Meet Kellye Jones

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

Hi Kellye, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I am from East Orange, New Jersey Parsippany, NJ and Cherryville, NC. I claim all three locations because they all played a strong role in my upbringing.

Until age 10, I lived in East Orange, NJ. It was probably 95% black. At the age of 10, we moved to Parsippany and my high school was less than 1% black. My mother made sure my weekend play dates were inclusive of my friends from East Orange and my friends from Parsippany and I was not allowed to code switch. They wanted me to be immersed in different cultures with different views at the same time so that I could hear all sides of a conversation and develop a greater self-awareness of . Spending my summers in Cherryville, gave me a chance to develop more wisdom from my elders and begin to look at the sequential process towards a solution and play with my cousins. My parents and my grandmother taught not to prejudge others. Instead, they wanted me to focus on the beauty each person brought to the table, continue to educate myself, educate others, and enjoy the cultural experience.

Fast Forward.
One summer my cousin Kymm, who is 7 years older than me, took me to her boyfriend’s house so that I could play with other children my age. Of course, I had on my expensive sandals and a fabulous short set. Tony lived somewhere in the country with a long dirt road. At the very end of the dirt road I saw at least 15 kids my age in t-shirts and sneakers laughing and playing outside. I immediately joined in the fun and made instant friendships with everyone.

Soon afterwards the adults came out of the house and sat on the porch. The next thing I knew the kids walked over to the end of the road and started to line up. It was race time. They ran sprint races daily. I had never raced serious runners. My cousin Kymm had me take off my shoes and run barefoot in the races. I came in last place in every race but Tony’s family still cheered me on. I ran 2x the race the other kids ran because they I just wanted to win a race.

Two years later, I joined my high school track team. I did not know what race to run. My gym teacher encouraged me to join the team so I did. When I asked her what race should I run, she said, “Most black girls are sprinters. Run sprints.” I ran the 440 my Freshman year and came in last every race.

The following year, we had a 5 mile warm up run. I ran 4 miles, then I would jog back a half mile and run with some of the runners who were taking more time to encourage them to cross the finish line. I did the three or four times before finishing the 5 mile run. When I finished, I still had energy. My coach said, ‘Jones you did all that running and you still have energy? You are a distance runner.”

Sometimes, we build an image or limitation of what can be and then get stuck until we are exposed to more tangible evidence. My coach had been coaching for 10 years but she had never coached a black female. She had only seen black American female runners on TV and they were sprinters. She did not know about the training I received during my summers at my grandmas house.

As a coach, researcher, and more, my clients talk to me about their state of being stuck and recycling old ideas. They share how they feel like others can not see their depth so they are not heard. After being told what you are not so many times, it gets harder to pick up the pieces and see your greatness.

Whether working with parent of a child with autism or autistic-like traits, or as a North Carolina Board of Commissions for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, I help people find the tangible life changing validation using the insight from my culture, appreciation of others uniqueness, along with the sequential steps/ mapping my grandmother taught me.

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In Parsippany, NJ my neighbors taught me how to advocate for myself with physicians. They emphasized the importance of health over everything else. they were at the doctor’s office for things I thought were minute. They would call the doctor’s office with me if I had and injury and made sure I received an appointment within 24 hours.

I was the fun mom who climbed into the Chuckie Cheese tunnels, took neighbors kids to the zoom almost weekly, and played football with parents and kids. One Saturday, we went to visit friends in Virginia. While there, I played football and felt weak afterwards. On Monday, I went to the emergency room and they removed a deer tic.

Afterwards, I became pregnant. My gynecologist asked me to think about abortion because my child might be born with autism due to the medication I took for the deer tic. The four month pregnancy sonogram reveal that he would not be born with autism but he could have immunodeficiencies that could cause multiple ear infections.

My neighbors emphasis on prioritizing health made me search until I found physicians who sought to cure not just manage my son’s symptoms. I worked with phenomenal physicians in New Jersey who always saw the glass as half full and sought solutions. They diagnosed my sons with PANDAS – Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections

During a fly in day of advocacy on Capitol Hill, one mother shared her story. Her son was on his death bead and in need of treatment. After her presentation, I spoke. She turned to me with tears in her eyes and said your are our spokesperson. I assured her that I was not – I was just a peer. Then she told me she prayed for someone like me and I have to keep fighting for her son and others.

I met with community leaders and wrote training modules for the NAACP. Then I scheduled group calls with Congressional offices and went back to Capitol Hill to meet with 48 US Congressional Offices on the Rare Disease Committee. I wrote 5 minutes speeches for two US Congressmen to present on the Congressional Committee floor.

I have wrote the book FORWARD: It is Tangible to assist teachers with using a strength-based approach to student learning and increasing student readiness using the same deep dive approach my neighbor’s taught me.

I also wrote the book FORWARD: Solid Pathways to Achieve Your Goal to assist students with autism and autistic-like traits in having more post high school career options.

The goal is to have State Legislators and US Legislators require psychological, neurological, and immunological testing before a student with adverse behaviors is given an Individual Education Plan. This will assist with reducing misdiagnosis, increase the prognosis for student success, and heal communities.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am an Interpersonal Communication Skills Coach. I help clients and audiences unmask their strengths, their preferred pathway forward, and maintain excitement about no longer being stuck.

The Fall of 2010, I called my pastor in New Jersey and explained the social, physical, and cognitive skill strengthening facility. My mother believed in helping student achieve their personal best. As I started teaching and talking to students, I realized the need was much deeper than a social facility. There were students with that felt stuck and teachers were facing escalating student disengagement challenges. There were 50+ individuals who were temporarily challenged with unmet dreams until they just wanted to drink their problems away or hide. The CDC announced 49.5% of adolescents had experienced a mental health crisis. Students, teachers, and peers were feeling like they were hitting a brick wall with communication,

At that point, I knew there was a need for tools to support self- assurance and more effective communication to help more people heal. Poor communication and absent validation increases sadness and hinders spontaneous laughter. If there was going to be a social, physical, and cognitive skill development facility with forced exercise, I wanted to ensure guests would be safe. Forced exercise like overtraining can have hazardous side effects.

My goal became strength- based self- awareness and objective assessments variances in mental and physical health. It was time to engage, educate, excite, and empower audiences about readiness.

I wrote a National Science Foundation proposal for the detection of head trauma and immunological imbalances to disrupt chronic health challenges.

I wrote John & Suzie One Woman in Fours is a Suzie to help survivors of domestic find their authentic voice and more effectively communicate their interests.

I wrote FORWARD: Solid Pathways to Achieve Your Goal to give mothers of children with autism and autistic-like traits more options and a voice when advocating for their children

I wrote FORWARD: It is Tangible to support young adults in their quest for validation. It helps readers uncover their voice when advocating for their needs and expanding self-validation

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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?

Sunday
Boogalou Restaurant & Lounge
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Monday

Hair – SP HairCare

Atlanta Styled Photo Shoot

Rock Steady

Martin Luther King Jr. History Walking Tour

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Tuesday

Private Group Tour Atlanta Historical Homes

Sun Dial Restaurant Bar and View

massage

The James Room
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Wednesday

Atlanta’s Black History and Civil Rights Tour (4 hours)

Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse

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Thursday

amazing Atlanta scavenger hunt (2 hours)

Creative Soap Therapy:Relax & Reconnect with Hands-On Soap Making (2 hours)

Red Phone Booth

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Friday

Y’allywood 3 Hour Private Movie and TV Locations Tour

Guided Vinyl DJ Experience

Uptown Comedy Corner
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Saturday

Bar Margot
TEN ATL
Moondogs

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My children Blaike Bibbs, James Bibbs, and Noah Bibbs as well as Darius Ace Stanton for the introduction, my sorority Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated,

Pressing a paradigm shift in teacher assessments, health care coverage, and public policy can be challenging. I am grateful all of the collaborations, platforms to speak and spread awareness, and the book purchases.

Website: https:forwardlifecoach.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyejones/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kellyejones444