Below you’ll find the stories and lessons of some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs, artists and creatives in the community and how they found their purpose.
Marnie Stockman
You know, it’s funny because Nick Coniglio (my business partner) and I often say our purpose found us long before we realized it. I have always been driven by a deep desire to help people become the best version of themselves. That started in the classroom for me, trying to convince 16-year-olds that pre-calculus was actually worth their time. Read More>>
Samantha Boesse-Dupuis
My photography journey began in my teenage years, when I developed a passion for capturing portraits, nature, and landscapes—anything that caught my eye. The summer before my senior year of high school, I realized photography could be more than a hobby; it could be a career. That realization set me on a focused path. Read More>>
Shiho Brenner
When I think about how my journey began… it always takes me back to one small memory — a four-year-old girl in Japan, wrapped in a yukata. It was the middle of winter. Everyone told me it was too cold, but I refused to take it off. Read More>>
Manne Von M 
I searched for a long time, yet I found what had been by my side all along—music. I have been creating music since I was 13. I believe that purpose, message, worldview, and intellectual wealth converge at a single point. My message, perhaps, is that a person should never lose the ability to believe, no matter what happens. Read More>>
John Seda
I strive to give my best every single day. I never look back with regret, and I never give up. I stay committed to my goals until they’re achieved, never postponing for tomorrow what I can accomplish today. As a Buddhist monk once taught me: ‘Do your best every day, and your past will become a better one, and your future a brighter one.’ Read More>>
John Edward McGraw
I found my purpose the day my advice failed a student named Kenji. In 2005, I was teaching adult learners in Japan to prepare for English exams that opened job opportunities. The lesson was simple: if you are unsure on a multiple-choice question, choose C. Read More>>
ILHAM EL MOUTAWAKIL
I like to say that writing found me, not the other way around. Words always pulled at something inside me. As a child and teenager, I was fascinated by how someone’s imagination could dance on a page. I started writing in my adolescence, partly to impress an English teacher I deeply admired. She saw something in me before I recognized it myself. Read More>>
Jackie Brown
As a candle expert, I’m often asked how our journey began, and it all started with a deep love for candles and a personal battle with chronic allergies and sinus sensitivities. Many traditional candles, while beautifully crafted, triggered irritation, leaving me wondering if there was a better way. Read More>>
Regina Jennings, PhD
I found my purpose when I joined the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in Oakland, California in 1967.Read More>>
Asem Ahmed
My journey toward finding my purpose began in an unexpected way. When entering Dickinson High School in Jersey City, students were asked to choose three possible majors, with one ultimately assigned. My top picks were the Air Force program, culinary arts, and visual art. Read More>>
Minye Cho
I’m a video producer, and I recently found out I’m an Enneagram Type 3. (My friends and I have been into the Enneagram lately, haha) I’ve always been driven and wanted everything I make to be perfect. When something didn’t go as planned, I pushed myself harder. Read More>>
Erica Whalen
In a way, my purpose found me—somewhere between my first yoga class and realizing how good it felt to just breathe and be present. Yoga helped me feel more alive, more grounded, and honestly, just more me. I realized that what lights me up is helping others tap into that same joy—whether it’s through movement, stillness, laughter, or simply showing up on their mat. Read More>>
Alyssa Hatchard
Honestly, I think my purpose found me, piece by piece, through every season and every country I’ve lived in. For a long time, I was searching for it in achievement, new roles, new places, new titles but purpose has a way of revealing itself when we stop running and start listening. Read More>>
Amanda Abruzzo
Honestly, I never really knew what my purpose was and I still question it sometimes. But I’ve learned that life is about learning lessons and growth. In dentistry, I learned the importance of caring for people in a vulnerable state while navigating all kinds of personalities along the way. Read More>>
Ivania Maria Rodriguez
Finding one’s purpose can happen in a single moment or it can take a lifetime. For a while, I asked myself questions like, What am I good at? What is my purpose? Until I decided to follow my parents’ advice: always make time for the things that make me smile. Read More>>
Rebecca Ralbovsky
I started out the professional life as a teacher. With photography, I didn’t realize I was finding my purpose when it started… I just knew something inside me was shifting. I taught for eight years, living by lesson plans and bell schedules, pouring so much into everyone else that I didn’t even notice how much of myself I’d set aside. Read More>>
Brianna Pineda
My purpose is to create a life filled with beauty, connection, and freedom — to build something that allows me to be fully present for my family while doing what I love: helping women feel confident, radiant, and celebrated in their own skin. Read More>>
Katie Sorensen, NP-C
My purpose was shaped by years of seeing how deeply health impacts every part of a person’s life- not just physically, but emotionally and socially too. As a nurse practitioner, I’ve witnessed how many diseases that limit people’s quality of life and healthspan are rooted in metabolic dysfunction. Read More>>
Sonja Hill
I found my purpose in people, as long as there are people in this world I feel there is a “Service” that we can all provide. Read More>>
Kristin Schuster
I’m an architect, but what I really do is help people live connected lives – to each other and the environment, but also themselves. When I was a teenager, my family moved into a house that was more than twice the size of the one we’d moved out of. Read More>>
Orna Feinstein
I knew from early age that I wanted to be a visual artist. I studied art, and became a full time artist focusing on printmaking. I am making art in my studio, and showing my art in galleries and museums. Three years ago, I started to travel around the world extensively, which led me to create, and show my art on locations. Read More>>
Mychel Sullivan
When I wanted to find my purpose in life I just looked at the some of the gifts God blessed me with and decided how I could best use them to bring value to the world. Read More>>
Ria
I always knew I was a creative from a very early age. I grew up in the church surrounded by a family full of creatives. Doing skits, talent shows, and all things geared toward expression. I discovered a feeling I didn’t find anywhere else. In school, I was heavily involved in theatre, drama, and choir. Completely enamored with performing, acting, singing, and modeling… Read More>>
Danielle Derois
I found my purpose through grief. My dad passed away unexpectedly from cancer in 2021, and during that time, painting became my refuge. I had first picked it up during COVID as a fun way to pass the time — I had no formal training, just a love for creativity and crafting. But after losing my dad, painting took on an entirely new meaning. Read More>>
Kimberly Jarvis
I found my purpose by following a deep, lifelong sense that the world itself was a story. I believed it was written by an unseen author long before I ever heard of religion. From a young age, I saw life through a mystical lens. I was drawn to places that invited wonder: museums, libraries, reservations, and old buildings that seemed to hum with antiquity. Read More>>
Jacqueline Austin
Back in 2015, I was working a job that didn’t value what I brought to the table. I had my degrees, the skills, and the drive — but not the fulfillment or the financial recognition that matched . I knew I was meant for something greater, something that allowed me to use my creativity and make an impact in a more personal way. Read More>>
Amy Chinian
I found my purpose through a personal experience that turned into a calling. When my children had head lice and passed it to me while I was nine months pregnant, I was overwhelmed, but that moment opened my eyes to how little people knew about lice and how much help was needed. Read More>>
Mia Noel Gordon
I found my purpose once my daughter began having skin challenges. I myself struggled as a child to my teenage years with eczema, acne breakouts, overly oily skin and dry patches. It took years for me to understand how to balance my skin. Going to the dermatologist and using various otc acne treatments never worked. Read More>>
Laurie Magee
After nearly 14 years in transportation and logistics, I reached a point where I knew something needed to change, but I wasn’t sure what or how. Working with a coach became a turning point. Through strengths assessments and vision boards, I started uncovering how I was meant to serve people in a more conscious and intentional way. Read More>>
Alana Sandel
Being Myself – Alana Sandel For years, I struggled with the question, “What is my purpose?” Not because I lacked ambition or effort, but because I expected the answer to be clear, packaged in a role or title. In my younger years, I didn’t have clarity about what I was meant to do. Read More>>
Bill and Michelle White
5Loaves2FishNMI is an outreach group that promotes compassion by providing nourishing meals, infused with love, to those experiencing food insecurity and homelessness. We feed people. Every week volunteers come together to create delicious meals with love! It is our hope that each meal will nourish families and communities not only in body, but in spirit too. Love is the message. Food is the vehicle! Read More>>
Victoria Alvarado
Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to be a hairstylist. My mom was a stylist, so I grew up in the salon—sweeping floors, folding towels, and watching the way she made people feel. It wasn’t just about doing hair; it was about giving people confidence, joy, and a place to feel seen. That’s where my love for this career began. Read More>>
INES BELAYOUNI
Music has been part of me for as long as I can remember. My mom loves to tell the story of how I started humming melodies when I was only nine months old. By the time I was three, I was already singing. School never truly interested me, I always felt more alive when I was surrounded by music. Read More>>
Jus Drayton
Honestly and personally my kids. I am most proud of being a father. It put life in perspective for me and definitely helped me mature. Everything I do, every move I make is for my children. They need to see a black man winning so they know they can do the same. I won’t fail the mission behind my kids. Read More>>
Heather Sunderland
Finding My Purpose Through Healing By Heather Sunderland I never planned to be doing what I am doing now. My purpose found me through my own journey with debilitating symptoms of fatigue, neuropathy, difficulty walking and standing, ligament laxity, and more. By the time I turned 30, I was already experiencing daily aches and pains along with constant fatigue. The pain was always moving, unpredictable. Read More>>
Amerian Martin
I found my purpose at a young age my mom would always play music no matter the genre and her my siblings and I would have small dance party’s I would imagine I was the one inside of the music video I have Always loved music around the age of 11 I started to write my own music it was like a burning fire Read More>>
Andrea Syglowski
I grew up in a small/ish town outside of Philadelphia. My sister is eight years older than me and she loved theatre. Read More>>
Azfar Imam
I found my purpose as an entrepreneur by recognizing the problems that truly inspired me to create solutions. Over time, I realized that entrepreneurship wasn’t just about building a business—it was about making an impact. Read More>>
Sally Mayberry
My purpose is a lifelong calling I finally allowed myself to step into. It took two things: a childhood built on service and a pivotal moment of crisis that broke me out of old thinking. I grew up as a missionary kid in Germany, where my parents modeled a life of deep service by constantly opening our home for counsel and community. Read More>>
Emily Winter
I grew up surrounded by art and music — creativity was woven into everyday life in our home. My Papa taught me how to draw when I was little, sparking a lifelong love for art and design. That passion led me to study graphic design in college and build a career in marketing for more than 20 years. Read More>>
Mário Lopes
Since a young age, I discovered that carving stone was where I felt truly complete — a place where my thoughts and creativity found harmony. I learned to understand the material, to listen to its nature, to recognize its properties, and to choose the right tools to bring my imagined forms to life. Read More>>
Alfonso Apodaca III
I didn’t find my purpose…I was born with paint under my nails and passion in my veins. Art didn’t choose me gently; it seduced me. Since I could hold a brush, I’ve been chasing colors, flirting with chaos, and turning wild emotions into something beautiful enough to make people stop and feel. Read More>>
Rita Chen
Finding my purpose wasn’t a single moment of clarity — it was a gradual unfolding. After leaving my last corporate role, I took intentional time to pause, reflect, and heal. In that quiet space, I realized how much of my identity had been tied to achievement, and how God was inviting me to rediscover who He created me to be. Read More>>
Isabelle Enriques
I never found my purpose. Instead, it found me. I didn’t have sudden moment of epiphany when I knew I’d discovered my calling. Instead, my purpose slowly emerged through the work of advocating for others, before I even knew it was manifesting in itself. Read More>>
Alyssa Chavez
I found my purpose by reconnecting with my roots and the traditions I was raised around. My Abuela was an immigrant who carried with her a wealth of knowledge about herbal remedies, healing, and the power of nature. Read More>>
