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.

Carrie Sporer

My co-founder Meredith and I met back in 2007 while training for the New York City Marathon. We had signed up with the same charity program to secure our spots for the race and fundraise for a good cause. During training, we ended up logging hundreds of miles together and becoming close friends. After the race, we continued to meet up several times a week to work out and even added yoga and bootcamp to the mix. Read more>>

Kristin Watkins

Redeeming Radiance is nestled in a historic building in the beautiful Mid Town Kansas City area. When you walk in the doors of Redeeming Radiance for a bit of TLC, we desire to transform those hard moments that often show up on your skin and REDEEM them to your natural RADIANT beauty that shines so brightly in all your big moments of hope. RR is not just a skincare destination, but a place of community, hope, passion, and love. At RR you do not need to take out a loan for healthy skin + lasting results. Rhonda Allison is the professional line used at the studio. RA products are natural plant + fruit + flower + nut derived. Read more>>

Allison Darling

As a young girl, like so many others, I struggled with body image and confidence. I was a talented athlete and honestly, that became my identity. I felt that my worth was truly based on how I performed on the court or even in the classroom. I have always been extremely tall as well. And when you’re as tall as I am, people often like to point out this feature to you. I became hyper-aware of this and honestly, I was super self conscious. I never wanted to wear heels because I was even taller. I worried about dating because I was so much taller than the boys in my grade. Read more>>

Luke Guest

Most people will tell you to get a job doing something you love. Growing up in the outdoors hunting and fishing, I am passionate about the outdoors. As I grew older, I knew that I wanted to take over the family business so I could surround myself with people who enjoy the same things. It has been my goal to continue the legacy of our family business and keep the business thriving. Read more>>

Britni Bateman

Brainstorm Boutique was a dream I always had to combine my love of brainstorming and creative services for boutique business. I was working for a locally-owned women’s clothing boutique that started in a brick-and-mortar and I was able to help create an online presence. During the seven years I worked there, we grew in reputation and popularity in our local community and beyond. From photo and video shoots to social media strategy and email campaigns, I was in charge of all marketing aspects. It was so much fun to help the business owner’s dreams come true and serve the female population with clothing and products that gave them confidence. Read more>>

Rayvon Griffin

“A successful woman is one who can build a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at her.” I have lived by this quote and as I look back through my 8 years in business 3 of which being full-time I can only be so grateful at how far I have come. Though my services have evolved over the years my mission has remained the same “Rayvon Creates art from the heart”. Read more>>

David Huffman

When I first went vegan over a decade ago, I was appalled by how poor many of the vegan desserts were that I’d buy from bakeries and cafes. The things I was baking at my home were much better. I hated the idea of inferior products giving vegan baking a bad name. I wanted to make sure people knew that it was possible to create delicious treats without any animal cruelty. Read more>>

Kimberly McDowell

I’m a 46 year-old wife and mother of two and have a creative sweet tooth for all the beautiful things. I’ve dabbled in an array of different things but the two that are taking up most of my time is Soapmaking and Event Planning. I have always been intrigued with the beauty of individual parts that come together to make a whole and how I can save money in the process. Not to skimp on quality, but to remove the middle-man and save costs. This was especially useful during the pandemic. Read more>>

Lo Jordan

My personal mission is to embody self love. I enjoy uplifting my clients and bringing out their best selves by increasing their confidence. This is close to my heart because I struggled with loving myself for such a long a time, in many aspects not just one. I never took the time out to ask myself, “What do you need?” My battle with acne seemed never-ending, I tried Pro-active, all natural products, drug store products, nothing worked. On top of loathing my body image, my self confidence was diminished, I did not love myself and I was not happy with my life. Read more>>

Roderick Mccord

The story behind my mission is to build a empire with my record label and talent agency with hard working talent and us building something special. My business was inspired by my late brother Quentin Mccord who was an nfl player and help me come up with the company name. Read more>>

Chiquita Johnson

Growing up as a child, Mental Health was not something that was discussed in my household and even in moments of feeling depressed or even anxious those things were are often overlooked and frowned upon, I remember times telling my mother or grandmother that I was feeling sad and didn’t know why and they would always say “Girl, you have too much to be sad about. Just go outside and play with your friends.” Read more>>

Kristina Lubofsky

Grandma Eileen blew through a stop sign and T-boned another car. She didn’t even see it, and she certainly didn’t think the accident was her fault. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia shortly thereafter. Grandpa Fred asked his eldest daughter to start paying his bills. The meticulous man prided himself on keeping his finances in order, and he spent the better part of his working life dealing with numbers on a daily basis. After a series of tests, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Read more>>

Christian Walker

I’ve always danced, sang, etc. like I’ve always been into the arts as a child. I wanted to create a safe space where people could express their movement freely. Teaching heels classes is only a small portion of what I do, I help people find love with self again and thats the best part of what I do. Read more>>

Todd Briggs

TRUEFORM landscape architecture studio was established focuses upon creating meaningful and memorable places. Embracing purpose with beauty, our innovative and thoughtful place making encourages social interaction within comfortable, dynamic and ecological responsible landscapes. Our work exhibits a strong commitment to utilizing regionally appropriate and enduring materials that fit texturally and cohesively within the desert southwest. Read more>>

Jerry Hooper

Founding a band like Brass Rewind has been a dream of mine since I was 14 years old. I was in Methodist church camp during the summer of 1969 when I first heard Blood Sweat & Tears….and I was HOOKED! I then attended their first concert in Kansas City in November of that year and was even more HOOKED! I was overwhelmed by emotion when I heard their rendering of God Bless The Child and vowed to myself that I would have a band that would play that song and that music someday. Read more>>

Kimberly Packer

FLOW10® and The FLOW Network Connection, LLC were created out of a need. I had this novel idea that women could (1) walk in healing and (2) actually support and encourage one another without jealousy, gossip, and/or backbiting. I desired to be a part of that type of community. So, I decided to create it. FLOW10® was birthed after going through my own traumatic life events. It started out as a weekly livestream on Periscope going through the steps of Mind Detox. Read more>>

Sakinna J

My mission is to help women restore and rebuild their lives after leaving a domestic violence relationship. This mission is very dear to my heart because I experienced domestic violence in my life and i know what it is like to not know what’s next to come after leaving. I was torn and felt like i was at my lowest point in life. Read more>>

Anwar Molette

The story behind our mission is to provide a high quality culinary and dining experiences through catered functions and special events, while providing excellent products and services to all clients and customers, offering employment opportunities for individuals dedicated to an awesome brand contributing to consistent and company growth. Read more>>

Ms. Pat

The mission is simple… to inspire and nurture one person, one meal and one event at a time. Food brings people together and serves as a bridge to help them stay connected. For me, food was a resource that allowed me to learn about my family and my culture. Food served as the foundation of a celebration and in a roundabout way it provided me comfort. Read more>>

Brian Trupo

Trupo Treats started when co-founder Brian Trupo walked into Whole Foods and couldn’t find any chocolate that was milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate and clearly labeled “vegan.” So, he called up Charlie, his twin brother, and they started Trupo Treats. Trupo Treats is a vegan milk chocolate company that is dedicated to making ethical and delicious plant-based chocolate products while also donating proceeds to animal sanctuaries. Read more>>

Todd Marcell

When I started my writing journey, the reason WhY is how it began. I started my writing journey because I wanted to tell young people about issues or life that I didn’t learn growing up. I feel as though I could have miss some bumps in the road of I had someone to tell me about certain consequences. Don’t get me wrong I had the greatest dad in the world and I still lean back on the values he taught me. In turn somethings we learn from experience and everybody have different experiences , so I just wanted to share my experiences in hopes that it would help someone!! Read more>>

Leah McCloskey

I started LM Studio (22 years ago) originally as an escape from being under the thumb of abusive bosses in an agency in which I was working. I had been working in the marketing and advertising design field long enough to feel ready to handle clients on my own and didn’t want to endure being emotionally mistreated any longer. Read more>>

Don Jackson

My mission is to create art. The concept of art is subjective. We might not agree on what is art or what is artistic. However, we can agree that art makes us feel good. I’m creating things that make my clients feel good because it is art they helped to create. Read more>>

Tabria Price

The story behind Mahogany Hair Care is simple. The purpose of me creating my own Hair care products was because I felt that it was impossible to find a product on the market for ME. Meaning something i felt good about not only purchasing but using on my natural hair. Growing up as an African American young lady and being told your hair isn’t society’s “normal” was a task in itself .. My Goal with my hair care line was to remove that task for young ladies to come, I want them to be able to love their natural tresses no matter what society says “normal” is. Read more>>

Destiny Brewton

A way to remove my mind from the 9-5 rat race and fulfill my inner childhood dreams, I found a new passion in my business. A House Called Hue creates high-quality custom embroidered goods to help consumers and small businesses elevate their branding and product offerings. We love to help small businesses, in particular black female owned businesses. Being a black mompreneur I know how hard it is to get authentic help while building your business. Read more>>

Kareca Moore

My story begins begins about 4 years ago after the passing of my mother. I experienced my spiritual awakening in the form of what is known in the spiritual community as a catalyst relationship that plunges one into the Dark Night of the Soul. In short I was involved in a very intense connection that mirrored all my traumas, insecurities, childhood issues with my mother. Things that I had buried for over 40yrs, they came flooding back during a relatively short time period. Read more>>

Emily Masnoon

From my youngest years, I have watched women and girls struggle to understand themselves: who they are, how they fit in, what they are here on Earth to do. I have seen them operate as they’ve been conditioned to instead of trusting and following their incredible, true nature. I have felt them shrink, doubt, and full-on abandon themselves out of survival. I grew up amongst this, was immersed in it professionally for many years, and was drowning. When something inside of me awakened to the idea that his is not the life that I wanted and that it didn’t need to be this way, Read more>>

Sarah Fleischhauer

My mission and reason for starting my business is plain and simple. Memphis is a low income area, and everyone deserves to have memories that last forever. I give away a lot of sessions throughout the year to various charities, do “pay what you can” sessions, donate a portion of sales from a certain themed session to a worthy cause etc. I love what I do, and being able to give back whenever and however I can is really special. Read more>>

Kineesha Kiah

To be completely honest I started my business as a means to distract myself and gain peace. Im a first time mother to a beautiful baby girl. My pregnancy was extremely high risk due to her having two dime sized holes in her heart requiring surgery upon delivery. Everyone advised me not to worry as much as I was and relax so I choose to distract myself. It was always a dream of mine to become an entrepreneur. Read more>>

Rob Scheer

At age 12, I was placed in foster care. I was given a trash bag to put my belongings in and sent to a new “home.” I stayed there, a place I truly considered by new family for six years. On my 18th birthday, the people I called “Mom and Dad” suddenly handed me a trash bag not so dissimilar to the one I had years ago, again filled with my belongings and they told me I had to leave. I asked “why?” and they said that they “were no longer getting the check from the government because I aged out.” Read more>>

Nya Anderson

TheNyyCollection, also known as TNC offers a range of jewelry and croc charms. Our goal is to accessorize the natural beauty a person already portrays. TNC opened on the basis of making women feel confident in their jewelry choices. Knowing that you have on long lasting jewelry that not only brings attention, it relives the stress of wondering if your piece will tarnish or break. In addition, crocs have always been a favorite to the CEO. If your jewelry accessorizes you, you should be able to accessorize your shoes also! No need in ever having boring crocs when you have plenty charms to choose from. Read more>>

Olga Schmidt

I am honored to be a part of the most important project for every person today: the Creative Society. Throughout my life, I have always searched for a solution to the global and local problems that we all encounter today as people, and I am pleased to say that I succeeded in finding the solution and it is the Creative Society format. Unfortunately, many people are still unaware of the Creative Society, I am honored to be a part of the most important project for every person today: the Creative Society. Throughout my life, I have always searched for a solution to the global and local problems that we all encounter today as people, and I am pleased to say that I succeeded in finding the solution and it is the Creative Society format. Unfortunately, many people are still unaware of the Creative Society, Read more>>

Eb Mason

I started my business in August 2016 from the ground up, no business loans or handouts, just out of my own pockets. I always had this thought of skincare in my mind because I started with horrible skin and nothing worked for me, so I started researching natural ingredients for skin and started on myself then went to my friends, everything worked but I was procrastinating about it because I was so worried if it would do good or not but I also knew I had what it took I was just very indecisive. Read more>>

William Crawford

Through research we see that the youth homelessness is increasing due to sexual identity and expression. As an ally and someone who have experienced homelessness myself it is imperative that we tackle this issue by normalizing sexual identity and sexual orientation. Everyone, all over should feel safe, loved, and wanted. Our story is simple, The WJC Foundation want a better environment for all. Read more>>

Guilherme Maia Silva

I grew up in Brazil and was introduced to agriculture and crop production at an early age. Because of my father’s career in agriculture, I got to live around the world in countries like Thailand, India, China, and the United States. Through this journey I fell in love with agriculture and eventually went on to pursue an education in Plant Sciences at one of the top ag schools in the world, UC Davis. It was there that I got hands-on experience by working in organic farms, touring local nut orchards, and taking sustainable agriculture courses. I became deeply intrigued by the concept of water scarcity and how the food we grow affects the environment, natural water reservoirs, and consumer’s personal water footprints. Read more>>

Monrovia Goodlin – Jenkins

I did not intend to own 73 acres of land anywhere for any reason. However, in 2013 I found myself engaged and looking for a wedding venue. After a few tours, my impression of the wedding industry was tarnished. Your wedding day is supposed to be a night to remember, the biggest event that you’ve ever had but at what cost. That is not how I pictured the first day of the rest of your life as Mr. & Mrs. A frugal venue would cost the equivalent of a used car and if I wanted anything more, it would be the price of a brand new vehicle. I could not logically spend that much money on our wedding. I looked at my husband and said one day, I would own an event venue, and I would not charge people an unrealistic price. Read more>>

Moe Carr

The mission is simple. Create a business for others to not only learn a craft, but to make money as well. For Moe’s Mixes, I wanted to grant the opportunities I was not afforded with. It’s very easy to get behind a bar and simply pour drinks in a cup but to teach the correct ways is a personal journey for myself. I didn’t have that guidance when I first started and not a lot of other bartenders wanted to teach or train on the job. Read more>>

Christina Williams

The reason I do what I do is because so many times in this entertainment world real talent is overlooked because they don’t fit in “the box”. I started Ahava so that creative, artistic and talented individuals can shine in their gifts. I myself am an actress/model and I felt it’s my job to help people who don’t know where to go or how to have the freedom to display their awesomeness. Read more>>

Kya French

The story behind my mission is the word passion. My passion for numbers is why I am an entrepreneur today. My foundation started at age 7. I was intrigued by remembering people’s addresses, phone numbers, license plates, taxi phone numbers, and remembering people’s birthdays, especially my mother’s friend’s phone numbers and addresses. At age 11-16 I had an interest in knowing people’s signs and birthdays in order to understand the attraction and relationships between people. Read more>>

Lori Arbel

I truly believe we live in one of the most fantastic family-friendly areas in South Florida. I am extremely happy to be the one, along with my team to share it with all of you in an easy-to-use website and weekly e-newsletter with social media components. My 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son inspire me to give to our community the way I know best. Read more>>