We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jolanda Malone a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jolanda, 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 and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
My Generosity comes from being a Human Being! I think we all have generosity in us we just might need help sometimes letting it shine through! Growing up my abuela always said to treat the people you meet the way you would want to be treated. Seeing her help those that couldn’t help themselves, from animals, to people that couldn’t speak English gave me so much inspiration. She was a superhero.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am the Founder and CEO of Beartha. Beartha is a 501c3 Non-Profit Organization that promotes health and wellness for people and animals through community, support, and resources. Every Tuesday we feed the community in Durham from 12-2pm. 10% of the individuals we feed have dogs, so we always make sure we have dog food with us as well. Once to twice a month we offer virtual/in person community activities that discuss health/wellness for people/pets and hand on activities to help take care of Mother Earth. It is always a joy to be able to feed the community and allow people to feel seen and heard. No matter what someone is going through that shouldn’t make them feel like their less important.
We are raising money to expand what we do and be able to feed the people more than just one day out the week. Depending on how much money we raise we are looking for getting a food truck or commercial space so we can offer Whole Food Plant Based meals to the community and be able to have discussions/activities at our location. Also the animals can come get some yummy food as well hehe.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I learned that sometimes we can hold ourselves back! DON’T ! Even if it means letting go of what you once felt comfortable with. I had to be able to get out my comfortable zone and just GO after what I believed in. Another one is being comfortable with being YOU! No one is You and let me tell you that is a great super power to have. For me, I had times were I was so worried about what the next person was going to think about what I was doing. You know what , maybe they are/ maybe they’re not. Either way, that shouldn’t stop you from being yourself. The right people will find you in the most ways you never expect. Lastly, standing up for what you believe. I have had some ideas that no one could even imagine would come true! Its okay to look little crazy in someone else’s eyes if it creates magic in yours.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
This is a beautiful closing questions! Shout out to Beartha Community. Let me tell you everyone in that community has their own magic they bring. They help my weakness with their strengths. Shout out to my inspiration and reason behind this organization my abuela. Also my parents, they do anything they can to support and help out.
Contact Info:
- Website: beartha.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beartha919/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beartha919
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beartha/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beartha919
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@beartha/videos
