Meet Charmaine Jones | Registered Dietitian & Business Owner

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

Hi Charmaine, what is the most important factor behind your success?
There are six principles that I practice daily that are the driving force behind the success of Food Jonezi (my brand): 1. Being confident in knowing who I am. For my business to have its own brand identity, I must know who I am as a person first, and where I want to take my business in the future. As a business owner, I am very strategic in how I want my business to be presented in the public. Therefore, I must be confident in every decision I make – from selecting colors for my brand, who I want to hire, what products I sell, how I want my product to be promoted, which ingredients I like to use in my recipes, and so on. And regardless of what challenges I face, I must know that my brand is the very best and is unique from other competitive brands.

2. Surrounding myself with positive and like-minded individuals. I surround myself with positive and like-minded individuals who can support me through my successes and challenging times. Being around positive people empowers me to keep moving forward and staying on task while running my business.

3. Hiring a team that believes in your mission just as much as you do. (And not being afraid of letting those individuals go who are unwilling or doesn’t have what it takes to go the next level with Food Jonezi)

4. Staying prayed up! I pray over my business, team, and staying in my purpose that God has planned for me each day.

5. Avoiding comparing my brands with others – Knowing that there is one “Food Jonezi” in the world!

6. Lastly, I live by this philosophy that was told to me by my father as a child, “Life doesn’t owe you anything, you MUST make it happen.” This is true. Not only Business owners but everyone should want to work hard to achieve their goals. This saying means a lot to me because it teaches me to keep pushing and persevering through all challenging times, no matter what obstacles I face. Each time when I want, I want to give up, I always remember this saying, and I go do what I need to do, with all that is within me, to accomplish what I must do to make Food Jonezi a success!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

Food Jonezi is a health and wellness practice that provides personalized nutrition counseling services, including nutrition education workshops and healthy cooking classes to the Georgia and Washington DC communities. The company has a qualified team of registered dietitians and chefs dedicated to providing affordable nutrition care and services to all GA and DC residents, focusing on disadvantaged communities. The Food Jonezi team facilitates nutrition education workshops with healthy cooking classes.

I started Food Jonezi to offer affordable quality nutrition services, particularly for minority communities. Studies consistently show that minority communities and people of color across the nation have the highest rates of chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity, which are often related to poor nutrition, unhealthy eating habits, and inactivity.

Because so many medical practices, food, and nutrition organizations are disconnected from minority communities, I wanted to establish a nutrition service where people can come and feel comfortable speaking with a registered dietitian about what they eat without prejudice or shaming. It has always been a goal to educate people of color on improving their eating habits without giving up their love for traditional foods.

I witnessed first-hand how minority communities have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables, culturally appropriate nutrition resources, education workshops, and healthy cooking classes. These are the primary reasons I started a business, and that’s why Food Jonezi’s wholeheartedly believes that all individuals, regardless of their socio-economic background, deserve access to affordable and quality nutrition services.

Food Jonezi Wellness & Smart Café is the next big thing! Food Jonezi will expand its services and build a one-stop-shop that offers nutrition counseling, wellness workshops, fitness class, and healthy foods and beverage options through its self-service Smart fridge kiosks. The café is a new innovative approach to making affordable nutrition services and healthy food options accessible to all GA and DC residents.

Challenges:

As an entrepreneur, I have faced many obstacles, including securing enough revenue to meet monthly operations and payroll expenses. Like many small businesses, it has been challenging for Food Jonezi to remain solvent and expand services during a pandemic.

However, the biggest hurdle I overcame was learning how to keep the business moving when all my contractors left the company in the same week. There were five contractors during this time, and depending on their role, they were responsible for facilitating cooking classes and workshops and conducting nutrition counseling. One day, every contractor decided to leave the company. The majority left and went to better jobs that paid more, while others left for school to complete their advanced degrees or for personal reasons.

That following week we had a calendar packed with workshops, cooking classes, and a schedule full of backed-to-backed appointments, but no team to facilitate the activities. I was the only one left. I contemplated canceling events but couldn’t afford to lose the potential revenue. Worse yet, the business’ reputation would be jeopardized. I didn’t want to ruin the work and partnerships we established in the community.

After stressing and worrying for several hours, I pulled myself together and started thinking of solutions. I was determined not to let my business fail. I employed guerilla marketing tactics and begged a few dietitian friends to help with the nutrition counseling and lead the workshops. I reached out to chefs who didn’t make the initial hiring round and recruited students to answer the phones until the situation stabilized, and I could hire more people.

The most exciting part of this story is that I only had to hire a few more people. Those individuals that came to my rescue are still working at Food Jonezi today and remain dedicated to the mission and eager to see Food Jonezi fully blossom.

As an entrepreneur, I also developed leadership skills to effectively communicate and motivate my team to work efficiently to reduce chronic conditions and improve eating habits in disadvantaged communities. As a leader, I have learned to establish clear expectations for team members and ensure that our clients and partners are 100% satisfied with the services they receive. I have learned to delegate specific responsibilities to individuals with specialized skill sets to improve the management and organization of the business.

To this end, the services offered at Food Jonezi are essential for saving lives. In many cases, the duties of a registered dietitian get overlooked or dismissed. Nevertheless, a dietitian’s role plays a significant part in healthcare and wellness. As a registered dietitian, it is my professional duty to ensure that clients have the knowledge and skills to establish better eating habits, prevent or manage chronic conditions, and live healthier lives.

Food Jonezi is also important to me because it was a dream that has become a reality, but it took a lot of hard work to build it from the ground up. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing a vision come to life and flourish. Being an entrepreneur is extremely hard and has tested my faith and patience. But, when I witnessed how Food Jonezi impacted and changed people’s lives, I realized that Food Jonezi is more than just a business but has become a spiritual quest to heal people through proper food and nutrition.

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?
In DC- I would take my friends to the African American Museum (because it’s so awesome!), a grand tour on H-Street, NOMA, Georgia and Florida Ave to experience DC culture, nightlife and foods. There are plenty of restaurants that everyone should experience, and they are all found on the H-Street, NOMA, Georgia/Florida Ave corridor.

In GA- Who doesn’t want to tour the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, World of Coca Cola Headquarters, Slutty Vegan and Busy Bee Cafe. Yep! Always should be on the top 4 places to visit in ATL.

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?

Of course, I couldn’t do this work without my AMAZING team, mentors, friends, and my little (big) brother!

Yes! The Entire Food Jonezi Team!! (I have the BEST Registered Dietitians, Chefs, and Administrative Team in the world, hands down!) Thank you all for being so awesome!

Mentors! From Dr. Elgloria Harrison, Michelle Mitchell, Angela Wright to Evelyn Minor and Shonda J Pertilla of DreamWell,INC. Thank you for spending countless hours of your time sharing your wisdom so I can become a better me!

To My Good Girlfriends (Everyone should have two good girlfriends like Carmen B. and Letitia M.)

To my little (big) brother, Emmanuel! He is such a blessing! I wouldn’t know what I would do without all his advice, perspective of life, and sense of humor.

Finally, I definitely want to say THANK YOU to all of Food Jonezi’s sponsors, partners, supporters, and clients!

Thank you for trusting Food Jonezi as your nutrition expert!

Website: https://www.foodjonezi.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foodjonezi (@foodjonezi)

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charmaine-c-jones-ms-rdn-ldn-6a79576/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoodJonezi (@foodjonezi)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoodJonezi

Image Credits
Images provided by Food Jonezi with permission.