Purposeful

Purposeful Plot Summary

Introduction

Imagine standing at the edge of a crowded room, watching as one person stands up and begins to clap. At first, they stand alone, their solitary applause almost awkward in the silence. Then, someone else joins in. A third person rises. Within moments, the entire room erupts in a standing ovation. This is how movements begin – with one person willing to stand up first, even when uncertain if others will follow. We often believe that meaningful change requires extraordinary people with special talents or positions of power. The truth is far more democratic and hopeful. Throughout history, the most transformative movements haven't started with presidents or CEOs, but with ordinary individuals who refused to accept the status quo. This book explores how everyday people spark and sustain movements that matter – whether in corporations, communities, or on the global stage. Through compelling stories of unlikely leaders who built passionate followings, we discover the universal principles that turn individual purpose into collective action. By examining these principles, we learn not just how to identify what matters most to us, but how to rally others around that vision and overcome the inevitable obstacles along the way. The pages ahead offer both inspiration and practical guidance for anyone who's ever looked at a problem and thought, "Someone should do something about that" – and realized that someone could be them.

Chapter 1: The Power of Purpose: Creating a Movement That Inspires

Manal Rostom never expected to change how a global brand viewed Muslim women. In 2014, after noticing that fewer women were wearing the hijab in her community, Manal created a Facebook group called "Surviving Hijab" to support women who chose to wear the traditional head covering. What began with 80 invitations grew overnight to 500 members, then to 40,000, and eventually approached half a million women worldwide. As an avid runner who often competed while wearing her hijab, Manal faced constant questions about whether she would be too hot running "in all those layers." Noticing that Nike's marketing materials featured no hijabi women, she decided to email the company's head coach in the Middle East. "It's the Middle East," she wrote, "shouldn't we have some [veiled women]?" To her surprise, Nike responded immediately, inviting her to meet the next day. Within months, Manal became the first hijabi woman featured in a Nike campaign. By 2017, she was invited to Nike headquarters for the announcement of the Nike Pro Hijab line, designed specifically for Muslim female athletes. Similarly, when Neil Grimmer noticed the lack of organic baby food options while raising his daughters, he created Plum Organics to fill that gap. Starting with homemade purees, Neil's vision grew into a company that revolutionized how parents feed their children. His clear purpose informed every aspect of the business – from product development to weekly meetings that ended with "The Love Bomb," sharing stories from families whose lives were changed by their products. Megan Grassell, meanwhile, transformed her frustration at not finding age-appropriate bras for her 13-year-old sister into Yellowberry, a company that makes comfortable, non-sexualized bras for young girls. Despite being just a high school student with no business experience, Megan's purpose was so compelling that she secured backing through Kickstarter and eventually saw her products carried by major retailers like Nordstrom. These stories reveal a profound truth: movements begin when someone translates personal conviction into visible action. The most effective leaders aren't necessarily those with impressive titles or resources, but those who clearly articulate why something matters and inspire others to join them. Purpose is contagious. When we communicate our vision with authentic passion, we create magnetic fields that draw others toward us. This magnetism transforms individual initiative into collective power, capable of changing industries, communities, and sometimes the world itself.

Chapter 2: Envisioning Change: Developing Your Bold Vision

Standing alone in Istanbul's Taksim Square in 2013, Erdem Gündüz made a powerful statement without saying a word. After police had brutally cleared protesters from the square, this 34-year-old simply stood motionless, hands in pockets, staring silently at a government building. For eight hours he remained still, eventually drawing hundreds of others to stand with him. His silent protest, which earned him the nickname "Standing Man," inspired similar demonstrations across Turkey and around the world. Sometimes the most significant changes begin with seemingly small, almost imperceptible actions. When Jennifer Dulski arrived at Cornell University eager to join the men's crew team as a coxswain, she was told women weren't allowed – it might be "distracting." Rather than accepting this answer, she questioned it repeatedly, speaking to coaches and eventually the athletic director. Though initially unsuccessful, her persistence paid off. Three months later, the athletic director called to announce they'd changed the policy. While Jennifer stayed with the women's team out of loyalty, her actions changed the university's approach forever. Years later, when she visited Cornell, she learned that almost all coxswains on the men's team were now women. Sarah Kavanagh, a fifteen-year-old from Mississippi, discovered that her favorite sports drink contained brominated vegetable oil (BVO), an ingredient banned in over 100 countries. Though she was just a teenager, Sarah started a petition asking PepsiCo to remove the chemical from Gatorade. Despite her age and lack of scientific credentials, her straightforward request resonated with thousands of people who signed her petition. Within months, Pepsi announced they would remove BVO from Gatorade, and eventually from all their beverages worldwide – a decision Coca-Cola later matched. Alli Webb turned her small mobile hair-blowout service into the nationwide phenomenon Drybar after recognizing a simple need: women wanted affordable blowouts in a welcoming environment. What began as a way for Alli to earn extra money while being available for her children transformed into a business with over 70 locations because she tapped into a desire that wasn't being met elsewhere. These stories illustrate that developing a bold vision doesn't require extraordinary resources or credentials – it requires clarity about what needs to change and why it matters. The most effective visions address genuine needs that others have overlooked or dismissed. They also highlight that you don't need to have everything figured out before taking that first step. Alli didn't plan to build a nationwide chain; she simply started with a mobile service that evolved as demand grew. Sarah didn't expect to change the beverage industry's formulations worldwide; she just wanted her favorite drink to be safer. Their visions gained momentum because they resonated with universal needs or concerns that others recognized but hadn't articulated. This is the essence of transformative change – seeing possibilities where others see only obstacles, then taking that first courageous step that invites others to follow.

Chapter 3: Building Your Tribe: Finding and Inspiring Supporters

When Jennifer Cardenas created a Facebook group to help her friends track each other's safety during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, she never imagined what would happen next. She initially added 50 people, went to dinner with her family, and returned to find that 800 people had asked to join. Within four days, membership exploded to over 150,000. Even more remarkably, members spontaneously organized themselves into rescue teams, working with coast guard and emergency services to save lives. "I started seeing the rescues," Jennifer recalled. "People were posting 'Please help, I'm on my roof.' And then I would see 'Rescued.'" By the end, her impromptu community had helped rescue more than 8,000 people. Kara Goldin faced a different challenge when building her tribe for Hint Water. After discovering that eliminating diet sodas helped her lose weight and feel better, she wanted to create flavored water without sweeteners or preservatives. When pitching her concept to Whole Foods, an employee laughed at her: "Okay, lady, great. I'm sure you're gonna go develop the product." Later, when considering selling her company to a major beverage producer, an executive told her, "Sweetie, I don't want your company because Americans love sweet. And this will never be a large company." Rather than becoming discouraged, Kara saw these dismissals as opportunities. She persisted in building a loyal customer base who shared her vision of healthier hydration, eventually growing Hint into a $100 million company. Amanda Nguyen transformed her traumatic experience with the legal system after being sexually assaulted into a powerful movement. While working to change laws requiring sexual assault survivors to file paperwork every six months to prevent their rape kits from being destroyed, Amanda discovered she couldn't do it alone. "Rise is like the Uber of activism," she explained, describing how she mobilized volunteers with diverse professional skills. Wall Street analysts calculated financial projections, lawyers drafted legislation, and survivors shared their stories. This "share economy of professional skills" enabled her team of volunteers to pass the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights unanimously through Congress – an almost unprecedented achievement. Gretta Rose van Riel, founder of SkinnyMe Tea, built her tribe through strategic influencer marketing before it was common practice. In 2012, she identified Instagram users with over 1,000 followers and sent them free samples. One Tasmanian woman with just 1,000 followers posted about the tea, generating the most sales they'd ever had in a day. Within six months, the company reached $600,000 in monthly revenue, powered almost entirely by micro-influencers who felt valued by the personal outreach. Building a tribe is ultimately about finding people who share your purpose and making them feel essential to the mission. The most successful movements don't treat supporters as passive consumers but as active participants with valuable contributions to make. This means creating multiple entry points for engagement – from simple actions like signing a petition to deeper involvement like volunteering specialized skills. When people feel their unique talents are recognized and needed, they invest not just their attention but their hearts. And movements that capture hearts can accomplish what once seemed impossible, whether rescuing thousands during a disaster or unanimously passing federal legislation that changes lives.

Chapter 4: Facing Decision-Makers: Strategic Persuasion Techniques

Hank Hunt's life changed forever on December 1, 2013, when his daughter Kari was murdered in a Texas hotel. In the midst of this unimaginable tragedy, Hank learned something that compounded his grief: during the attack, Kari's nine-year-old daughter had repeatedly tried to call 911 from the hotel room phone, not realizing she needed to dial 9 first to reach an outside line. Those critical lost minutes haunted Hank. "Papa, I tried four times and the telephone didn't work," his granddaughter told him. At that moment, Hank resolved to change the system. Rather than approaching hotel chains as adversaries, Hank focused on creating a win-win situation. He started a petition called "Kari's Law" that gathered over 600,000 signatures, then used this public support to open conversations with hotel executives. He framed the issue not as an accusation but as a shared problem they could solve together. Large hotel chains like Marriott recognized that implementing direct-dial 911 would protect both their guests and their reputation. This collaborative approach led to initial voluntary adoption by major hotel chains, followed by passage of state laws, and ultimately federal legislation signed in 2018 requiring direct-dial 911 access in all multi-line phone systems. Gemma Mortensen took a similar approach when working on the Myanmar crisis in 2007. As executive director of Crisis Action, she needed to persuade the European Union and United Nations Security Council to take action against the violent crackdown on Buddhist monks. Rather than treating UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown as an opponent to be pressured, Gemma engaged with his team to understand what would help him take a leadership role. "Rather than seeing all those in power as the problem," she explained, "we understood that if you engage in the right way, you can help shift political momentum much faster than if you are just antagonistic." By organizing meetings between Brown and Myanmar activists, then coordinating global marches to demonstrate public support, Crisis Action created conditions that made it easier for Brown to advocate forcefully for sanctions. Tessa Hill and Lia Valente, just thirteen years old, used their unique position as students to influence decision-makers when campaigning to add consent education to Ontario's sex education curriculum. After creating a documentary about rape culture and launching a petition that gathered 40,000 signatures, they were invited to meet with Premier Kathleen Wynne. Their status as students who would be directly affected by the curriculum gave their voices special relevance. Premier Wynne even told them they reminded her of her own youth activism, creating a personal connection that helped secure their victory. Mary Lou Jepsen, a renowned tech innovator, demonstrates another effective approach. When developing a $100 solar-powered laptop at One Laptop per Child, she faced skepticism from manufacturing executives who laughed at her. Rather than becoming defensive, Mary Lou pulled out a notebook and said, "Okay, tell me why it won't work." As they listed objections, she took careful notes, later explaining, "They could debug the problems in their head before we spent the money and the time building the prototype." By treating criticism as valuable expertise she could leverage, Mary Lou transformed potential obstacles into solutions. The most effective persuasion happens when we stop seeing decision-makers as opponents and start viewing them as potential partners with their own needs and motivations. This means doing thorough research to understand their perspectives, bringing compelling data to support your case, identifying the right person with actual authority to make the change you seek, and framing your request as something that serves their interests as well as yours. When we approach persuasion as relationship-building rather than confrontation, we create pathways for lasting change that benefits everyone involved.

Chapter 5: Embracing Challenges: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities

When Neil Grimmer first tried to tackle the lack of healthcare access in rural Uganda, his initial solution seemed obvious: build village ambulances to transport patients to hospitals. His organization, Rides for Lives, constructed hundreds of vehicles and delivered thousands of patients. But a fundamental problem emerged – "You get someone to the hospital and there is no doctor," Neil explained. The ambulances were solving the wrong problem. Rather than abandoning his mission, Neil pivoted. His second approach was creating mobile hospitals that brought medical care directly to villages. Yet even this solution fell short as the lines grew unmanageable. Finally, Neil identified the root issue: a massive shortage of healthcare professionals due to "brain drain." Doctors trained in Uganda weren't staying to serve local populations. This insight led to his third and most successful approach – creating Health Access Corps, which provides paid fellowships to keep medical professionals in their home countries. By treating each setback as information rather than failure, Neil's vision of healthcare access remained constant while his strategies evolved. Jennifer Dulski faced similar challenges when building her startup. She joined a small neighborhood social networking site called Fatdoor, rebranded it as Center'd (a name she later admitted was "one of the worst ideas I've ever had"), and watched as the first three iterations of the product failed to gain traction. Many entrepreneurs would have given up, but Jennifer's team described themselves as "too stubborn to fail." Their fourth attempt – The Dealmap, which aggregated local deals and sales – finally resonated with users, growing rapidly and eventually being acquired by Google. "At each of those junctures, I could have called it quits," Jennifer reflected. "I often say in retrospect that the company failed three times, but we just didn't go home." Amy Norman and Stella Ma, cofounders of Little Passports, weathered personal crises that would have derailed many entrepreneurs. The weekend they founded their company, Amy's marriage unexpectedly ended while she was eight months pregnant. Soon after, her father was diagnosed with cancer and died within four months. Meanwhile, Stella's son was born prematurely and spent three months in the hospital shortly after they launched. Through these immense challenges, they supported each other while continuing to build their company, which eventually grew to over $30 million in revenue. "What I love about it in the end," Amy said, "is that it showed that you can take the most mundane things and create them into details that help to create a brand that people love." Chris Ategeka's personal story perhaps best illustrates how challenges can become catalysts for meaningful change. Orphaned at seven when both parents died of AIDS, Chris later lost his younger brother when they couldn't reach a hospital in time. These tragedies fueled his determination to solve healthcare access problems in Uganda. As he refined his approach through multiple iterations, each obstacle provided deeper insight into the actual needs of the communities he served. The thread connecting these stories is resilience – not as a superhuman quality, but as a practical approach to obstacles. These leaders embraced what Stanford professor Carol Dweck calls a "growth mindset," viewing challenges not as evidence of their limitations but as opportunities to learn and evolve. They also surrounded themselves with supporters who provided both emotional sustenance and accountability. Research from Dominican University shows that simply sharing your goals with someone else makes you 62% more likely to achieve them, and having regular check-ins increases success rates even further. The mountain of change is rarely conquered in a single, perfect ascent. It involves false starts, unexpected storms, and moments when the summit seems impossibly distant. What distinguishes successful movement builders isn't the absence of obstacles but their response to them – treating each setback as valuable data that refines both strategy and resolve.

Chapter 6: Staying Resilient: Managing Criticism and Setbacks

McKenna Pope was just thirteen when she petitioned Hasbro to make its Easy-Bake Oven in gender-neutral colors after her younger brother felt embarrassed to use the "girl's toy" despite his love of cooking. Her campaign gathered 45,000 signatures and succeeded – Hasbro invited her to preview their new unisex designs in black, silver, and blue. This victory, however, came with unexpected challenges. "People online, and sometimes even in real life, were disrespectful to me and my family," McKenna recalled. They said her campaign was "a waste of time" and posted hateful comments accusing her mother of "making her sons gay." Rather than retreating, McKenna found power in exposing these attacks during her TED talk, reading the mean tweets aloud and teaching herself to repeat the mantra "Haters gonna hate." She told her audience: "Let your haters hate, and make your change, because I know you can." By acknowledging criticism while refusing to let it define her, McKenna transformed potential vulnerability into strength. Merna Forster faced similar challenges during her three-year campaign to put a woman on Canadian currency. She received disturbing messages from men saying things like "The only women who belong on banknotes are topless ones," along with explicit images. Merna discovered that returning to supportive comments from petition signers provided crucial emotional sustenance. "The fact that people can post their reasons for signing was one of the best things about the whole process," she explained. "All of a sudden, you're not alone anymore." She even printed these supportive messages and carried them with her. This "virtual support group" sustained her until 2016, when the finance minister announced that civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond would become the first woman featured on a Canadian banknote. For Kara Goldin, criticism became fuel for determination. When a beverage executive dismissed her Hint Water concept saying, "Sweetie, Americans love sweet. This will never be a large company," Kara recognized an opportunity others couldn't see. Instead of internalizing the criticism, she used it to clarify her vision. Twelve years later, Hint Water became a $100 million company expanding into new categories. Perhaps the most remarkable example of transforming criticism comes from Mary Lou Jepsen, one of the world's top electronic engineers. When developing the $100 laptop at One Laptop Per Child, she met with Asian tech executives who laughed at her idea. Instead of becoming defensive, Mary Lou pulled out a notebook and said, "Okay, tell me why it won't work?" She diligently recorded their objections, later explaining: "I found myself pulling out a notebook and saying, 'Okay, tell me why it won't work?' And they just started spouting off things and over the course of an hour and a half they came up with twenty-three different reasons it wouldn't work." This approach turned critics into unwitting advisors, providing invaluable insights from industry experts. These stories reveal an essential truth about resilience: how we frame criticism often matters more than the criticism itself. Our brains are naturally wired with a "negativity bias" that makes negative information impact us more strongly than positive information. However, research shows we can actively counteract this by consciously focusing on supportive voices and practicing gratitude for what's going well. Benjamin Joffe-Walt, a former crisis communications expert at Change.org, taught his team to approach difficult situations by seeing them as "Fun!™" – not to minimize their seriousness, but to emotionally distance themselves enough to focus on solutions rather than becoming overwhelmed. This perspective shift helped team members support each other through challenges while maintaining forward momentum. As Brooke Buchanan, who led communications for major companies like Walmart and Whole Foods, expressed it: "For some reason I love running into the fire." Building resilience isn't about becoming impervious to criticism or setbacks – it's about developing frameworks that allow us to process them constructively while staying connected to our deeper purpose. By surrounding ourselves with supportive voices, finding the learning opportunities in every challenge, and occasionally adding that ironic "Fun!™" when facing difficulties, we build the emotional infrastructure to sustain our movements through inevitable storms.

Chapter 7: Measuring Impact: From Small Actions to Lasting Change

Taryn Brumfitt never intended to start a global movement. The Australian mother of three simply posted an unconventional "before and after" photo on social media – with her fit, bodybuilding physique as the "before" image and her natural, post-children body as the "after." This personal act of self-acceptance unexpectedly resonated with millions. The image went viral, viewed over 100 million times, and more than 7,000 people contacted Taryn directly to share how her photo had affected them. That single moment of vulnerability launched The Body Image Movement, a global campaign to help people embrace their bodies, and led to Taryn's documentary "Embrace" being seen in 190 countries. Similarly, Amanda Nguyen's work for sexual assault survivors created ripples far beyond what she initially imagined. While fighting to change Massachusetts law requiring survivors to file paperwork every six months to prevent their rape kits from being destroyed, Amanda founded Rise, a volunteer-driven organization. Her approach – which she calls "the Uber of activism" – mobilized professionals who offered specialized skills in their spare time. This model proved so effective that after passing the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights unanimously through Congress (a feat achieved by only 0.016% of all bills), Amanda's movement expanded to state-level legislation. Within six months, Rise helped pass similar laws in twelve states, with volunteers in each location adapting the approach to their local contexts. Sara Wolff, a disability rights activist with Down syndrome, never anticipated the far-reaching impact of her advocacy for the ABLE Act, which allows people with disabilities to save money without losing government benefits. Beyond the immediate policy change, Sara's visible leadership transformed expectations for the entire disabled community. As National Down Syndrome Society president Sara Weir explained: "She set the bar really high for that Mom or that Dad that had a baby born yesterday, or has a baby born tomorrow, with Down syndrome. They see Sara, and they see what she's been able to do... She made people in the community with disabilities understand that the future is bright." These stories illustrate how movements often create concentric circles of impact that extend far beyond their initial goals. The most visible changes – a new law passed, a company policy reformed, a product launched – represent just the first level of transformation. Equally important are the shifts in perception, expectation, and possibility that ripple outward from these tangible victories. When Sara Wolff testifies before the Senate Finance Committee or Amanda Nguyen mobilizes survivors to share their stories with lawmakers, they're not just changing policy – they're expanding our collective imagination about who can lead and what can be achieved. Measuring this multidimensional impact requires looking beyond obvious metrics. At Change.org, leaders initially focused on quantitative measures like petition victories, which grew from affecting 8 million to nearly 100 million people over five years. However, they realized these numbers didn't capture whether people actually felt more empowered. This led to creating an "empowerment index" using qualitative surveys to measure how participation changed people's sense of their own agency – a more meaningful indicator of progress toward their vision of "a world where no one is powerless." Perhaps most importantly, small actions create impact through inspiration that we rarely witness directly. When people were asked who inspired their own movements, almost all mentioned specific individuals whose actions showed them what was possible – yet most had never told those inspirational figures about their influence. As Amanda Nguyen discovered when an Uber driver tearfully thanked her for fighting for his daughter who was a sexual assault survivor, "We might feel isolated when we're doing this work but it has ripple effects that are so powerful and so meaningful. And it's meaningful to people that you may not even know or think it impacts." This invisible web of inspiration represents the most profound measure of impact. We may never know all the ways our actions influence others, but this uncertainty shouldn't diminish our commitment to act. By stepping forward with purpose and perseverance, we create possibilities not just for the changes we can see, but for countless others that will unfold beyond our vision. As the Dalai Lama reminds us, "Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects."

Summary

Throughout these stories of ordinary people creating extraordinary change, one truth emerges consistently: movements begin with individual conviction translated into visible action. From Manal Rostom's Facebook group that influenced Nike to create athletic wear for Muslim women, to Neil Grimmer's persistence in revolutionizing baby food, to Sarah Kavanagh's teenage determination to remove harmful ingredients from sports drinks – each movement started with someone who refused to accept "that's just how things are." The most powerful catalyst for change isn't exceptional privilege, credentials, or resources, but rather clarity of purpose combined with the courage to take that first step. What these movement builders teach us is that impact flows from authentic connection to purpose. When we align our actions with our deepest values, we naturally inspire others to join us. This isn't about having perfect strategies or flawless execution – it's about persistence through inevitable obstacles and the willingness to evolve our approach while keeping our vision constant. As Jennifer Dulski's experience building The Dealmap demonstrates, sometimes the path includes multiple failures before finding the approach that resonates. The key is to treat each setback as information rather than defeat, surrounding ourselves with people who both support and challenge us. Most importantly, these stories remind us that we never know the full extent of our influence. Like Taryn Brumfitt's body-positive photo that unexpectedly reached 100 million people, our actions create ripples we cannot fully measure. This is perhaps the most profound invitation these movement builders offer us: to act with purpose even when uncertain of the outcome, trusting that authentic commitment to meaningful change will find its way to those who need it most.

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Jennifer Dulski

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