Daily Inspiration: Meet Jordan Parrish

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Parrish

Jordan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ll keep things brief, but should start by saying that I had the best childhood. I know this because everyday I think, “why must I adult?” My parents both had difficult growing up years, so they were intentional in crafting a life for our family that was as balanced a mixture of fun, learning, and discipline as they could. My life has been far from perfect but where’s the fun or reality in perfection? I grew up in the country in a (very) small town, and I was usually running barefoot from sunrise until dinner; I joke that my friends and I were almost feral. We swam in rivers, read under trees, were surrounded by our dogs and one another, and at the end of the day I had a safe, loving home to return to… like I said, it was incredible. I didn’t grow up surrounded by wealth but my family highly regards education of all kinds, so we regularly visited museums, traveled when we could, went camping, were always learning about the vastness and complexity of our world. This global mindset instilled by my parents was not only a gift considering the small size of our town but also a major component in my soon-to-be travels.

I wasn’t sure that I was ready for college after graduating high school, so I joined a plethora of mission-focused organizations and began traveling/working. I’m grateful for this time as it spurred a younger, insecure me to leave my comfort zone. I’ve always had a strong sense of duty where the world is concerned. This was instilled at a young age and because the world is never going to ‘fix’ itself. But if each of us tries to at least be intentional with our actions, I believe we’re one step closer to bettering our ourselves and the planet we share. I can’t help but want to explore and enhance, it’s who I am, who I was raised to be. This extended time going to and from home allowed for me to discover parts of myself that I my never have had otherwise… it helped me grow up, explore greater possibility and woke dreams in me I didn’t know were there.

Since then I’ve managed to accomplish a thing or two, squeezed in a degree, two or three career shifts, a few moves, I’ve founded my own organization, and have experienced great victory and loss throughout this time. But I’m happy with the place I’m in now and much enjoy my life and the work that I do, finding much purpose. I’m by no means ready to slow down, in fact it’s rather the opposite, I’ve never felt more prepared to dive deeper into my work and the road that lays ahead. There’s so much to be done!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I once heard someone say that they’ve never met an interesting person with a straightforward past. This statement has always stayed with me and while I’ve been gifted a loving family, friends, and opportunities to create a ‘big’ life for myself, there have most certainly been obstacles and challenges throughout it all. Some of which I didn’t think I would survive, but then again I’ve always been driven, and with the decision to climb mountains one can expect adversity.

One of the greatest challenges that I’ve faced internally has been to both trust and commit to myself; for years I waited and hoped that someone would notice me, promote me, represent me, and I’ve achieved those things to varying degrees, yes. However, choosing to believe in myself is what has changed my trajectory. Can we expect people to bet on us when so many of us won’t give ourselves the time of day, or constantly communicate how little we think of ourselves? Hear me out, this isn’t a one-time decision… this is an everyday, constant choosing of the person that I see staring back at me from the mirror. I’ve found this to be one of the bravest things a person can do, because we’re not just our strengths and promises, we’re also our faults and weaknesses. We can’t choose half of ourselves. So each day I endeavor to trust and commit myself to who I am: an imperfect person trying to better his life and the lives of those around him. It’s difficult and beautiful.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In truth, I’m still crafting my career, shaping what it is and what I want to do and achieve. Up to this point I’ve been blessed with many opportunities to try my hand at a number of diverse roles and I’ve always been drawn to a career-life layered with multiplicity and purpose…

The greatest portion of my career has been spent working within the fashion and entertainment industries; I began modeling in my early twenties with no previous experience, and while it’s provided unique and difficult challenges, I’ve grown to greatly respect these spheres of the creative world. We’ve such lengths to go in terms of equality, representation, and sustainable practice, but we’d be remiss to discount the incredible power and inspiration that’s produced here. My work as a model has not only provided me a platform to connect with a number of good people and diverse organizations, but has given me access to share my passions and other entrepreneurial efforts that I might not have otherwise. I’ve worked diligently for my place at this table, but also recognize the extreme privilege granted… I won’t waste this and I’m hungry for more. I’m passionate about partnering with brands, I love working with photographers and other creatives, and I’m obsessed with exploring the micro details of a project, helping to pull the ‘whys’ together in order to produce the bigger picture. I suppose then it’s no surprise that I soon began working behind the camera as well, diving into creative consultation and direction. This awoke a whole new appreciation for collaboration and creativity. Discovering the DNA of a project ignites such a spark; I love strategy and pattern and I’ve so enjoyed working with brands and organizations to not only capture images but to now craft the story and branding behind those images. I love what I do.

This creative passion and devotion to storytelling was of great help when I founded Pass The Pup. I’ve always loved animals, ask anyone, and I’ve been lucky enough to share most of my life with some incredible dogs and horses. After the Covid pandemic hit however, I took a step back from riding to focus on academia and in that time also devoted myself to helping the many ‘pandemic puppies’ and countless other dogs find homes… cue Pass The Pup. PTP partners with shelters across the nation, campaigning for dogs in need of homes, passing along stories and photos that help the public connect with animals that are so often overlooked, or sadly, never seen. In short, we’re marketing for shelter pups. I’ve found that the public and rescue organizations often need a third party to help bridge communication. Since our inception we’ve formed great relationships with both sides, helping a number of dogs and puppies get adopted. We’re planning to soon host community events like adopt-a-dog block parties, running clubs devoted to exercising shelter dogs, even silent ‘pup-up’ discos… anything to help these amazing animals find homes and bring people together. Be sure to check out our freshly launched t-shirts, they’re ‘so fetch’ and help us support other initiatives aiding dogs.

The third aspect of my career worth mentioning is my work within peacebuilding. I know, it may seem odd given my other jobs but if there’s one thing that I’ve learned from this industry, it’s that most things are somehow connected. Before accepting a role with the firm that I currently represent I wouldn’t have qualified myself as a peacebuilder, let alone have been able to properly define one for you. But that’s just the point, peace doesn’t look like any one thing and therefore a peacebuilder can’t be any one specific type of person or role. I’ve always thrived in being a connector, so when the opportunity to accept a position like this arose, I leapt at it. Each day I learn something new, each week I meet interesting people who either want to or are practically changing the world. This offers not only accountability in bringing my best but throws opportunity at me every day to believe that I too can actually better our world. We work with partners across the globe, have held space at the UN, and while I have no formal peacebuilding or diplomatic training, I’ve discovered that no matter the size of the room or title of the person I’m speaking with, people are people. We want to be seen, we want to be heard, we want to connect.

Like I said, I’m drawn to multiplicity and while some days/weeks are an absolute onslaught of tasks, meetings, and production, the work each role requires also provides excitement, even hope. I’m grateful for what I have and am thrilled to now be able to share this with the world.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I was lucky enough to be with family when things were at their worst. We’re tightly knit, so the time together was extremely refreshing amongst the turmoil of all that was taking place. But if I could give any advice from this time, I’d say…

1) Take the time to not just be with one another, try to really see those you love. Learn them, it makes loving all the more special.

2) Cook your own dinner. Even if you aren’t very good in the kitchen, get your hands on a few simple ingredients and cook with someone you love.

3) Don’t ever wait for a pandemic, or the world for that matter, to tell you to slow down. I love work and I love being busy, but life is far too short to never read that book, take that walk, or visit that someone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pass-the-pup.printify.me/products
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jrdnrvrs/