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.
Ameris & Eric Reynaert
Our purpose often lies in our challenges in life, bringing light to the saying ‘pain into purpose.’ We found our purpose (helping others learn how to conscious awaken, heal, and love) by navigating years of suffering in our partnership. Read more >>>
Davythestylist
I found my purpose by embracing the power of being uniquely and authentically myself. Since childhood, I’ve always been drawn to fashion as well as modeling, and the excitement of exploring boutiques. Those little passions were the seeds of something bigger that I didn’t realize at the time. Read more >>>
Roni Zulu
Durring a weekend house cleaning, Mother discovered a large stack of coloring books in my bedroom closet. Naturally, her curiosity wanted to see what her son had created. Upon opening one of the books, she discovered not one page had been colored. Upon perusing the next book she found the same lack of crayon creations. Read more >>>
Joshua Scott
I don’t think I ever just stumbled across my purpose one day. It came from following the things I naturally gravitated toward. I’ve always been drawn to people, hospitality, and creating better experiences. Even when I was working in more technical or corporate roles, I kept coming back to ideas that put people at the center. Read more >>>
Francisca Orellana Polanka
I’ve always carried a strong sense of justice. Even as a child, I was the one asking “why does it have to be this way?” especially when things felt unfair. I didn’t “find” my purpose so much as I listened to it. It was always there, whispering through books, stories, classrooms, and eventually through motherhood. Oveja Negra Kids was born in response to injustice. Read more >>>
Heather Knight
I didn’t find my purpose in a single moment, it came slowly, over time, through resilience and trust. There were times when I felt disconnected from my creativity, when I was more of a machine than an artist, and even further back when I had abandoned my art practice all together, but art has a way of calling you back. Read more >>>
Jazzlynn Hickman
Hi everyone, I found my purpose by rededicating my life back to Christ. I wanted to strengthen my relationship with God and allow him to help me through my daily life. This year was very hard for me, but I kept my faith in God and allowed him to walk with me during the struggles I had in the past 8 months. Read more >>>
Katie Keegstra
I don’t believe we have just one singular purpose in life. In the season I’m in right now, my purpose is to serve others through Beloved Events and Rentals. But even then, my purpose isn’t to be a wedding planner, it’s to spread the word of God. I believe God uses the talents He’s given us to help fulfill that greater purpose. Read more >>>
Robert Ritchey
Purpose is one of life’s greatest gifts. I’ve been blessed to find purpose many times, but I believe I’ve only found my true purpose once. During my 21 years in the United States Air Force, purpose was instilled in me from day one. Early in my career, I was given the responsibility of training every new technician in our mission. Read more >>>
Baily Soderlund
For me, purpose has always been tied to confidence. I’ve experienced firsthand how taking time to care for myself, whether it’s getting a haircut, doing my makeup, or wearing a new outfit, can completely shift how I feel. That boost in confidence always reminded me of how powerful small changes can be. The first time I got lash extensions was a turning point. Read more >>>
Marie Adams
I truly believe that purpose is something God plants inside of us, even before we fully recognize it. For me, it started with a deep love for food and culture, but over time I realized it was more than just enjoying good meals—it was about connecting people, celebrating traditions, and creating community. Read more >>>
Marissa Muniz
I found purpose in the year of 2020. Read more >>>
Jessie Schultz
I’ve found my purpose in both life and photography—through telling people’s stories in a way that lasts beyond a single moment. Through imagery, I get to capture memories that will be passed down from generation to generation. My goal isn’t just to show how the day looked, but to bring people right back to how it felt. Read more >>>
Scott Southwell
Do what you love and what you are good at. For me it’s photography. I started with a black & white darkroom when I was a kid. Back then I developed my own film and printed my own photos. Now I use Lightroom, Photoshop and a little AI. Read more >>>
Jeremy Schachter
Being a mortgage lender for over 25 yrs, I had to find purpose and seeing value that I give to my clients. There is nothing like the feeling of helping first time home buyers get the American Dream. This is especially personal to me with borrowers who never thought they could buy their own home. Read more >>>
Vantonio BeGreat OnPurpose Fraley
I found my purpose through a mix of personal experience and seeing the needs around me. Growing up, I faced challenges like chronic asthma and limitations that made certain paths difficult. That taught me early on the importance of perseverance, resourcefulness, and supporting others. Read more >>>
Bella Amore
I found my purpose by first grounding myself in my faith and remembering that everything I do has to serve something greater than me. For a long time, I chased opportunities thinking that success was the end goal. But over time, I realized my true purpose is impact—pouring into my community, empowering women and being an example for my sons. Read more >>>
Will Horton
Had addiction that stopped military career then a promising acting career. Once sobered up it became a passion, lead to become a Addiction counselor, hypnotist, and Master NLP Trainer and Clinical Psychologist.Read more >>>
Andrea Hardeman
I think my purpose evolved over time. Looking back there were childhood experiences as early as age five that planted seeds of empathy, which have shaped how move in the world today. My purpose is to help others see themselves more clearly and to spread light and healing into the world. Read more >>>
Yi Ming Sofyia Xue
I believe that I grew up navigating two worlds: Chinese and American, Mandarin and English. Early on, I learned that my identity was shaped by both cultures. At times, I felt the differences created a divide, not just in me, but in the way communities interacted. Read more >>>
Damien Temperley
My purpose has always come naturally. I’ve always worked around people. When I was younger, I worked with children, on summer camps and in children’s shelters. As I’ve got older, I’ve focused on older adults. Helping to improve the life of others is my purpose. Read more >>>
Jacquelyn Lorne
Sea turtles have been a part of my life since I was 13, I almost can’t remember life before sea turtles! I have a deep personal connection and have dedicated the last 30 years of my life to their protection and educating the public about the importance of sea turtle conservation. Read more >>>
CJ Palmer
For me, purpose has never been tied to just one role or career—it’s been a journey that has shifted and evolved with each season of my life. I’m in an interesting stage right now, reflecting on “what’s next” and how purpose can continue to guide me. Read more >>>
Alexis Washington
Honestly, my purpose found me. I didn’t go searching for it—it was woven into my life experiences and the people I’ve cared for along the way. Before starting Guided Hearts, I had a background in healthcare, as a nurse for 14 years. Read more >>>
TaTyane Sanders
I found my purpose with Kuriosity Beauty through my own lived experiences. I have a shea butter allergy, and since it’s a common ingredient in most natural products, I often couldn’t use them. On the other hand, products without shea butter were usually so heavily fragranced that they aggravated my eczema. Read more >>>
William Ryan
My purpose began in a school hallway, where I was both a teacher’s kid and the audio-visual guy—threading film through projectors and discovering how stories and technology could bring people together. From early videodiscs to today’s real-time collaboration tools, I’ve always been drawn to the question: how do we create extraordinary connection and performance when teams aren’t in the same room? Read more >>>
Malia Arrayah
I love this question a lot because I don’t think there is one right answer. I think this is one question that if you follow your heart, you stop asking yourself and eventually you wake up one day and realize you are in your purpose. I think purpose is self-defined, it is whatever you feel is important to you and for your life. Read more >>>
Austin Lightning Carrothers
In my mid-twenties a number of events led me to my local theater where I found a greater sense of purpose than I had ever felt before. Prior to this, while studying philosophy, I had been a college athlete and worked blue collar jobs including farm manager, carpenter, tennis coach, and line cook. Then at twenty-seven life shook me up. Read more >>>
Milagros Romero
I found my purpose once I realized that the experienced I lived shaped my character and helped me to be resilient, caring and more understanding of people who displayed certain behavior that were judged but never addressed with empathy. Having lived many years of abused, I too displayed behaviors that were not always acceptable and would be labeled as weird or just crazy. Read more >>>
Naria Torres
Wow, this is indeed a loaded question for me! Well, it all started when I was born. Just kidding, we don’t need to go back 28 years, BUT we can go back 21 years! Around the age of 7, I was entered into an art gallery that my school submitted me to. Read more >>>
Dr. Andrea Marconi Nastelli
Walking With Others: My Journey Into Purpose There was a time in my life when illness and uncertainty shaped my days. As a child, I carried ailments that weighed heavily on my body and spirit. Then, at the age of six, I was introduced to a doctor who did more than provide treatment—he walked alongside me. Read more >>>
Rae Can
I’ve always known my purpose at a core level: to Love. Even as a young girl, my journals were filled with pages about love. Not just the feeling of it, but questions about how to live in love, how to hold love, how to understand love as a force. That’s never left me. For me, purpose isn’t about a title or a single career path. Read more >>>
Shawanna Kennedy
I found my purpose in one of the simplest, yet most profound moments—walking through my living room, home alone, in conversation with God. No music, no crowd, no noise. Just me and Him. And as clear as day, I heard His voice: You are here to be seen, to be heard, to be known—and to help others do the same. That clarity shook me. Read more >>>
Nancy Hom
I grew up in New York City. As a child of poor immigrants and the sister of two younger brothers, I didn’t have any of the extra-curricular activities that other kids had growing up. I read a lot and had a rich imaginary world. I became interested in art when my 6th grade teacher taught drawing in her homeroom class. Read more >>>
Cy Sloan
I found my purpose at a young age. I was adopted from California on my birthday. I am a black man raised and adopted into a very loving white family in Washington. I grew up seeing differences in a town that wasn’t diverse, in a time where representation was a bit low. Read more >>>
Brittany Coburn
Growing up I always knew my purpose was to do something creative. I was always drawn to art because it was a healing outlet form me to express myself without any judgement, and as someone with a lot of learning disabilities, it was the one space that I really excelled in school without any hardship. Read more >>>
Jessica Cooper
I’ve spent the last 20 years working in the San Francisco Bay Area’s technology industry as a marketing and communications specialist, so I know what it takes to build a company, and a brand. My entrepreneurial spirit has been reinforced by my work with both startup and enterprise businesses in a variety of sectors, including software, e-commerce, research, AI, data analytics, and mobile apps. Read more >>>
Langston Benford
The way that I found my purpose was actually through remembrance and just realizing my background and where I’ve come from. When I was little, I always had self esteem and confidence issues. I was always interested in music at a young age and it would normally be an escape from reality. Read more >>>
Taylor Finlay
I grew up in a very artistic household, both my parents are theater people. I spent a lot of time watching them direct and train actors, so I was always surrounded by storytelling and performance. In school, the only classes I really cared about were the art programs. Read more >>>
Chris Crayton
I find my purpose in the Bible book of John which states “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 NIV). Read more >>>
