Meet Carmen Aka Carmita Pomales

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carmen Aka Carmita Pomales a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Carmen aka Carmita, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Let me start by saying, there were so many quality questions in the panel discussion to choose from. My response to “How did you find your purpose?” might naturally weave into a few others.

A sentence that boldly stands out in my mind is this: Purpose can remain the same but look different at each stage of life. In the moment, that’s not always clear. Sometimes, we resist change—holding on tightly to the familiar. But life has a way of gently (or not so gently) urging us to release what no longer fits. In time, we realize that what once felt like an ending was really our purpose transforming and preparing us for its next expression.

I didn’t always understand that. In my teens and early twenties, I tried to do all the things (keeping my ego satisfied). Eventually, I learned the benefit of letting go. In doing so, my purpose was able to shine through more clearly to being a compassionate shepherd for the earth’s creatures—especially farm and domestic animals.

This purpose has been unconsciously with me all along. As a child, I grew up surrounded by animals—cats, dogs, fish, frogs, lizards. I cared for them by instinct, the example of my parents, and trips to the library to read every book I could get through to learn more about animals.

As a teen and young adult, I began pet sitting for friends and family. I didn’t think twice when asked—it was always a “yes” to the opportunity. What seemed like a fun way to spend my time was actually a deepening of my calling. Those small acts—feeding fish, walking dogs, cuddling cats—were the first expressions of what would later grow into something bigger.

Somewhere between my twenties and thirties, I began to see this love as a life’s path. I even created a business plan for an animal care service—something I rediscovered years later, and ran a pet care business out of Columbus, OH. It was a beautiful way to care for animals, spend time outdoors, and get daily exercise.

Every stage led me here—to blending my love of animals, nature, and wellness through yoga and event planning for farm animal sanctuaries. Yoga taught me how to quiet the noise of the mind and listen to the heart. It gave space for my purpose to blossom fully.

Teaching yoga among rescued animals invites others to experience that same connection between their body, the earth, and the creatures we coexist alongside. Each class supports sanctuaries (food, hay, or medical care) while helping humans reconnect with compassion and stillness. It’s a circle of healing, and brings me endless joy.

Purpose is magical and asks for courage. Typically, following a path that doesn’t look like everyone else’s. It’s unexplainable, more a feeling than a plan. Mine has always been guided by compassion for animals, and yoga helped me see it clearly, live it fully, and let it grow in ways I could have never imagined.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’ve always felt deeply connected to animals and nature. Over the years, that connection has guided me to living a life of wellness, compassion, and community work. It’s not only a job, but a lifestyle to guide yoga, care for animals, and plan classes and programs that support the sanctuaries.

Outside of yoga, it’s just about being an honest person with empathy. These qualities of myself have been a part of my everyday life. Does it mean I don’t get upset or make mistakes? Heck no! It means I wake up every day and ask God/Universe “What can I do that makes a positive difference in a chaotic world?” This also means that my purpose may look different tomorrow, next week, or a few years from now. Still, compassionately caring for animals, but in a different way. I keep this in mind and stay open to where this journey can take me. For now, I’ll continue traveling to farm animal sanctuaries, but who knows what the future will bring.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back, three qualities that have shaped my journey include adaptability, communication, and “burning the old to grow something new.”

Life doesn’t always unfold how you planned. Outcomes aren’t always what’s envisioned, and more times than none you must learn to make resistance your friend. Ask it what it’s trying to show you. Then, when it’s conscious, don’t be afraid to pivot when the heart starts to sing a new tune.

Communication is key, and not just the external, but the inner dialog. You have to learn to listen deeply: to people, to nature, to intuition. It’s what allows you to connect, collaborate, and build foundations, trust, and hopefully a magnificent life.

Finally, being okay with burning the old to grow something new seems inevitable at one point of life or another. It can take time to understand. Letting go can feel tragic. I’ve had to release jobs, projects, clients, and even old versions of myself to make space for new purpose to emerge. Advice: don’t be afraid to outgrow things. The version of you at the start of the journey isn’t the same person who will arrive later. Trust what feels like an ending is the start of a magical new beginning.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

Do I think it’s better to go all in on my strengths or to be more well-rounded by investing effort in improving areas that I’m not as strong in? I would say there’s a mix of both. I’ll also say that I’m a Libra. I’m all about balance, but from my experience and others in my social circle, we all begin our business or developing our purpose into our life’s work by starting with our strengths.

Typically, the strengths are what get us to that point of “WOW” where we are like, “Wow, I did this thing, and it came with ease,” or “I enjoy this so much—how do I grow this?” Then as we grow, that’s when we start to run into challenges. It’s when we start to get discouraged. confused, full of doubt… and life can get hard, but that doesn’t mean we have to quit. It means that we do our best, and in time, we may run into a connection or source that is really great at the skills we lack and there’s some EUREKAS. These people or sources can teach us how to develop those skills. The other option is to build a relationship and come to some agreement where they fill in the gaps—or a group of people fill in the gaps—that we are not so skilled in. It takes being open minded and learning to let go.

I laugh because I heard a comedian talk about this once, that in the West, we discover our purpose and then capitalize on it. So, forgive me for throwing the words business and purpose around as if they’re interchangeable. That’s just what happens, especially in the United States. Sometimes it doesn’t, but usually, it does.

Either way, it takes learning about self and being okay with putting the ego to sleep for a moment and going, “Okay, these are my strengths. This is what I should focus on. And my weaknesses, I’m going to do them as long as I need to keep the process going and growing. Then, when possible, I will allow others who are more skilled in those areas to support my purpose or organization or whatnot.” This can depend on whether a person is using their purpose as the foundation for their business, or if they want to live their purpose—it might just be that they want to uplevel their own skills. I have used mine for both.

When I mentioned having the pet care business, I found my purpose and then capitalized on it. Versus now, my purpose brings me more joy than it does profit. By taking the route of joy over profit, I’ve learned how to navigate myself in this world and learn skills that I’m not great at to then fill in the gaps to live well with less. An example: I am human. I need food to live. When I decided to make my purpose a part of my life and not so much a business, I had to pivot how I source my food. In the past, I would go to the grocery store and not really think much about it. Now, I connect with local organizations, shop at farmers markets and eat local. I also grow my own plants and herbs. This saves money and keeps me connected to the earth and local community. Thus, allowing an understanding of where my food comes from and support ethical farm practices. Which is an entirely different conversation.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Lissy Kuhn, Dan Lasko, and Daniella Pomales

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