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.

Vanessa Faddoul

I discovered yoga later in life and fell in love with it. The practice of yoga improved my physical well being and more importantly, the principles of yoga broadened and enriched me on a personal and emotional level. Naturally, yoga became a very important part of my daily life, but it was beginning to take a toll on my thick and curly hair. I did not want to choose my hair over my yoga practice. Read more>>

Jodi Smith

In 2017 I had just finished my MBA with a student loan and big dreams. I knew I wanted to pay off my debt very quickly and started looking for more information and resources to help me on the journey. I also learned a lot about managing money in the MBA and wanted to put that knowledge to good use to help me pay off the debt and wanted to couple this with other pieces of information out there that wasn’t necessarily taught in school. Things like taxation, 401ks, ROTH IRA to name a few. Read more>>

Marquita Wright

Pre-pregnancy with our twins, my husband and I would travel rather frequently. In addition, my job required that I travel monthly domestically and about 3-4 times internationally. Thus, when I became pregnant with my twins, I was consistently told that I would have to stop traveling, including getting a different job, after the arrival of my twins. Read more>>

Josie Green

I have always loved stationery. As a kid, my friends never understood the thrill of having notepads and cards and envelopes, and even pens and pencils galore. Family members would gift me sets for birthdays and Christmasses, and soon would receive letters in the mail from me talking about the most mundane thing in the world! As I began finding my niche in greeting cards, that love was reignited when I realized that I could just create exactly what I wanted. Read more>>

Radhaa Nilia

( here is a video you can embed if that is possible about my mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joq0-LPZNcE) Radhaa Publishing Mission: Radhaa Publishing is an independent, innovative, creative modern Renaissance Publishing House. Our mission is to usher in the golden age around healing and transformation for the next evolution of humanity. The collaborative books we curate and publish are devoted to the voice of the Soul, made with love, high quality, and consciousness. Read more>>

Jo Savage

Since the beginning of my career as a photographer, I’ve noticed a lack of imagery and media portrayal of women and other underrepresented groups in the outdoor and surf industries. I knew my female, Lbgtqia+, and Bipoc friends were out there sending the climbs, the mountain bike & trail run adventures, the waves, the powder, and the skateboarding because I was out there with them. Read more>>

Walter Dozier

I created Dozier Productions in the last semester of my senior year at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). I wanted to create something where I could create various content for people and be a blessing to others at the same time. Pretty much, I took Marvel’s Avengers concept and applied it to my business. Multiple superheroes kill the game alone and are unstoppable when together. That’s what makes Dozier Productions stand out from other photographers and or videographers. Read more>>

Victoria Roth

It may sound cheesy, but a lot of who I am comes from the character of my Grandmother. I was her only grandchild and was fortunate enough to spend quality time regularly with her until her passing in my mid-20s. She was always learning something new and was the most creative, resilient person I’ve ever known. She was a songwriter, poet, painter, pianist, graphic designer, and photographer. Because of her, I’ve dabbled with every one of those crafts and finally focused most of my time on photography and graphic design. Read more>>

Jessica Spaman

My business has been long in the making, but blossom during the covid-19 pandemic, a time when we all needed community, connection, and safe ways to improve our mental health more than over. Read more>>

Quonda Renee

My company was birthed in one of the hardest seasons of my life. I was broke, busted, disgusted, sleeping on my parents couch, I had 3 degrees and couldnt find a job. So I have always been a woman of faith, so I decided to go on a fast and increase my prayer time. During that time of fasting and praying I was led to start a Facebook page upon me starting the Facebook page that night I had 10,000 followers and by day 9 100,000 followers. Read more>>

Julie Grimes

Our family loves to entertain and be with friends and family. During and after events, we found ourselves cleaning up as we also attempted to visit with our guests. Our attention was divided between making memories and trying to avoid a giant mess at the end of the night. There were times we just had to look away, leaving our mess for the next day, which wasn’t any better! Read more>>

Isabelle Gougenheim

Behind my artworks lies the idea of freedom. By associating bright colors, imagery from faraway places, and strokes inspired by rhythms, I aim to create unique landscapes that will transport the viewer. In our always faster-paced society, it can be challenging to take a step back and feel, instead of merely observing. Read more>>

Lala Triplett

When I got started in business I knew what my business was about and who it was for, personalized wardrobe and style services for high level female entrepreneurs ready to command rooms confidently by elevating their image & personal style. My mission has always been to help women show up in life and work with more confidence through style. Read more>>

Courtney O’Keeffe

The Able Press initially started as an online shop creating relatable cards for moms on their postpartum journey. Everywhere I looked to buy cards, all I found were cards for the baby and I wanted to change that! A mothers journey is important, and what better way to acknowledge that than with a handwritten note! The Able Press has since evolved into a healing container for myself and my community. I have been on a healing journey over the past 2 years, that I was able to express through artwork, conversation and sound healing. Read more>>

Tamika Newhouse

Our Lit Diaries journey started with a pop-up event hosted by myself (Tamika Newhouse), founder of African Americans on the Move Book Club, Inc. (AAMBC) and held just two months before the pandemic hit. The event featured creative black women in publishing and film, providing them a safe space to share their journeys of womanhood and their experiences in creating authentically. Read more>>

John Pavek

It all started on the bleak and windy high plains of southeastern Montana nearly five decades ago. I was born as the last of eight children to a poor family in an area with little to no economic opportunity. And one of the things you had to learn well was how to conserve. You patched clothes, grew a garden, saved bacon grease (the few times you could afford bacon), repaired things that broke and worked your fingers to the bone. But above all, you never spent money on luxuries. Read more>>

Michael Champitto

Martial Arts dates back thousands of years. Many of the techniques in the discipline have been updated over time but are basically centuries old. But today, the real purpose of martial arts isn’t about learning how to fight or even learning how to defend yourself. It’s about the Black Belt life skills and bettering yourself as a person. Yes, it helps keep us physically fit, but we stress to our students, our younger ones especially, the life skills of respect, focus, discipline, trust, responsibility, effort, etc. Read more>>

Leena Kollar

Everything I do is about human connection and authenticity. Social & digital media bombard us with false images of happiness, rooted in the pursuit of perfectionism. I strive to do the complete opposite; I want to show the humanity in all of us. Our failures, our imperfections, our insecurities, our mistakes. I want everyone to know they aren’t alone in whatever it is they are struggling with. Read more>>

LaToria Burnett

I have always believed in all things natural. So the reason I started my business was to heal common skin concerns with all-natural products. Read more>>

claudia alzate

I’m from Colombia and arrive in the US in my early twenties with my daughter and had just gotten married. I didn’t speak any English, so I had to start from scratch, learning a new language and new culture. Fifteen-year later, I started working for a bank as a business representative and found my passion for working with other people. I decided to get my realtor license in 2021 and I became a real estate agent this gave me the opportunity to help my clients, friends, and colleagues find their dream homes. Read more>>

Asia Golden

All my life I thought there was something wrong with me. Growing up I would see numbers as colors, sounds as shapes, facial features in patterns of inanimate objects, feel everything super intensely – the list goes on. My dreams would explain things I couldn’t make sense of and dictate my every move. While I was awake, the world seemed like a place I lived before but could no longer recognize. With no one to speak to about these bizarre experiences, I had to find ways to cope, expel and express these unique abilities. Read more>>

Joe Adams

I grew up in an amazing household with both of my parents and my younger sister. Growing up, I was always pushed and expected to do well in both school and athletics. That being said, I did well in athletics but always got by with doing the minimum in school. After high school, I went on to college with dreams of making it onto the football team at Gardner-Webb University. Several weeks after starting school, I went the opposite direction and ended up getting hooked on pills. Read more>>

Melissa Castro

My mission is to help anyone who has either lost themselves or are still figuring out who they are. Creating this skincare line is what helped me discover who I was. Not just a passion I never knew existed but how broken I was. It helped me to focus on what I was doing wrong and why I was feeling the way I was feeling even though sometimes I couldn’t express those feelings. It has made me look at myself, past who I saw in the mirror, and really look at who I was. Read more>>

Pamela Young

I have many reasons for wanting to become a massage therapist. The primary purpose was to offer a way to give back and connect with women on a wellness & healing level. I know that hardworking, professional women are always on the go, and they rarely take a time out to just ‘be still’. Having worked in the health and wellness profession since the age of 18 I know that a “body in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force”, per Isaac Newton. Read more>>

Jackie Sanders

Absolutely! I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and have always been drawn toward geometric shapes and bold colors. On a mission to further explore this attraction and curiosity, I studied at Virginia Tech where I earned my BA in Studio Art, B.F.A in Art History and M.F.A in Material Culture and Public Humanities. Read more>>

Victoria Inman

I’ve been a photographer for more than 20 years, both as a hobbyist and professional. During the same timeframe, I have also followed the calling to give back to my community. I wanted to find ways to align my love of photography with giving back locally. I had volunteered my photography through a non-profit offering remembrance photography for families experiencing infant loss. Read more>>

Tabitha Miller

Every single person who brings a baby into this world deserves to have those memories documented forever. When I had my daughter, I dealt with a lot of trauma related to the actual birthing experience itself, and the loss of any sense of normalcy having a baby in a pandemic. There are so many things I wish I could go back and look at from the day.. and now, almost 3 years later, I can barely remember anything about it. Everything is such a blur. So I’ve made it my mission to give families something I wasn’t able to have. Memories that will last a lifetime. Read more>>

Tosha Marshall

The story behind my mission is I started my business when COVID has us all locked in our homes for safety. I have two kids who have eczema. My oldest daughter is now 26 and for the last two years she hasn’t had any breakouts due to using my products. My 8 year old son also has eczema but you cannot tell that he has it. His skin is smooth like butter. I would take them both to the dermatology and the doctor would prescribe some generic cream that would discolor their skin and it was not helping the issue at hand. So I started researching natural remedies and Unrefined Shea Butter was the answer. Read more>>

Donnie and Dayna Morgan

The pandemic afforded us the opportunity to take daily walks, in which we were able to talk about our next move in life. We lost some family members during the pandemic, and that forced us to reflect on the importance of following our dreams and building a legacy for our family. During one of our walks, we brainstormed different ideas, and we decided we wanted to create something that truly reflected our lifestyle and was useful, practical, and elegant. We thought, We love to cook, we have “strong” cooking skills, and we love to entertain at home. Then BOOM, Kitchen Strong was born – a lifestyle kitchen essentials brand. Read more>>

Dwayna Williams

Right before launching TGND Consulting in 2016, I discovered I was pregnant with my first child. At the same time, I learned that I had been accepted into my Master’s program at Georgia State University. As a soon-to-be mom, a busy grad student, and an unfulfilled employee, I was constantly overwhelmed. Knowing that this pressure was unhealthy for the baby and me, I prayed, promised to walk by faith, and told God I would always listen. Keeping my promise to God and myself, I took the plunge into entrepreneurship. Read more>>

Mary Bell

I grew up with nothing. When our friends parents have our friends opportunities when they grew up we were given nothing. So my mission was to build something for my kids. Something they could join me in and have later in life. Read more>>

Kenisha Coon

My name is Kenisha Coon and I have lived experience of trauma and resilience of the child welfare system, and a daily survivor of systemic racism. You will find me trying to dismantle the disparities of black and brown youth in the child welfare system and teach others lessons toward becoming anti-racist in everything that I do. A huge a majority of my professional life as been doing all that I can to lower the disparities of the black and brown children in the foster care system, while working on finding and developing my own racial identity, as well as helping others on their antiracism journey. Read more>>

Andra Liemandt

My journey to creating the nonprofit organization, The Kindness Campaign, began with a horrible tragedy when my daughter’s friend died by suicide. I saw how the effects of bullying, loss, and grief and how they were affecting my entire family. As you can imagine, when I heard the news…my world stopped. Right then and there, knew I had to do something about it. As a family, we started journaling together to process our emotions after this devastation. We started talking, deeply, about our feelings. Read more>>

Jason Anderson

families move. I started VeteranPCS as a way to help military families easily find a real estate agent and mortgage lender they can trust when moving across the country. When I transitioned from the military and into real estate I realized that many websites out there cost thousands of dollars per month to be “featured” on. This can be really hard for a veteran or military spouse as they are starting a business. I designed VeteranPCS so that it has no monthly or yearly fees for agents, Read more>>

Heike Reagan

I jokingly call my decorating business my “midlife crisis job”: I had worked as a translator specializing in patent litigation for 15 years and needed an environment to satisfy my creative side as well as my need to interact with people in real life. I had a relatively slow start because at the time I was still homeschooling my young teen and I had to keep translating to pay the bills. Read more>>

Robert Garcia

I’ve always been a person who cares about others, so during the pandemic when our small businesses were suffering due to a failed financial structure, lack of representation, limited resources and the prioritization of large businesses, I decided to do something to help. That’s when I decided to leave my corporate office for my community office as I like to call it. Read more>>

Antuan Wright

My mission is to create a platform and a space for Black entrepreneurs and professionals of all fields. We are the culture and contribute much more than rap or twerking. We are dentists, accountants, politicians, film directors, fashion designers, and that list could go on and on. We drive the culture of the world and set the trends for the world to follow. Read more>>

Monique Robinson

I began to see the need for our scholars to attend a nurturing, loving, and educational institutions that will enable them a successful experience to be set up for success. This will and can take place for our minority scholars at one of our nations Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Read more>>

Jennifer Wright

When I was a kid I hated my name. Because my last name begins with a W that meant I was always last. when they placed us in the classroom, they would put us in alphabetical order which meant I was always in the back of the room. I used that the hide. I became the kid who sat in the back of the room and spent my time reading and writing. I wrote stories, ideas, and just anything that came to my mind. Over the years, I wrote thousands of pages that I never shared with anyone. By keeping all of those stories to myself, I felt like I didn’t really have a voice. Read more>>

Yelena Ovando

Music Box’s Mission is to help aspiring musicians of all ages to become a better and more confident version of themselves, through the power, joy & transformational force of music. Our names are Yelena and Alex Ovando and we created and now own and run a one-of-a-kind music school in Germantown TN. As musicians and parents to two musical children, we know the value, growth and beauty music brings to one’s life. We experienced it firsthand, and continue to see the positive impact that our mission has on our students, teachers, fans and the local community. Read more>>

Donut’ste Doughnuts

The story of the Best Donut in the World! As Chef and Creator of now viral Donutste Doughnuts prior never made any doughnuts at all. It’s difficult to imagine as now we sell out of product at almost every single production and large event. Many say it’s the best doughnut they’ve ever had vegan or not. But the origins of the now legend pastry is very unique. There Were two goals in mind prior to the creation of Donutste Doughnuts 1) creating a plant based food creation as a chef that could make a difference 2) If I make a doughnut to make the best doughnut in the World. Read more>>

Na’Kisha Parr

The story behind my mission is that I am a female that has had several female related surgeries and those surgeries have made it difficult to lose weight so my mission is to help any male or female to reach a desired weight with a nonsurgical approach!  Read more>>