We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jenny Parra. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jenny below.
Jenny, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
Everything I have gone through in my life has guided me to my purpose. Growing up, I always loved to write stories. I would write all these mini-stories in my steno notebook and act them out. It wasn’t until I used a video camera and learned to edit, that I fell in love with storytelling through video.
I had no idea that my love of storytelling would lead me to have the courage to tell my own story, and that my personal story of becoming a mom would impact others. This is when I realized that everything I went through, from my loss to the joys of motherhood was for a reason.
My motherhood journey started with the loss of my twin boys, then infertility, the birth of our rainbow baby, having a partial hysterectomy, becoming foster parents, and growing our family through adoption. I have been able to share my story through videos on our social media channels. It has given me an outlet to tell my story and reach so many people who have either gone through or are going through everything I did.
Thankfully, I found the strength to share my story so others don’t have to feel alone. I have built a community of other moms and families that have gone through similar things. They have shared their losses as well as their joys with my family. We are so honored that they did!
We’ve also created a safe space for people to ask us about our adoption and foster care journey. By doing this, we’ve helped others become interested in becoming foster parents or adoptive parents. This means so much to me and my family!
Finding my purpose was not because of one thing but a continuous process of learning about myself and my journey. I’ve discovered what brings me joy and fulfillment as well as how I can make a positive impact on others. Everything I went through showed me my purpose!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am Jenny, mom to The Parra Family on Our Family Vine. We are a multi-racial foster/adoptive family of 6 living in Los Angeles. We love sharing our parenting and adoption journey on our social media channels at Our Family Vine.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that were most impactful in my journey are:
Courage – I needed the courage to be vulnerable in front of the camera so that I could tell my story authentically and without holding back. I allowed myself to cry, to laugh, and to get disappointed. This is still an ongoing process but I’ve definitely been improving. The more I do it, the easier it is getting.
Consistency – I had to keep posting and showing up for my community. With consistency, comes growth.
Creativity – I had to get better at the art of storytelling. That means I had to be creative. I can’t re-tell my story the same way over and over. I had to figure out what would work visually as well as what was being said. This takes lots of creativity.
My advice is to keep on practicing. Just keep talking and sharing in front of the camera and post it! It will get easier and those that want to be a part of your community will find you.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Because we are a diverse family, it is important for us to collaborate with brands and/or other content creators who value inclusivity and equality, which is important to my community too.
We also look to collaborate with others who have a similar story or family as ours, nonprofits in the foster care community, and companies that work with busy families, family fashion, health & fitness, and family fun.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ourfamilyvine.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourfamilyvine/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ourfamilyvine
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ourfamilyvine
- Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfamilyvine
