We’ve always tried to ask the questions that matter but that are too awkward for people to ask their friends, family and coworkers without seeming dramatic. One of those questions is about mission and purpose – when’s the last time you asked a friend what their mission was? Too often we don’t talk about our own missions and don’t ask those close to us about theirs with the result being that our missions remain secret. Are you just a doctor or are you a doctor who wants to be there for patients in the way you wished your father’s doctor had been? People have incredible and meaningful missions, and we hope our conversations asking folks about their mission can inspire more such conversations in your life.

Robyn Ulrich

One of the driving factors in a woman’s self-confidence and overall success in life, very much revolves around how she perceives herself. As a young girl who was incredibly shy and unsure of herself, I can attest to how dramatically my life changed for the better once I adjusted my self-perception and gained confidence of my own. In today’s culture of social media obsession (while already being inundated with movies, magazines and clever marketing), young girls are turning into women who are having an increasingly harder time grasping what is real and attainable which is causing us to question ourselves and our capabilities. Read more>>

Candyss Weaver

I help women design and implement practical career strategies to build more authority and make more money at work. While gradual growth often happens with no intervention, major moves require strategy. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way. For four years, I had no idea what I was doing when it came to my career. Yes, I had jobs during that time, but I had no idea how those jobs related to my overall career plan because I didn’t have a career plan. The truth is, I just blindly applied any and everywhere, with no real strategy. Read more>>

Vanessa Williams

The story behind my mission would be alleviating any stress that I can with your pets I think we as humans deal with a lot of stress day today whether it be with jobs or school or just day-to-day life and I think that what’s important to me is being able to at least alleviate stress about your pets while you’re away. I know for me personally I would have a little anxiety leaving my pets with someone And I think it’s very meaningful to me to be able to minimize stress and allow people to enjoy their vacation well not worrying about their pets Read more>>

Lisa Husberg

LOKA.HAUS was my passion project & graduating idea for my closing project at the University of Texas. It was, at that time, under another name. The LOKA.HAUS name is a combination of a play on my initials/name and “Loka”, the Sanskrit term defining the different planes or realities that constitute our universe. Our products are created to suit all of your needs, no matter what loka you exist in right now. Fashion has become a leading contributor & driver in the cycle of poverty through global waste, devalued human capital / unsustainable practices, inequitable pay, and unequal representation. Read more>>

Amy V. Cooper

Since 2016, my mission has followed a path of supporting female identifying creatives and entrepreneurs. I studied fashion design in college and took photography as an undergraduate elective. I moved to New York City to further study photography at Parsons School of Design. I then started my photo editing career at Elle Décor magazine, and later worked for MTV, where I had the opportunity to build a portfolio and gain experience in production. I eventually moved to Austin, Texas in 2008 to be near family and I started working in advertising, where my photo editing experience translated really well into art-buying and digital asset management. Read more>>

Hagit Pincovici

A three generation business, which was born from passion to craftmanship. The mission of Hagit Pincovici brand is to bring awareness and appreciation to nature, architecture and art through her design. Read more>>

Christopher Coffer Sr

First and foremost, remember nothings possible with out the most high. To me it’s about culture, family and aspiration. My story is simple ! Build something that a last generation’s, build something that generation’s to come can be proud of. Let people know, no matter what background you come from, anything possible. Teach my kids anybody can be successful. Show them how to be self efficiency, self reliable. How to believe in their self’s and their vision. Life is about choices, and we all make bad ones sometimes, but you are the manger and you can over come anything as long as not dedicate yourself. Read more>>

Tiffany Brown

It all started with my daddy. He was the first person to put a camera in my hand. It was a Polaroid camera and I was hooked. My daddy was loved doumenting moments and milestones in our lives. As far back as I can remember, I either had a camera or camcorder in my hands helping my daddy capture these moments. Read more>>

Nate Daniels

My mission in life is to inspire and motivate the next generation of young people to reach their dreams. I’m a firm believer that every young person is one or two caring adults away from being a success story, and I apply that belief through my work. I’m the owner of Daniels Sports Performance, where we train athletes through strength, conditioning and speed development. In our program we motivate young men and women to be successful both on and off the field or court. I also regularly speak to youth groups, schools and on college campuses to provide young people with the tools and motivation to be successful both in sports, and in life. Read more>>

Penda James

I started my business in 2006 after an experience at a writer’s conference. I led one of the conference breakout sessions about writing. Although I had a small group of attendees, they were committed to their time with me. We began writing and got lost in time. As we hurriedly gathered our things and transitioned back into the main session, I noticed that people were still writing. I keep thinking about how those writers in my session had opened to me so freely and how their writing was unlocked by a few questions. Read more>>

Harlee Keller

Did you know that the average American is about 3 generations removed from agriculture? I did not- not until I started my podcast, the Ranch Collective Podcast. Just like everyone else I know, in the last 3 years, my life has completed changed- and my business has too. Read more>>

Jazlyn Sanders

My mission is to educate individuals and small business owners on financial literacy and what it means to be financially free and stable. I specifically focus on budgeting, money management, investing, and creating and maintaining good credit. These things are important in establishing financial stability for you and your family and your successful business. Read more>>

Stephen Gibbs

The story behind my mission is pretty simple. My mission is to share The Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who don’t have a personal relationship with Him. I believe a lot of people are turned off to Jesus because of bad experiences they have had with Christians and church, because of this many will never set foot into a church. Which is why my vision is to reach them through a night club. Read more>>

Anabelle Adkins

The Semilla Baking Co. mission is to create memorable food experiences, or “food memories.” My love for baking for others comes from very vivid memories from my childhood..my great-grandmother’s homemade fudge, or my grandmother serving me coffee cake after my first “sleepover” at her house, my Aunt’s sticky toffee pudding, countless chocolate chip cookies baked with or for my family and my first attempt at silk pie on Thanksgiving. These memories move me to create the same, special feeling around something simple and simply delicious. We specialize in the “perfect” birthday cake, chocolate chunk cookie, scone, sourdough focaccia.. Always with great ingredients, simple techniques and lots of love. Read more>>

Mariedmy Diaz

fit food started in July 2019 being a help for a family member who did not have time to cook and wanted to eat a little healthier, after that we opened our Instagram account and started with 1 client and then more people joined and we were very happy but in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic began, we stopped working for many months but we never lost faith. At the end of the year we offered our service again and included new products such as: Meal preps, flavored arepas, food by the pound and delicious desserts. Today we have a portfolio of wonderful clients who have supported us a lot. Our plans include continuing to add more products and improving them every day. Read more>>

Jose Lopez

I come from humble beginnings. I was born in New York City and raised in the Bronx one of the poorest boroughs. I’ve seen how underprivileged areas are essentially deprived of certain resources that would help our surrounding communities thrive in a more educated and healthier way. My mission has always been to create a space that helps people understand the importance of staying active and eating healthy. I also wanted to create a space that promotes bringing light to common daily issues that our communities face as well. Such as; fight against child obesity, anti-bully and self defense for victims of domestic violence. Read more>>

E. Danielle Butler

I provide Mission Driven Writing for Legacy & Community Minded Leaders. The more I work, the more I acknowledge the excitement that comes with shaping and sharing stories with specific missions. I am energized by people who do meaningful work and inspire action. I have made it my mission to help leaders develop their voice and leave a lasting legacy through the written and spoken word. Long after we are gone, our words will remain. Read more>>

ANDREA VIVAS ROSS

Since I was a little girl I have always felt a special love for books. Even when I still didn’t know how to read. So growing up, I knew right away that I wanted to do something related to books. At the time, in high school, I wasn’t sure about my future career, but then I found my call when a teacher told me “You have a great grammar skills, and you also know how to meticulously analyze a reading. Have you ever thought about studying ‘Literature’ at university?”. Read more>>

Natalia Osorio

Happiness has been a driven factor for me and one of the reasons why I started Mixed Cake Co. I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression for such a long time and happiness has always been a goal to achieve. When I started baking, I realized that keeping my mind active at all times, keeping physical, working around others and not behind a computer screen at all times really helped me. Whenever you see a beautiful cake come out of the oven, there’s a sense of pride as you can say “I made that!”. What better way to support my mental health than to become a baker and make other people happy with my creations and art. I wanted that fulfillment, I wanted to make others feel happy on their special moments! Read more>>

Lisa Marsh

Mspsgfree was created because I had a need for delicious gluten-free snack foods. I have been gluten-free since 2009 and what I was finding on the shelves was not working well. There was very little taste, many items were super dry and not palatable. I began baking and came up with our line of snack foods that are delicious, nutritious and healthy . Our mission is to provide our delicious, nutritious and healthy snack foods to minority females between 35-60, who need healthy snack foods to continue taking care of their families and themselves. We aspire to become that go to brand for healthy snacking, moving more and living longer. Read more>>

Buddhima Kurukulasuriya

We enjoyed the human connection, storytelling and sharing of flavors at our initial ‘test gatherings’ and wanted to replicate that with a broader audience. We decided to host intimate dining experiences curated in collaboration with the host. Dining experiences can contain anything from cocktails to starters to mains to desserts. One could participate in the prep or simply sit back and enjoy our creations. Read more>>

Connie Lacobie

In 2013, I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes with a strong chance of this progressing to type 2 diabetes. My holistic doctor’s recommendations were to cut off my sugar intake, including carbs. I also needed to do more exercise, and to lower my stress level- a major factor in my high blood pressure and the high sugar in my bloodstream. Starting to put these practices into action was the beginning of my wellness journey. Read more>>

Kristin Weissman

More than a decade ago, I was working professionally in my corporate career in Entertainment PR and in working 100-hour work weeks and having no work-life balance, I was unhealthy, overweight, and definitely not happy. A doctor asked me why I wasn’t going to the gym and asked what I loved to do and I said I loved to dance! I hated going to the gym – it was intimidating, I didn’t find it fun, and before my career, I had studied dance for many years. He encouraged me to find a dance class and to try to find my passion again. Read more>>

Debanhi Green

DebanhiGreenPhotograhy is a small owned business that photographs special moments. We photograph weddings, graduations, engagements, maternity, family, and newborn portraits as well. I have always wanted to start my own business in this hiding hobby of mine and once my husband purchased my first camera in 2016 everything just felt right. Once I started to get clients I loved to be able to capture such big moments in their lives and also create friendships along the way. I loved being able to take this hobby and transform it into something bigger. Read more>>

Samantha Minor

After living a life of abusive relationships, toxic habits and a cancer diagnosis, I realized these things don’t have to be normal and I began to heal myself through prayer, therapy and discovering what self-care really means. Now I do my best to live a life of calm, love, good health, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually and now I want to help others do the same. My mission is to impact the lives of women in a way that will uplift, heal and inspire. You cannot control the outside world, but you can take control of yourself through your thoughts and habits. It all starts at home and making your home your safe space. Read more>>

Dr. Mallory Quinn

ABASI Dance Lab is a niche studio that provides a place for dancers that might not otherwise fit in the standard competition dance studio or recreational studio. ABASI Dance Lab is the first off-shoot of the company ABA Sports Innovations which focuses on non coercive and behavioral based training using evidence based teaching methods and procedures from the science of Applied Behavior Analysis. Read more>>

Michael Wright

My mission is to make known local musicians everywhere, beginning in the greater Austin area. But a mission has to have a purpose. A foundation strong enough to prevent the daily trials and tribulations from distracting one and leading them down a different path. Year two, for me, was about discovering that purpose. Several times in year two of this adventure, music came to my aid and soothed the problems troubling me. I am constantly in awe of the talent within these amazing people we call musicians. Watching them perform and overcome inspires me. I soon realized my purpose: To serve as a daily reminder, to all musicians, that their importance to everyone’s life is understood and appreciated. Read more>>

Isabella McKnight

The story behind the mission of The Company Collection, my dance wear line that I created is that after dancing you have so many options to proceed to. Most dancers believe that dance is all the know or all they have, but you have so much more knowledge inside of you than you realize. I created this line as not only inspiration for what could come of your evolving career but also to provide dance wear to dancers of all ages, shapes and sizes. Read more>>

JOY HASKINS

I started cooking just to learn how to, just so I could learn how to for myself. My blog started out as a foodie blog where I would do restaurant and food event reviews. After a while I then I began cooking for my nanny clients which was my full time job and then started taking catering jobs and private gigs on the side. It didn’t take long for food to become my passion and the foundation of my mission. Read more>>

Kelly Wright

YUNS is a modern hardware store for beginners. Our mission is to inspire self-reliance by making tools and hardware more accessible to more people. The hardware category is, quite frankly, very homogenous. I grew up in a small, rural area and our local independent shop was the beating heart of our town — it served as a space to learn, help each other out and solve problems. But today, the Big Box stores that have dominated the industry aren’t facilitating that. In particular, there’s a noticeable gap in connecting to younger, less-experienced and more diverse customers. So I as a woman of color, I absolutely wanted to help do that. I imagined a space where more people could feel comfortable and confident getting to know this category in a way that might not be able to otherwise. Read more>>

Dolphin Coley

When I first Moved to Atlanta in 2014 , I had a vision of Being the 1st Black Owned Italian Water ice distributor in the South . My mission was to Bring a Philadelphia Treat to Atlanta Georgia & Create a frozen Dessert Evolution by introducing the South to Real Philly Style Water Ice Also Know as Philly Style Italian Ice. Most of the South Grew up on Shaved ice and Snow Cones which is Merely Crushed ice with Flavored Syrup poured over it oppose to Real Philly Water ice that’s made out of All Natural Fruit base with a smooth consistency of a sherbet without Any Dairy .. Water ice is an All natural, Fat Free , Dairy Free , Cholesterol free & Glutton free Frozen dessert that’s a much healthier option . Read more>>

Nyeka Arnold

The Story behind my mission is being my own best project! What I mean by that is , being the best I can be daily and over coming all Obstacles, Experiences and Adversities. I am an Austinite, I was raised in one of the worst “Housing projects” located in Austin . The initial name of these apt complexes were call Mason Manor Apts before the name change . I am a proud “Crack baby”. Read more>>

Josh Rabalais

When it comes to why I did what I do, it really comes down to service. I knew I wanted to help people, and the jobs I’ve had in my life have always included some aspect of service to the community. I’m a very faith based person, and so I know God’s plan put me exactly where I needed to be. At the time I was teaching, and while I loved it, it wasn’t fully what I wanted to do. I remember I did searching like most of us did during that time, and I revisited a thought I had as a child….to go to law school. Read more>>

Candrice Austin

I’ve competed in pageants since 2011. Finding my own makeup artist each pageant. Not looking the harshness of the products abs brushes used to apply my makeup. In 2018 over a phone conversation with my BESTIE we were speaking about makeup and decided we’re should produce our own makeup brushes. We got together with a group of chemists abs decided on fibers then deciding to go vegan were create a line of luxury makeup brushes called The Vision line. Read more>>

Fabian Mandujano

I would say that I haven’t had the best relationship with my father. Like most people my parents have been dealing with their own struggles and insecurities trying to survive in a country that wasn’t theirs. The time I remember spending with my father was when he would take me to work installing carpet at a young age. My father would tell me stories about his childhood growing up in Mexico. He would tell me how his father would take him to work the corn fields. Those stories gave me a glimpse into my fathers life. I filled in the gaps with my imagination and no matter where our relationship went those stories taught me to relate. Read more>>

Marcella Cardinal

I have always loved Beauty; It doesn’t matter if I’m doing make up, a skin care service, or decorating a space. I love and enjoy using my hands to cultivate beauty. It is what lights me up and is so much fun! Although I respect a woman who accepts every line on her face and who embraces the physical changes that come with getting older, I do not. That is not me! I enjoy and love finding the different ways to play that game of maintaining youth, because ‘why not’. Read more>>