An Inspired Chat with Hazel Jones

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Hazel Jones . Check out our conversation below.

Hazel , it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Recently we put on an event for families who have experienced pregnancy and infant loss by turning some major landmarks in Milwaukee wi pink and blue. It was a collective event that left me feeling amazingly proud

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Hazel Jones and I am the mother to two amazing sons. 1 is now a member of the United States Army and the other has wings. We started an organization in our youngest son memory to provide help for families who have experienced pregnancy and infant loss. We have over the past 13yrs provided nearly 30,000 burial gowns and over 20,000 other items to hospitals and families across the USA and world wide to help families with their grief. We also have been proud to work with other organizations such as the Wisconsin grief collective, March of Dimes and the Alana Rose Foubdation during this time on some major projects.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My best friend Anne was the first person to truly see me before I could possibly see myself. Everyone else in my family saw me as a daughter a wife a sister and mother but she saw the part of me that was hidden.
Over the years she encouraged that part to also bloom and become the person who I am now.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
3 months after the death of my son I knew I had to stop hiding behind his death and use it as power. We started Mattie’s memory that day and became a voice for families. We made pregnancy loss become a group of words that aren’t dirty or a secret. We allow people to feel the emotions and we helped other companies and organizations make moves to make political changes. My grief is still there on the daily but it is now a power force that makes changes. That makes the world a different place and that continues to move mountains.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
The public version is a more serious version of me. The public me is polite yet forceful kind yet pushy comforting yet unyielding. The private me laughs jokes and has a thing for the strange and weird which let’s be honest the public does not welcome on the normal let alone when combined with pregnancy and infant loss. The public me knows what it takes to makes changes who to speak too and what needs to be do. She is a confident woman who doesn’t give up for one thing

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope when I am gone that they remember the woman who loved hard fought hard and didn’t give up. I hope my son and grandson remember their mom and nana as a person who protected them and loved them with her whole heart. And I hope that my husband remembers me with the unwavering love that I had for him

I hope that when that day comes Mattie’s Memory legacy lives on and the work continues not just in my son memory but also in the memory of a woman who wouldn’t let her son’s name die.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.mattiesmemory.org
• Facebook: https://Www.facebook.com/mattiesmemory

Image Credits
Hazel Jones and Artrell Jones