Community Highlights: Meet Jonesti Steele-Averitte of Blind but Blessed/ Blind Limitless Enterprise

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonesti Steele-Averitte.

Hi Jonesti, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Our story is one of love, resilience, and learning to navigate life together. My husband, Hareem, and I are both completely blind. We each lost our sight after experiencing separate, violent attacks when we were young adults. Those experiences changed our lives in ways we never could have imagined, but they ultimately brought us to a training center for people with disabilities, where we met each other.
From the beginning, we connected through our shared experiences and understanding of what it meant to live with blindness. As our relationship grew, so did our confidence in building a life together. When I became pregnant, I initially had a lot of fear and questions about whether we would be able to raise a child independently. But instead of allowing those fears to define us, we learned to adapt. We found creative ways to do everyday parenting tasks safely and independently, from organizing our baby’s clothes with safety pins to learning new techniques for cooking, caring for our son, and managing our home.
Today, we are proud parents to our son, Anthony, and we continue to build our family and our life together. Our journey hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve learned that disability doesn’t mean you can’t have the life, love, family, and dreams you want. Sometimes you simply have to find a different way to get there. Looking back, the challenges we’ve faced have made us stronger as individuals and as a couple, and we’re grateful to God for how far we’ve come.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, the road certainly hasn’t been smooth. As a blind woman, a wife, a mother, and now a recent master’s graduate from the University of Alabama, I’ve faced challenges in many different areas of my life. One of the hardest parts has been constantly having to prove that we are capable. There have been people who have doubted our abilities as individuals and as parents, questioned whether we can truly do the things we say we do, and even accused us of pretending to be blind.
Beyond the individual comments, there is the much bigger challenge of simply living in a world that was not designed with blind people in mind. Everyday things that many people take for granted can require extra planning, creativity, and advocacy. Parenting has brought its own challenges, because we not only want to care for and protect our children—we also have to navigate other people’s assumptions about what blind parents are capable of.
We’ve also faced criticism simply for loving each other, choosing to build a family, and wanting the very best for our children. At times, it has been incredibly frustrating. But we’ve learned not to let other people’s limitations in understanding blindness become restrictions on our own lives. We know who we are, we know the kind of parents we are, and we know how deeply we love our family.
So, while the road hasn’t been smooth, every obstacle has taught us to be more resilient, more creative, and more confident in ourselves. We continue to move forward—not because the challenges aren’t there, but because we’ve learned that they don’t get to decide what is possible for our family.

As you know, we’re big fans of Blind but Blessed/ Blind Limitless Enterprise. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
My husband and I collaborate on our business ventures.

How do you define success?
Success, to me, is building a full, meaningful, and independent life despite being totally blind. It means being a loving wife, a present mother, and a partner who contributes to my family and community. It means pursuing my own education and career goals while supporting my husband’s dreams and celebrating his accomplishments.
Success is knowing that blindness does not define the limits of what my family and I can accomplish. It is raising children who see strength, resilience, love, and possibility in both of their parents. It is having the confidence to advocate for myself, use the tools and resources that allow me to live independently, and continue growing professionally and personally.
Ultimately, success is having a family that is healthy, connected, and proud of the life we have built together.

Pricing:

• Shirts $25
• Hoodies $55
• Jumpsuits $100

Contact Info:

• Website: https://haaveritte866.wixsite.com/blind-limitless/category/all-products
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_j.steele?igsi=MXJ4cXkwMjF3bnpraw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CZyFrzR7Q/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@blindbutblessed304?si=5zqED_L_Ioc-ueOT