Meet Jaida Henley

We were lucky to catch up with Jaida Henley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jaida, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity, so we’d love for you to talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
I am so happy you asked me this question so I can brag about my grandparents. They always set such a great example for me. They were never reactive but always so supportive. My grandma is the most selfless woman I have ever met. I’m serious too. She does everything from Habitat for Humanity and special needs dinners to children’s museum days and donating teddy bears for police officers to give to children experiencing a hard time. I know, I’m crying too. We love her <3. My PawPaw is the most intelligent man I have ever met. Knowing his multiplication tables by Pre-K and doing sudoku his entire life, I believe a lot of my passion for financial literacy stems from him. You could say he and his children have inspired me so much entrepreneur-wise. The Henleys are special, I tell you that. The reason I have the ‘I love you’ hand symbol tattooed on my arm is because their love story just moves me so much that it was important for me to get my grandparents’ handwriting and honor their love. Get this.. my grandfather hired my grandmother and then fired her two months later just so he could take her hand in marriage. You couldn’t work with your spouse at the time so it was the best decision he ever made 🙂 They built a beautiful family, and I never saw them get mad or aggressive towards each other ever. Two beautiful souls who found each other and a love so vivid I tatted it on me to let their love live on. My PawPaw passed this year, and I was nervous for my grandma. I still am at times, especially being far from her right now, but even now she is still volunteering and taking care of her close friends. The strongest and kindest woman, my grandma is the woman I aspire to be.

I love you, grandma and Pawpaw <3 forever and always.

Thanks, so before we move on, maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My life is an array of creative and entrepreneurial journeys. Many people know me for my passionate and expressive personality. I find myself experiencing multiple career paths. I’ve had a camera as long as I’ve had a memory, so that’s where it started. Setting up my camera and modeling with my friends, I started a photography business in high school that has ended up becoming a highly respected media business in Atlanta. Working with celebrities and business branding, JHenleyMedia.com has since scaled to servicing both Atlanta and Los Angeles. When I was in middle school, I started a YouTube Channel! That channel is still active, but now I’ve found a deep love for live-streaming. Streaming on Bigo Live, my community has grown so fast, and the support is so organic. On live, I mainly educate people on financial literacy, brainstorm ideas with people in different regions, and make friends by connecting with people over similar interests. Live-Streaming has genuinely changed my life in such an impactful way. I would play my unreleased music I created in the studio with my friends, and they encouraged me to release my music until I finally did. My virtual community encouraged me to embrace being a Singer-Songwriter, and now I am recognized as one! I have two singles on all music platforms, and album mode is coming soon. Tying all of my creative interests together, acting has been another outlet for me since I was a kid. My grandma would take me to drama camp every summer an hour away just so I could be in some plays. It was so fun; I love acting so much. Currently, I have been in different roles. From commercials to music videos to movies to TV, I’ve started to make appearances in all. I am waiting for Equal Justice With Eboni Williams to come out so I can claim my first IMBd credit.

Wow, I feel like I have told you so much about myself, but still, there’s so much to go! As much as I am creative, I am also an entrepreneur, meaning I love building myself some businesses. Financial literacy is another major passion for me, and my current day job is in financing. I often find ways to converse with my members for hours. I am writing an E-book with all my tips and tricks for financial literacy that will be dropping sometime during 2024. I am a licensed Realtor in Georgia too 🙂

So yeah, I do a lot, but honestly, I have learned to really love it here.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Social Skills, Communication Skills, and Adaptation for sure. I erased and retyped a few times when concluding my three qualities that were most impactful during my journey thus far,

Learning how to be in a big room and meeting people can seriously change your life. Especially if you’re in the right environments. There’s a phrase I adopted saying “I’ve never met a stranger” from my friend Grace. I resonated with it so hard when she was talking about how she can walk up and talk to just about anybody. Obviously, we all get shy and intimidated at times, but these times are where you can grow the most because you never know what role that person may end up playing in your life. I’ve gotten into very big rooms since I was 16 due to my social skills.

Communication skills are important because we all have a unique way of thinking. You may say something to one person, and they find it agreeable whereas another person finds it disgusting. There are two sides to every story, and that includes opinions. Learning how to articulate myself based on my unique interactions has allowed me to educate so many people financially at my day job. I love introducing such an important topic and watching them gain their confidence during the conversation as they finally begin to understand. Knowing WHEN to communicate and when to hold your tongue is also very important. Something I have to keep practicing myself. You can make things change when you communicate correctly. Learning communication skills and methods take you so far. 🙂

Lastly, if you ever want to evolve, you need to learn to adapt. Moving to Los Angeles at twenty and experiencing the things I did during that time period was like being on a roller coaster with no brakes. Even now, being here still, it gets hard. It’s just when you know where you are and where you want to end up, you can’t give up. Maybe cry a lot but even then realizing that you just have to be where you are for now to get to the bigger picture.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
My number one obstacle that I’ve been learning to overcome lately has been to not be so trusting with everybody because some people really will take advantage of your mind. It’s like no matter how hard you want to think somebody is being sincere, often times they’re not. It’s a really cruel world where people use people and bring others down for their own success. To me, it’s so disheartening. To others, it’s a game. That’s why when you find the people who are just as passionate about you, for you as you are, are the ones you should hold onto forever.

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Image Credits
R&R Amore Productions

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