Our stories are often hard to understand until folks understand our true motivations, our true drivers and the stories behind why our mission or purpose truly matters to us. We’ve asked some inspiring folks from the community to talk to us about why they do what they do and have shared some of our favorite responses below.

Kelly Dobroski

I’m on a mission to get more people to explore our costal places – like beaches and waterfront cities – but it might not be why you think. I started Coastal with Kelly with two goals in mind: get more people to the coast, and increase the visibility of sustainable travel initiatives. At the end of the day, my goal is to protect our oceans by getting more people in and near the water, so they understand why we need to protect these places. We do that by having memorable, remarkable experiences in these beautiful places – and doing so with the goal of having a positive impact on the places we’re in. Read more>>

Rita Ho-Bezzola

” Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional” – it is a mantra that I have lived by since I trained for my first Marathon more than 10 years ago. I have become even more intrigued by this concept since I have become a mother – watching my children fall, getting sick, heal, and recover. During covid was when the lightbulb went off – when I was struggling to help my 2.5 year old girl cope through with wearing a mask while we were out at the park. I was searching for information on how to help her to work through the discomfort, change her perspective to a more positive one so we can all thrive during this strange, difficult time. Read more>>

Emily Treadgold

Our mission has always been to highlight women in music, whether it’s their taste, their music, or highlighting the sexism they face. We’ve always wanted a safe space for women to feel heard. I feel like women’s tastes and feelings have had a stigma surrounding it, like it’s not as important as a man’s opinion. I feel like, eventually, the tide always shifts, and it comes back around. Look at the immense popularity of Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce. They have the power to control the economy and the power to control the culture, and it’s always been something really important to us. Read more>>

Syrenthia Colino

My mission is deeply rooted in her personal journey as a caregiver and a mother. Faced with the challenging diagnosis of her son Stephen’s autism at the tender age of 19, I embarked on a relentless quest to provide the best care and support for him. Two decades of navigating the complex landscape of doctors, clinics, and treatment centers took a toll on her emotional well-being. At a critical juncture, she found herself emotionally exhausted and sought refuge in the unwavering support of friends and family. Read more>>

Jamila Brown

I was raised by two amazing parents, William & Betty Brown who throughout my childhood led by example in every area they had the experience, education, and exposure to do so. One specific area that prepared me to take their legacy to another level was the area of learning from others, navigating it better, and faster, and then taking others with me. While my father, did not have all the career hacks to be able to successfully navigate being a tenured artist for the newspaper at the time and therefore being considered an overpaid employee, through his experience I learned that there are rules to the game. Throughout my career in corporate America, I was able to move towards understanding the intricacies of a company and more importantly for me a publicly traded company. Read more>>

Darrin Wilson

Pibborafi’s mission is to help as many volunteer-run animal rescue shelters as possible by donating a portion of sales from custom-made children’s toy plushies designed after real rescued dogs. Each plushie’s sales help the rescue that dog was rescued from. Read more>>

Amanda Knowles

A special Portrait Experience celebrating the strength, power, emotions and beauty one goes through on your pregnancy journey. I invite mamas to celebrate themself just as they are. Because every mama needs some extra love this year. Read more>>

Adrienne Tedjamulia Read

In the fall of 2019, our group decided, with the encouragement and support of our professor, that we would break away from the university and rebrand in the Spring of 2020 when three of our members were set to graduate. We started out as a graduate ensemble at our university. We all enjoyed working and playing together, and we wanted to be able to continue doing so into the future. With everything that unfolded in the spring and early summer of 2020, our group began to reconsider what would be our specific purpose, especially in a world that felt fragmented. Read more>>

Niki Bell

“If a man looks upon any other man and estimates that man as less than himself, then he is stealing from the other. He is stealing the other’s birthright – that of equality.” ― Neville Goddard (1905-1972) My mission is, “TO NEVER BE BROKE, BROKEN, OR HUNGRY AGAIN!” Johann Sebastian Bach, classical German composer, plays softly on the nightstand as I read the notes and sing in chamber- always with my voice in higher pitch than the rest. It is the beginning… along the river we go as my voice flows to another perfect octave musical note. Read more>>

Melvin Harper

We don’t have a mission statement. We don’t invest much in this totalitarian style work ethic. I’ve worked at many brands and agencies that had a mission statement, and without naming any names, every one of them was full of proverbial. Read more>>

Ashley Nicole

I wrote the book Resilience: The Strength of a Woman to empower and inspire other women. The mission of empowering women is significant to me, because of the many weights that women must carry from day-to-day while meeting the expectations of others. Alot of woman have to mentally “keep it together” just to get through the activities of daily living, because there are so many expectations required. One is expected to maintain a successful career, run a household, be present in your marriage, be present in your children’s lives, and be present in other family members’ lives all while maintaining a positive attitude during such perfect attendance. Read more>>

Angela Sotolongo-Grewal

When my daughter was diagnosed with autism, I felt very confident that I had the skill set to support her because I am a speech language pathologist. Granted, I worked primarily with adults but had experience working with autistic children. I trusted the medical professionals and followed through with all the recommendations. Once my daughter began to have sensory processing differences that were categorized as “negative behaviors”, I realized that therapies were ineffective and a battle. Read more>>

Crystell Harris

In 2016, I had a challenging experience with my real estate agent and lender during the process of selling and purchasing my home. I went through such a difficult situation, but I turned that negative experience into motivation to become a real estate professional and advocate for others. Read more>>

Barbara Lopez

My story behind my mission is meaningful because it reminds me of my grandma. She would always encourage me to try new things. What she would always tell me “don’t give up on something you worked so hard on” and ever since she passed away i still keep going for her. 2020 I was diagnosed with depression, ever since I had such a hard time finding myself and finding what can make me happy. Once I touched a camera it just felt like cure, since ever since I build my page, website and got recognition all thanks to my grandma for giving me hope even if she’s not here with me. Read more>>

Arien Simone

I must be honest, I don’t own my own company, (well, at least not yet anyway), but as someone who has created their own blog and who is willingly writing personal stories based off of the most unforeseen circumstances, I do, however, have a mission, one that I believe continues to inspire and has inspired me to create the work in the first place- you know, writing about those unforeseen circumstances. Read more>>

Stacy Kouassi

When I was younger, every time my mom would get me new pajamas I’d feel so special, it’s such a great feeling. I found that my quality of sleep would improve and i’d wake up feeling like I could conquer the world. I told myself when I’d get older I would want to spread that feeling that I had when I was younger to others, and help someone feel special and enjoy a slumber in opulence. Read more>>

Josie Azocar

I start Tuckituppp because I have a need to find a garment that help me to feel affirming with my gender , I try multiple undergarments gaff , tapes and everything I could possible imagine to Tuck* my self , nothing seems to work till I found Tuckituppp all the way in Brazil , i start using it and my confidence was boosted! I could finally wear swimsuits and the tight dresses I always wanted. I quickly ordered more and started telling my friends about it. Everyone loved them! I posted about it on Facebook, and everyone enjoyed them! I found out that it was not only me struggling. Read more>>

Xavier Jones

My story is driven behind the fundamentalism and necessity of reading. Literacy is the cornerstone to all learning. I wanted the people in my hometown of River Rouge Michigan to witness that. I read books when I was younger but lost the habit in my high school years. In college it returned. Thanksgiving, work, work on Thanksgiving, grocery store, even birthday parties I had a book in tow. The outside world would clamor at fact, and claim to have not read a book in years. Some would read if I lended or recommended. More people than I ever thought told me they would only read a book if I wrote it. Read more>>

Lisa Frick

Infinite Wishes Foundation is in memory of my best friend, Donna’s sister-in-law, and Al’s sister, Joan, who developed stage IV lung cancer at the age of 53. Since she was a young girl, it was Joan’s dream to swim with the dolphins. She loved dolphins and anyone that knew her, knew that, too! Joan’s dream came true on April 17, 2013. Sadly, we lost Joan eight months later, on December 20, 2013. In honor of her life and her commitment to helping others, we founded Infinite Wishes Foundation to help other adults with life-threatening illnesses have their wishes fulfilled. Read more>>

IRKO

The mission is to improve every aspect of my clients’ songs with the best possible mix and master. No stone is left unturned, every single sound in the song is getting platinumized and one by one eventually it’ll form a grammy worth song! Growing up in another country, speaking a different language, my taste in music formed before the stories told on songs caught my attention. So all my attention was directed to the sonic landscapes these 3 minutes of art provide. So here’s the story behind my mission. Read more>>

Shekeda Holland

As a Christian, author, and realtor, my mission is deeply rooted in the empowerment of women through the love of Christ. I believe that every woman possesses remarkable God-given gifts and talents, often undiscovered or underutilized. Through my work, I aim to inspire and encourage women to recognize their incredible capabilities, fostering an understanding that it’s never too late to embark on a new journey.  Read more>>

Candace Simar

I was horrified to realize my college-aged kids knew little about the U.S. Dakota War of 1862. Although they were born and educated in Minnesota, they had vague recollections of family visits to the sites where it happened, but nothing substantive. I began to rant about our need to know our history. Our son said, “If you care so much, why don’t you write a book.” That began my research and pursuit of the writing craft. Since then, I’ve written 6 award-winning historical novels with another to be released in March 2024. My goal is to bring history to life for readers who know little about history. Many readers have contacted me to tell me how much their attitudes toward Minnesota history have changed since reading my books Read more>>

Faith Barker

The mission of girls in tech global is to close the gender and salary gap. Girls in Tech Nashville does this by providing a safe community and hosting events to help our members in their career. Read more>>

Adrienne Bednarz

My current photography project is called 33 Business Women, with the mission to photograph and interview 33 different women in business in New Jersey, and New York City. It’s supposed to be like a photographic love letter from women today to their younger selves, giving advice on what they wish they knew or how they would do things differently if they were to start the business today, knowing what they know now. At the same time, the body of photographic work is done in a documentary/photojournalistic style that the women can use on social media to grow their social media presence. Read more>>

Haylee Graham

I write to give hope. Though my novels and screenplays are rooted in faith, they are not preaching to any choir. Instead, they’re down in the pews, meeting people from all walks of life, asking important questions, and listening to how they aqquired their bumps and bruises along the way. I believe there’s too much faith-based content for those who share similiar core beliefs and values, and not enough content for those who don’t. Our media is saturated with greed, lust, and violence. The audience that pays the ticket to attend that showing isn’t looking for the ‘so-cheesy-its-choking-me’ Christian flick or novel. Read more>>