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.
Hope Ladd
I spent years working as a pediatric oncology nurse, which taught me a lot about resilience and purpose, but I always had this creative pull toward jewelry, beading, and vintage finds. Even as a kid, I asked for a cash register so I could play shop owner, and later I was always making and selling little pieces to friends and family. Read more>>
Rhonda Morris
My journey toward purpose began years ago when I stepped into an unexpected role as PTA President at my son’s elementary school. At the time, I was navigating a challenging season in my life, unsure of my next steps or where I truly fit. One afternoon, while picking up my son from school, I overheard a conversation about the PTA. Read more>>
Rebecca Weinstein
I found my purpose by letting go of the expectations of what I thought I was “supposed” to be doing and instead leaning into the things that truly lit me up, what felt good, expansive, and exciting. I did not let fear of failure hold me back and began approaching my life’s path with curiosity about myself. Read more>>
Tajammul Kothari
I had just completed my post-graduation from England and returned to Bahrain, where I have been brought up and where my parents have been residing, to pursue my career. After landing a plush job in a reputed company, the initial years were exciting but then life and work become too mundane. it was as if I was living life on repetitive mode. Read more>>
Ted McLyman
Interview Question: Where did you find your purpose? Ted McLyman, Confessions of a Reformed Financial Advisor. Questions: Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? I was leading a pretty successful financial planning operation—actually, a great one. In just about eighteen months, I turned around a struggling district and elevated it from the bottom to the top. Read more>>
Joenne Dumitrascu
About ten years ago, I was living in Boston, performing a lot while attending grad school. My journey up to that point had been focused on playing – lots of training, auditions, competitions, etc. One day, right after returned from an extended period in Europe, I had a game-changing conversation with one of my mentors. Read more>>
Stephanie Kwaghe
With time, you learned that purpose doesn’t always arrive with clarity sometimes, it’s something you grow into. I’ve always been drawn to art, even as a child. I remember watching my art teacher create and feeling completely fascinated, that experience deepened my connection to art, he made it feel alive, like something that could become part of who I was. Read more>>
Dominique Hughes
I found my purpose by watching the lives of both of my parents. My mother was a seamstress, and through her I learned the power of creativity. She could take simple fabric and transform it into something meaningful. She showed me that making is not just about beauty, it’s about resourcefulness, resilience, and leaving your touch on the world. Read more>>
Fiona Roberts
I truly believe my purpose was God-given. At 35, I was a young mom when I was diagnosed with ovarian and endometrial cancer. Walking through chemo and surgery was one of the hardest seasons of my life, but it was also where God began to show me the deeper meaning behind my pain. Read more>>
Ayanna Dutton-Diaz
I didn’t find my purpose in one big “aha” moment. It’s been an ongoing process, one that revealed itself over time through lived experience, trial and error, a lot of reflection, and trusting what felt aligned. In many ways, my purpose found me in the small in-between moments. The late-night texts with my co-founder venting about toxic workplaces. Read more>>
Ann Thompson
Very early in my career, God gave me a phrase I didn’t fully understand at the time: “leader of leaders.” I assumed it meant climbing straight up the ladder until I reached the top. But in hindsight, my career hasn’t been a straight line at all. Read more>>
Christian LeBlanc
I draw my purpose from my faith. As a Catholic, it has shaped not only my personal life but has also opened doors to meaningful opportunities in my work and within my community. When I first launched my business, Christian LeBlanc Media, many of my earliest clients and contacts came through ministries and relationships I had built over the years in the Church. Read more>>
Veronica Ramirez B.
Finding my purpose has been a challenge, but I have always been drawn to the creative world. Art has given me a sense of purpose since I was a child; it has always been a way to express myself beyond words, allowing me to tell stories that connect with people and convey feelings they can relate to. Read more>>
Randy Corron
You know, for a long time I really struggled with purpose. I think, I struggled with purpose because I sought after love so strongly. I wanted validation. I wanted to be seen in the light that I wanted to be in. However, as I grew I kind of realized that purpose doesn’t always look like what you think it looks like. Purpose doesn’t need validation. Read more>>
Wynne Leon
After 25 years as a collaboration consultant, I was challenged to define what I know when I was laid off from my job. I had to synthesize the big picture beyond the specifics of the software that I specialize in and have written books about. Read more>>
Laura Cardenas
There was a time in my life not so long ago, where i felt like i had hit rock bottom. While I did have a good paying job, a great relation with my partner, family and friends. I was still feeling very unsatisfied with my life. I felt like i wasn’t fully fulfilling my purpose and I thought about it every single day. Read more>>
Erika Plunkett
Honestly, I have to thank my haters. Hear me out. First of all, I really believe purpose is a lifelong journey. It’s not something you arrive at once and then you’re done. It keeps unfolding. And because of my faith, finding purpose actually comes pretty easily for me, I can find it in the most mundane things. I’ll see miracles in simple, everyday moments. Read more>>
Justin Stirewalt
Purpose, for me, has always been one of those elusive things that guidance counselors, pastors, and parents would hand-wave away as being something you simply stumbled into one day after being hit by some cosmic lightning. Read more>>
Santana Chevel
My purpose wasn’t found in a single moment of clarity (& even in writing this that purpose is continues to unfold day by day). It has been shaped by grief, by rebirth, and by the whispers of my own body guiding me home. I stepped onto a yoga mat in 2018, right before both of my parents passed away. Read more>>
Niqueea Sykes
For me, the only way to find your true purpose is to ask the One who created you, God. Purpose isn’t a guessing game or a trend. It is designed by Him, for His glory, and to impact others. Read more>>
Samantha Keen
I was a financial journalist at the age of 25 years old, and then a couple of years later I got very sick. I had the symptoms of an endless virus, deep seated fatigue, unexplained headaches and severe digestion issues. I went to many doctors to find out what was wrong, but for the first three years of that, I did not find an answer. Read more>>
Kaiya Hose
I found my purpose by trying new things every chance I got and never giving up on what I loved, no matter what stood in my way. From a young age, I knew I wanted to be of service to people who needed me, and that I didn’t want to take part in anything that didn’t make me feel useful to my community. Read more>>
Chancellor McCord
Purpose for me is a very simple and basic answer; I found my purpose and my internal value in pursuing joy. As a child I never grew up around religion, and now being older there’s just certain parts of it that don’t fit for me. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, on the contrary it brings billions of people comfort and joy. Read more>>
Jasmine Beard
Hello, My name is Jasmine Beard, and I’ve been a makeup artist for over 12 years. For a long time, I struggled with my identity in the beauty industry because there are so many different paths you can take as a makeup artist. For years, I tried to mimic others, thinking that was the only way to build my career. Read more>>
Rev. Venus Castleberg
For a long time, I thought finding my purpose meant figuring out what I was supposed to do. I tried on a lot of roles, followed a lot of teachers, joined programs, earned certifications—thinking that would be the thing that finally gave me clarity. Read more>>
Drew O’Donnel
During my sophomore year of high school I sustained a significant right ankle sprain playing soccer, which required physical therapy in order to return to playing. Over the next 3 years, I returned to physical therapy for multiple injuries: recurrent bilateral ankle sprains, fractured 5th metatarsal, strained right hip flexor, chipped left iliac crest, and low back pain. Read more>>
Diana Slaughter
I discovered Booktok (TikTok)! I had always been and avid reader but in 2023 I discovered Booktok and then I discovered Indie Authors and the rest is history! I am now a HUGE Indie Author advocate and use all my social platforms to promote/support Indie Authors! Read more>>
Jason Melim
I took on a new purpose 7 years ago when my daughter was born. I think having a kid changes your life no matter what, but we took on an active roll in bettering an environment that we wanted her to grow up in. Read more>>
Stephnie Green
Contrary to what is considered as the ‘norm’ for a lot creatives and/or entrepreneurs, I didn’t have to do much work to find my purpose. I always say it has lived within me innately since childhood. My struggle really was embracing that purpose. Read more>>
Rachael Brown
My nephew was diagnosed with cancer at age 5. His mother was in nursing school at the time and suggested she read T. Colin Campbell’s book, The China Study and watch the documentary Forks Over Knives. They did and immediately switched to a whole food, plant-based, no oil diet. Read more>>
Sophie Furman
My sense of purpose started from always wanting to make a difference, whether for kids everywhere or for pups in need. I worked for various nonprofits where I helped those who were hungry and kids from disadvantaged backgrounds. In my illustration work as well, I want to help those who are struggling, and serve a larger purpose. Read more>>
Lily Boiko
I never imagined that leaving my homeland, Ukraine, for the other side of the world — the U.S. — would be the path to discovering my purpose. And yet, returning to Ukraine and building what I do now has been the full circle of that journey. Read more>>
Vanessa Codorniu
As a Latina born in Peru to Argentine parents, raised in New York City, and naturalized as an adult, I began bridging languages, realities, and cultures from a young age. My family was deeply spiritual, rooted in Catholicism yet respectful of Indigenous practices and that duality shaped how I saw the world. Read more>>
Cynthia Graps
Since I was a child I was attracted to art. I tried painting, but got frustrated when the paintbrush didn’t achieve to translate on the canvas what I pictured in my head. As a teenager, I felt better dancing and participating in musical theatre plays. When I finished High School I spent four months studying Art History and Photography in Florence, Italy. Read more>>
Karen Beckles
I spent more than 20 years in law enforcement, NYC Corrections, ICE Detention Enforcement (formerly INS), and the Federal Bureau of Prisons working inside a system that I believed was set up for failure on all sides. To the best of my ability, I followed policies and procedures, honored the rights of everyone, and managed to maintain my humanity. Read more>>
Tony Schippa
I spent most of my career in Emergency Medical Services. I was a first responder and paramedic for over 35 years. I have been retired for 10 years and the Community HeartSafe Program seemed like a very appropriate step in the same direction for the next chapter of my life. Read more>>
Bonnie Buckner
I work with dreaming and the spontaneous imagination, both of which are ways of looking inside and connecting with our True Self. That True Self gets covered over with things like belief systems, patterns, and perceived pressures from family and society – to ‘fit in’ to a certain mold. Read more>>
Stacy Boland
Like many of you, I know profound loss not as a concept, but as a shattering reality. In my early twenties, the unexpected death of my first love and the father of my six-year-old son, Bryce, shattered my world—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I was left adrift, consumed by the devastating questions: How could a loving God allow such pain? Read more>>
Dawn VanBuskirk
After having a traumatic childhood, and then being shot in 2004 by a man diagnosed with schizophrenia I began pursuing a double masters degree in psychology and also social work. This path led me to a career in child welfare where I worked for 10 years. Read more>>
Shawn Sistrunk
I discovered my purpose early in life. As a child, I was always sketching, painting, building things, and taking them apart. However, I didn’t fully embrace that purpose until much later. For years, I felt like something was missing from my life. Read more>>
Dr. Patrice High
Caring for the sickest patients in our country (here in the stroke belt) for the last 23 years as a Family Physician—and now as a Lifestyle Medicine Physician—I’ve had a front-row seat to patients getting sicker at younger ages. Read more>>
Ena Hull
For much of my career, I thought success was about climbing higher and achieving more. I spent three decades in executive roles within higher education and finance, helping organizations grow and navigate complex challenges. On the outside, it looked like I had everything figured out. Read more>>
Melinda Grace
My purpose found me at the perfect time in one the darkest seasons on my life. After pursuing my passion for acting, writing and producing left me broke and purposeless, I set out on a mission to get back on my feet and find my calling. As I went about trying job after job, I experienced an anxiety attack that led me to go HOME. Read more>>
Kristin Printon
I don’t think purpose is something you find, because that implies there’s a chance you never find it. Instead, I believe it’s something you build, often slowly, through your choices, experiences, and even your detours. For me, it wasn’t one defining moment. Read more>>
Emily Waddell
I found my purpose by being surrounded by other creative entrepreneurs and volunteering. As a Social Entrepreneurship student in college, I was constantly surrounded by people following their passion and I found that environment to be inspiring. I also volunteered for a few social enterprises. This was another environment where I was surrounded by people doing good. Read more>>
Liesl Walsh
My purpose right now as a landscape and cityscape photographer is to do two things: show what is special about the Gulf Coast of Florida for my clients, and teach photographers the strategies I’ve used to market and sell my images so they too can make money with their work. I want to help photographers reach their goals faster, to skip the slow start that I endured. Read more>>
Kaleb Clemmons
When I think about how I found my purpose, I always go back to my younger years in church. Music was just part of life for me—it wasn’t something I had to go find, it was around me every week. I’d be playing alongside my dad, watching how he carried himself and how the music seemed to mean more than just sound. I continued on to learn 5 different instruments. Read more>>
Stephanie Maynard
It didn’t arrive all at once, like lightning. It came quietly, the way late afternoon light shifts across a wall. When my daughter left for college, I suddenly found myself in a new city, surrounded by silence and space. That openness became an invitation: to follow what I love, to let art and light show me the way. Read more>>
Rachel Moncayo
I found my purpose while navigating life and paying close attention to how things I do make me feel. At the onset of my work life, as a corporate employee, it felt really good to be validated for work well done and that helped me build confidence and self-esteem, but it didn’t quite feel purposeful. What led me to becoming a Wellness Professional, started with paying attention to how I spent my time outside of work hours and how learning about wellness fueled me. Read more>>
Edwina Adams
I believe purpose emerges from our deepest struggles, not in spite of them, but because of them. When we look back at where we’ve been wounded and what we’ve overcome, we often discover our calling: to help others navigate those same dark waters. Read more>>
Amber Perrodin
In many ways, my purpose found me. I grew up in downtown Springdale, Arkansas, just blocks away from the art center that would later become The Medium. For generations, my family has called this place home, and as a fifth-generation Springdale resident and artist, I’ve always felt connected to its story. Read more>>
