Amanda: Throughout my childhood, I remember countless acts of service and love from my mother. She always went out of her way to make someone feel special. Birthdays, get well’s, baby showers. She always recognized every milestone for her friends and family. Her specialty was gift giving, baking cakes and throwing parties. Nobody could do it quite like she could. When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I remember my mother planned a special birthday party for me. A tea party themed birthday where each of my friends dressed up in a gown, got their makeup and nails done, and took a glamorous polaroid picture. Then each of us sat down around a beautifully decorated table for a tea party themed lunch. She had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into heart shapes and pink lemonade poured out of a flowered tea pot. It was one of the best birthday parties I have ever experienced and quickly became the catalyst for her tea party business called “A Little Vanitea”.

My mother’s passion for making people feel special grew into something greater than she could have ever imagined. A passion driven business that made young girls feel beautiful and empowered, just like a princess.

As I reflect on my journey with Purpose Through Passion, it becomes clear that the drive, passion, and dedication I have for helping others is reflection of her, my mom. And a reminder that if you choose to do something you’re passionate about, incredible things can happen. Her business and this organization is proof.

Laran: Growing up with parents who split when I was two, meant I had some really great bonus parent moments and extra family. My dad instilled a strong sense of determination, dedication, and unwavering grit, in me that has been invaluable in my career with Allstate and Purpose Through Passion. He taught me to be independent and to never give up. In the non profit world, there’s no room for giving up. Get knocked down 7 times, get up 8. My mom and I share a similar calling in life, service. She modeled what it meant to be extremely honest and empathetic. She was the mom who would go back through the drive thru to return an extra happy meal toy that we received by mistake. I think about that all the time *laughs*. She taught me to be strong and caring, and in the non profit world, both are necessary. My step mom was another huge influence on my life, and shaping who I have become. She taught me the power of speaking up for myself and knowing my worth. Understanding that being different is an asset, not a disadvantage, and being true to yourself means everything. Because of her I am able to ask questions and put myself out there, another tool that is absolutely needed when spreading the word about what we do!

Amanda: My name is Amanda Crosby, and I am one of the founders and directors of a local non-profit called Purpose Through Passion. Our organization helps to fund meaningful activities for people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. These sobriety scholarships provide the opportunity for applicants to rediscover their passion and interests without the financial burden. Our organization came to fruition in 2018 following the tragic loss of two loved ones. In 2016, I received a call that Matt, my daughters’ father, was found unresponsive and had passed away. We later concluded that his tragic death was due to a drug overdose. This was and is the greatest loss I had ever experienced, not only for me, but for my daughter Marley.

I spent years replaying my relationship with Matt. Wondering if I could have done things differently and if it would have helped him through his personal battles. I hated addiction for what it had done to him and the loss it created for my daughter.

Matt’s death started to open my eyes to a growing epidemic of addiction sweeping across our country.

It was such a helpless feeling to think of the millions of mothers, brothers, daughters watching helplessly while their loved ones sit in the grip of addiction.

In 2018 after another tragic passing of our friend Sean Simms, Laran (my friend and now business partner), approached me with an idea to fight back against addiction and organize a non-profit in Sean’s memory. I immediately felt all the pain and helplessness shift into a feeling of hope and possibility. What started as an idea quickly catapulted into an incredible organization to help those recovering from addiction, participate in activities that promote long term sobriety.

The help and support I desperately hoped to give Matt, has now transformed into an act of purpose for the entire community.

Laran: The story of the creation of Purpose Through Passion is not one for the faint of heart. It is painful. The reality is, Purpose Through Passion was born from the ashes of grief, after life as we knew, it was burned to the ground. After watching my brother go through years of addiction, and all of the consequences that come from it, I was painfully aware of the lack of meaningful services offered to these individuals. But my brother wasn’t the catalyst for this organization, and he wasn’t what lit the match that set the world on fire. Sean was the spark.

Amanda: For Laran, Leanne and I, Friendship was the foundation of our relationship when we started working for Allstate Insurance years before the nonprofit. We all worked in the same department and became fast friends.

In 2016 I pursued a yoga teacher training course and began teaching weekly classes in my living room. Laran and Leanne quickly became my favorite volunteers and supported my classes every week. In addition, our mutual friend Sean (our inspiration for PTP) also joined our meet ups. . He had such a great disposition and sense of humor and I could tell he really enjoyed the challenge of yoga. It was a special time that I think we all reflect on and cherish.

After Sean’s passing and the Inception of PTP our relationships have continued to evolve into something very special. There’s no one else I’d rather be on this journey with.

Laran: As Amanda said, we all met working at Allstate. I was beginning an intense health journey in 2016 and became determined to like yoga and running, two things I’d always hated. I guess it was more of a practice of opening my mind. I became yoga obsessed and Amanda and I grew close through practice. Leanne and I also met at work and she reminded my that there was life outside of my mom bubble. I was always in mom mode those days because my kids were both so young, but I was also young and being reminded of this was great for my mental health! We’ve come so far together and we have so many great possibilities in front of us!

Amanda: Supporting a nonprofit has been more fulfilling and more challenging than I could have ever imagined when we started this journey. For any small business owner, I think funding is one of the biggest challenges, our organizations success was built from the incredible generosity of this community. Without the support of businesses like Allstate Insurance and Real Recovery, or partnering foundations like the community foundation of tampa bay and the recovery epicenter foundation, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

There was a point not too long ago that we were uncertain if we could continue our program due to limited funding. Honestly, we were nervous.

But We continued to focus our energies on community outreach, donations and regularly discussed our continuity plans if we ran out of funding. And on the days that we felt a bit hopeless, we asked the universe for a little help. I think those combined efforts led us to this point.

4 years later, we’re still standing and we feel stronger than we ever have. Things are starting to click and we’re building valuable relationships in the community. These days, excitement has taken the place of fear and we’re extremely proud of our resilience through many challenging moments.

Laran: Resilience is more than a word to us, it’s who we are. It’s what built us and what our community is made on. Our members resilience is absolutely incredible, and they’re unwavering grit is why we are able to do what we do!

It is easy to doubt yourself when faced with monumental challenges. But every day, we get up and we try, we never stay down. As an organization we’ve faced funding challenges, we’ve been told no, we’ve been doubted by others. Every time a door slammed in our face, we opened a window. Our story is one of resilience, and so is yours! If you’re reading this, just know, you are powerful and strong. No matter what life throws at you, you’re a phoenix. You will always rise from the ashes a better version of YOU!