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.
Marianela Silva
Initially I did not have plans of becoming a financial advisor. I was working as a teacher, because I’ve always had a passion for teaching and helping others. Life took me in a different direction, and I realized that I could make an impact in people’s lives through financial empowerment. Working in the financial industry has shown me so many educational disparities with regards to people’s personal finances and that is what cemented my purpose in helping others achieve their financial goals. Read more>>
Chris Clews
working out for me. I was having a self-pity party of one over my job situation and watching the movie – The Breakfast Club – when the character John Bender said, “Screws fall out all of the time. The world’s an imperfect place.” I sat up and said to myself, “My screws have fallen out. I’m in an imperfect place. What am I going to do to put them back in?” Continuing to flip channels, I stopped on another 80s classic, The Outsiders and literally jumped off my couch when I heard the character Johnny Cade say, “You still have a lot of time to make yourself be what you want.” Read more>>
Kate Greene
That’s an interesting question. Honestly, I’ve spent a lot of time worrying about not having found my purpose—or fearing I never would. Some people just seem to KNOW what drives them. But I’ve come to realize that purpose doesn’t have to be fixed. Read more>>
Donald Baugh
As a cabinet maker, designer, I’m commissioned to work in commercial and residential properties which I’ve done for the last 20 years. I love what I do but my creativity doesn’t end there, for the last 7 years I’ve been inspired to make more sculptural artistic pieces. On returning from exhibiting my furniture in New York back in 2017, my friend and mentor Karin Phillips offered me an opportunity to exhibit in Tokyo, as I’d missed the shipment to get my large pieces there she suggested I take smaller items I could fit in my luggage. Read more>>
Cindy Chu
I think finding your purpose is a lifelong journey of figuring what’s for you and what isn’t. In college, I did a bunch of internships in various industries like politics, finance, online magazine writing etc. so I knew what wasn’t for me. Coming from an immigrant family that struggled with money, going for a financially secure job was ingrained in me, but I knew I was drawn to the arts, specifically towards acting, which is the pure opposite of being financially secure. Read more>>
Taylor Knese
Since I was seven years old, I knew I wanted to heal people. My path into medicine began with nursing, driven by a love for bedside care and a desire to make a real difference in people’s lives. Growing up, I was surrounded by family members with chronic health issues—my grandmother, in particular, struggled with multiple conditions. Watching her, I felt helpless, but it sparked a truth within me. I wanted to understand how to heal people. Read more>>
Jennifer Henriquez
Wow I truly LOVE this question. From a very young age I would always ask my mother “well who helps children when they are sad or need guidance”. At that time I was about 8 yrs old and thought only older people get help. School counseling and mental health wasn’t a major topic and it was only for people who “really” needed it or so I thought. Once I got to H.S my school counselor only served one purpose and that was to talk to me about my schedule. Once I was in college I wanted to change that narrative. After joining our schools volunteer team and working in the schools counseling center I decided I wanted to become a school counselor. I knew I had the gift of being empathetic, patient, and caring. Read more>>
Kathi Reichel
I find it nearly impossible to express the profound significance this question holds for me. Discovering my purpose not only altered the course of my life—it ultimately saved it. My struggle with depression began when I was just twelve, following my father’s chronic illness and my mother’s own health challenges. The weight of these burdens grew heavier over time, peaking when I turned twenty. At that point, I was just drifting through life in a numb, ghost-like state. For years, my focus was consumed entirely by the wellbeing of my family, abandoning my own needs, desires, and dreams. Read more>>
Lisa Cantrell
I think my whole life I have been keenly aware that we all will die. My brother passed away when I was a kid. When he died, it changed everything about my family and ultimately how I understood and saw the world. It was the worst imaginable thing to have happen to me and my family. And yet it also became the thing that made me who I am. Somehow death pushes you to zoom out and see life from a birdseye view and to really ask yourself what matters and how you want to spend your time. If you know that your life might be short, it changes how you react to those around you, whether you snap at someone you are angry at or try to be more compassionate. Somewhere in all of that I came to a moment in my late 20s when I asked myself “if I know I only have another 60 years tops, how do I want to spend that time?” And the answer was “easing suffering.” Read more>>
Xabier Iriondo
I found my purpose in the storm and in the calm of the events/encounters that marked my journey. Composing music in multiple contexts (dozens of bands, film sonorization, etc), recording and producing 60 records, playing live on three continents, etc. Trying to realize my vision of contemporary artist. Read more>>
Mr.
The first song I ever wrote was for a girl that I loved but who didn’t love me back. I still remember the melody. As a boy who grew up on the music of Boyz II Men, Babyface, Brian McKnight, and so many others from that special 90s R&B era, I loved writing love songs. Read more>>
Jodie Snyder
After a prompt from my therapist several years ago to explore influential adults during my formative teenage years, I made an incredible discovery. Mr. Voss, my high school history teacher, was the individual that stood apart. Not only did I take every elective class he offered, but it was the first time I felt an intrinsic desire to understand the human experience and its fascinating complexity. I now see Mr. Voss was the conduit that drew attention to the vantage point of where I stand today. I have been on a quest ever since to better understand the nature of what it means to be human. I have maintained that curiosity over the decades as I question the role of conditioning and systems in our lives, better understand the root of our internal disturbances, and how to best serve people from a mental, emotional, physical and spiritual level. Read more>>
Kelli Russell
I found my purpose at age 12. I kept noticing that the adults around me didn’t seem to like their spouses very much, and complained about their work. I thought, “Why would someone create a life they didn’t like?” I decided right then to become a psychologist to figure it out and to be able to help people change that. Read more>>
Melyana Sie
It all started when I longed to have my own job, I prayed to Lord Jesus every day asking for His help to give me a job that only involved Jesus and me. After I prayed, I got an offer to take a class in baking and decorating cakes a week later. From there on I made cakes at home with high quality and shared my homemade cakes with some of my friends and family. They all said that the cakes were very delicious and the texture was perfect, even my friends decided to buy cakes from me. I was even more motivated to make cakes that maintain high quality so that the taste of the cake is delicious and beautiful to the eyes of other people. Read more>>
Curbie Toles
Through adversity of adult life. I was corrections officer for 10 years and working inside the prison, really missed with me mentally. Sometimes I would just be stressed out, depressed or just angry. So I had to find something for myself, my comfort zone. To feel like myself again. So I was reminded of a childhood passion of drawing. But I was curious about painting. One day I just went to Michael’s and picked up a bunch of painting materials and never looked back. Read more>>
Fernando Tipacti Jr.
Interestingly, my purpose found me when I wasn’t actively searching for it. It’s a fascinating concept—do we ever fully grasp what our purpose is, or does it gradually reveal itself to us? Some people strive to discover theirs, while for others, it unfolds naturally. In my case, taking a leap of faith into the arts turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. Read more>>
Deja Hospey
I discovered that working with hair was my true calling because I have always been naturally drawn to it. As a child, I loved transforming my Barbie dolls and mannequin heads with unique and creative hairstyles. In high school, I began taking on clients, but at the time, I viewed it more as a side hustle than a potential career path. I decided to pursue a degree in business, which confirmed that entrepreneurship was in my future, but I hesitated to fully embrace that passion. Read more>>
Heather Setzenfand
How I found my purpose as a dry needling physical therapist and herbalist was not an easy, straight, or short journey. I used to go to work with my father in a pharmacy on Saturdays starting when I was 10 years old. He and other compounding pharmacists would teach me how to measure using what I thought was the “original” scale with weights on one side and the product on the other. Those days when I made prescription shampoos, creams, and medicines were amazing to me as a child. Read more>>
Desiree Nolasco
Beyond starting my career in lash extension artistry, I discovered an untapped market (to my knowledge at the time) for natural lash artistry. In 2019-2021, the trend in Las Vegas was what’s known as “megavolume,” where it’s obvious the lashes being worn weren’t natural, and sometimes a little grotesque. With this awareness, I sought after artists who were skilled in the area I lacked and could learn from. Fast forward 3 years, I had completed numerous in-person and online courses that helped develop my craft to the competitive edge it has today. My husband and I moved back to my home state, Alaska, in December of 2022. Read more>>
Chris A.k.a. Fluidgirl Young-ginzburg
I found my purpose by following my inspiration, impulses, passion, and excitement. My journey began with a love for dance—a joy that’s been with me since childhood. When I returned to California, I felt a deep calling to start meditating, which ultimately guided me to my spiritual path. Read more>>
Zachary York
The business model is straightforward: to empower artists to focus on creating in the studio, instead of managing their digital presence. Both are essential to success and having a strong website is a crucial step for any artist. Recognizing this need, I saw an opportunity at the intersection of helping artists market their craft, my technical expertise, and my passion for creative design solutions. Alongside my mother, a working artist herself, we set out to develop a plan that would support the art community. Read more>>
Desiree Nolasco
Beyond starting my career in lash extension artistry, I discovered an untapped market (to my knowledge at the time) for natural lash artistry. In 2019-2021, the trend in Las Vegas was what’s known as “megavolume,” where it’s obvious the lashes being worn weren’t natural, and sometimes a little grotesque. With this awareness, I sought after artists who were skilled in the area I lacked and could learn from. Fast forward 3 years, I had completed numerous in-person and online courses that helped develop my craft to the competitive edge it has today. My husband and I moved back to my home state, Alaska, in December of 2022. Read more>>
Smile Soul Frangelly Teresa Petti Carrero
Thank you Bold Journey Magazine for this huge opportunity of sharing my story, I am Smile Soul a singer-songwritter from Venezuela. I consider that “Finding our purpose” is a subject of much introspection, we are all different and we all have different processes, each one manages at his own pace guided by his own desire and instinct in that search. Speaking from a personal point of view, it took me years to understand that my path was in music. Read more>>
Elizabeth Jane “ej” Brumfield
Hemingway said, “write what you know,” and this inspired me to create an offering the healed the pain I knew well. When I was younger, my father was diagnosed with brain cancer, and as he was dying, I said some terrible things in my anger (as teenagers do). When he died, I wasn’t able to apologize or seek forgiveness; deep down, I developed a subconscious belief that I was a bad person, that I wasn’t worthy of love. I truly knew self-loathing, doubt, and an icky dark self-hate—my life reflected this belief. Read more>>
Catie Menke
I found my purpose by following the things that brought me joy and exploring multiple interests. I started out with a dance career, moving across the country and believing I could make it. Then, I created a networking group centered around bringing women together, which eventually transformed into an online community blog focused on self-care and self-love. I followed my passion for art into graphic design and eventually fell into photography. Now, I’m happy to say I’m doing art and photography full-time. Read more>>
Harry Waldman
-I have loved movies ever since I was just a few years old, but I was always someone who was a bit too “practical” when it came to my career, despite the fact that my dad has been a successful artist since I was young. I assumed that you were supposed to graduate college and then work at a job that you weren’t passionate about in order to pay the bills. The thought really depressed me, so I tried not to think about it too often and focused on my hobbies, which included watching movies, playing video games, sports, listening to music and hanging out with friends. Read more>>
Jacquitta A. Mcmanus
Finding my purpose was more of a series of small moments than a single revelation. It began when I searched for fantasy adventure and science fiction stories for my daughter. She was getting into early reader chapter books, and I wanted to share that genre with her. But when I tried to find books with Black characters, I couldn’t find any. At the time, I had just finished my first short film, a drama, and was working on its continuation. I realized I didn’t want to write drama—I always had stories in my head, but it wasn’t until I connected the lack of Black protagonists in children’s fantasy and science fiction that I thought, I could write these books myself. Read more>>
Jess Kristen Peterson
From a very early age, I knew I loved animals and wanted to work with pets, however I always had it in my mind to become a vet. From Kindergarten to Junior year of High School, I went through all of it with becoming a vet in mind. I eventually came to the realization however, that I just don’t have it in me to be able to handle seeing our beloved pets in physical pain and so maybe Vet School was not for me. This realization happened in Senior year of high school, which left me scrambling to figure out what else I could focus on and I landed on Cinema. I had always loved photography and movies and I ended up being accepted into the USC School of Cinema-Television into their Critical Studies program, where we would watch movies and critique them – their editing, their storytelling effectiveness, etc. Read more>>
Beau Ramos
I think for a lot of people, it happens completely by accident. For me, it was a conscious journey. I personally have not had a simple life. So when talking about “my purpose” it cannot be a simple answer. There have been many twists and turns when trying to figure out my identity in my twenties, and similar to that what I even wanted to do once I “discovered” that person. I knew, but didn’t that I was transgender from a young age and seeing all of the statistics online when you do finally come to that realization is scary. Read more>>
Hannah Serraino
Finding your purpose in the world can be difficult for anyone. I thought my purpose was like many others’: to go to college, get a degree, and find my forever career. I did go to college, I did obtain my degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences. I was working towards finding my forever career while working as a restaurant server when I found out I was going to become a first time mom! My forever career had to take a back seat to part time serving and full time mommy-ing. My purpose had changed. Being a full time parent was my priority and full time job, but I still hung on to my part time serving job because I truly loved it. Read more>>
Angela Draughn
Growing up as a first-generation college student in a home filled with love but limited resources, I learned early on what it meant to adapt and persevere. My journey began in North Carolina, where I spent my early years, ages one to six, living with my grandparents. They cared for me as I recovered from an accident that left me with second and third-degree burns. It was there that I first learned the meaning of service, resilience, and love. Read more>>
Molly Brindle
The year 2020 was pivotal for me, not because it ended my long career in media and corporate partnership sales, or due to the pandemic induced fear and isolation. It happened on my living room couch. A spiritual awakening occurred that caused me to pivot radically from the security of a cubicle and paycheck to the free roaming life of a Reiki Master and healing intuitive. For most of my friends, their reaction resembled the cartoon character Scooby Doo – Molly’s now doing WHAT?!?! Read more>>
Chris Tyrrell
My journey to finding my purpose wasn’t a single ‘aha’ moment but rather a series of life experiences and lessons learned over time. It started with a wide range of jobs—everything from washing dishes to managing a business—which taught me resilience, communication, and problem-solving. Each role showed me that purpose isn’t necessarily tied to a specific job but rather to the impact we have on others. Read more>>
Dr. Anthony Batts, Ii
Are you the cat or the mouse? Are you the lion or the prey? I was the lion, tethered to an oversized hamster wheel of guilt bolted to the steel cage of neglect, where anxiety pushed me towards my purpose, yet kept me stagnant in one place, endless moving, but moving towards nowhere.
I often thought “What’s next for me,” but my circumstance as an English teacher kept me engaged enough to enjoy my students, keep my curriculum fresh only to defer my actual dream of becoming a principal, or superintendent, but when I realized that my version of academic intellect and integrity looked very different than my superiors, I quit. Read more>>
Tonya Slater
Growing up, I had no concept of “purpose.” Life was about surviving day to day. My childhood held moments of darkness and hardship, ones that shaped and haunted me. My mother, barely more than a child herself, had a past filled with struggles. Yet, she fought to provide for her three children however she could, even as she faced her own battles, enduring abuse and instability. Watching her gave me a front-row seat to survival’s cost and resilience’s strength. But for a child, witnessing such pain took a toll on my spirit and sense of self. Read more>>
Regg Evans
From a young age, I felt a deep connection to the unseen, a knowing that transcended the ordinary. A strange pull, a sense of something more, often consumed my thoughts as I contemplated the universe and our place within it. Yet, in a world that often dismissed such introspection, I learned to suppress these feelings, conforming to societal expectations. Read more>>
