Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Njeri Njuhigu. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Njeri, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned on a job that has helped me as a business owner is recognizing it is not about me… ever. A lot of times when we get criticism, constructive or otherwise, it can be taken personally. The reality is in any business, whether your function is as a creative, an operator or an owner… it really should boil down to the bottom line… the end user / consumer. I remember working early on as an associate producer. I put together a sequence for my story producer to give me notes before it went into full blown editing. I felt so good about what was put together, but the higher level producer wanted to take the scene in a different direction. I thought to myself… “no problem.” I set out to make the changes, even though I wasn’t completely convinced they were right for the tone of the show. I also “at the time” took things literally and personally as if I were in the “wrong” for what I had done thus far. In response, I reacted with one of those bratty, inside my own head, reactions. However, as fate would have it… the person above the person above me had yet another take on how they thought the show should go and what we were doing changed yet again. In the end, the scene became a little bit of this and a little bit of that to best serve the audience and that is exactly what happens in business. I may think what I “want to offer” is what the client needs. However, more than often, once you get into service for a person or a group you “learn” what to offer they actually fill in the gap of their need and pivot accordingly in order to offer the best product possible.

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.

We are fortunate to serve two communities that often intersect but respectively function as two different entities. Our 501c3 nonprofit charity THE CAREBOX NETWORK serves the underserved community of family caregivers with educational and resource tools as well as support groups that support their mental health and self care needs by bringing awareness and holding peer to peer and group events to help them form community. Just as I needed to not feel alone we are proud to be creating community among caregivers and former caregivers alike. Often, caregivers live in the world of navigating anticipatory grief before they face end-of-life grief. It is my pleasure to be able to help not only caregivers, but all individuals in need, deal with what we call “life” grief as well as “end-of-life” grief through our LIVE NLIGHT projects that are a division at Nlight Entertainment. Through the work of our partnering organizations we’ve hosted theater night where we presented a one night only event, WHEN SEASONS CHANGE to help advocate and bring awareness to family caregiver struggles and triumphs. We also provide Masterclasses on all types of grief, caregiving practices and “how to” advocacy practices. Coming soon there will be caregiver guides, ebooks and workbooks to help caregivers and grievers alike stay on track with not only their coping skills but in their healing. We are most proud of the people we have been able to serve. We provide support and resources while they provide the heart to do the work to excavate the life they have yet to live in the light. These projects are an extension of what I have done and needed as a caregiver myself and as the founder of THE CAREBOX NETWORK. It is all a labor of love first and foremost. We just seek to help caregivers create calm in the midst of chaos when the caregiving can get to be overwhelming. A tangible moments that keeps me going is when we were able to help a caregiver facilitate a “good” death for their loved one as they transitioned, allowing the caregiver to feel a sense of honoring in the midst of loss.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yes, there was a time where the vision for THE CAREBOX NETWORK was to simply provide care boxes for family caregivers so that they would know that they are seen, heard and loved despite feeling isolated. The problem was we had to raise a lot of money to put those boxes together and our neighborhood sale did not yield the necessary funds. Being a startup and nonprofit — we had to pivot… how could we get our message to the people, provide a safe space for caregivers and offer a night of reprieve while benefiting the community. We decided we could do a one-night only play that was a tangible event with a date that companies could get behind. Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica was able to donate the space, Thrivent was able to sponsor and the community was able to support in kind. It turned out that the play was a success in that it got to the heart of what it means to decide to be a family caregiver, caregivers were able to have a little respite if only for a few hours, and the public got an education during our q&a about how to advocate and support themselves as caregivers or others as caregivers. Some financial resources were shared in support of caregiving planning.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for us as a new and small business has been word of mouth… hands down… As a founder, I appreciate people sharing our the interviews across social media platforms. People tell others about us as a result of seeing and hearing how we have supported someone they know. Finally, it has come back to us that hearing my caregiving journey has inspired others to take action and reflect on their own journey, grief and perspective about caregiving and grief. It has helped others who hear the struggles I had taking care of two dependent and disabled elderly parents while working in television. Those that witnessed the journey readily share when they or someone they know is facing the difficulty of deciding on care for their loved one, or when they are grieving the anticipated death of a loved one. The second best thing for the source of new clients is peer to peer networking that supports partnerships that serve the our caregiving and grieving communities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thecareboxnetwork.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/careboxnetwork/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CareBoxNetwork
• Twitter: https://x.com/CareBoxNetwork