Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamani King.
Jamani, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My experiences as a child and adolescent are the reasons I am passionate about the success of Honey Bunz. Even though I didn’t live in poverty growing up and had both parents in one household, I still had gaps in my mental and emotional development. My grades were poor, I had little to no friends, and I was overweight with low self-esteem.
At some point in college (2011), I began the process of wanting to grow as a person. Many of us go to college to obtain a job, but a large part of college is to also discover aspects are, where you come from and what shaped you into the person you are. While on this journey of growth I realized how much my childhood and adolescent experiences shaped who I was.
Growing up I’ve lived in a plethora of cities between Los Angeles and Fontana, CA, I guess you can say the older I got the further I moved from LA. I am a young girl who made it out of an urban community, if I would have spent my entire adolescence being raised in Los Angeles I strongly feel my life would have been different.
I believe my experiences, perspectives, and ability to thrive in a multitude of social environments enables me to bring an authentic approach to my organization that can help young girls who live in underserved communities.
In 2016, my dad started a church and asked if I was willing to oversee a ministry mentoring young girls. The crazy part is I had already begin to draft documents about a nonprofit I eventually wanted to start that serviced that very demographic. In addition, I had already began preparing to apply to a Master Program to pursue a degree that aligned with these desires. I was beginning to postulate the path for my purpose.
Mid 2017, I decided that I wanted to start a non profit organization that emphasized inclusivity, with particular regards to religion. Fast forward to the latter part of 2017, and I was offered a position with another department through my current employer, USC. Right before winter recess,I was denied the position without cause. At that time, I hated my job. It had been draining me emotionally for two years and no longer benefited me professionally. At that moment I realized I didn’t want anyone to have control over my future, especially in the fragile state I was in, desperately wanting to quit my job. To make matters worse, I was also denied enrollment for USC Marshall School of Business, for their Social Entrepreneurship program.
These events ultimately shifted my mindset and motivated me to go as hard as I can to grow a world-class organization. Six months later I got a position with a department closer to home and got accepted into Pepperdine University’s Social Entrepreneurship and Change Program. It was at that moment, the cornucopia of GOD, the Universe and my willpower facilitated the further culmination of my ambitions.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road. The hardest thing for me has been trying to balance out my priorities and self-care.
My biggest obstruction is the necessity for full-time employment outside of the non-profit. There is so much groundwork, research, and networking to be done for the organization that I often get frustrated at how much time and dedicated focus my full-time job syphons away from Honey Bunz. However, I know patience brings glory! Soon I will be able to make my passion my pay while helping to create an environment conducive to measurable impact in the lives of these young women.
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
Honey Bunz is a nonprofit 501(3)c organization under Loveland Community Development Corporation, that provides mentorship services to young girls, ages 11-17. Our mission at Honey Bunz is to prepare young girls for life after high school by uplifting them to be strong-minded, service-oriented, well-rounded young women. We focus on the pursuit of education and building up their self-confidence, character, and wellness. Our vision is for all girls to have access to mental and emotional development that builds perspective, awareness, and resiliency.
We began building this organization in 2017 and in just one year we achieved nonprofit status, have secured location space and have a founding membership group of 10-15 girls.
We currently carry out our mission and vision by hosting curated workshops monthly to a predetermined number of girls. Our workshops touch on a litany of topics that fall in the categories of education, self- confidence, character, and wellness. For example, workshops like the one we have designed on self-awareness,takes the adolescents through phases of developing character and relating to their emotions and real-life responses to situations. We also participate in community service projects, 1-on-1 mentoring, and events like our annual back-2-school event, “Pampered & Empowered”.
The goal of our Pampered & Empowered Back-2-School Refresh is to inspire excitement amongst the ladies for the upcoming school year through an engaging and multi-interactive platform that will equip them with tools for success. Throughout the day there is a multi-tiered approach facilitated through, but not limited to, informative and motivational workshops. To boost confidence, service providers are on-site to pamper the girls. We also give special acknowledgments to girls who maintained a 3.0 GPA or higher in the previous school year.
Currently we only serve a set number of girls. However, the goal is to be more present and active in girl’s lives on a larger scale. My team and I are in the process of collecting data from the communities we aim to mentor and empower for the next 3-5 years. From this research, we will begin to develop quality curriculum and programs designed to have resounding and residual impact.
We are offering FREE memberships to 25-30 girls who live in a 10 miles radius of our location space within the Jaunita Tate Marketplace on Slauson and Central. We are looking for girls who can commit to our organization for the next 18 months. The commitment means making sure they are present at our monthly workshops, community service outings, and special events. The offer ends once we reach our quota, for more information please contact us at info@honeybunz.org.
The thing I’m most proud of is the steady ascension of the Honey Bunz organization. What sets us apart from others is we focus on more than education or leadership. We want to effectively identify and tend to the overall needs that foster positive mental and emotional development. I also foresee that the brand we are building for Honey Bunz will move our organization into the blue ocean strategy.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Being a world-class organization that serves the under-served youth first, is important to me. Creating a fun and safe environment for the girls to build their awareness, perspectives, and resiliency while being relatable and trusted is important. Authenticity is important to me as well.
Pricing:
- Aunnual Membership Fee is $25
Contact Info:
- Address: Juanita Tate Marketplace
Gwendolyn Cannon Training Village
5857 S. Central Ave. Ste 180, Los Angeles, CA 90011 - Website: www.honeybunz.org
- Phone: 3109224602
- Email: info@honeybunz.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honeybunzorg/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/honeybunzorg/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/H0neybunz
- Other: www.honeybunz.org/newsletter
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