We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katelyn Jones a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Katelyn , 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?
Finding purpose feels like such a huge question to tackle. I honestly have fumbled a lot taking one step at a time but never feeling like I was getting anywhere. I went to school, got an MA in Education, left teaching, worked in a completely different field, started a business, had babies but still didn’t know what it meant to have a true purpose. Then in April of 2022 it all crashed down, I was hospitalized and diagnosed with PPD, PPA, Insomnia and Suicidal Thoughts. I had all these things that looked like my life was beautiful but part of me was struggling to keep swimming. When it crashed I cut all the crap out of my life. I trimmed acquaintances, I spent time alone, I focused on myself and my family, and with it came a huge purpose. A purpose to create a place for Moms to feel they could come when they were struggling with their mental health. A place where Moms could be celebrated, seen and deeply held. I was already trying to support Moms but it was surface level. Post hospitalization I realized I was done being surface level and a purpose to be deeply honest about motherhood, and allow other Moms to do the same, was born.
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’m a four time business owner and each of my businesses focuses on different things but they all are in some way tied back to women and motherhood.
I’m a photographer, I own the Jones Photo Co. and focus on Photography for Mothers, Family Photography, Maternity, Newborn, and Branding for Moms.
I Co-Own Lansing Mom, a place where women in and around the Lansing Area can be held and seen and connect with each other. We work to provide resources that Moms really need, instead of focusing on children, we focus on Mothers and supporting them. We hold monthly meet-ups, Lansing Mom Connect, where women can join and meet one another.
I own The Jones Co., and consult on and manage Social Media Accounts for several women owned, Michigan Based Businesses.
I also Co-Own Michigan With Kids where we highlight amazing things happening in Michigan to do with your kids!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I’m not sure that you need the skills to do anything but you need to have a willingness to learn. The three qualities I’d say are most important when looking into living a life that feels fully aligned with you are, a willingness to learn, being unafraid of failure or treating failure like a friend, and having an ability to understand that those who aren’t cheering you on aren’t your people.
How would you describe your ideal client?
I would say anyone looking to work with me in any capacity, whether it be photography, with Lansing Mom, as a social media client, or as a mentee, I’d say you have to be unafraid of being honest. I don’t really tend to view people as having flaws, I love it when people can come back from a failure and can learn from it (spoiler alert we all fail sometimes), I value when people can lay out who they are unapologetically. If you’re able to do that our relationship is so much better and the work that we get to put out into the world shows it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lansing.momcollective.com
- Instagram: the.jones.photo.co
Image Credits
Photo Credit for the Image of Me: Ellie Frances Photography Photo Credit for the other Images: The Jones Photo Co.
