what led us to create The Adventures of Bot—a co-reader series grounded in the science of reading, designed to build confidence and a love of learning. Read More>>

Juan Perez

My purpose started to take shape long before I even realized it. I’ve worked in all kinds of trades and industries over the years—alongside people who pour everything they have into their work. I’ve seen firsthand the exhaustion, the stress, and the sacrifices small business owners make just to keep things running. Many of them are still using outdated systems, stuck in the “old way” of doing things, not because they want to—but because they simply don’t have the time or know where to even begin learning new technology that would make their lives much easier. Read More>>

Kaylee Horn

Lifting weights was my therapy.

At one point in my life, I was a single mom navigating deep grief after losing my own mother. I eventually got married, had two more boys (three total), and somewhere in that whirlwind of motherhood, loss, and survival, I lost myself. I gained over 40 pounds, felt exhausted all the time, and was using wine at night to escape the anxiety I didn’t know how to face. Read More>>

Tyriq McNeil

I find my purpose through trial and error and having faith into God. Without God wasn’t be here where I’m at today. Read More>>

Abby Judd

For a long time, finding my purpose was really challenging. I’d hear people say, ‘Just refer back to your why,’ but I didn’t feel like I had one. I thought I just liked taking pictures, and that was it. So on hard days, when things felt overwhelming or discouraging, it was tough to find a reason to keep going. Read More>>

Emily Crissey Brittany Breesman

When we started our company, Sevenfold Gatherings, we both had a passion for organizing parties and creating culinary art for our children’s birthday celebrations. Between the two of us, we have seven children, which inspired the name Sevenfold Gatherings. We found our purpose when we realized that the same joy, creativity, and love we pour into our children’s gatherings could be shared with others. Helping people celebrate life’s special moments, whether big or small, with intentional, beautiful experiences became more than a passion; it became our purpose. Read More>>

Jillian Ferry

I’m the co-founder of Durable Minds Everboarding, and at the core of everything we do is a belief that clarity, confidence, and character are the real keys to career success. Through our signature programs—DurableME and DurableSuccess—we’re helping the next generation bridge the gap between school and the real world by giving them the tools they need to develop durable skills and show up with purpose. Read More>>

Phil Towns

In some ways I feel like my purpose found me. My parents started a church when I was a kid and they didn’t have a keyboard player. My mom had a sense that I would be the one to play for the church and asked me if I would be interested in learning. I was a very shy kid and didn’t like having an audience but for whatever reason I just said yes. Read More>>

Jesse Bruner

I can’t pinpoint exactly when I became interested in metalwork because I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in metal. Tools have always piqued my curiosity. I was definitely the kid who would take things apart just to see how they worked—and then put them back together.
I suppose the initial spark came from watching my dad weld and getting to use the cutting torch at an age younger than I probably should have.  Read More>>

Josh Mitchell

For me, purpose wasn’t something I stumbled upon — it was something I sharpened over time, like frantic Freddy Krueger claws. I’ve always been drawn to storytelling, but it wasn’t until I started writing scripts that I realized I could weaponize my imagination. I saw the power of narrative to provoke, to shake things up, to light fires in people’s minds. That’s when it clicked: my purpose is to create bold, explosive stories that challenge the status quo and demand attention.  Read More>>

Nicole Green

I found my purpose through teaching. I spent over a decade in education, traveling the world and helping students build confidence and take meaningful steps forward. That sense of being part of someone’s growth has always been deeply fulfilling to me. When I made the decision to move into tax work, it was a thoughtful shift. I wanted to keep helping people, but in a more personal and financial way. Read More>>

Nina Amir

When I was in elementary school, I began writing stories. I loved horses, so I wrote about horses. In middle school, I filled journals with poetry and tidbits about my life. In high school, I continued journaling–with some encouragement from my English teacher–but I mostly wrote about my infatuation with specific boys. Read More>>

Dr. La-Shawnda Thompson

Whew honestly, my purpose found me. It was hidden in the very things I tried to run from: rejection, brokenness, and silence. I didn’t wake up one day with clarity I walked through seasons of being misunderstood, overlooked, and underestimated. But it was in those dark seasons God whispered, “This is not the end, I’m making you” Read More>>

Malaysia Harrell

I’m a board-certified psychotherapist, veteran, spiritual transformation coach, author,
philanthropist, and the founder and CEO of Blissful Life Consulting. But beyond the titles, what I
truly do is guide high-achieving women to get in alignment with their divine assignment.
My work sits at the intersection of mental health, spirituality, and purpose. Read More>>

Dr Theresa A Moseley

When I was 6 years old, I wondered what my purpose was in life. My first day of first grade, I watched my teacher lead the class. I knew I wanted to be a leader one day. During the school year, I spent the summers with my great-grandmother for 10 years. We used to have long talks as we walked to town every other day to get her mail from the post office. One day she told me my voice was my gift and I would use it one day to help people.  Read More>>

Amir Kenyi

I discovered my purpose when I was very young. I would watch my family sing, perform on stages, and showcase their talents, which ignited a spark within me. That spark has grown into a massive fire, driving me to continuously execute my purpose. You’ll know when you’ve found your purpose once you feel that spark. I love sharing my talent through entertainment; it truly brings me joy. Your purpose shouldn’t feel like work or a chore; when you find it, you should crave it. Read More>>

Tara Gullickson

I found my purpose surrounded by freshly painted ‘Vintage Purple’ walls in the middle of my living room, brokenhearted by my most recent life crisis: losing my job as an Administrative Assistant in healthcare in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As I cranked sad songs from the 90s out of the speakers in our kitchen, I burst out into hysterical sobbing. I painted the morning away, singing at the top of my lungs at whatever song was playing in the background in the kitchen, thinking to myself just how absurd life truly seemed.  Read More>>

Cecilia Zapata-Harms

This is a very important question because I think our purpose really drives our direction towards our values and our passion. Like so many, I did my own work in discovering my purpose (as it sits today). Lucky are those individuals, who knew very early in their lives, the gift of knowing their purpose. Read More>>

Wakan Vers3

I was never attracted to becoming an adult with a 9-to-5 job, married, with children, or a housewife. I respect anyone who’s able to surrender to that lifestyle, plus dedicating your entire life to raising one or multiple children is an incredible responsibility & super honorable! I, personally, just never had that dream. Since I was a little girl, I would climb trees, play with lizards, and when I would travel to different countries to visit family, taking pictures with foreign animals was more of an eagerness rather than standing in a family photo for holidays.  Read More>>

Breanna Helfert

My purpose illuminated gradually through years working in professions not fully aligned with my spirit. Also, personal meditation, yoga, as well as healing and development work, helped enlighten me to my true purpose. I now feel divinely aligned hosting private Sedona Self-Love Retreats, which foster empowerment, soul growth, and deep emotional healing. Read More>>