Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jaye Wilson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Jaye, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.
Our Target is understanding how mother’s are essentially the most underserved community across the board. We have created a platform for community engagement, resources and building spaces where they don’t think they have a voice and are constantly getting told what we CAN’T do vs What we CAN. We have created a self reflective representation of Woman empowerment of Motherhood, through our events, programmatic development, advocacy work.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a serial Social Entrepreneur, A Black Woman & Mother with a purpose… living my Purpose on Purpose! My previous background in Community Health Nursing introduced me to how marginalization impacts Health & Well-being. I combined my lived experiences and professional background as foundations to start Melinated Moms. Melinated moms provides Strategic Planning & Consulting that incorporates quantitive and qualitative data to improve Maternal Health Outcomes. We improve their ability to ask what they need through education, advocacy, awareness and community building. Melinated Moms utilize strategies that are relatable to woman across the melanated Spectrum. I am most proud that in 3 years we were able to triple our revenue through 7 figures through authentically trusting our community input and voicing to us what they need.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I believe my experience as a Nurse working with Callen-lorde gave me access and first hand experience to the underserved community we were serving at the time. Back then, the LGBTQ community was still considered the outskirts of society. In combination through my own personal experience with traumatic birthing , it fueled in me the desire to create a safe space for other woman/Mothers like me to see our commonalities. I believe my authenticity, experiences, and vulnerability gave me insight and built trust with our community members, as well as expanded our reach with funders and agencies.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
yes it has. After my divorce, I found myself in need of a community. After searching through communities that existed, I couldn’t find one that felt authentic to me or my life transition, So I became what I couldn’t find. I started a meet-up group that would be directed to Mothers of colors, while a providing a space for the children. The first meet-up group started with 11 Moms & Children, fast forward to 7 years later we now have a community of 10k people across the globe. Key Milestones for me was in 2018 , we were asked by the governor of NJ to become a contributing Author to Nurture NJ’s Strategic Plan (https://nurturenj.nj.gov). The plan was released in 2020. 2020 was also the year I published Find Your Roar. FYR is an advocacy training developed to help moms and families found their voice and put their advocacy into action. In 2022 we were also a co-contributing author to NJ maternity action plan which highlighted midwifery care as a contributing factor to reducing Black Maternal Health Mortality. tHAT SAME I was a co-author with Planned Parent for the Sexual education curriculum called My Black health is Beautiful. and I won an impact award in 2023 for this curriculum.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.melinatedmoms.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melinatedmoms
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melinatedmoms
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/melinatedmoms
- Twitter: https://x.com/melinatedmoms
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@melinatedmoms
- Yelp: N/A
- Soundcloud: N/A
- Other: Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/melinated-moms-27986540979
Image Credits
@Melinated Moms. I have the rights and consent to all images provided.