Meet Tajaneh Jones | Owner and CEO Of Ding’Ding Things LLC & Our Journee Home 501c3 Non Profit

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

Hi Tajaneh, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I started my business a few years after loosing my daughter. I loss my Daughter to SIDS 7/31/2009. Shortly after loosing her I found myself in a downward spiral . I wanted something to keep her memory alive but there was nothing out there. At the time I was apart of a community called Daily Strength where I met a lot of wonderful angel moms. All of us had a common story, aside from loosing our baby’s as time went by we were desperately searching for something to keep their memories alive. My first Item was a pillow. At the time I had no idea how to sew, didn’t even have a sewing machine. My dear husband is so encouraging. I remember picking up a pillow crying holding it then looking at the pillow and saying man I wish I could put her on this pillow so that when I hold it I can feel like I’m holding her. My husband said well lets do that, Im like how we dont have a sewing machine and I have no idea how I will put it on there. Back then youtube existed but there was not alot of info on it. We went to the pawnshop and found a sewing machine. I remember going to Joans getting a sample fabric with thread and things cause I had no idea what I was doing or was about to do. Once I came back home I then had to figure out how to open this pillow and how to sew it like they did. The stitches wasnt visible in the front of the people so my husband suggested turning the pillow inside out. And magic everything started to make sense and before I knew it my baby was on a pillow. I begin doing the same to the other mothers in the community at no charge. I wanted them to feel the same happiness I felt when I held my pillow. As you can imagine shipping pillows started to get very expensive and I started to get desperate to find other ways to put her places. I decided to get alot of random ideas and wasnt shy acting on them. Fast forward to now Ive mastered the ability to Put my angel literally everywhere in a non creepy kind of way.

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 create lasting memories, now I know on the surface especially in this day and age that may not sound to special. I been blessed with the unique ability to tell a story of grief, love, and triumph in every unique piece I create. Grief doesn’t go anywhere, it stays with you 24/7 and it changes you. We become so eager to move on we dismiss the side effects of grief not realizing how much it actually effects us in every aspect. My unique pieces is intended to bring comfort, warmth, and hope. When I first started making memorial items they was not popular. No one understood why I was dragging this grief thing out. At the time everyone just kind of looked like it was a phase something that I would grow out of. Little did they know that this was now apart of me. This was my new normal. For every item I created it’s as if a piece of me was being reborn. The identity that was buried with my daughter was being recreated into something magical. My most challenging part was with these new talents and creativity all I wanted to do was share them with everyone who needed them. Well my heart and my pockets wasn’t on the same page. Although my heart wanted to give everything away My pockets knew I couldn’t afford it. Balancing and separating my non profit from my LLC took some time well actually it took a lot of time. To be honest I’m still balancing this because I know how a grieving parent feels. When I meet a new grieving family I cant help but give them a piece of their angel back. I didnt mind handing out items at no cost to those in need. Well the business world dont share that same feeling, I had to become aggressive with business side to protect it from others taking the ideas.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Tulsa, OK now. I would say we would def go to the Casinos more than likely both of them that’s near. I love anything that has crab legs so undoubtedly we would eat that everyday. I haven’t lived here too long so I’m still learning the ropes. Because I am such a die hard crafting I could see us spending the most time creating and enjoying each others company.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shout out will have to go to my husband John Hawkins. I’ve went through some massive changes on my grief journey. This amazing man stood right by my side every step of the way. He was determined to get me to see myself the way he and God saw me. Every idea, thought, or anything he was my cheerleader. If it wasn’t for him encouraging me I dont know where I would be in this journey. I would like to give a shout out to my Father Tedero Jones. Events leading up to my daughters loss wasn’t ideal after her loss he never judged me. While going through all my many stages of grief he stayed encouraging and uplifting not only myself but also my husband. He made me feel like I could achieve anything. He treated me as if I was the most wonderful, talented person in the world and there was nothing I couldn’t do. Another special thanks to Desinez Pritchett. This amazing woman of God from the moment I met her in my craft group and she herd my story she has been my number 1 supporter. Even to the point that she is not a board member in my nonprofit that she helped me get.

Website: http://dingdingthings.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dingdingthings/

Facebook: facebook.com/dingdingthingsllc

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourjourneehome?lang=en