Exploring Life & Business with Yvette Murray of Purpose Nomad

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yvette Murray.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started? 
I was born and raised in Miami. I grew up in a very loving and close-knit family with my parents, who immigrated from Cuba, and my two siblings. My fondest memories are those that included vacations in the family’s RV, Dolphin games, which sparked my love for everything football, and spending time with my grandmother, who lived with my aunt, uncle, and cousins just one street over from my house. I had a very strong yet traditional matriarchal influence growing up that I believe helped shape me into who I am today. At 20, I lost my mother suddenly to a short bout of cancer. It quickly thrust me into adulthood and forced me to learn how to be independent. It was a very scary time for me; however, I believe it’s life experiences such as these that support your growth and develop your inner strength.

The first few months were chaotic and I just wanted to numb myself from the pain through endless partying. I dropped out of school but continued to work in retail in order to support my new self-soothing habits. Shortly after, I met my future husband. It was a whirlwind romance that resulted in marriage, two beautiful kids, and eventually divorce. Throughout this time, I continued to work and move up the corporate ladder from being a secretary, to executive assistant, to human resource professional, and to what eventually become a lifelong career as a grant writer and fundraiser, to now owning my own fundraising consulting firm.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The path for me has never been smooth. As I mentioned before, losing my mother at a relatively young age, I was naive to what the world was really like. I lived in a protective bubble under my parents’ watchful eyes and had to grow up very quickly as well as learn so many things on my own. My marriage was good for what I knew good to be at the time, but reflecting back, I realize some of the important life decisions I made back then were based on lack of guidance, insecurity, and veiled idealism. Nonetheless, I don’t regret any of it as I believe with every bad experience, comes a valuable lesson. If it wasn’t for battling through great loss, financial ups and downs, betrayals, and ended relationships, I wouldn’t be where I am today. It revealed what my strengths were and where I needed to continue to grow.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Following my divorce, I moved back to South Florida, finally completed school, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, landed a promotion at my new job, serving as Director of Development for nonprofit pediatric hospital in Miami, and started traveling more, something I always wanted to do but was never able to afford. The initial concept and name of my company, Purpose Nomad, came to be while working for the hospital. I wanted to find a way to give back to causes that were near and dear to me while traveling the world. However, shortly after my dream of owning my own business came to light, the pandemic hit, and I quickly found myself losing half my income. As a single parent, I had to find a way to supplement this financial loss. Fortunately, my 16 years of fundraising experience, along with key connections I made along the way both in the professional world and in my community, I found myself receiving calls and referrals from nonprofits and individuals in need of my expertise in grant writing, fundraising, event planning, etc. It was then that I decided to officially launch Purpose Nomad. It wasn’t exactly how I had envisioned my company to be; however, I felt it still aligned with my mission to give back and help others. Today, I serve various clientele nationwide with their fundraising needs, from small and struggling nonprofits to for profit businesses serving in areas of arts and culture, healthcare, renewable energy, technology, faith-based, social services, and many more.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I continue to travel, and for now, while visiting these countries, I volunteer my time to causes I am passionate about and bring their mission to light through my social media pages or blogs. I love to write about my personal experiences and anything related to health and wellness and share them with my audience on the Medium web platform. My next goal is to finish my autographical book soon and share it with the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.purposenomad.com
• Instagram: @purposenomad
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purposenomad

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvettegmurray
• Twitter: @purposenomad