We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jaemellah Jackson, MSMN. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jaemellah below.

Alright, Jaemellah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

When I started my consulting firm nine years ago as a sole proprietor, I used my name as the business name. Why? I wouldn’t have to worry about trademark issues because, well, no one has my name! I then changed the structure a few years later to an LLC to protect myself as a business owner.

As a Founder and consultant in the nonprofit industry, I know firsthand that we exist to do good, to help communities, people, and causes; however, in our doing good, a business must be maintained to create and demonstrate the impact we seek but also to keep the doors open. Nonprofits are businesses. We just have a different tax structure, so I started adopting the phrase “doing good is a business” in my training sessions and social media posts a few years ago.

I recently married March 2023 and knew at the engagement that I would need to change my business name since Jaemellah Kemp Consulting would no longer work with my married name. Well, I had been using the perfect business name as a slogan for years, so it was a natural choice to use Doing Good as a Business in my rebranding in June 2022 in preparation for my nuptials.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am mother, nonprofit founder, and all things nonprofit management.

I hold an Associate’s degree in Business Administration and a Bachelors in Business Management from University of Phoenix and obtained a Masters in Nonprofit & Association Management from University of Maryland University College (now University of Maryland Global Campus) May 2014.

In June 2015, I was appointed to UMGC’s Board of Directors as the Programming Committee Vice President and went on to earn the 2015 Achiever’s Award, recorded a marketing campaign for the university’s nonprofit program, and was spotlighted in 2018 as a University System of Maryland (USM) entrepreneur at the USM Chancellor’s home for my leadership through IT TAKES TWO, INC and its impact on communities.

As a single parent at the time, my passion populations are single parents and youth, which inspired me to found IT TAKES TWO, INC in 2012, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that awards scholarships to students living in single parent homes and provides educational and life skills programming. To date, we have awarded 36 Tools for Success Scholarships totaling over $13,000 and celebrated 11 years in service to youth and families on February 15, 2023.

Through IT TAKES TWO, INC’s Positioned for Greatness Youth Program, fifth through 12th grade students learn about managing money, creating a budget, saving, investing in the stock market, creating a business, learning how to pay for college without loans, preparing for their dream careers, anti-bullying and how to be kind to others, leadership, and community service. Youth in need also receive school supplies for the entire school year so they can be successful in the classroom through their Supply Drive 365 initiative, which has supported over 300 youth and families since 2014. Through the Relief Program for Single Parents launched in 2021 in response to COVID-19, parents receive modest financial support to pay for necessities: food, rent, utilities, and internet. Over $4,000 in direct support has been provided to date.

Helping others is what I do, so I decided to extend my love for community through Doing Good is a Business (DGIAB) formerly Jaemellah
Kemp Consulting, which was established on 2014, and rebranded in June 2022. DGIAB is a nonprofit start up consulting firm that assists aspiring and new nonprofit founders to build successful nonprofits founded on sound principles and relevant information. When I started the firm, I figured this was the best way to couple my lived experiences as a nonprofit founder and executive with my education in the nonprofit space.

I have been blessed over the past nine years to assist with startup formation with a 100% 501(c)(3) approval rate to providing service support to over 2,000 nonprofit founders, volunteers, board members, and over 200 boards. Nonprofit start up and board governance are my niche service areas.

In October 2020, I became a first-time author penning my first published work in the co-authored compilation, The Nonprofit Legacy. I also served as a contributing author for an online periodical, Her Hustle Magazine, from June 2020 to November 2020.

In 2021, I was nominated for an ACHI Magazine Award for Nonprofit of the Year. I could not attend the awards ceremony as I had just given birth to my daughter, so my nomination was held for the 2022 award season. I was honored to have been nominated for a total of three ACHI Magazine Awards: Nonprofit of the Year, Mentor of the Year, and Master Coach of the Year. On January 27, 2023, I was honored to have received the Exemplary Community Service Award from The Better Place, Inc, a Prince George’s County, MD nonprofit that serves youth and literacy.

I simply love to serve and I get to do that every day through both businesses.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When God gave me the vision to start IT TAKES TWO, INC, it took a couple of years before I officially launched, but when I finally took the leap of faith, I made a list of 10 people that I just knew would support in some way. Not one of them showed up – in any capacity! I held on that for quite some years until I had an epiphany when I God said “I gave you the vision. Not them. How can you fault them for something I didn’t instruct them to do?” Wow, right?! The grudge I had been holding faded immediately. I had to unlearn placing unfair expectations on people who are not assigned to the assignment and instead embrace help from people I didn’t know who WERE assigned to the mission.

I share this with my clients because lessons like this are not taught in the classroom. I am very open and honest about my experiences, what they can expect from this industry, what the industry expects from them. Granted, my experience may not be theirs, but they are better positioned to handle what “life lessons” may come their way.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients has been word of mouth via social media. I’ve grown my social media following, particularly Facebook, quite organically over the past 11 years and I share A LOT. I cross promote between personal and business pages, so my consulting services are seen on all platforms. Social media is convenient and it’s where your audience lives, so it’s all about strategic placement of services and my clients then sharing their experiences online and directly with people they know in need of my services.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.doinggoodisabusiness.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/doinggoodisabusiness
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/doinggoodisabusiness
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/doing-good-is-a-business/

Image Credits
Anthony Tilgham Urban Awareness USA