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.

Emily Theisen

As a Photographer, it is my mission to not only provide photos that will last a lifetime but to capture all the in between moments throughout your day that really tell your story. I capture anything from elopements, weddings, family, businesses and more. Not only is my goal to create beautiful imagery for you but to develop a strong relationship one on one that will help me tell your story in the most organic way possible. Read more>>

Cool Moms Club Chelsea & Ambur

We started Cool Moms Club as a social media brand a little over two years ago, with our main following on instagram. We felt like so many mom related accounts were either depressing or so picture perfect that it felt very unrealistic. So we thought how fun would it be to showcase the actual raw side of motherhood. We wanted to keep things light hearted, funny and relatable. After we created our social media accounts we decided to create a clothing brand as well. Read more>>

Monica Landois

I stumbled across group fitness in my early 20’s and fell in love attending my first class. The community and moving in sync with others created an emotional response for me that forever impacted my life. I quickly jumped on the bandwagon to teach Zumba at first until I started to craft my own dance fitness formula. I began to notice each class growing and becoming a dance family that helped one another. Read more>>

Laura Grier

Determined to share the energy of the Inca culture with the world and to help bring awareness and find income opportunities for female Quechua artisans and their cultural practices, my business partner Pats and I came up with the concept of Andeana Hats. We are combining the hat styles of the Andes with their traditional weavings to create apparel that captures the energy and culture of the Andean people and infuses it into the everyday life of those who wear them. Read more>>

Khadizah Amos

Kay Allure was created during the beginning of my spiritual and healing stage. I always knew I wanted to work for myself. I spent quite some time working on myself inside and out. After becoming a mom I sort of lost my self confidence and wanted to fall back in love with myself. Fashion was also a passion I had. While doing my inner work I was able to discover different talents such as fashion designing, candle making, so on. Read more>>

Laura Jo

I Love ALL dogs. The small, medium & big ones, ALL breeds ! Even the cats !
And I believe They should have access to fashion equally. I provide one of the best quality fabric alongside very unique designs on the market. Barth & Barks IS the PAWfect balance between FANCY & CASUAL style for them to wear everyday. Read more>>

Mirna Martinez

I would like to provide that outlet for everyone that thinks they could never do more. Our past nor our current situation defines our future. I believe that we should all try to share our experiences as much as we can, to help minimize the mistakes that the next generation needs to do to accomplish the same goals. It all starts with you, self love is important!!! Read more>>

Nyannah Brown

Growing up I struggled with eczema and struggled with sensitive skin. I was never able to use scented lotions because of my condition and didn’t get to wear the trendy perfumes. During the pandemic in 2020 I decided to start making body butters for my friends and family and started my business from there. Read more>>

Rachel Cossar

Virtual Sapiens is an evolution of a number of past experiences I’ve had in my life. My first decade as a professional was actually as a ballerina. I danced with Boston Ballet from 2006-2016 and was constantly amazed by just how much we can express through nonverbal communication. When I left the ballet due to an injury, I thought my time as a ‘physical’ professional was over. But boy was I wrong! Read more>>

Lakesha Quarles

The story behind my mission is simple…to provide care and resources to expectant mothers and their families. My goal is to be what I needed when I went through my pregnancy journey. Read more>>

Anisha Bhasin Mukherjee & Jessica Floman

Motherhood is arguably the hardest job in the world. Finding flattering, fashionable and quality clothes for all stages of a woman’s life shouldn’t have to be. We created Aniche because while we were pregnant, we were very frustrated with the existing fashion options. It felt wasteful to have to purchase maternity clothes, only to get rid of them after 9 months. Read more>>

Chiqueta Grant

Beguiling Boutique thrives to be different. We want your shopping experience to be bigger than purchasing clothes. We help woman gain their confidence back. We are here to show women we are all beautiful no matter your size. We create a comfortable atmosphere to not only purchase high end clothing, but to fellowship, uplift, and encourage women no matter the color of your skin. We have an environment where we can just let your hair down and have some girl talk time. Read more>>

Elizabeth Gerald

I’m Elizabeth Gerald, the President of mjgmovement, mjgm is a 5013c not for profit, I started in honor of my daughter, marcie Gerald, who died by suicide as a result of a brutal sexual assault. Read more>>

Pranav Kothary

Stories are ways to package meaning into short, easy to understand consumables. They reflect back to us different slices of life, how we make sense of it, what we deem important, funny, tragic, romantic. Each one told is an attempted blurb on the back of the book of our existence, convincing the reader to read it. Each one told, makes us want to live more than before. The films I watched as a child did so, so my hope is to push that agenda as best as I can. Read more>>

Samantha Shepherd

While in hair school, back in 2005, I begged my dad to pay $1000 for a hair extension certification that wasn’t included in the tuition he was already covering. I recognized the value of knowing how to do extensions and what that would mean to my future self financially. My accountant father reluctantly said yes, while others in my class were turned down by their parents or couldn’t come up with the money themselves. Read more>>

Caroline Pennington

In 2018, my husband and I were traveling for our anniversary. I ordered a glass of rose’ by the pool and it was served to me in a small plastic cup. I thought to myself……..there has got to be a better way to enjoy your wine! When we returned, I searched the internet trying to find a solution. Read more>>

Alexus Duncan

Lexilu Handbag were created when I try to find a crossbody bag and fanny pack that fit me while going on vacation to Vegas and 2021. I had the same problem in 2021 when going to Jaamica after that I had enough. I was determine when I came back home I was going to fix the problem. Read more>>

Maurice Brown

Gifted Clothing is a brand that represents the underdogs and the risk takers who go above and beyond to obtain their dreams ad goals. “GIFTED” is an acronym that stands for Get Inspired From The Everyday Dream. Our Brand is designed to Inspire people of all color to never stop dreaming! Read more>>

mina Rosenberg

Hi! My name is Mina Rosenberg, and I’m a boudoir photographer. I believe that every woman deserves to feel confident in her body and in her skin, to celebrate her unique beauty, and to wake up her inner goodness. My mission is to help women find their own unique beauty by helping them feel sexy again—and to do it with a luxury service unlike any other. Read more>>

Diamond Weems

I never thought in a million years that this is what I’d be doing. It all started in 2015 when I attended Cosmetology at CPCC. I would always come to class with my makeup and hair done, and I was constantly being asked what lipstick did I have on. Read more>>

Sydney Montgomery

I think I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart. I started my first business when I was 10 years old, teaching piano to my neighbors…charging…$2/lesson. I continued to teach piano for 10 years (and grew my prices tremendously!) but during high school, I was also a babysitter and a tutor with Peer2Peer Tutors (now Aristotle Circle Peers) tutoring the SAT, French, and essay writing. Read more>>

Angela Simmons

Hi friends! I’ve always loved all aspects of design and creativity. As a hairstylist, COVID literally shut down my industry making it nearly impossible to connect and work. And like most, I needed a stream of income and outlet. Over 20 years ago before my styling career, a wonderful friend knew how much I loved creating beautiful things and inspired me to create my first floral pieces to sell. Read more>>

Starasia (Star) Hall

My mission is simple. I want to encourage and uplift. Helping people to navigate and target what their purpose in life and how to get there. I believe we are all talented in a special way. However, it’s the way we use our gifts that matter. How can we remove self to serve others? I want Sessions to always be a platform for that. A place were people feel inspire to want out of life and for themselves. Read more>>

Lauren Keefer

CakeyBums was born out of a desire to empower women to achieve their fitness goals while feeling confident and comfortable in their own skin. It all started with the development of our first product, the fabric booty band, which was designed to enhance workouts and help women grow their glutes. But as we began conducting test groups for the product, something unexpected happened. The women who were part of the test group were not only inspired by the product, but also by the story behind it.  Read more>>

Scott Saunders

One day my partner Dione Woods and I thought it would be a wonderful idea if we were to open a sports memorabilia and collectibles shop! We also thought it would be exciting for our store to be Kansas City’s first minority-owned shop of its kind! Along with top quality sports memorabilia and awesome collectibles, our shop also has plans on being involved with our community. Read more>>

Pooja Mehta

Jhalak Dance Academy’s mission is to provide the best quality instruction to all of their students. Our aim is to help our students achieve their full potential. As a student I always needed a bit more attention and help learning material. Teachers were not always able to give me that time, which is why it is very important to me that I and all of Jhalak teachers give Jhalak students all their attention. Read more>>

Jared Folsom

Our mission statement here at Folsom Management is “quality over quantity.” Am I the largest property management company in Sedona? No. Do I want to be the largest property management company in Sedona? Also no. What our mission stands for and means to me is ensuring that we provide the absolute best experience to not only the guests that stay with us, but also the Owners that we work for. I want to make sure that my guests and my Owners know that they always have a direct line to me, the Owner of Folsom Management. Read more>>

Kate Kelly

AshbyLane Co. started as a way to provide quality jewelry that won’t break the bank. AshbyLane offers two types of metals- 24K Gold Plated, and 1`4K Gold Filled. This offers both- a low-cost option, and a high quality option. AshbyLane has always been centered around providing, quality, affordable jewelry for everyone. As a current college student, I always want to ensure that the products I sell are affordable, but are also high quality. Read more>>

Nikki Lanier

Harper Slade, is named in honor my paternal grandmother, Lenora Harper Robinson and maternal grandmother, Ernestine Johnson Slade who were both trailblazing women in their communities, in their workplaces and in their homes. Both of these stalwart mavericks were VERY much about the business of being black and assured their children, my parents, were similarly focused. Read more>>

Luann Hull

I was born in the 50’s just after World War II, when women, returned to hearth and home after having gone into the work place to occupy positions vacated by men who’d gone off to battle. In those temporary rolls, women proved themselves to be quite worthy of taking on jobs, which had primarily been assigned to men. Read more>>

Women In Alignment

Women in Alignment was truly formed and ordained by God. The seed was planted with Tamika Andrea who operates HK Community Action, A Non Profit Organization who partners with schools, children hospitals focuses on meeting the needs of children and their families throughout the city of St. Louis & surrounding counties. Tamika reached out to three other influential women who has also made an impact with our youth and community in a mighty way. Read more>>

Sara Iqbal

My mission is to advocate for Creativity and Creatives. Their open mindset readily embraces diversity and multiple cultures around them. Read more>>

Brooke Bartlett

A LONG LONG time ago ( like 14 years ago). I was an intern at a wedding venue in St. Louis. I was clearing tables at a wedding and I saw a dad and his daughter just laughing, enjoying their time together, their burdens lifted. They were light. At 22 fresh out of college I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my time on earth. But I knew whatever I did I wanted to create more of what I saw at that event, a sweet moment. It just seemed the world needed more of that. Read more>>

Josh Irving

The mission behind Socorro has always been to give back to those who are an inspiration to us. The word Socorro translates to “help” or “assistance” in English which is the foundation of our brand. For every case of Socorro purchased, we donate a case of purified drinking water to nursing homes, orphanages and churches in Jalisco, Mexico. Our business was born solely from our love and passion for tequila, not because we had the money or experience needed to create it. Read more>>

Andra Tashjian

My mission is to create an eco-conscious lash company that not only creates high quality eco-friendly products but also gives back to community and our oceans. Read more>>

Dean Sauer

PyroFarms’ mission is to bring nature’s natural wonder, beauty, and glow into the home, office, and classroom. We combine the flow of art with the structure of science. Read more>>

Ronjeanna Harris

My why is to provide realistic solutions to clients, customers and community through products & services. Read more>>

Ayanna Mills-Ambrose

I am Ayanna Mills Ambrose, CEO of Thanx A. Mills, LLC. I am a self-publishing consultant, certified business coach, professional writer, and 18-time Amazon bestselling author. Read more>>

Tykesha Murray

I am currently in real estate school to get my license for property management Read more>>

Quashanda Washington

I go into Crime Ridden, Poverty Communities to inspire, motivate, and to get the talent out those areas Read more>>

 Dr. Robert Renteria

We have money for wars and can’t feed the poor, we have children, teenagers and adults alike walking around lost in a culture of darkness and I decided to do something about it. Read more>>

Avery Love

I was someone who struggled with self-love and confidence growing up. I spent a lot of time comparing myself and focusing on what I lacked vs what I had. When I first went natural, I was afraid of how I’d look, whether my hair was too “nappy”, and many other things. But the journey helped me to love and embrace myself like never before. There has always been a negative perception of my hair type within my community and the world in general and I wanted to change that. Read more>>

monkonjay king

Monkonjay G. King, 40yrs old mom and grandmother the owner of Monkonjay African Closet. Originally from West Africa, Liberia. At the age of 9, my family fled Liberia to escape the civil war raging at the time. Living in America, I was constantly ridiculed for my African outfits. People thought the colors were too bright, the designs were tribal and the look was too fierce. Read more>>