POWERED BY PURPOSE BLOG

The following blog was submitted by the November Powered by Purpose guest speaker, Sara Davis.

In 2016, my dad passed away. This hit me particularly hard - harder than any other loss I'd experienced up to that point and for many layered reasons. Mainly, I lived far away from my parents for many years, and I didn't see it coming. Even though he was weakening from his leukemia diagnosis, I could not imagine a world without my dad in it. He was such a force of life. And aside from the primary loss (his death), I was mourning the secondary losses, like the milestones he'd never be there for and the constant cheerleading he'd always done from the sidelines of my life.

 My dad was a strong advocate for community work, and though I didn't know it at the time, he was working through me in some ways—to connect me back to the core of who he was and who I am. I walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela route in Spain to spread his ashes. I walked for him, but I found myself opening up with other pilgrims about my story and grief. I was leading with vulnerability for the first time in my life. As a result, I found myself starting to heal and formed deeper connections with those around me.

Powered by Purpose was honored to lead a workshop at last month’s Women Lead Change conference, focusing on the benefits of purpose in the workplace and individually. As part of our panel discussion, Tammy DeHaai, vice president of People Strategy for Graham Construction Company, presented how her organization puts their purpose in action. Not only have they put in the work to identify Graham Construction’s organizational purpose, they also prioritize efforts of putting it into practice that helps empower employees to recognize their own purpose and how it fits into their role with the company.

This blog was based off the September 2022 Powered by Purpose Speaker Series event presented by Steve Whitty and Dr. Aimee Beckmann-Collier.

This blog is being re-posted with permission by its author, Beth Shelton, Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa CEO. Shelton was the August Powered by Purpose guest speaker. Watch Shelton's Powered by Purpose video here.

Mary Sellers, President of United Way of Central Iowa, reflects on her purpose and shares phrases on leadership that have influenced her throughout her career.

From a voiceless child to a woman sharing the voices of the community, Dwana Bradly shares her life of purpose in this guest blog post.

In this guest blog, Tony Wilson, motivational speaker and author, shares the inherent process we go through to create our reality and encourages readers to be more intentional about the thoughts we have in every moment.  

How a Pantone color-of-the-year inspired Coral Thede, a cultivator of arts & experiences in Des Moines, Iowa, to live a life of purpose and passion.

The United Way of Central Iowa (UWCI) team has started talking a lot about—and exploring the importance of— “purpose” in the health of our communities. While the idea of committing time to figuring out your purpose may seem daunting or even a privilege for some, we have come to understand the importance of purpose in overall health and well-being—and that everyone should have access to discovering their own, unique purpose.