We were lucky to catch up with Sydnee Haynes recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sydnee , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Growing up in New Orleans Louisiana, (9th Ward Area) Trauma is an everyday thing, from crime to loss and even Hurricane Katrina. It is almost as if being born in New Orleans, Louisiana gives you the stamp of trauma for life. The first person I lost to gun violence in the city of New Orleans was my uncle who lost his life in front of his house. As a 6 years old kid I did not understand death in the sense of it being so final. I did not understand why my uncle was taken from me especially when I just saw him earlier in the day, not knowing it would be our last encounter. I did not understand that in New Orleans Homicides were followed by fear so as a young child I was not able to attend the funeral to say goodbye or even to ensure it was real. Years passed and I lost more people to Gun Violence, Cousins, Uncles, Friends, and even Coworkers but then in 2021 as a 26-year-old female I lost a partner and a friend, and I could not fathom my now reality. To go from seeing and talking to someone every day and going to sleep knowing this person would be to my left to now on June 26, 2021, this person just being gone really shook my world. Nothing felt the same anymore, my life, my house, my room, my car and even the city of New Orleans. Everything reminded me of that person, and I needed help because I never felt pain like that before. So, I created the help I needed with Justice Angels because when I went looking for the help, I was either ineligible because I wasn’t family or ineligible because I wasn’t a mother and or it was supposed to be confidential, and it wasn’t. At the time I could not find an outlet that catered to everyone else outside of the family while also including the family because let’s be real death effects everyone connected to the individual not just family and sometimes people find family in friends, girlfriends, and co-workers. Justice Angels was created for everyone that suffered from loss.
Sydnee , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hello everyone, My name is Sydnee and I am a 9th Ward native of New Orleans, LA. I have a bachelor’s in criminal justice and an Advance Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice. My Grief Consulting/Court Support for Wrongfully convicted Felons business Justice Angels was founded after the loss of my someone very near and dear to my heart. I needed an outlet in order to cope with his death and I was not able to find that outlet until months down the line. During this time, I would facilitate the grief sessions when the instructor was absent, and I then decided this is what i wanted to do as a career, Help those who can’t help themselves. I believe I relate to a lot of people because I have firsthand experience in a lot of things that other individuals may have gone through so it’s not hard for me to empathized with people. Most of the time individuals who experience grief of any kind just need someone to talk to and that is the service we provided Here at Justice Angels , whether you would like a session with you and your family or just you we are here to be a listening ear for you. The other side of Justice Angels focuses on being an advocate and support individuals who are wrongfully convicted and going through the court process whether its rallies for the individual or transportation for the family to and from court. I believe support is important and i have seen firsthand how it can affect individuals going through the court process so we at Justice Angels want to help as much as possible. I am most proud that I am healing while helping heal others. It is not an easy task sometimes but I know how important having an outlet is for individuals. If you do not learn anything else, please know that Justice Angels is founded by a young individual who is tired of seeing her city (all cities) and everyone hurt whether it is with grief, the unjust system or just loss of all kind so we at Justice Angels are here to help you in any and every way we can.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Just because you are nice does not mean everyone wants to see you win is one of the lessons I’ve had to unlearn. Being a non-profit organization and just being me in general I support different people whether its buying merchandise and or sharing an advertisement and I am a people person, so I tend to just love to see people win. When I first started my business, I had a lot of guidance from close people to me good and bad that I have supported and met throughout the years, so I was able to take the advice given to me and through trial and error at least start my business. The assistance was greatly appreciated and needed. I realized once I got to a certain point in my business a lot of people who portrayed to be supportive of me and my endeavors really showed to be the complete opposite once I started connecting to people on a higher level. It took me aback of course but I quickly had to learn to give those individual’s grace because maybe their displaced frustrations had nothing to do with me, I know sometimes people will support you if you stay on their level but the min you elevate a bit of jealousy may rear his ugly head. So yes, I had to unlearn that just because I’m nice does not mean even the closest people will be nice in return.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Building my audience on social media I believed would be easier than it has been. When I first created my social media page I uploaded the basics just a little bit about myself and then I received a friend request or I believe I requested to follow this page by the name of Goddess Reaching Out. Going through her page I saw that our organizations were similar and that she had lost a brother. Through out the months to come she would repost my post and or stories and I would do that same to hers. Recently I posted my flyer for business opportunities, and I just had to notify her that I appreciate all her support because her following is bigger than mine and anything I post she may repost which brings more traction and a bigger audience to my page. I also have other organization such as Arin’s Nesting Place that has allowed me to gain a bigger audience as well. Every day I try to post something relatable on my social media page in order to gain traction, I also use a lot of hashtags that individuals may relate to but most important support from other business and family helps a lot.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://justice-angelsllc.squarespace.com/
- Instagram: justiceangelsllc