Today we’d like to introduce you to Ayana Brody Parham.
Hi Ayana, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was the owner of a women-owned and minority-owned Executive coaching firm specializing in emotional intelligence. I still am the owner, and we have also grown in some significant ways.
As the year progressed, things have certainly taken a turn for the better. For one, I moved overseas with my child solo—to be exact, AFRICA! Yea, baby, back to the motherland I went.
At the beginning of this year, I also started a nonprofit that promotes social and emotional programs in the inner city and vulnerable communities.
So, I started this nonprofit with my business partner, and we were joking around about how maybe we could start a nonprofit that partnered with One Hope Wine which would allow people to purchase different bottles of wine to fundraise. We were thinking out loud—and then it came back to me.
I knew that thousands of families were still struggling after the pandemic ended, so I wanted to find a way for them also to have access to social and emotional programs that wouldn’t benefit not just the kids but the entire family and the system in it supports.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has it been a smooth road? Not. The fact that so many businesses are popping up left and right is just one of the struggles we’ve had to overcome, but even more challenging has been finding our voice in a room full of people doing something similar or close to what we want to do. Your plan and process might differ slightly from theirs, but you must find your way.
One of the hardest things about entrepreneurship is applying it to your company and how you’re going to grow it—and matching your vision. One thing that’s helped us is annual meetings with my team to determine what worked and didn’t, how we can grow, where we need improvement, etc. One thing we realized was a weakness and a threat: I was moving overseas with my child—how would I do this business while living so far away?
But because we built this business during the pandemic, everything was already virtual, which made this process easier than expected! However… while moving and finding our voice again (yet again), many things took over and became overwhelming.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
One of the things we’re most known for is that we are a minority-owned,female-owned firm specializing in emotional intelligence. Our nonprofit encompasses children, so we have been known as The Emotional Jungle. That is our company’s name. Our mindful book drive is one of our most significant initiatives moving forward. We seek volunteer authors to donate new or gently used books that focus on the 15 emotional competencies.
Our plan this year was to raise 10,000 books to donate to schools in Washington, DC. We realized that many of the minority zip codes weren’t getting proper programs and weren’t getting books representing who they are and what their district means. Being a resident of Maryland myself, I can tell you there’s an emphasis on content in terms of using books as a tool for education. Still, it depends on what kind of school district you’re in. If you’re in an affluent or lower-income area, there are different levels of resources available. Hence, as we start moving forward with this initiative, it’s really about getting books into kids’ hands so they can grow up with a better understanding of themselves.
I wanted to make sure that the children in my community were going to have books for their library at home where their parents would get to read and help them understand all of this emotional intelligence that is needed for them to grow, build, develop, become productive men and women of society not only that we also offer training to our teachers who are suffering from burnout exhaustion lack of support from the school system with our program call Peer elevate we have had former teachers who have left the school districts to become coaches to help teachers that are just like them or who were just like them allow them to pivot whether it is give them sound advice or guidance or also help them figure out what they wanted to do next.
In addition, I would say another thing that sets me apart from other people who are trying to do similar things is that I have a strong background in psychology and sociology, which allows me to understand how people behave in certain situations and how they can be manipulated but also gives me insight into what motivates people so that I can use those tools as an educator, a coach, or even a parent.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
One of the ways that people who can collaborate with us are teachers. If you have additional time and are looking to be a resource, we’d love to hear from you! We’re specifically looking for teachers, law enforcement, or nursing professionals because they are on the front lines now.
If you’re a minority author with a children’s book focused on emotional intelligence, we’d love to hear from you. You can email us at hello@theemotionaljungle.com or go to our website and fill out a form there. You can also DM me on Instagram @theemotionaljunge if you want to donate books for our mindful book drive!
And as always, we’re always open for donations of money or time.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theemotionaljungle.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/theemotionaljungle
Image Credits
@shawneeshoots)
@a.marie_photography
