Core to our mission is helping our audience and community reach their full potential and the most important part of reaching your full potential is starting to find your purpose. Below, we’ve shared stories and insights from the community around how various folks found their purpose and we hope it helps you in your journey.
Jazalyn Williams
I didn’t find my purpose all at once — it revealed itself through lived experience, responsibility, and listening to what kept calling me back. My purpose began forming during moments when life felt heavy — when I was navigating personal challenges, motherhood, and the realities faced by families and communities around me who were doing their best to survive without adequate support. Read More>>
Kristina Pineda
I didn’t find my purpose all at once — it unfolded over time, shaped by experiences that challenged me, broke me down, and ultimately clarified what truly mattered. In June 2024, I made the decision to start my own company, GatherOS.ai, an AI-powered event sourcing and management platform. On the surface, it looked like a bold career move. Read More>>
Kim Downey
I had cancer three times, then my amazing radiologist took his own life, and I felt a calling to support doctors. Read More>>
Anastasia Lander
Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be a doctor, even though the path to get there was anything but clear. I got married young and had a baby early, and for a long time I believed that dream might no longer be attainable. Read More>>
Yelpy
I didn’t go looking for my purpose , it kind of found me. On my 15th birthday my dad randomly asked me if I wanted a guitar. Until that moment, music wasn’t even on my radar. But once I picked it up, something clicked almost immediately. I played that guitar morning, noon, and night, and it became the one place where everything made sense. Read More>>
Seth Menne
I found my purpose in a personal relationship with Jesus. He taught me what it is I was made for. Through that it has given me courage to keep pursuing a calling that takes a lot of resilience. Read More>>
Jana Geyer
Being diagnosed with breast cancer at 33 years old definitely put my life’s purpose into perspective. I was misdiagnosed for 1 year because I was not being taken seriously or given the proper diagnostic screening. Read More>>
Kasi Farver
I found my purpose in my pain. I’ve struggled with menstrual cramps for 19 years, ever since I was around 12 years old. Through that journey, I realized I wasn’t the only one who had gone through the kind of pain I experienced—physically, emotionally, mentally and sometimes silently. Read More>>
Simrita Dhir
I am an academic and novelist. I lecture on Writing at the University of California, San Diego. I am the author of the novels The Rainbow Acres (2018) and The Song of Distant Bulbuls (2023). I write because I have stories to share. Stories are integral to life. They teach us about ourselves and the world. Stories forge emotional connections, stimulate creativity and imagination. Read More>>
Dipa Halder
For a long time, I treated ‘purpose’ like it was this singular, definitive thing. I imagined it as some kind of precise target, and if I didn’t identify it perfectly, it would mean I’d gotten my entire life wrong. Carrying that belief was quietly suffocating—it made every decision feel high-stakes, and left no room for curiosity, experimentation, or change. Read more>>
Jordan Alexa
I don’t think there was ever a time when I was disconnected from purpose. Even at a young age, it was always present. Not fully formed and not clearly named, but looming. There were seasons where I lacked clarity or direction, where I couldn’t articulate what I was being called toward, yet there was always something quietly beckoning for my attention. Read More>>
Ogechi Okwara
How I Found My Purpose as an Event & Wedding Planner I didn’t wake up one day and decide to become an event or wedding planner; it unfolded through obedience, faith, and service. My purpose began with God placing a vision in my heart long before I fully understood it. Read More>>
Shanny Erwin
I found my purpose through constant trial and error. I’ve had an idea of my purpose but never fully understood how much power I had until I was put in positions to showcase it. I’ve seen overtime my influence on others especially when doing things for others, seeing how they react makes me happy and I feel complete. Read More>>
Elizabeth Wood
My purpose emerges from a process of healing after a traumatic experience. Within my art a therapeutic space became where I could confront fear, vulnerability, and the challenge of trust. Through this process, I began to recognize beauty within what is often considered broken. Imperfection plays a huge role in my works; the flaws and imperfections within each piece are not corrected, but embraced. Read More>>
Josh Williams
I found my purpose by getting started and understanding that action is the only way to get results. At the time, I was working a job that didn’t align with my long-term vision, so I started researching low-overhead businesses because I wanted to be in control of my time and my earning potential. Read More>>
Ariel Basso
Growing up in a difficult environment, art and music became my refuge. They were the places I could go when the world around me felt overwhelming or unsafe. When I picked up an instrument or began to create, something shifted. I wasn’t just escaping—I was remembering. Art and music gave me access to something greater than myself. Read More>>
Kristin Schleicher
I didn’t find my purpose in a single moment — it revealed itself over time, through patterns I couldn’t ignore. As someone who grew up with undiagnosed ADHD, I spent years working twice as hard just to feel “normal,” carrying the familiar emotional baggage: anxiety, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and low self-esteem. Read More>>
Sherrry Siewert
I found my purpose by listening to what my heart kept returning to, even when life pulled me in different directions. As a child, I played teacher and hairdresser with my cousins, instinctively stepping into roles where I could help, guide, and connect. At the time, it felt like play. Looking back, it was a quiet truth revealing itself. Read More>>
Antonio Torres
I found my purpose early on through service and relationships. In high school, I worked closely with the youth at my church, and during college I devoted every summer to serving at an adventure camp in Rock Springs, Texas. Read More>>
William Nazareth
My purpose didn’t appear in a vacuum; it was forged over nine years of work at the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. In the early 2000s, I faced a recurring frustration in public health marketing: the visual language of the industry completely erased the people we served. Read More>>
Vince Rockwell
I burned my boats. From the beginning, a cubicle never sat right. Being told that there was only ever one correct way to do something very much brought out that ‘Well f*ck you, let me show you’ side of life. Read More>>
Arthur Borgee
As an adventure landscape photographer I find my purpose through action. I travel alone to remote places.I walk for hours.I wait for light. Purpose shows up during work. • I choose places far from roads and crowds. • I accept discomfort, cold, heat, hunger. • I slow my pace on purpose. • I pay full attention to weather, light, and terrain. Read More>>
Zoe Xue
I found my purpose by noticing the same gap again and again. I’ve always enjoyed STEM, and along the way I saw how intimidating it was to many students around me. Friends who were curious and capable often chose not to pursue science fairs, advanced classes, or research opportunities because they didn’t feel like they belonged. Read More>>
Ami Patrick
My purpose didn’t arrive in one lightning-bolt moment. It unfolded in two powerful evolutions, both born from lived experience, frustration, curiosity, and ultimately, deep conviction. My professional life began in the nonprofit world, working in communications and community relations. After my second son was born, I stepped into the role of stay-at-home mom. Read More>>
Caitie Brianna
Art has been my only constant. I’ve been creating since I was old enough to hold a crayon. But finding my purpose was a deeper journey rooted in my upbringing. Growing up as an undiagnosed autistic person in an abusive and neglectful home, I often felt like I didn’t have a voice or agency over my own environment. Read More>>
Heather Rowe
My purpose revealed itself through experience rather than intention. I found it in the quiet moments—listening to clients share insecurities they had carried for years, witnessing the emotional shift that happens when someone finally feels confident in their skin. Those moments showed me that this work was never just about skincare; it was about transformation. Read More>>
Marcinda Hankins
I didn’t discover my purpose overnight—it unfolded through experience. I began by doing what came naturally and what people consistently sought me out for: helping men take better care of their beards. Over time, I realized the work went far beyond grooming. It became about confidence, education, and creating a safe space for men to care for themselves without shame. Read More>>
Peter Sterios
My purpose didn’t arrive as a single lightning bolt, but rather through a series of ‘unfortunate events’ that I now recognize as essential steps. For twenty years, I was a devoted apprentice to a master teacher, Shandor Remete. I was a ‘good soldier,’ following instructions perfectly and looking for validation outside of myself. Read More>>
Anissa Perez
I’d like to say my purpose came to me in my late twenties, found me when I was approaching rock bottom for what felt like the fifth time. However, the truth of the matter is, my purpose was always there, lying dormant in the depths of my soul. As a child, I was deeply taken by poetry and Greek mythology. Read More>>
Tonnia Glenn
Well, I suppose you could say it found me. And I do believe that’s how it is for everyone. That we are all born with a certain something that not only serves the world and makes it better in some way, but that you actually love too. And that’s the sweet spot of our purpose. Read More>>
Misty Donahoe
I found my true purpose through my faith in Jesus. Although photography and digital retouching brings me joy and fulfillment, it is not my identity and I know that the talent and growth come from my Creator. I give all glory to God for everything. Read More>>
Francine Tirrell
In 2010, I was searching for connection. My friends were busy building their lives, and I found myself craving something deeper. That search led me to a women’s group run by coaches. Back then, coaching wasn’t the mainstream thing it is now, but something about it pulled me in. I felt it in my bones. I wanted to be a coach. Read More>>
Lyric Raven
I am one of the lucky one that found my purpose young. My parents named me Lyric when I was a week old, and it seemed to be a prophecy. Before I could talk, I was singing. by the time I was 10 years old I already had written many songs, and formed my first ‘girl band’. Read More>>
Felix Larbi Appiah
After my undergraduate studies, I got posted to a remote village in Ghana for my national service. National service is a mandatory one-year service undertaken by Ghanaian graduates upon completion of tertiary education. I taught children between the ages of 7 and 14 and that was where my purpose was unearthed. Read More>>
Allison Aldrich
Finding my purpose has been a journey. I honestly do not know that anyone ever has a final feeling of having found their purpose. Our purpose is ever evolving. When I was a young teenager, God radically changed my life. In that moment, I found a purpose that was crystal clear. To share His love with other people. Read More>>
