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.
Jordyn Campbell
I didn’t find my purpose in one moment, I found it by realizing I needed to build something beyond just playing my sport, football. I still plan to compete, but I understood early that identity can’t be one-dimensional. That shift pushed me to think about what I was creating outside of the game and how I could make an impact beyond myself. Read More>>
Six Carolino
A big part of my success has always been the unique combination of skills and life experiences that I have been able to apply to any assignment. My background as a dancer and choreographer gave me an inherent understanding of space and movement, and how to design both in a way that is aesthetically pleasing to an audience. Read More>>
Dr. Samuel Bachelor
“I didn’t find my purpose; my purpose found me.” Serving others has always been a consistent thread in my life, especially through my work in education. Read More>>
Lisa Sonin Larsen
As a young person, I had difficulty narrowing down what I wanted to do for a career. I considered becoming a nurse, working in substance abuse recovery. Through trial and error, I decided that my temperament was best suited for counseling and psychotherapy. I also found great benefit from receiving my own therapy. Read More>>
Charles Heasley
When I promoted into leadership (as a police sergeant), I was only 30. I had been in law enforcement for five years, but only two with my new department, which was fairly large. I didn’t know most of the officers, and unbeknownst to me, I was developing a bad reputation as a field training officer. Read More>>
Alp Akmaz
I didn’t find my purpose… I heard it. Not in words—in sound. Somewhere between breath and silence, when the Balaban started to speak, I realized it wasn’t just music. It was memory, pain, longing… something older than me moving through me. At first, I was just playing notes. Then one day, the notes started playing me. That’s when it changed. Read More>>
Mariah Brown
My for profit works with veterans and first responders and we have seen a major gap in consistency of care over the years. This gap between scripts causes all the progress we achieved to decrease or go away completely. My staff and I feel this is so wrong for people who give so much so we can live our lives the way we want. Read More>>
Ameen Ayoub
I didn’t find my purpose in a single moment, it came through tension. I was always drawn to creating, but I grew up in an environment that valued status and conventional success. That gap forced me to figure out what actually mattered to me. Read More>>
Taryn Minnis
I don’t think I found my purpose in a single moment. I think it revealed itself to me slowly, during a time when I was learning how to hold myself together in ways I never had to before. On the outside, everything looked fine. I was working, showing up, doing what was expected of me. Read More>>
Carol Prusa
Raised on the creation myth, the Big Bang theory introduced in sixth grade opened my mind to new ways of thinking about our world. Read More>>
Dominica Esono
My purpose comes from the heart. I do this work because I truly care about people and the dreams they carry with them. I’ve seen how overwhelming and emotional the immigration journey can be, and I want to be someone who makes that path feel lighter, clearer, and full of hope. Read More>>
LittleLuckyCosplay
I’ve spent most of my life trying to do the “correct” thing – going to school and getting a degree, entering the workforce, and climbing the corporate ladder. Like most working professionals (especially in America), I was working under the assumption that my job would be the most important thing I could do with my time. Read More>>
Tonya Fink
Calligraphy started as something deeply personal for me. My mom passed away when I was three, and one of the things I’ve always known about her is how much she loved calligraphy and how talented she was at it. I didn’t get the chance to watch her create, but I grew up with pieces she had written that my dad never threw away. Read More>>
Evinn Christin Moreland
I did not find my purpose. I remembered it. I did not seek to find it. I sat in stillness. I cleared my field of external noise, and what was already within me came forward. Sol Purpose is not something outside of us to seek. It is something encoded within us to remember and reveal. Read More>>
Jenna Whitmore Personal Brand Photographer
For a long time, I felt a little directionless. As a teenager, I was drawn to so many different things that it was hard to imagine choosing just one path. But looking back now, there was always a common thread—people and creativity. Whether it was theater, painting, drawing, or music, I found myself constantly returning to spaces where I could create and connect. Read More>>
Keisha Williams
For me, it is still a journey! My person goal is to do more and more of what brings me joy. That is the pathway for me to keep discovering and growing in understanding my purpose. Read More>>
Kevin Williams
I’ve been rooted in the creative space my entire life—it’s never been something I fell into, it’s who I’ve always been. Growing up in Chicago, I was deeply immersed in the culture as a dancer, specifically in the footworking scene. That environment taught me discipline, presence, and the power of expression at an early age. Read More>>
Christopher Younes
I’ve always had a sense of what I wanted to do, even if I didn’t fully understand it at the time. Making films, creating, telling stories through art and film, it was something I naturally gravitated towards, and in many ways, I’m still on that journey. When I was younger, storytelling started as a form of escape. Read More>>
Monica Azoulay Connolly
I didn’t find my purpose by chasing something new. I found it by getting honest about what wasn’t working in my life. For a long time, I was living in what I now call functional survival. I was showing up, doing what needed to be done, and carrying more than my share, but I felt disconnected from myself. Read More>>
Daria Lewis
I found my purpose by aligning my career with my natural energy. I have always possessed a free, high-energy, and fun-loving ‘childlike spirit,’ and I eventually realized that the best way to thrive was to go where that energy was most valued. Read More>>
Mike
In my earlier years of life I spent a handful of years as the lead singer of an alternative rock band. When I walked away from that life I had always felt I left a piece of me behind. I felt as if I left my voice and my passion behind. Read More>>
Darlyncia Nobrun
I didn’t find my purpose in one moment, it grew over time through a series of decisions that kept building on each other. It really started when I was a freshman in high school. I wanted to be part of our annual International Day showcase, but there wasn’t a Caribbean dance group at the time. So I created one called, Caribbeans in Action. Read More>>
I Musici Gemelli (String Duo)
Music has always been a part of our lives since we were children. In a Duo, music does not arise from a single intention, but from the meeting of two sensibilities. And it is precisely in this meeting that an enormous resource is found. As one of the few duos of two violins playing classical music, we always try to tell a story through music. Read More>>
Heather Bowman
I spend my mornings quietly reading the Bible, praying to God and journaling. It was in that journaling time that God revealed to me that He was going to use my horses “as a conduit of hope and healing.” Over the next two years I began to see small pieces of this puzzle come together. Doors were opened and opportunities presented themselves. Read More>>
Clemence Verfaillie
Initially, I always believed my path was clearly mapped out. In my mind, everything was planned and supposed to unfold smoothly: I wanted to be an interior designer, be engaged by 25, and have children by 28. I had a few dreams tucked away, like starting my own business, though I wasn’t quite sure in what field. To me, life was a straight line. Read More>>
Tatyana Purifoy
I didn’t find my purpose all at once—it grew over time. I’ve always been drawn to storytelling, but it wasn’t until I started working in media that I realized the impact it can have. Telling stories isn’t just about reporting—it’s about giving people a voice and helping communities feel seen and understood. Read More>>
Madeline Otero
As a first-time mom, I struggled to find something that felt like it was mine. Being a mother is the most important role in my life, but I found myself searching for a sense of purpose outside of that, something that was just for me. Read More>>
Jennifer Licate
I found my purpose through working as a school counselor. I would use bibliotherapy when I worked with students individually, in small groups and in classroom lessons. I was inspired by how the students responded to these books. The books made complex problems easy to understand. Read More>>
Sydni Sayles
For me, purpose wasn’t something I found overnight. It was something that revealed itself through every season of my life, especially the ones that didn’t go as planned. I was born and raised in the 7th Ward of New Orleans in an environment that exposed me to a wide range of realities at a very young age. Read More>>
Myron Hull
In the very beginning, I was originally a photographer who was getting into color grading and video. The furthest thing from my mind was doing weddings until my friend and fellow Wedding Photographer Jordan Trevino of Trevino Photography recommended I started to shoot weddings. Even with her recommendation, it still took me a year before I started. Read More>>
Jordan Linder
My reason for anything these days is my wife, Kim, and my two kids. Knowing that I need to be the best husband and dad I can be keeps me motivated to keep pushing everyday. I want to be a good partner in my marriage and help provide for my family as well as be a good roll model for my kids. Read More>>
Holly McCusker
I didn’t find my purpose in one defining moment. For me, it was much more layered than that. If I look back, my purpose was always trying to get my attention, in the patterns I was living, in the questions I couldn’t stop asking, and in the moments that cracked me open. For a long time, I was operating from achievement and external validation. Read More>>
Kevin Watkins
This is a loaded question but to make a long boring story short and sweet….my purpose found me. I found my purpose when a good friend of mine handed me a camera for the first time. I have always believed that people on a whole should be service to each other. Read More>>
Shams Alrobia
I didn’t find my purpose in a straight line it came from a mix of passion, frustration, and paying attention to what kept pulling me back. I studied interior architecture and spent a lot of time trying to find a job in that field. At the same time, I always had a creative side I couldn’t ignore. Read More>>
TYFFANY
When I was a teenager and still in school, it was very difficult for me to fit in with what my social circle and community expected. I live in a city where art, unfortunately, isn’t a priority and where being an artist is something unusual. Even so, art came to me in wonderful way. Read More>>
Indira Jeffrey
I don’t think I found my purpose in a single moment. Looking back, I realize I built it—step by step—through my experiences, my career, and, most importantly, through the people I chose to serve. My story begins with what I experienced growing up. I witnessed firsthand the challenges that many women face, including my mother’s experience with domestic violence. That shaped me deeply. Read More>>
Matt Kasee
I’ve always felt like I didn’t fully fit into one box. From a young age, my interests were all over the place. I love movies, comics, and toys, but I also love lifting and sports. Read More>>
Elizabeth McIlwee
My name is Elizabeth McIlwee, founder of MRBL, a brand introduced through its inaugural piece: The Marble Hairbrush. Purpose, in my experience, does not arrive as a singular moment of clarity. It reveals itself gradually, as a quiet pull toward something deeper. For me, that pull has always led in one direction: toward art, toward design, toward objects of enduring beauty. Read More>>
Jessica Fisher Cross
Honestly, a lot of trial and error and a lot of stories I had to unlearn about my own worth. Growing up, I watched people in my life show up very publicly in ways that I knew weren’t for me. I just didn’t yet know what was. So I did what a lot of lost people do: I collected side quests. Read More>>
Shanae Perez
My purpose stems all the way back to my own childhood. I was raised by a mom, who was very much human and deserving of understanding and grace, but, made choices that hurt and traumatized my sisters and I, in ways that left deep seeded pain . Read More>>
Kelsey Billingsley
Finding my purpose was not a single moment, but more of a gradual realization that came through a series of conversations that stayed with me long after they ended. I was in a very full season of life, working full time, raising a family, and focused on what I thought my path would look like. Read More>>
Monica Dean
I have always had drive. I always had a vision and at a young age I mapped out exactly how my life would go. I think at the time I just wanted to overcome so much for my family. I wanted to show them that all their hard work and sacrifice was not in vain. Read More>>
Bertlin Batiancila
I found my purpose at a time when everything felt uncertain. Before that, my life was centered on finance, building a career, managing responsibilities, and moving forward with clear goals. But when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, everything changed. There were moments when the future felt unclear, and in those moments, you begin to see what truly matters. Read More>>
Michelle Sample
My purpose wasn’t something I found in a title—it was shaped through some of the hardest moments in my life. I went through cancer, a layoff, and complete burnout during a time when I was an executive in a fast-paced, high-growth industry. It forced me to really stop and ask myself, what am I meant to do with all of this? Read More>>
Cierra Thompson
I found my purpose in life by not having one for a long time. Growing up, I always felt overlooked by family, by friends, by the world around me. I never really fit in, and because of that, I learned early on how to stand on my own. Read More>>
Joleen Wilson
Right out of community college and cosmetology school at Paul Mitchell, I began my career in corporate cosmetics. I truly loved the behind-the-scenes work developing new color stories, launching eyeshadow palettes, coordinating product events, and traveling to all the fashion shows or similar mega events. Read More>>
Kaley Mauzy
I got divorced at 35 with 3 small kids, (8,6 and 2 at the time). There was no playbook on how to go through divorce especially as a young stay at home mom who needed to figure out her next steps. There were really no resources out there or people to talk to. Read More>>
Blair Cobb
For many years of my adult life, I was searching for my “purpose.” I looked for it in work, in relationships, in motherhood—anywhere outside of myself where I thought it might be waiting. Even after building a meaningful career in philanthropy, where you might assume purpose would be obvious, something still felt like it was missing. At the beginning of COVID, something shifted. Read More>>
