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.

Christopher Rausch

Honestly, as a former homeless 7th grade dropout, living in a station wagon with mom and her various psychiatric challenges along with 18 cats and two dogs, having survived all that, plus two suicide attempts and a gun put to my head, I came out of all that inspired and determined to show/prove if I can do it – anyone can. Read more>>

Nataly Trusova

We are Kiwi Eco Box – an eco-friendly subscription box for people who wants to live zero-waste. And since we launched 2 years ago we helped hundreds of people to adopt more sustainable habits into their daily routines. Our goal is to help people to make their lifestyle more earth-friendly in an easy and enjoyable way. The way the subscription works – people receive a new box each month filled with different products, some of them coming on a recurring base like a toothbrush or cotton swabs, and some are different each month – reusable lunch boxes, shampoo bar, calendar, can be anything. Read more>>

Jonathan Ledezma

Making the diffence between current markets and us, providing the best of the best to make the people better life, better moments, touching peoples fiber and chance their lifes forever with our photography services.. Read more>>

Jared Hernandez

I am the new owner of fotostrap and recently celebrated one year of owning the business and 10 years of the business existing. Becoming the new owner of a global mission-based brand is a humbling experience and one that I do not take lightly. Fotostrap started with the mission to be more than just a company that makes camera straps when our founder had a life altering photo shoot with a terminally ill infant and his brave parents. Read more>>

Lauren Schmidt

The mission of The Circle is to create positive micro and macro change through organizing and facilitating experiential wellness retreats. My life was changed when I was 12 years old. My grandmother who was an avid world traveler took me on my first trip out of the country to Greece. In Greece we drenched ourselves in culture and history. Immersing ourselves in the sites and living like locals. We enjoyed the flavorful Mediterranean food and my grandma let me drink wine and stay out late with the adults. Read more>>

Christine Elias

I earned my real estate license in October 2013. I belonged (and still do!) to a number of industry-related associations. I held leadership positions and often received awards and recognition for my hard work. Still, I felt unfulfilled as a member of these groups. It wasn’t about my personal passions; it was about everyone else’s agendas. As one of 12,000 realtors in Central Florida, I knew I needed a way to stand out. Plus, I wanted a way to align myself with like-minded clients. Read more>>

Shavontana Starr” Davis”

I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. The molestation began at seven, and that’s also when my mom became addicted to drugs. As a child, I experienced and witnessed things no child should do. I bounced around from house to house with different family members before living with my grandmother the summer before 6th grade and I lived with grandma until I graduated from high school. Read more>>

Abel Sanchez Jr.

As a small Texas border town boy who’s dream was to move to NYC to fulfill his dreams as a professional dancer and was ridiculed by his town. Breaking all barriers I was able to make my dream a reality and not only experience life as a professional dancer. I opened my mind to learn various traites from fitness, fashion, event production, just to name a few. I now love sharing my experiences with the public, pushing others to live their dreams, and give guidance on ignoring the cynical. Read more>>

Gary Lamb

The story behind my mission can be summed up in one word: Community. After pastoring for years and preaching community, I began to realize in my opinion the church lacked community. He tried to force community and you can’t do that. Community is created around shared experiences and likes. After I started putting on events, I begin to see community happen in an organic way that got me excited. It might have been around the love of BBQ and our BBQ festivals, 80’s music at out Back To The 80’s Experiences or around wrestling at our wrestling shows, but what happened is community began to develop and grow. Read more>>

Jennifer Holder

I have a belief that what we eat and what we use on our bodies should have the simplest ingredients. I simply want to provide a way to nourish the skin and hair with ingredients nature provided. Read more>>

Beatrice W

One of my biggest challenges as a person has been to live in the present. To appreciate what I’m doing, where I am and what I have right now, instead of wishing I had more, was doing better and spent my time in a warmer or more interesting place. I have, however always enjoyed sharing my experiences with other people and helping people make more of their every day lives. At the same time, I have always enjoyed seeing and learning what other people do and getting inspired to get out and do things of my own. When social media came around and various people started gaining large followings as well as the opportunity to influence other people’s lives. Read more>>

Brenda R. Coone

The mission at MsCraftprincess Designs is to help people express thoughtfulness and kindness through imagery and sentiments that make those they care about feel loved. We believe in spreading hugs one handcrafted greeting card at a time. I live this mission everyday. Having the opportunity to design cards that folks want to keep, and on many occasions frame, assures me that the receivers feel the love that went into each card design. I pray over each card I create because I understand that for my customers, greeting cards are more than just a piece of cardstock. Read more>>

Jeronia Murphy

Our mission is to provide safe and effective aesthetic treatments by licensed, highly trained professionals at affordable rates in a clean, welcoming environment. I started this company as a way to offer people industry-leading aesthetic treatments by a licensed professional at affordable prices. Often, when we hear the term “med spa”, we automatically think of superficial vanity. However, many people who come to us are struggling with acne scars, facial hair, and other skin issues that are genuinely compromising their self-confidence. Read more>>

Kevin Pope

My mission is to make Disney related content for the true diehard Disney fans. I myself am a huge Disney fan, I grow up going to Disney World every summer with my family since I was 2 years old. Those are the best memories of my life and it has always been my dream to work for Disney or in some Disney related field. Read more>>

Shelly Belinko

I am a potion maker, a mother, a wife, a friend. I think all of these roles essentially contextualize how Blinking Owl Acres sprouted into being. I never sat down and said, “I want to start a business,” or “I think entrepreneurship is my calling.” I just always mixed potions- potions to nourish, to please, to heal, to soothe. And my potions work! They work well enough that people want to purchase them. So, I started making more, and people purchased more. It all happened very organically. Read more>>

Rebecca Kennedy

My name is Rebecca Kennedy. For the majority of my life, I struggled with obesity. I often used food as a coping mechanism, and was bullied for my weight. At 18 years old, after a tough talk with my doctor, I jumped into the fitness world headfirst. I fell in love with learning more, challenging myself, and helping others… but I started to become obsessed with achieving the “perfect” body. Read more>>

Nataly Florez-Gonzalez

Dolcelly Sweets was founded with the mission to express creativity by creating unique, never before seen, treats. All of our baked goods are made with high quality ingredients. We pride ourselves in being a handmade, from scratch, bakery. No request is ‘too crazy’ for us! Our goal is to create cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and more, that reflect your personality and showcase who you are on your special day. Read more>>

Sydney Turner

Ready 2 Transition LLC was birthed in the middle of the pandemic in 2019. Prior to the pandemic there was an urgency to educated young children due to the fact they were not receiving all the fundamental foundation of the core of education to transition successfully to kindergarten, Months and months passed as I would go sit at my Pastor’s desk to bounce ideas off of her to see how I could structure the program. When the Covid-19 pandemic approached and everything switch virtually the educational world turned upside down. In that moment, I knew I had to do something to calm the storm. Read more>>

Elizabeth Palomino

GlitznGlamz Cosmetics was created with the mission to provide safe, pigmented and luxurious cosmetics into the makeup community. All products are handmade with the desire to have products anyone of any skin type can love. Through shine and dazzle GlitznGlamz is able to empower women with skin loving cosmetics. Read more>>

Joy Pedersen

Ever since I was a child, I knew I was here for the end of the world as we knew it. I did not fully understand those dynamics until Archangel Michael invited me to write his book and join him in a healing practice. Because I owned a business network and taught networking then, that audience was the first to hear of my shift in business focus. I had already been spiritual healing personally for decades so when he enrolled me in formalizing it, I only had to transition more of the business practices. Read more>>

Julia Nauer

My mission at Sort & Style is to help women simplify their lives through simplifying their style. After witnessing the boom of social media influencers promoting their “hauls” and endless supply of brand new head-to-looks, I recognized that a lot of women were purchasing items that they were “influenced” to buy without giving a lot of thought to how each purchase would fit into their current wardrobe, if they needed it, or even if it truly fit their personal style. Read more>>

Banks Banks

I want to give a great experience with great healthy food. Our goal is to create a brand everyone loves and can afford. We use the best ingredients and cook with love. Read more>>

Columbus berry

that’s a very simple answer but yet very broad…emotions, I am an emotionally driven person. I started singing and writing music as an outlet for my severe depression and anxiety. At the time I started I was severely depressed, felt alone and like nobody was actually listening to how I felt so I put how I was feeling into song form to make it “easier” on the ears and so people would actually listen to me and understand where I was coming from. Read more>>

Iesha McIntosh-Williams

As a teenager… I always wanted to grow up and motivate and help young girls get through life obstacles. What gave me that passion to have a goal as such is because of Life obstacles I went through! I wanted to help the next Generation to come. I became a mother at 15. I was told I wouldn’t be anything or do anything. Because of people and their thoughts… I made up my mind that I was going to be the opposite of what statistics say I would be. So I made sure I graduated high school and College! Read more>>

Blak Pantha

This mission started with my desire to create a group of young Afrikan-centered people that were about producing products for the global Afrikan community. We drew inspiration from the Mossi Empire which is an Afrikan tribe from Ouagadougou Burkina Faso. This tribe was specifically known for being hostile to enslavers, colonialists, and their religion. We adopted their morals and values in such a way that we vowed to teach people about traditional Afrikan history, spirituality, science, language, and any other epistemology relevant to the Afrikan experience. Read more>>

Justin Foster

As far back as I can remember, I believed in the idea of our individual uniqueness; that we are each here to do something significant. It has been referred to by many names: mission, purpose, calling, charter, legacy, personal legend. But at that time, I didn’t know what to call it. I just knew it as a feeling in my soul. So I devoured books about historical figures. I read endless books about unlikely heroes – mostly by Louis L’Amour. I watched “Jeremiah Johnson”, “Red Dawn”, “Pale Rider” and other movies about those called to leave the herd, fight back, and/or take up the sword of justice. Read more>>

Teri Moore

My mission is simple to meet and help people keep their business and homes tidy. Taking the stress of cleaning out if their daily thoughts. I hope to be able to employ as many individuals as possible in the near future. Read more>>

Jose Anthony Pagan

Meaning of Day Zero The very first day in boot camp is called Day Zero, it doesn’t even count!! This day is meant to wake you up and shake off the old habits from home. You will be screamed at and told that you are worth nothing. Drill Sgts will work your mind and your body from 6 am to 10 pm nonstop. You will be dragged through the dirt and thrown in mud for hours with no break. It’s designed to be a simple reality check, “you’ve left home and now you belong to us.” The most amazing part of the entire day is during the intense mental and physical breakdown, and towards the end of the day. Read more>>

Susan Lopes

My one and only goal when I shoot a session is to ensure that my clients are comfortable and they walk away confident that they made the right choice in selecting me. They put their faith and trust in me and I will do everything I can to make the time they have with me joyful. Making memories that last a lifetime is my motto. I want each and every one of my clients to document the moments in their lives. Read more>>

Jana Anderson

The Lollipop Fairy Birthday Tradition began when my oldest child was born. Growing up in a loving but chaotic and often times unpredictable household, I knew I wanted my children to live in a home filled with a strong foundation, love, and traditions that they could carry forward to their own families. That’s when The Lollipop Fairy was born. Every birthday eve, my birthday boy would excitedly plant his “lollipop seeds”, go to sleep, and immediately wake up and run to see what lollipops had grown. Read more>>

Josue Martinez,Daniel Adame

This was a passion project created during a time of need but more than anything it’s something that was created to showcase a beautiful profession and craft on a smaller and more intimate scale. There are other publications that share knowledge of this industry but they tend to focus more on “big names” where we wanted to shine the light on those who don’t aim to be famous and rather are more concerned with providing a better service for those they see day to day who truly are the reason these barbers are able to have a career and provide for themselves and their families. Read more>>

Jessica Watkins

A company’s mission can be defined as the purpose of a business and how it serves others. My mission for Jessicawatkinsbooks is to entertain, educate and inspire through literacy. Everyone can recall reading their favorite book(s) as a child and becoming immersed in the story. It is my passion to create this experience for readers everywhere. One day at the lowest point of my life, I sat on the balcony of my residence. I held my daughter in my arms, and I began to read to her. Read more>>

Dr. J. A. Rob, Jr.

Our mission: is to develop strong bodies, minds and spirts within our community. A leader for “Tomorrow Today.: A scholar, mentor and teacher for the future. One who is caring, passionate and hardworking. A willing leader and learner full of hope (helping other people evolve) those with leadership with an eagerness to go to college. We can only give what we have when we have something to give that is meaningful, worthy and gifted. Something full of character because we all know CHARACTER COUNTS! Read more>>

Ashley Williams

My name is Ashley Williams, I am the owner of Shadess To Krave! Shadess To Krave got started back in June of 2014. This is my story behind my mission. Read more>>

J’nee Adams

My mission is that dance has always been a huge part of my life and I want to help spread that joy to others. I recognize the potential in each one of my students. With my customizable approach, I’ve seen my students’ self-esteem and skill-set consistently rise. I love what I do and it makes me happy to be able to share my passion with others. Since starting Strut With J’nee, my results are a testament to the fact that my system works. Read more>>