We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jonathan Kelly. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jonathan below.

Jonathan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

It was 1 in the morning when we launched Journey Z. My two co-founders and I were in the basement of the chapel at our college. We had homework to do, college to pay for, jobs to work at, and classes to attend. Starting a non-profit on top of all of that seemed impossible. Even still, we felt confident that it was what God wanted us to do. Over the next couple of months we each invested all the extra money we had into Journey Z. Every day it felt like our new passion would crash before it had even gotten off the ground. After three months in, we found our expenses ever increasing. That’s when we started a new practice… prayer lives. Each Wednesday we would go live on Instagram, share our concerns for Journey Z and our personal lives, and then pray about it. Although there were only a few people who joined each night, those prayer lives began to become the heartbeat of our ministry.

One particular night things were very heavy, especially financially. One of us had a missions trip to pay for, I had my next college payment coming, and we had just started a ministry called Kaleidoscope that was costing us quite a lot of cash. We prayed that God would guide us in our discission of what to do next, whether that meant we had to scale things back, or faithfully march forward. After we got off the prayer live that night, I felt hopeless.

However, the next morning I got a text. It was from our Communications and Marketing Director, Kyra. She had been needing funds for her missions trip and wasn’t sure if she was going to meet her goal. She informed our group chat that someone had just donated more than enough money for her to go on her trip. Only a few hours later, I discovered an autopay on my bank account that I did not know was there. Upon cancelling it, I was finally able to pull the funds needed to run our website.

Since then, we have had numerous stories like that, which I believe are all a testament to God’s provision. Some may call it coincidence, but after so many times of witnessing God’s faithfulness, it seems irrational to believe in anything else. Although the road continues to be difficult and mysterious, with every step we take we find that God continues to pave a way for us on our mission.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Journey Z is a non-profit that runs ministries and creates content to engage with generations Z and alpha. We noticed that suicide, depression, anxiety, fatherless homes, and so much more are far too common in the generations of the future. We work to prevent these things by showing people who Christ is, and why He matters in our world today. We run blogs, podcasts, live events, and ministries that all work to achieve this goal. Recently, we have been partnering with other non-profits and churches in the Joplin Missouri area. On Friday September 8, we will be running our first event at Joplin Avenue, where we will pack supplies that will be given to the homeless, single parents, and others in need. We also run a ministry called Kaleidoscope, where we work with understaffed churches in the four states area to help them engage with their community.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Journey Z started as a concept five years ago when I was 15 years old. At the time, it was just my sister and I. After several months, we put the project to rest, but I never stopped dreaming that one day it would be a reality. A few years later everything fell into place when I went to college. I had been building Journey Z’s website, still very unsure what I would do with it. While I was working on it, two of my friends happened to be in the room. They asked me what I was working on. Upon telling them, they bought in and decided to help me. Each of them brought skills into the team that I never knew I needed. For example, Sydney, our Developmental Ministries Director, has music skills that have come in handy. With out her, one of our key ministries would never have taken off.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

One of the things I quickly realized about starting a business is that it puts a lot of eyes on you. Since I and my two cofounders, Sydney and Kyra, all went to the same college, we had everyone watching us. The truth is, I’m a messy person, and although I am forgiven by the grace of God, there is no excuse to continue living in my mess. I have realized that whether I am talking to a multi-millionaire, or one of our volunteers, humility is the key. I don’t pretend to know more than I actually do. I don’t think I am unique or special. I’m simply just trying to faithfully follow God. I think that because of this principal my team and I share, we have been able to establish valuable connections and grow our network in a short amount of time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.journeyzofficial.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journeyzofficial/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/JourneyZofficial/100086589158061/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyrachristmas
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JourneyZ_co
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@journeyzofficial

Image Credits
Kyra Christmas