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.
Rachel Vasquez
Never had I ever felt so alone and lost. Darkness took over my life as I purposefully hid from the light. Frozen in fear, not knowing if I would ever feel safe again. How would I move forward without my husband, partner, best friend, and confident? Read more>>
Dominique Velez
Finding the purpose of your life is a journey that, once it begins, remains in constant reflection. In my case, I now believe it was always clear, even though I wasn’t fully conscious of it. I was fortunate to work for many years in companies specialized in leadership, and I discovered how important it was to have a clear purpose. Read more>>
The Smoking Barrel Tavern
We have always found that we enjoy helping people see how important they are. During the seclusion of the pandemic, a lot of people, including ourselves, found solace in social media. It was a place to turn to when we couldn’t leave our own homes. However, we discovered that most social media apps harbored toxicity and false hope. Read more>>
TJ Johnson
I fell into my purpose by accident. It all started when I was working part-time at Cumberland Road Fire Department as a firefighter back in 2017 and part time as an eyewear consultant at Lenscrafters after graduating from University of North Carolina at Greensboro with Bachelors in Peace and Conflict studies. Read more>>
Chad and James Hampton
James Hampton was sitting in his tree stand bow hunting in Michigan one evening in 2004 and he was unhappy and unfulfilled in his life. He had a job he didn’t like, and his wife was just recovering from cancer. After telling God he was at the end of his rope, James asked God this question: Read more>>
Madi Garcia
Discovering my purpose was quite the journey filled with lots of self-reflection. With a lots of interests pulling me in different directions, I struggled to pinpoint what truly resonated with me. For years, I had envisioned myself as an elementary school teacher, drawn to the idea of shaping young minds and making a difference in their lives. Read more>>
Jamal Adams
I believe your purpose is very much connected to the things in life you love doing so much that you’d do them for free. Read more>>
Emilio Cuesta
It took a while… In 2020, right before the world had changed forever, I was cast as the lead actor in an avant-garde Off-Broadway musical written by the Tony award winning playwright, Greg Kotis. Most of my experience in acting prior had been theatrical, film, TV, but nothing ever downright musical. Read more>>
Dom Noami
For starters, in order for me to find my purpose, I first had to find the one who gave it to me. The Bible says in Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart.” My purpose was already written and ordained by God. So, to unlock my purpose, I had to go to him. I have tried many methods in the past when it came to discovering purpose. However, they all ended the same way: in deep confusion and fear. Read more>>
Stephanie Courtillier
From a noun to a verb. I used to operate from the belief that my purpose was a noun. Something I was put on this earth to DO. I was living in the hustle and grind in constant pursuit of an illusive purpose. I remember looking around my peer group wondering why I was so different. Why no “career path” seemed to fulfill me the same way it did for others. Read more>>
Daneita Blalock-Hudson
Amazing question, I think I first had to understand what is Purpose? My Pastor once told me that if you want to know the purpose of a thing ask the creator. That has stuck with me to this very day. I prayed and searched my heart and would look around at the things I did with my life to really see, is that my purpose? What I found was that I had some amazing passions that thrusted me forward in my life, but that purpose was still unsure. Read more>>
Sarah Avery
Finding my purpose has been a journey deeply rooted in my values and life experiences. From a young age, I’ve held a strong belief in the importance of community, helping others, and living a life filled with vitality. Growing up as the oldest of six sisters, I felt a responsibility to be a good role model and set a positive example for my siblings. Read more>>
Darin Miller
I’ve been a lifelong reader, although I never really considered a career in writing until I checked out a particularly underwhelming book from the library in 2000. I thought I couldn’t possibly do any worse, so I decided to give it a try. I started by writing short stories, much like what you’d find in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine or Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Read more>>
Natalie Chay
From a young age, I’ve felt most connected to myself when collecting rocks and shells along the coast. In these moments I lose my sense of time. This connection to nature has led me to create and find joy in adornment. It has enabled me to tune into what I consider my “essence”—my intrinsic soul. It is our being that exists independent from external circumstances or learned thoughts and behaviors. Read more>>
Joi James
In 2022, I began to feel stuck in with my potential to get to the next level of fulfillment with my career and choosing to swim or sink. Yet swimming seemed unattainable because the river seemed so wide, but through prayer and fasting I found the strength and life vest to swim. Read more>>
Thomas Isaiah Hammond jr
For a long time I could not answer this question because I was so focused on where I was not. I believe that we are suppose to find purpose within our gifts. Iam musically inclined and I found out recently that I’m great with music and it’s my second language. Read more>>
Sharod Fenner
I discovered my purpose after achieving what I thought were all my goals, but still feeling unfulfilled. Working as a carhop at Sonic Drive-In during high school, I stumbled upon JB rollerskating, teaching myself the style with minimal guidance. However, during college, I took a break from skating as I explored other endeavors in search of my purpose. Read more>>
Penney Bidwell
Finding my purpose was mostly through trial and error. I’ve tried out jobs from financial analyst, to family therapist to bee keeping until I finally honored the artist within. Since I was a child, I loved arts and crafts. In particular, I loved working with my hands. For several years I lost my way. Through self-exploration and personal therapy, I became interested in Psychology and earned a Masters degree. Read more>>
Alyse Carter
I feel like I found my purpose later in life. I’ve always been a very social and helpful person and I’ve been called a social butterfly. My father always thought that I would become a nurse because I loved helping people, but I never felt like that was my calling. Read more>>
Mary Rogers
After many years of working in the field of corporate sales (recruiting, IT projects and management, etc.) and only playing music ‘on the side’, I decided it was time to make some major changes. It has been a long journey of discovering that my marketing skills and performance skills were not fully appreciated and these skills needed to be focused in an area of music performance that filled my heart and spirit with joy, every day; Read more>>
Kat Daou
Discovering my purpose has been a lifelong journey for me filled with twists, turns, and a whole lot of soul-searching. Growing up in a family of Lebanese immigrant entrepreneurs, success wasn’t just a goal—it was practically in our DNA. A lot of that pressure to succeed came from outside but a lot also came from within. I watched my dad retire at 33, and that lit a fire in me to have a purpose of some kind. I wanted to be like him. Read more>>
ROYCE XOXO
Ever since I could remember, I had a passion burning inside of me. My first true love was, and always will be music. All day and night, I itch to hear songs. Everyday, I work on something musical. Rather writing lyrics, singing my heart out, recording vocals, engineering, or co-producing instrumentals, I stay driven toward my goals. Why? Purpose. Read more>>
Kate Campbell
I found my purpose by getting really clear about what I love to do and what I want to say and making that a priority. I love being a storyteller – as an actor, a director, a writer, and a singer. I love discovering and expressing things that move me. Read more>>
Grace van Meurer
Finding my purpose within the broad umbrella of graphic design has been taken years of trial and error. I began my career working in-house before gaining agency experience where I had exposure to a wide range of clients across nearly every industry. I learned a lot at those early jobs—most importantly that my introverted personality would not be a good fit at a typical office job. Read more>>
Daniel Elias Carrero
I discovered my purpose, at least vaguely, the winter of 2019 at the age of 19, when I finally gave up on my amateur rap career. Being a rppaer was all I ever wanted to be, so much so it distracted me from my true calling. Read more>>
Colleen Leach
I’ve always had an outlook on life to listen to my gut…..in going through so many different career paths – I’ve owned a medical billing business, practiced dental hygiene for almost 15 years but deep down knew I was meant to do something creative. Read more>>
Christina Luna
Through a series of unexpected life events and the influence of the people who raised me, including my single mom, grandparents, and music teacher, my purpose found me. The values of determination and compassion instilled in me gently nudged me towards the discovery process of my unique gifts and towards meaningful work in the community I am a part of. Read more>>
Shaohan Fang
Before 2020, I spent my days as a product manager in internet companies. My undergraduate degree was in computer science and technology, and my first graduate program at the Communication University of China focused on digital media technology, with a minor in photography. Read more>>
Daniel and Bayou Lir
I believe my purpose first came to me while at NYU Film School when I got an editing job working for music legend and Academy Award Winner, Isaac Hayes. What struck me about working for Isaac was that community involvement and being a positive role model was so important to him. He was an honorary King in Africa, he gave his time and resources for literacy programs and going back to his roots he was part of the civil rights movement. Read more>>
Anne Mok
It was in the darkest solitude of my room with the blinds drawn being bedridden with NDPH (new daily persistent headache) and also diagnosed with cone rod dystrophy in adulthood, a condition that progressively impairs vision, that I fought back instead of surrendering to the silence. I made a deliberate decision to accept the pain but also chose to live in the low pain moments. Read more>>
Deyari Evergreen
Truthfully speaking I believe my purpose found me. As far back as I can remember, music has always had an abnormal place in my life. When I was a child my mom would have these VHS tapes full of music videos. Whenever she put those tapes on I would become like a zombie and just watch them all night, that was her way of shutting me up from crying. I should’ve known then but it had to blossom within its own time. Read more>>
Amber Key
Discovering my purpose did not only come from passion and self-exploration, but a responsibility to make a difference in the lives of small businesses and entrepreneurs through storytelling. I was raised in Pittsburgh, PA, a city known for it’s strong worth ethic and grit. Read more>>
Atharva Phadke
I found it two ways. Number 1: I had a genuine “this-is-my-calling” moment in 2013, when 6-months into teaching myself how to play the guitar I wrote my 3rd song ever, and it was absolute trash but it sent a surge of an-unnameably-awesome-feeling that I feel in some shape or form every time I finish writing a song. Read more>>
Samantha “SAMMY” Jennifer Larsen-Hernandez
I found my purpose in life was to make people laugh and take care of animals at about 7 years old. I found my parents tired and cranky from working alot and I would put on funny plays and sing to make them happy and laugh! Read more>>
Kara Nash, ASDCS, RN
Being born in the mid 70s when little girls didn’t have autism, or so was the common misconception, I struggled to communicate my challenges with the world around me. I didn’t want to be weird or different or to disappoint my family, so I tried to hide the things that I struggled with. Read more>>
