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.
Kim Munoz
I find my purpose in empowering women, especially those over 40, to break the mold and defy aging stereotypes. When I started Old Lady Gains, it wasn’t just about creating apparel—it was about building a movement. As a woman who started her business later in life, I know firsthand how powerful it is to prove people wrong, to show that strength, confidence, and vitality aren’t defined by age. My purpose comes from helping other women realize they can still crush it in life—whether that’s lifting weights, running marathons, or simply feeling good in their own skin. Every time I hear a woman say she feels stronger and more confident because of Old Lady Gains, I know I’m doing exactly what I’m meant to do. Read more>>
Heather Lamb, Rn
My purpose was to take the risk on an innovative and unique medical service and open it to the public at a reasonable cost. I pioneered and opened the first medical grade hyperbaric oxygen therapy facility, to the public in the DMV area… I am nurse, I practiced wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy for several years. I seen that their was a hyperbaric need for off-label conditions. Many members of the general public were getting turned away from medical facilities because their condition was not approved by the FDA for use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Read more>>
Nourished Life Foods
At Nourished Life Foods, we are more than just a business; we are a community of health-conscious individuals who believe in making a positive impact on the world. This purpose drives us every day and is the foundation of all our efforts. Read more>>
Katie Peeples
I’m not sure whether I found my purpose or my purpose found me. I’m now a Pediatric Chiropractor but I originally wanted to use my knowledge of anatomy and physiology to help solve crimes. In 2013, I started a Masters of Science in Forensic Anthropology but after a debilitating bout of low back pain, I stumbled upon Chiropractic. Read more>>
Sydney Khan
I’ve always known my purpose, deep down, even if I took a detour. I’ve grown so much in the past five years, that sometimes it feels like an accident or mistake. But that just feels like some outdated self-doubt trying to get attention from me and the life I am in the process of creating. Read more>>
Nathan Shultz
I had hit rock bottom in life. All at once – sudden divorce, sudden passing of my father, and fired from my job. It was a cosmic 2×4 to the head that woke me up to my dormant spirit inside. That led me into healing my past through many paths at once: a couple of yoga teacher trainings, joining a mystery school, mentorship by a qi gong master, visiting India(meeting the Dalia Lama) and Peru with teachers and much more. Read more>>
Russel Baker
My career, spanning over four decades, has largely been focused on the environmental industries where I committed myself to improving our environment, creating jobs, ensuring worker safety, and mentoring the next generation. History was something I enjoyed since my youth, and it has had a significant influence on my life choices. In the 70s I started buying, restoring, and selling classic motorcycles and cars. What started as a hobby quickly grew into a passion, fueled by a deep appreciation for the history of transportation and Americana. Read more>>
Kisha Edmunds
I found my purpose when I first went public about the years of sexual abuse by my stepfather. Initially, it was to disprove my mother’s narrative of how I was able to get him detained over 20+ years later. When I was silent, I felt as if I was the one serving a prison sentence. Once I spoke out, I was free! So, in finding my voice by advocating for myself; I gave a voice to others who could not find the words. Creating my platform Kisha’s Legacy is how I hope to share in that purpose. Read more>>
Ben Junta
This is a really interesting and vital question. I was in high school and had seen a Mark Rothko painting, and quickly felt what some might call a “spiritual feeling” as I viewed this. My parents took us to a few misc museums now and again, but by no means had any understanding of art history. All I knew at that time was that this thing I was looking at seemed to hold some sort of “non verbal/non written communication”. Read more>>
Luisa Bohorquez Paba
Since we were young, both Rafael and I, who were born in Bogotá, Colombia, had a natural inclination toward art. Rafael was always curious about objects and loved creating things with his hands, while I loved to color. In school, I used to make posters and drawings for my classmates. As we grew older, we both decided to study industrial design. However, I discovered that my true passion was illustration. That’s how I started doing pet portraits, and people began buying them, which marked the beginning of my career as an illustrator and artist. Read more>>
Maya Brown
Hello, my name is Maya Denaire. I currently live in Pittsburgh, PA and I love traveling the world, experiencing new cultures, learning new things, helping, and inspiring others. I am a jack of many trades, but the hat I currently wear is a licensed cosmetologist who specializes in healthy hair care. In 2020, I dropped out of Carlow University due to it transferring to hybrid classes. I am a hands-on type of person, and I did not find I was receiving the best education virtually. Unfortunately, my classes were not cancelled in a timely manner, which left me with an outstanding balance. Read more>>
Kelsa Blaine
“This can’t be all life is about.”
The thought crashed through my head as soon as consciousness snuck in. I woke up, without opening my eyes, and felt the immediate weight of “This just CAN’T be all life is about.”
It was December 2019. I found myself in the final year of law school, operating a wedding photography business as my main source of income, all while going through a rather tumultuous divorce. Read more>>
Monica Asencio
My love and passion for a healthier lifestyle was born more than a decade ago, when my middle son Gael was diagnosed with autism at age 4, the information about this topic was very limited back then. I was blessed to have a friend/ speech therapist who knew more than I did, and she gifted me a book, the book was about a family that saw great improvements in their son by changing their diet. Read more>>
Robert Mccutcheon
After the loss of my 19 year old son, Ryan, in an automobile accident, my family and and I re-evaluated what was truly important in our lives and decided that we wanted to pursue our passion for music while also honoring Ryans legacy. As a result, I retired from a 28 year career with PricewaterhouseCoopers and turned our personal recording studio project into a commercial venture while also establishing “The Ryan McCutcheon Rhythm19 Fund” as a charitable foundation. Today The Vault Recording Studio hosts a number of award winning engineers and producers, an independent record label and our community efforts working with school students through the Rhythm19 Fund. Read more>>
Tyler Heitzman
I grew up in a very small coal mining town, and to be honest, I noticed at a young age that not a lot of folks seemed to feel fulfilled around me. The industries left, then addictions and poverty seemed to replace them. At first, I thought it all very drab and that I really needed to escape to accomplish anything in life. I grew up fast, like so many have to, because there was no silver spoon. However, I grew up with land to roam on. I grew up with a grandmother who took me to the farmers market. I grew up roaming the forest, and eating all the berries. Read more>>
Hannah Walker
I discovered my true purpose through designing and creating beautiful events such as Weddings, Military Galas and Charity events, etc. Embracing every opportunity to be open-minded in all aspects of design. This approach allows me to craft unique experiences that reflect each client’s vision while pushing creative boundaries to make every event extraordinary. Read more>>
Rae Karim
I found my purpose interestingly enough in a space of lack. Sounds odd, doesn’t it…but go with me as I tell the story. You ready?
Ok so, June 14, 2017 my beautiful, beloved mother passed away, as a result of stage 4 lung cancer. Just sixteen days prior, my amazing granddaddy, her father, passed away. Mind you, this is pre-covid, yet it was back to back loss. Their celebration of life services were literally ten days apart. Read more>>
Kevin Mcevoy
Finding my purpose took much of my healing journey to really discover, and honestly, it’s still a work in progress. As I continue to grow and evolve, I’m sure the picture of what my purpose is will become more clear. In order to understand how I found my purpose, I need to bring you back to the beginning of my healing journey back in 2008 and show you how I came to be the being I am today. I consider my healing journey having begun when I was graduating high school. Back then, I suffered from a number of heavy emotions and experiences. Read more>>
Christine Stapleton
I love this question, because finding my purpose was a very intentional act. In 2022, I was in the midst of doing some real internal work. At the time I had been in my full time career for almost 20 years and I was at a point in life where I knew I was entering a new chapter and I knew there was more I wanted to do but I was not sure what that was exactly. I had always found interest in exercising my creativity thru fashion, interior design and planning events. I really had too many interests and needed to focus that creative energy in one place. Read more>>
Emma Hapner
In an artistic sense, it took me awhile to figure out what I was really trying to say with my work, and how that related to me as a person. My older works revolved primarily around aesthetic, and sometimes seemed to focus mostly on things I found beautiful. During grad school, I started using more and more pink in my work, and realized that I wanted to make work about women’s experiences and the intricacy of womanhood, by re-imagining classical compositions. Read more>>
Katie Locks
I have always loved animals, specifically dogs, and I wanted to work with them somehow and make it a profession. This was in the 1990’s, and there were few options that felt right; I just didn’t do things with my dogs the way others did so I didn’t pursue anything. Jump forward to working for a pet products company in the early 2000’s and finding a passion for the advertising work that I did with the company. This inspired me to pursue a career in training and behavior and finally do what felt right. Read more>>
Eva Ash
I grew up in a small town in western Canada, a place I couldn’t wait to get out of when I grew up. For as long as I remember I wanted to be a journalist. I was a passionate writer and loved telling stories. Throughout my childhood, my Mom started her own business in childcare. She worked weekends, and evenings, and long days. She went to networking groups and was a member of the Women’s Entrepreneurial Group in our small city, (back in the early 90’s this was far less common than it is today). Read more>>
Riley Cochran
I got into this field because of my own rough teenage years. While I was confident and successful in sports, understanding depression and anxiety was a whole different ballgame. Even though we’re starting to talk more about mental health as a society, there’s still a lot of work to do, especially when it comes to understanding these issues from a young age. For men, the challenge can be even greater. We’re often taught to see certain struggles as ‘normal’ and ignore what might actually be mental health challenges. Read more>>
Krista Hudson
Growing up as the oldest daughter of three, I developed an almost instinctive need to help and support my parents. From a young age, I found myself filling roles and meeting expectations that shaped how I saw the world and myself. This sense of duty, mixed with unconscious patterns passed down from generation to generation, led me to live life as someone I thought I should be, rather than who I wanted to be. Read more>>
Fabius Santos
This is a great question, it really took me a long time to find my purpose. For most of my life, I was on autopilot just doing things that I thought were fun. Growing up, you learn in school and from the media that its all about making a lot of money.. The American Dream. That making a lot of money is the end all be all. I did not grow up with much money and I am fortunate because I think I would be a different person if I had grown up differently. I have seen how money can change people and I knew when I went into nursing school that I needed a career where I would feel a sense of purpose. I was originally a business major and changed the course and switched to nursing because I really wanted to find fulfillment. Read more>>
Michael Brovac
Purpose is something that I think is crucial to any human being. It’s also something I believe we all have but it’s our responsibility to channel/discover. My purpose was discovered through extreme trial and tribulation in my early childhood and youth. Me and my brother’s existence consisted of being sick or in a hospital. Sadly he passed away when he was 10 years of age and I was 15, It took me looking at his life and death directly to truly see my purpose and why I was still here when he was not. Read more>>
Jason Irving
That’s a great question. I would say that it has developed over the course of many years, and is primarily driven by my faith. I would like to think that we are all on a journey in this regard, and it began with my realization that none of us are here by accident. It would take me a long time to detail all the reasons I discovered this to be true, but once I knew that I was here by design and not by coincidence, that gave me the freedom to really explore my what my true purpose is. Read more>>
Connor Abdo
Animal shelters are filled with dogs who desperately need care, love, and companionship. When I started working with shelter dogs, I thought I was simply offering my time, but soon I realized that these dogs were transforming me just as much as I was helping them. Each wagging tail and hopeful gaze ignited a sense of fulfillment and belonging within me. Helping these vulnerable animals gave me a deeper understanding of empathy, patience, and the power of kindness. Read more>>
Karla Hylton
I found my purpose through a series of profound life experiences that pushed me to reflect deeply on who I am and what I can contribute to the world. There was a time in my life when I faced immense challenges, including personal struggles that took me to very dark places. However, those moments became the turning point. Read more>>
Alessandra Castro
I’ve always been an obsesive creator since I got memory, i just loved to destroy stuff to create other stuff, could be clothing, crafts, paintings, random objects, anything, useful or not, I just liked to see how things worked, sounds like a cliche but my mom can confirm because most of the things I destroyed where in her closet haha. Read more>>
Julie Stamm
I found purpose when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. It was a moment that dramatically altered my life, but instead of letting it define me, I used it to fuel my passion for advocacy and education. My purpose evolved as I focused on raising awareness, providing support for others with chronic illnesses, and advocating for inclusivity, especially for children and families affected by these conditions. Sharing my story and creating resources like my children’s book helped me turn personal struggles into a platform for positive change and resilience. Read more>>
Beth Richards
Finding purpose can change every day, and maybe it is a lifelong journey. I think for me, my purpose has shifted throughout the years but it is ultimately doing what most aligns with my inner world and building community. I have always loved music, it is so connecting and underpins so much of our lives. It takes us through some of the hardest emotions we ever process, it takes us to magical places and brings so much joy to the every day too. Read more>>
Dolores Cruz
Sometimes one’s purpose shows up in a most unexpected way. In May of 2017, my 24-year-old son, my youngest of four, was killed in a car accident. My world was turned upside-down as I plunged into what felt like an abyss of grief and despair. Nothing made sense anymore and nothing mattered. It seemed that life no longer held a purpose for me. Read more>>
Rodney D Butler
I found my purpose through trial and error. Trying different things, some helped develop me, others hindered me. But all led me full circle to who I always was. So, after finding so much success at being me. I realized I found my purpose. Read more>>
Elizabeth Cassidy
I was lucky because I entered the world as a little creative soul. I drew when I could and scribbled on anything. When school started, I handed in drawings instead of written reports. That went over big, and the principal’s office felt like a second home. I had a learning disability (which I now look at as another ability: ADHD) that was not diagnosed until I was in my fifties. That made for a lonely childhood because I was all over the place and parents thought I might be contagious. I wasn’t. So, I kept drawing and creating my own little world with my art. Read more>>
Jill Johnson
I’ll start with what I think my purpose is – it’s to be an educator and an artist, in that order. I think finding my purpose was something that I’ve been striving for my entire life. When I was a kid I had this dream of being a popstar researcher, whatever that meant in my tiny mind. Researching popstars? Being a popstar while researching? Both? I ended up becoming both, and I think it synthesizes my interests and therefore my purpose pretty well. Read more>>
Wanda Childs
Finding my purpose was (not) easy, what’s funny, I didn’t know I had a purpose to begin with. I spent most of my childhood and adult life not knowing I had any special gifts or talents, which left no room for me to believe I had a given purpose. I’ve learned not knowing your purpose, or not understand you have special gifts and talents can cause you to feel like you’re living a meaningless life. Read more>>
Tracie Lee
Throughout my life I’ve always had an instinctive view of my purpose, where being involved in creative endeavors is important to me, but only in the past few years has it turned into a more nuanced view. First, I see myself as a questioner of the status quo, always striving for and imagining a different future; and second, I see myself as a facilitator, connector, and interpreter of concepts, thoughts, systems, people and feelings, in order to move towards that future. Read more>>
Joshua Perry
Geez, this question is by far my favorite. Okay, let me paint this picture as much as I can. Trigger warning, this might be heavy for some. It was my first semester, senior year of high school. I was 17 years old (I also was the youngest student in the class due to my birthday being in the summer), and I just found out that I was adopted by my own family (do not ask me about that because I do not understand it myself haha). Read more>>
Allison Orr
Forklift Danceworks was born from a desire to bring people together through dance making, collaborating primarily with the people whose work sustains our daily lives. I have a background in social work and public health, and have always loved to dance and make shows. While getting my MFA in Choreography at Mills College, I was eating one day after rehearsals in the school cafe and looked up to see a man washing windows. Read more>>
Tiffanynichol’ Sweeney
Being a cosmetologist was never on my list of career choices, in-fact I didn’t even see it as a career. I was having a hard time adjusting to a new environment in high school. The school guidance counselor suggested some off campus options including dentistry and cosmetology, clearly I chose cosmetology. Read more>>
Heather Thyng
I stumbled into the world of cosmetology somewhat accidentally I had graduated college with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and a minor in marketing, in the height of economic crisis that was 2009, aka the Great Recession. At the time I was working as a bartender, making way more money than I ever would have in a corporate entry level job. And so I knew I wanted to go back to school (because restaurant money is good, but restaurant hours can be brutal) but for what? I didn’t love the subject matter of a business degree, and I didn’t love the idea of paying for a Master’s degree. Read more>>
Noam Polinger
Purpose is a word that carries so much weight among people today. especially people in my generation. As a 23 year old entrepreneur, it could be easily assumed at first glance that I found my “purpose” rather quickly, or perhaps easily. But the journey of life is such that sometimes hours can feel like days, days can feel like weeks, and weeks can feel like years. In a world that is constantly searching for purpose, I offer a different perspective…Rather than search for purpose; search for yourself. As a young child my mother taught me how to cook thus creating in me a love for food. And yet, my purpose wasn’t to cook. Read more>>
Ariana Solis Gomez
I was born and raised in Mexico, and moving to the U.S. was a cultural shock. As an immigrant, I’ve personally experienced the barriers that many in our community face, from language challenges to limited access to resources and opportunities. This journey has fueled my commitment to uplift and amplify the voices of those who often go unheard or feel overlooked. Read more>>
