Everyday we meet business owners, professionals, artists and creatives. Photographers, florists, realtors and more. They might come from different backgrounds, work in different industries, have varying personalities, and have vastly different income and educational profiles, but the one thing we’ve seen over and over again is that most people have a unique and special reason for why they do what they do. From a realtor helping families afford the first home he always wished for as a kid to a photographer using her skills to give a voice and face to victims who feel voiceless, we have been blown away by what happens when you just ask people a simple question – why do you do what you do?

Brian Lynch

I Brian Lynch, am in the business of rendering a service to this community for the small group of people who choose to have their bodies decorated in some way or another. I choose to pursue my profession with intelligence and skill. Wishing not to offend anyone, but instead with my love of mankind, do what good I can do before I die. Read more>>

Maggie Saltiel

I love this question. It’s everything- it’s why and how Botanical Touch even exists. I view Botanical Touch as having a scaffolded mission. At the most basic and direct level, the Botanical Touch mission is to aid people in reconnecting and reclaiming their relationship to their Selves and their bodies. This is the goal behind every product we make. Read more>>

Breanna Bethell

As a young, female, martial artist, I know I do not look like your average martial arts instructor. However, I aim to inspire all females regardless of ethnicity that you can do absolutely anything you set your mind to. It doesn’t matter what hobbies you enjoy, there is a space for you. Often times women are told we cannot do certain things because it’s too hard or not many women have done it before. Martial arts is no difference. Read more>>

Ben Hoyer

I moved back to Orlando a dozen years ago. The previous ten years had seen me move nine times, marry my college girlfriend and have my first of three kids. It was a lot of change. Moving back to my hometown, buying a house and committing to be somewhere long-term felt like a big moment. I started Downtown CREDO with some friends in 2010 because I was hoping to build a life I would like. I had become convinced that my life satisfaction was more tied to who I was becoming that what I had, or even really what I accomplished. Read more>>

Karrie Lemansky-Straub

The mission of Women Out Loud started about 3 years ago. I was a new business owner and my anxiety was through the ROOF. I had all of these great ideas but the anxiety was lying to me telling me that I had no business doing anything like that and that the kind of success I was looking for was for other people, not me. I used to be so judgmental of myself until one day I just started getting curious. Next, I invested in coaching and found some Business Besties aka community. Read more>>

Jade Salinas

Capturing warm and authentic moments of nostalgia to last a lifetime, this is something I hold so close to my heart I created Desert in Bloom Photography in the summer of 2018 to start storytelling for the wild + warm at heart. Cliche enough, I have carried a camera in hand since I was a little kid. What once started as a toy plastic camera has turned into one of my biggest dreams. My mission has become to provide individuals with nostalgic moments that will last a lifetime and capture moments and memories we can only dream to remember one day. Read more>>

Helen Brenner

I have been on an inner healing mission for decades after having experienced rape, sexual abuse, and bullying by peers and teachers during my childhood. I found my Holy Grail and now my mission has turned outward in helping others find their own healing! Read more>>

Denisse Paola Benitez

I remember being that little girl that always wanted to look and feel cute but couldn’t I never had the self esteem or confidence to feel like I could . Later in the years I learned that we are all beautiful and can be cute and sexy and whatever we want ! I learned that we have to embrace ourselves in every stage in our lives . When I went to Beauty School I remember It wasn’t my dream but it was something my parents could afford and I could then work and pay for college . Read more>>

CARLY MUNIZ

I came to the USA back in April 15 2015 to Tampa Bay, FL with my firstborn Amaya. I first lived in Lakeland and I immediately started applying for jobs everywhere. Back then, I only had my bachelors in International Business. I started applying at different banks because that’s my background and what I used to do back in my country Dominican Republic. Every job I applied I would get a NO. So, I decided to apply at Verizon Wireless doing customer service on their call center located in Hillsboro Avenue and they gave me the opportunity. Read more>>

Alexus Castillo

My Mission… Creative Authenticity! I not only get your basic photos but I try to have fun and bring your personality into it. I want to capture all the little details. I want my clients to remember everything about our time together and this moment we are capturing in their lives. When I started photography, I thought I wanted to be a commercial and editorial photographer but about a two years ago, I fell in love with shooting… LOVE. Shooting couples and weddings and families is definitely where my passion lies. It makes me feel like a little kid again in the best way. Read more>>

Enrique Mendez

The story behind my mission was not only to be my version of success, thrive and wealth but to do it all with passion and have fun while in the process of achieving my goals, I started cutting hair at 15 years old so with barbering being the foundation of my passion and being able to fund all my other projects by barbering I have been able to establish 5 streams of income to provide myself financial freedom, however one thing about me is I have a hard time telling myself when to stop, so as my mission continues my story will keep on building, but my overall goal is to be able to retire my parents before I’m 30 years old Read more>>

Jenny Chicoye

Buku Vegan was created in 2018 to satisfy any sweet tooth and savory cravings someone might have without having to worry about dairy, eggs or other hidden animal products. Love is always the first ingredient with quality being a close second. We guarantee you’ll be left not only satisfied but also wanting more. Cruelty-free and delectable shouldn’t be a foreign concept, rather, one that creates a delicious union; which is the foundation of this company. Read more>>

Angela Ubias

Common Heir, since inception, has had one very clear mission: prove that luxury beauty can be a triple threat: inclusive, high-performance and sustainable by design. When I connected with. my co-founder Cary, we were perfect strangers and I’d been in beauty, building other peoples brands, for about seven years!! I was growing disenchanted with an industry I adored because there was a total lack of innovation on the formulation, format and design front–everything had the exact same minimalist, color voided aesthetic. Read more>>

marianila acosta

I firmly believe that we should all do what really makes us happy, that is the basis for the development of the human being in all areas of life. I also firmly believe that economic stability can be achieved by doing what you love, no matter how difficult an activity may seem or even out of the ordinary for the rest of society. I have experienced it first hand, I came from my country leaving a Chemical Engineering degree to be a Holistic Therapist and be able to support people in different situations and even encourage them to find what really fulfills them. Read more>>

Ashley Arledge

My mission behind everything I do is love. I grew up in an amazing household with my mother, brother, and grandparents. It was a very driven environment; we were pushed and encouraged to be the best. Love for me was interpreted as saying words, following up on those words, and doing other random deeds unwarranted. My father left our family when I was really young and although he attempted to love me in the way I’d learned to define it, he never quite measured up. It was in this relationship that I learned and adopted the belief that people cannot be trusted and love does nothing but disappoint. Although my mother, grandparents, aunts, and uncle loved me in a way that was filling, it did not supersede what I was experiencing with my father. Read more>>

Jhanea Epps

In June of 2020 I finally decided to take a chance and love myself, I was done with my own excuses. I thought I wasn’t worthy of self love which sounds crazy right? but on my journey I began to learn that so many other people struggled with this very same thing. The more I worked on myself, loving who I WAS completely the way I was created inside and out gave me so much purpose to become a vessel for others but through the art of beauty. Ive always loved beauty doing hair, makeup, nails anything in the world of beauty I’ve tried at one point in my life lol but nothing compared to the feeling of purpose I received by being able to own my very own business focusing on enhancing someones natural beauty. Read more>>

Carolina Castellanos

During the pandemic a new boom in cycling began hitting the Orlando area. Many enthusiasts of the sport had concerns about what was the right bicycle to purchase, or why they had pain after a ride. It was a subject very new to the area and Carolina and Omar (the owners) decided it was time to make possible this adventure. Pure Cycling Bike Fit was founded in 2020 and is based in Orlando, Florida.  Working with top technology and the best state-of-the-art bike fitting equipment Read more>>

Ravit Darougar

A Cosmetic Visionary with a Chemist’s Soul & the Heart of a Magician Ravit is a resident of Beverly Hills and holds a Bachelor of Law LL.B and a Bachelor of Business Administration. Raised in Israel, Ravit was both a lab nerd and teenager with a passion for cosmetics. For her, makeup was magical. She marveled at how cosmetics could transform anyone from plain to extraordinary. She would regularly perform makeovers for her friends, and was thrilled by the transformations and positive responses she would receive. Read more>>\

Jeffrey Chark

The story behind the mission of A Step Above Style is a narrative of transparency. Our blog aims to shed light on 4 key topics we believe can greatly impact our readers lives. We send the strongest possible message by using personal stories and examples. Each post is only as long as necessary to get the point across. We believe that knowledge is power, and we aim to equip every man, woman, and young person to be “A Step Above” the person they were yesterday. It’s more than just a blog, it’s a community! Read more>>

Kasey, Kristen Miller, Trahan

Our team has worked in the floral industry for years, but our very own flower studio was an idea that continued to grow until fruition at the peak of a global pandemic. We knew from the beginning that we wanted our flower business to be different. Different in a way that was refreshing, funky, and most importantly inclusive to all. Our tiny studio quickly outgrew the dining room and moved to the East End of Houston to a collective artist studio warehouse. Read more>>

Zach Jones

Before creating Dark Sky CBD, myself and my brother Max built a vapor company (Max & Zach’s Vapor Shops) aimed at helping people quit smoking cigarettes. Currently, this business has 6 locations around the Houston area. Vaping technology gave us the ability to actually help people. With the right training and product knowledge, we found that we could help people switch from smoking cigarettes to vaping, and then if they wanted, could work with them on reducing their nicotine dependence and essentially quit vaping also. Read more>>

Carla Martins

I was raised in Brazil by a nutritionist mother, in a family that always cared about the quality of the food we consumed. When my mother and I moved to the US in 2004 we were both surprised with the food system here and how challenging it is to have access to truly healthy and clean food. From school cafeterias to restaurants and supermarkets, the quality is always debatable, the amount of junk food supersedes the amount of whole foods, and the quantity of toxins allowed in packaged foods is alarming. I quickly gained weight and did not feel good in my body. Read more>>

Yuko Kudo

Our mission is to help people find a renewed appreciation for Art and Human resilience through storytelling. A documentary series “Untapped Storytellers” was created in January 2020. During the Pandemic, the life of artists changed drastically.  In United States, – 63% of Arts Workers experienced unemployment & 95% lost creative income. – BIPOC Arts Workers had higher rates of unemployment than white artists. Read more>>

Joy Freeman

SAVIR Foods started back in the middle of 2020 during the pandemic, like everyone I had some time available, so I decided to create a mild hot sauce for my niece Genesis. She was incredibly happy about that and immediately loved it! Later, I was thinking about a name and since the sauce is made with Jalapeno Peppers and being an 80’s child, decided to name it Jala Pepa (Like Salt ‘n Pepa). Read more>>

Ashley Kushner

Well it started with an idea, that we would be just a pop up metaphysical shop that would travel to Arts & Music festivals and local events. That sure has changed a ton since this all started in 2019. Then the pandemic hit. Our pop up shop that was at a local boutique would close doors. Before I also knew it, I was not only a Mother of two, I was now a Mother of three. But I was also hit with another curve ball, my youngest would be born with a form of Spina Bifida known as myelomeningocele. Read more>>

Dayana Esquivel

My parents brought us over from Cuba in the 90’s so that we could have choices and opportunities. I plan to follow through and take advantage of every opportunity that is presented and work hard to build a business where I can help people and love what I do. Read more>>

Kori Nicole

As an entrepreneur and content creator, my mission is to show others that there is no limit. I have my hands in so many different things, running multiple businesses, a YouTube channel and more because this is exactly what I want to be doing. Growing up, I did not see a lot of people that look like me successful in the industries that I am working in. I really work hard every day to show people that you can reach all of your dreams, not just one of them. You just have to be ready to put in the work. Read more>>

Rosemary Ravinal

I have made a career out of being a media personality, corporate spokesperson and now, public speaking coach. But the story behind my love for public speaking and communication is that for most of my life I stuttered. I’m an introvert who had much psychological abuse as a child and adolescent. The emotional scars affected my speech. Voice coaches to manage the stuttering never worked. I learned to control it myself by doing radio broadcasting in college. I discovered that the immediacy and high stakes live broadcasting forced me into a controlled speech pattern. Read more>>

Annisa Morgan

Dollars At 10 is a 501 (c) (3) certified nonprofit organization. A unique organization for families, which teaches transformation through financial education. Dollars At 10 was birthed from my experience of handling my own finances at the age of 10. We teach financial education to the family unit as a whole, we believe that financial education should start early and simple. Dollars at 10 is committed to providing teachers and parents with the literacy tools, training, and education they need to promote student financial literacy in our community. Read more>>

Brittani Bo Baker

Growing up I used to cater from home with my family. My brother and I would have to wake up at 5am to “chop & dice”, rub ribs, and prepare our southern side dishes, when we were in school my parents would cater, after school the dishes were waiting on us to get ready to do it all over again the next day. On the weekends when we weren’t catering from home we were setting up barrel grills on the street corners selling dinners, or demoing our BBQ sauces in grocery stores. In 2006 my parents opened a restaurant where I worked every position learning hands on the ins and outs of the restaurant business. Read more>>

Dayna Altman

I have always been a community builder as in someone who brings people together. What began as an interest in creating relationships and connecting people as an elementary schooler has since evolved into my life’s work as a mental health entrepreneur, artist and creator. Since 2019, I have been the sole founder and operator of Bake it Till You Make it LLC, a community based organization that uses food and baking to speak about mental health in a way that is authentic, non-threatening and even fun! Read more>>

Maju Veneziani

I was always a child who loved to study and was very interested in books. When I was 12 years old, a history teacher awakened in me the desire to know more about this broad and exciting school subject. Until I was 15, I didn’t feel the desire to see the world, to travel, to venture out. However, in 2012, I was invited to go with my uncles to Walt Disney World, and I accepted so as not to miss the opportunity. Read more>>

Kameron Sampson

The story behind Kamwithdacam is simply just staying down and never giving up. My main thing that I never forget is too stay down and never give up. My story does not just start with me because I am nowhere with my Lord and Savor Jesus Christ. My goal when I started first content creating was simply just too make myself and my parents proud. Very thankful for every opportunity and every blessing that comes with this. I am just getting started and I have a long way too go because I am nowhere near finished. Read more>>

Kelston Moore

The heart of the man and the soul of the island is the perfect recipe for great cuisine. I was once told that ‘every chef has to have a cooking story”. Well, what better story than legacy? The story of father and son. Growing up in Barbados, I watched my father pour passion and love into every dish he made. He worked as a waiter by day, at night cooking was his claim to fame as he was known all around the island for his BBQ PIGTAILS. I knew then, I did not want to be just another Chef. Read more>>

Cristy Stewart-Harfmann

My mission with Happy Family Blog is to help families slow down and find joy in everyday things. Before starting Happy Family Blog I worked in corporate America working 100+ hours a week. I LOVED working and worked so many hours because it brought me joy. That all changed when my daughter was born premature. The first year of her life I continued to work, but I felt pulled to be a stay at home mom. Read more>>

Tanisha Davis

Cosmos Ice Cream was designed to bring smiles, enjoyment and amazement to every event we show up to. A young girl with a vision of owning a food truck that turned into a reality by owning the World’s Largest Ice Cream Truck! It was a leap of faith that has positively changed our lives for the good! Read more>>

Allison Coleman

I work as a Postpartum Doula because I love seeing growing families come together. My goal in working with every family is to provide them with the tips and tools they need to grow into the family they want to be. As a Postpartum Doula, I am the scaffolding until they feel like they have got this. I went into training Postpartum Doulas because I really saw the need for more well-trained people to support growing families. Read more>>

Joel Marius

Being in the financial and insurance industry for over 20 years, I have been blessed with incredible relationships with my clients, business partners, and centers of influences. I have seen a lot and the financial industry does not stop from going through challenges, growing, expanding. Also, having the opportunity to every day learn new information to help me continue grow my financial and insurance practice, striving to stay ahead of the competition and to be able to provide exceptional personalized services to my clients across the country. Read more>>

Maca Baigorria

This mission first took root when our founder, Maca, decided to make her own UX/UI career pivot. Maca chose to learn UX/UI independently and quickly realized how challenging it was to gather these skills without guidance. After building her own successful UX/UI career, Maca saw an opportunity to make the field more diverse. She wanted to create an affordable and accessible platform to help others start their own UX/UI careers – and so, Avocademy was born. Read more>>