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.

Janay Douglas

I created a brand that connects culture and humanity together by inspiring people to travel not only for the scenery, but also to learn the history in their destinations, explore the food culture, and truly grasp the entire travel experience. I named it Hey Travoodies. Why Hey Travoodies? Simple. We all want to travel and eat well. Hey Travoodies serves as a guide that shares the beauty and exposes misconceptions of places, pushing folks to go beyond our comfort zones and travel with purpose. I am fostering a community that will have knowledge and understanding through guides, blog posts, and media to help aid in making a vacation memorable with cultural exposure. Read more>>

Ngozika Okeke

Whenever someone asks what I do, I proudly say that Im a socially-conscious designer. That sparks the next question, which is ‘What exactly is that?”…and that’s where the explanation of my brand’s mission begins. Ngozika Okeke Clothing proudly donates a portion of all revenue to organizations that work with survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse. My brand mission is layered and I am very passionate about it. As a survivor myself, I remember noticing the disparities in both healthcare and legal services available to men and women that had experienced these things. At the time, being a student working towards my first business degree, I knew there had to be a way that I could combine my passion (which at that time was designing just part-time) with a viable business plan so that I could not just run a business, but one that actually had a positive impact in the community around me. With that goal in mind, I started my brand and the rest is history. Read more>>

Clara Lewis

As I stepped into my 40s, I began to recognize my beauty and what defines me as a Black woman. I wanted to embrace all of my features. Through this journey, I reflected on my younger self and wondered why it took me so long to appreciate myself in this way. As a social worker, I observed a recurring issue of low self-esteem among the children I worked with, often stemming from their physical appearance. Upon reflection, I realized that the root cause was the lack of representation. Kids are impressionable and highly sensitive to their environment. When they don’t see people who look like them on TV, in their community, or in their toys, it can have a negative impact on their self-confidence. Read more>>

Dr. Loucille Hollis

As a person of faith, I know that God speaks to people through dreams and visions, but I had not experienced one. In the late 1980s, I had a vision of weeping women asking for help, but I had no idea what to do. I approached my pastor for answers, his words, “it sounds too big for our small church.” Over time, I forgot about it. In the interim, God provided opportunities for ministry at my local church and as an outreach minister. A later learned that a vision delayed is not a vision denied. On December 31, 2013, some twenty-five years after the vision, diagnosis and miraculous recovery from sarcoidosis, I received an invitation to attend a virtual Les Brown New Year’s show. Read more>>

Kree Willyumz

Ah, the thrilling days of middle school, where depression and anxiety made their grand entrance in 2009, coinciding with the rise of social media. No, I wasn’t bullied by others, but I sure knew how to bully myself. Picture this: I’m strolling around the house, having one of my episodes, when lo and behold, a magazine with the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, graces the cover. Being a die-hard fan, I couldn’t resist picking it up. As I flipped through the pages, my eyes widened with awe. Outfits, designs, colors, and combinations I had never seen before, especially on a man. It was like stumbling upon a hidden treasure in a fashion jungle. Read more>>

Carina Dawn Reed

At Trumpets of Tirzah, our mission is empowering women to live out their calling while bringing Kingdom influence to the world around them. Everything we do is centered around our mission; social media posts, workshops, conferences, courses and outreach. I come from a very humble background. I grew up in a small town where the expectation of women is to marry after high school and have children. Some women are called to that, which is wonderful, but many women aren’t. As I was thinking about my future adult life while in high school, it looked different than what I saw around me. I was determined to become something different and I knew that I was going to have to venture out into “unknown territory” to make that happen. Little did I know where my path was actually leading! Read more>>

Kody Brown

The mission behind Sasquatch Outdoors is to provide sick, disabled, and special needs children with outdoor experiences. Though we do take any opportunity we can to support and help all kids getting outside! We are sponsoring team Arizona in the little league western regional championships right now, for both baseball and softball! The mission to want to help kids get outside comes from the lifelong passion and relationship I have had with the outdoors. Read more>>

Michael Harrison

As a father of 5, sibling of two, native of Kansas City, I’ve always had a passion to be connected to people. I completed my bachelor’s degree at a Historically Black College and University and had experiences that transformed my perspective on education and community. After completing my undergraduate degree, I continued my education focusing on Community and Economic Development and found myself supporting CBO in communities similar to my upbringing. Moving to Kalamazoo in 2016 with our two sons at the time, the future seemed bright but uncertain. Transitioning our family from an environment of comfort and familiarity to a new midwestern place to call home was exciting. Upon arrival, I looked to get involved in initiatives that built, grew, and expanded our family’s network and professional opportunities. Read more>>

Josy Johnson

Wild Vine Floral stems from my love of local flowers and foliage and their rhythm as they bloom seasonally. Looking at what was available for floral deliveries, I saw mostly commercial florists selling popular blooms and arrangements without regard to season or what is blooming naturally. These flowers can be grown with chemicals and flown in. I wanted to offer a sustainable option and offer natural, seasonal and even wild florals. So, I started offering floral arrangements and a flower club in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. I am dedicated to following sustainable practices, including composting, organic gardening, and using non-toxic materials. I am committed to sourcing from local Central Texas flower farms in addition to the blooms and wild bits harvested from my own garden and gathered locally. Read more>>

Alondra Gomez

My mission as a salon owner is to establish a great working environment where our clients can walk in an feel right at home. The Monarch team is like family, everyone has worked with each other for so long it’s almost working with a brother or a sister lol. Our mission as a team is to create the best look/color for our clients, and enlighten them with their inner confidence. Monarch means transformation, hope, beauty, and elegance. Here at Monarch we do just that for each of our clients. Read more>>

Teria Smith

Body Harmony & Co. was founded by me, Teria Smith in October of 2021. I am from Detroit, MI but have been a resident of Atlanta, GA for the past 12 years. I attended Clark Atlanta University where I obtained my Bachelor’s of Science in Biology. I have always had a love for math and science which comes full circle in the skin and body care industry. Although I have always gone an extra step to make sure my skin was clean and radiant, my true passion came when I had her first child in 2020. I wanted to give him the best and healthiest life possible and that began with not placing harsh chemicals on his skin. Instead, developing the perfect, non-toxic products for both moms and babies. Read more>>

Brandon Ward

My mission wasn’t planned I was making music for 10 years and still had no purpose I was doing it because I loved the lifestyle of traveling different city every night meeting new people and chasing a dream of getting rich off music but a good a friend of mine Timothy soares invited me one day to help him coach little league football and at the time I just released my 3rd studio album and was coming off tour so I figure let’s give a try! from the first practice kids naturally looked for me to lead them and I realized that I wanted those kids to succeed if I can save 1 from the mistakes I made then I made a difference and from that I started training program called TRC which stands for Technique, Reading and Conditioning I train kids from age 6-18 weekly in Brevard County Florida I have even had semi professional athletes as well…being a former athlete myself makes it easy to relate to other athletes. Read more>>

Kenayra Brown

Hello, Dolls! My name is Kenayra Brown, and friends commonly refer to me as “Nay.” I am the owner of Just Love Her Hair, LLC., also known as JLHH. JLHH was established in 2017, while I attended in Paul Mitchell the School Raleigh (PMS) to study cosmetology. JLHH mission is to maintain healthy hair, educate clients, and I believe that all women should JUST LOVE HER HAIR. This mission is purposeful to me because as an African American woman I’ve struggled with loving my hair and my goal is to ensure that all black women learn to love their coily tresses. Read more>>

David Larlee

Our mission at Smokedmaple – is all about community building – blessing others so they can bring their very best to the challenges they face. Before we knew really much about COVID-19, we started giving barbecue away to frontline workers, We would feed health care workers, janitors, all people on the front lines. I felt pretty helpless during the pandemic, until suddenly I realized I had access to good bbq and maybe just maybe, if I gave BBQ away to those on the frontlines it would encourage them to bring their very best to the challenges they face. Read more>>

Michael Keating

Our vision it to help hard working families who are struggling the means to support themselves. We ask them what is holding them back? Do they need a DL, Credit repair, warrants cleared, a better job. We work with them to correct the things in their lives that are holding them back. Read more>>

Jovon Salazar

To inspire and empower caring people to cultivate a fulfilling lifestyle through yoga and community while finding their inner sanctum on and off the mat. Our mission statement defines our aspirations of Yoga Sanctum. We care about our community and we want each person to who enters to feel supported in a space where they belong. To bring inspiration in cultivating well-being and a sense of fulfillment through learning and practicing yoga and the tools it provides to support living harmoniously with ourselves and each other. Read more>>

Inga Avedyan

TEMPÊTE’s mission is to empower modern brides by providing them with a unique and customizable bridal fashion experience. We aim to break away from traditional norms and inspire brides to think outside the box, encouraging them to create their own distinct wedding day look that reflects their individuality and style. By offering a range of bridal separates, one-of-a-kind veils, and eye-catching accessories, we strive to give brides the freedom to express themselves and curate a truly unforgettable ensemble for their special day. Additionally, our commitment to a made-to-order approach with minimal stock helps us reduce waste and minimize our environmental impact, promoting sustainable practices in the industry. Read more>>

Sarah Hughes

Our main objective of this business is to make our customers fall in love with their ride again. Either it be auto or marine, we aren’t your average detailer. Andrew (owner) took his background skills from working for body shop specializing in classics along with his combined experience at other body shops and working the assembly line at GM to build his every growing legacy. When most detailers cringe at black vehicles, he enjoys the challenge and specializes in paint correction of black/dark paint. Our move to the lake threw us into the boat restoration game, and we are now one of the only licensed and insured companies that will come to your dock to do the restoration work.  Read more>>

Tzu Ching Chen

My mission as a visual creator evolved along with my journey of pursuing my dream. It started as utilizing my skills as a creator to support and implement others’ ideas, I want to provide works that truly illustrate and represent their stories and visions. Therefore, my freelance career started with working with small businesses across industries, mostly in the food & beverage, hospitality, entertainment, and wellness industries. Collecting these experiences of serving others, I started thinking deeply about my value as a visual creator “Who am I? What else can I do? What can I bring to society?” I asked myself. That’s where my mission elevated to a wider perspective. I believe all of our history and experiences are the generator of the present. Read more>>

Paul McPherson

“Make Adventure Your Tradition® – We spent the time and money to trademark this Vision Phrase because it encompasses and defines what we think matters most in life…and that is our experiences, especially the experiences we have when we’re on Adventures. We feel that by and large, the standard Wedding template is a hollow, meaningless format that people follow simply because that is the way it’s been done forever. Even down to the songs played during the reception, most Weddings are identical and lack authenticity, adventure, and experience. Read more>>

Heidi Rolf

So much of my work is marketing; creating content for platforms designed to keep users consuming content. This has been morally difficult for me because I believe humans were meant to be out experiencing life and I feel our addiction to technology—phones & social media in particular—is responsible for a lot of mental health issues. So I’ve really grappled with the fact that my job is to create content for people to consume through those apps. In the last few months I’ve gotten deeply introspective about my career, which started out in design and transitioned to a more digital, temporary world. I decided I can live with myself because the marketing I do is designed to get people out of their homes, and into one of our bars or restaurants. Which brings me to what I feel my mission through my work with Buildings and Food is. Read more>>

Carolina Sapena Lafuente

During this year I’ve created a new company named CSL Creative. Our mission is to help other businesses with their image and visibility. We help them reach more people and grow as a company by using Marketing strategy. CSL Creative focus the strategy online, so we make visible our clients mostly through Social media and Websites. We manage Instagram, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, Pinterest and other platforms that help our client stand out in the market. At CSL Creative we believe that a good Image is very important nowadays. Being known in Social Media pushes your career and products up and that’s why we like to work in these platforms. Read more>>

Jessica Boarman

My mission is to inspire others to carry on through adversity and loss. I always say “I’m simply here to help you, ” which could mean helping you through a loss, helping you through something you are wrestling with internally, helping you find your purpose, or helping you make a big life decision. There are so many ways to work through all these things we face in life, but I believe wholeheartedly in the power of writing it down. Our brains aren’t designed to stay in overdrive, our spirits aren’t meant to carry the burden of a broken heart, and our bottled-up emotions can come out in unintentional and harmful ways. Inspiring someone to pick up a pen and notebook and hash out their deepest, most inner thoughts on paper through journaling, is my true passion. Read more>>

Laura Mathis

Established in 2017 by owner Laura Melton Mathis, Melton Candle Company initially began as a means to supplement income. Starting with wax melts, Mathis soon expanded her product line to include captivating container candles. Her unique approach involved repurposing vintage containers sourced from thrift shops, giving them a second life as beautifully crafted candles. Demonstrating unwavering dedication and entrepreneurial spirit, Mathis took her business to new heights. In the subsequent year, she participated as an exhibitor at the prestigious Atlanta Gift Mart and ventured into the wholesale market, opening her wholesale division. Read more>>

Katie Cooper

As a stay at home mom, I always felt driven for more of a purpose than just a full time mom role. During the pandemic, with a lot more free time and help at home, I felt a pull in my heart to start Queen City Crunch. Years prior, my mom had been bringing her seasoned pretzels to every event. They were a huge hit with friends and family and were requested anytime they knew my mom was coming! Friends pushed me to start a business off of her recipe, now known as The OG. In 2021 I launched in my home kitchen. Read more>>

Louis Roberts, M.Ed.

I am the owner of Lou’s BluBooks. It is my self-publishing company for my books. The mission statement for my company is “Creating a Culture of Literacy.” This statement has deep personal meaning to me. I am a special educator in a local high school and I teach reading. My student population that I serve is 95% black and brown children. With each new group of students that I have had the privilege of serving, I have seen a pandemic of extremely low reading levels coupled with very little interest in reading. This was one of the biggest motivations for me to create books that my students can see themselves reflected in. It is my hope that they will see themselves and that an interest would be sparked in them. Read more>>

Blas Alfaro

Sustaining community from farm to cup. I was born in a small town in Costa Rica, where my family is been farming true many generations, since 1872 we have been in coffee production. Families have been united to build projects like the schools, churches, parks, playgrounds, clinics and is the efforts of a group that can make bigger things that what an individual can accomplish. The history of my hometown San Isidro de Alajuela is full of a lot of my ancestors as a leader that drove change, this some of the values that I grew up with it, It is personal. Read more>>

Bryona Hasiuk

Bryona Hasiuk Photography started and will continue to be the business that captures priceless moments at an affordable price; I believe everyone deserves to have professional pictures taken no matter the amount of income you receive. Professional photos are expensive and I totally understand why they are expensive. Now that I have been doing this professionally myself for 4 years I also know what it’s like to not be able to afford to get your photos taken. I strive to make sure at least one family once in their lifetime can get professional photos done at an affordable rate. I also offer “Pay what you can” sessions once a year that allows anyone to pay whatever they can to get their photos done. No matter the cost, you get the same value images as someone who paid my full price! Read more>>

Ayah Adventurer

My mission is to encourage other women of color to venture out and explore the world! Travel is something I am passionate about. I have experienced its transformative power, and how it can change one’s outlook and aid in personal development. But travel has long been seen as something inaccessible for minorities, reserved only for the white and wealthy. Many people also hold inaccurate beliefs regarding Muslim women and travel. We are commonly stereotyped as these timid, weak individuals whose lives are limited and devoid of any fun. The media has depicted the hijab (headscarf) as a symbol of oppression, leading many to believe that wearing one can somehow prevent a woman from experiencing all the world has to offer. Read more>>

Kevin & Brighty Norman

As gift givers and supporters of our community, Kevin and I thought it was important to launch a business that meets several goals: for us to create and make quality products, sell them for reasonable prices, support other local and non local small owned businesses and to create a family environment that is open to all. Prior to our jobs closing down and relocating during covid, we decided to come up with a business that would sell our own handcrafted candles and items along with products from other small owned businesses. After giving birth to our daughter Brooklyn in 2017 and learning that she was hard of hearing, we quickly realized that working full time for other companies did not allow us the hands-on experience of parenting, flexibility for appointments and family time we needed. Our creativity was at an all time low and there wasn’t much flexibility and time for all the things we valued and wanted to do as a family. Read more>>