We recently connected with Jazmine Edwards and have shared our conversation below.
Jazmine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.
Utah Girls Love You provides life skills workshops (Nutrition & Meal Prep, car essentials, provide haircuts to single moms (dads too) and children), feel-good clothing and shoes, hygine items and essential household goods to single parents of Utah at no cost.
Our goal is to empower and equip single parents to better support themselves and their families. With help from a caring community we help families across the Wasatch Front.
Our motto is: Positive = Positive • Make a Difference • Happiness is Truth
Through our Single Parent Project we empower parents to reach their full potential, break cycles of codependency, and develop essential life skills. Through Community Outreach we serve senior citizens, those who are homeless, veterans, and people suffering from mental illness or addiction. We are based in Pleasant Grove, Utah, and serve the communities of Utah.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Utah Girls Love You, or UGLY, focuses on helping people get back on their feet. Through UGLY’s Closet, the thrift store in Pleasant Grove, is priced so that all the clothes and home goods are affordable and at a price I could have paid for as a single mom.
We also provide classes on budgeting, meal preparation and car maintenance in the hopes that the people we help gain the skills they need to be self-sufficient.
I love that we have the capability to just say, ‘Go ahead,’ and give it (items) to someone if they are in need, That’s not just single moms. If we see a family in need, we help. We really are truly a judge-free zone. We have always been focused on helping others in whatever way we can. This is something that came natural to me as people gave me their items, I would find places for them, So I started with one of our single moms and it just kind of developed out of that.
I started UGLY, which gets its name from the letters I saw on the mountainside as a child, out of my home and a storage unit in 2014 before expanding to the storefront in Pleasant Grove almost 8 years ago.
We run strictly off of donations and the sales at Uglys Closet, we have never had any government funding. We accept donations from the community weather it is clothing, shoes, hygine, household items etc. or monetary donations.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
We run mostly off of word of mouth. People reach out to us when they are in need of a helping hand.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Started with the things in my own home and gathered donations gradually which grew into Uglys Closet.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.utahgirlsloveyou.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzfKXJDR3_0/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uglysclosetutahgirlsloveyou/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/utah-girls-love-you-foundation
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLwtArqZy3o
Image Credits
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