Meet Jocelyn Hopkins | Blogger/ Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jocelyn Hopkins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jocelyn, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started both my blog & Jewelry line during the pandemic. The thought process behind it for me was to jump! These both were ideas and goals of mine that I had been working on for a little over a year and the pandemic provided clarity and free time to do so!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started the blog “Joc CIty” a little over a year ago during the pandemic. I’ve always been a writer & I wanted to share my thoughts and a blog is a great way to do that. I’m so proud of myself for just jumping out there, being consistent and being open to learn because it is a process and it’s not easy by far! My writing is honest and real, very relatable. I explore topics about everyday life that can affect us all and give examples on how I’ve gotten through things. I also like to highlight businesses in my community of Pittsburgh Pa! Even with my jewelry line Newthingco. I had so many bumps while trying to launch. Whether it was website issues, problems with vendors, or even tracking and sorting inventory I stuck with it. It is exciting to me to be able to get to this point because I’ve tried many different things through the years. Not until I was doing it for myself completely did it all work out. I just want people to know that although it sounds cliche, you literally can do WHATEVER your heart desires! It just takes work! I researched, and prayed, and read and fell and got back up! Through all of it, I made it!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a friend visiting we would definitely have some cool things to do! We would visit the Andy Warhol museum & head 9cafe for lunch! 9cafe is black owned and they have the most amazing salmon tacos!! We could also travel around the city looking at amazing art from local artist Camo & CB Perry! Gotta get our nails done! There are so many woc who do a great job in the city to choose from! Pittsburgh Pa has a lot of great night life that has recently come to the city! We have some that have been here a while such as Arts & Savoy & my favorite local bar “ The Spot” . There are also a lot of pop up shops that happen in our city! I love to go & try to catch a pair of sunglasses from “Shadedbythequeen” ! My bestie would definitely need a pair! So basically our week would be full of cultural activities lol! Lots of music whether it’s listening to “The bill henry band” live or hearing a great Dj at the club, or hitting up a museum or art expo my bestie would have an amazing time!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I owe everything to God! So I’ll start there! I also would thank my mentor Alexis Clipper! She has been very influential in helping me recognize the better part of my gifts and not be afraid to use them to help myself and other people! She really helped me look at myself with a more confident outlook which transferred into me really tapping in to my potential unapologetically!

Website: Joccity.com / Newthingco.com

Instagram: @realjoccity @newthingco

Facebook: @newthingco