Today we’d like to introduce you to Joscelyn Cooper-Rodriguez.
Hi Joscelyn, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Growing up as the middle of three girls to a single mom, the struggle was real to stand out! I found myself dabbling in everything until I could be great and noticed for something, so discovering my niche and identity have always been super important to me! I recall being in the 4th grade so vividly because it marks a crucial moment in my life that drastically altered whatever labels or identity I was starting to form for myself. My only true claim to family fame had been the “smart one”, bringing home gold stars and honor awards. My mother always thought of me as her child prodigy, and so she never hovered when I did homework, but over time she started to realize I couldn’t actually read at a 4th-grade level. I was nine when I had to cope with the fact that I had been identifying with a label of myself that was not real. I was not a smart overachiever. I was the product of a failing, black, Cleveland, Ohio school district that had zero expectations of me. A school district that would rather pass me along for ratings than to give me the tools needed to succeed later in life.
With financial support from my grandmother, the following year I was fortunate enough to be accepted into a private school, but they expected me to struggle and insisted on holding me back from the 5th grade. I, however, could not let go of the expectations I had grown to have for myself, no matter how fraudulent they were. So, there I sat interviewing with my new principal at ten years old, pleading my case to work hard and catch up until she was finally persuaded. The sum of my experiences from 5th to 8th grade amounted to balancing the normal need to be liked in school, coming home to do homework and staying up until 2 am learning REAL math, all in an effort to beat the limitations people had placed on me and prove I could be and do more!
In the midst of me overcoming my challenges, I got to watch my mother run and win a seat on the city council, where she advocated for education reform and tackling social injustice issues. Being a part of her campaigns at such a young age further cemented in my mind the importance of transcending labels and expectations and, most importantly, fighting for what’s right. This for me, meant advocating for myself and refusing to give into other’s narratives or labels for me. Although I continued to have an uphill battle with my education, I ultimately became the person who excelled in course work, graduated Summa Cum Laude and got accepted into three colleges on an academic scholarship.
Being the first in my immediate family to pursue a college education directly after high school made me stand out in ways the younger me would have never imagined. All eyes were on me to be one of the big two: Lawyer or Doctor, and in choosing my major, I found myself was once again allowing others expectations to place a label on who I could or should be, even though at the moment I didn’t view it that way. By choosing to double major in Biology and Philosophy, I believed I was flexing my ability to exceed those expectations, but it was through my studies in philosophy that I was once again met with the concept of truly being limitless and being more than the labels placed on us. I took that revelation and completely altered my path for the better and haven’t looked back!
Rather than reassess majors, I made the decision to see my dual degree through because regardless of whether I became a doctor, they reflected what I am capable of rather than who I am. I took the opportunity to focus in on what I truly love, which at the time was non-profit event planning. These events required me to advocate for a cause and build something great from limited resources as I had learned from my mother’s campaigns. Although I had been doing this sort of work successfully for my college organization, I had no idea how to pursue this as a career. Upon graduation from the University of Tampa (2012), I found myself struggling to find job opportunities, and my family was freaking out about me failing miserably after deciding to skip medical school. But once again, I couldn’t fight the need to stand firm in who I wanted to be and what I knew I could achieve.
After two months of job hunting and no luck, I packed up and moved to Atlanta, Georgia feeling that the job market would have more to offer and I was right! I ended getting a position for a small corporate firm assisting with events and although it wasn’t the non-profit setting I had hoped for, it turned out to be a great stepping stone in my career. At the age of 21, when the director of events resigned, I got my shot at the role and brought the company half a million dollars in under a year, confirming to me that I was on the right track.
I was so successful that by the age of 24, I started the process of buying my first home. I remember my mother being so apprehensive. Her lack of faith made me question if I was ready but in following my gut and sticking to my commitment to be limitless and overcome what’s expected of me I closed the deal and seven years later, my home has become a major investment.
After such a major milestone at 24, I started to rethink my career path and how I could get back in line with my passion. As fate would have it, I found a position working in nonprofit healthcare as an event coordinator for Piedmont Healthcare Foundation. It was a major shift from where I had been but it was a necessary one that brought me full circle, marrying my passion for pre-med biology with my passion for events. This served as yet another great stepping stone into my current role working for the Georgia Tech Center For Health & Humanitarian Systems.
My current position as Program and Operations Manager has brought me back into leadership still focused on my passions but it has also elevated me further into global issues where I create international opportunities for thought leaders and innovators to collaborate and discuss solutions that resolve the crisis and ensure our global communities have the resources they need to be healthy and thrive. It has been so rewarding for me to not only lead the logistics for these international experiences but be a part of important conversations regarding vaccinations, food security, affordable healthcare and beyond.
As I continue to elevate myself in this space and serve the community, I continue to challenge myself to do more and be more. I have drawn inspiration from my global travel experiences (personally and professionally), my logistics abilities and my ability to help people connect with the world around them. From this (and the support of my dear husband, which is a whole different ten-year story), I have started an Experience Agency called Justified Recess. We help people maximize their travel experience and get the most out of their destinations. We don’t just get you to your trip, we optimize it. For our customers, we cut out their need to endlessly scroll and search multiple destinations To-Do List websites. We get to the heart of the individual. Their needs, interests, and even capabilities to build an experience that is unique to them.
My husband and I have been collecting content and taking clients on a trial basis to really refine our offerings before launching in April. The response has been amazing and I couldn’t be more excited about bringing this business to life, offering a service that I love and ultimately staying true to the identity I’ve created for myself, which is limitless.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not Smooth! Getting the proper education has definitely been a struggle. Once getting that education, staying motivated through the process of catching up was indeed a struggle and even to this day I feel I process things differently than most people. I can sometimes be a setback but it has served me well in some instances.
Advocating for myself when people have told me I can’t has happened often and these people are typically people in authority or family, which has been tough to overcome. Work-life balance between the salaried position I love versus the start-up business I equally love if not more.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Justified Recess?
Justified Recess isn’t a travel agency, it’s an Experience Agency. We help people maximize their travel experience and get the most out of their destinations. As adults, we work hard! We’ve earned maximum playtime to explore the world around us, and our agency ensures you get your recess the JUSTIFIED way!
People are used to visiting third-party travel sites to book a hotel or a flight and while there, they may find some “Things To Do” at the destination, but those things aren’t uniquely catered to the individual! That’s where we come in.
For our clients, we cut out their need to endlessly scroll and search multiple To-Do List. We get to the heart of you as an individual. Your needs, your interest, and you’re capabilities to curate the optimal experience for you.
We specialize in planning daily “Recess Itineraries” through taking time to learn our clients and then using our experience and skills in logistically to map out the best experience. I draw on my professional experience in mapping logistics for program events and travel to produce the itineraries. Every Trip we share gets so much acknowledgment regarding the intricate activities taking place and how much was able to be experienced, and this is what we are known for.
I’m most proud of the thought behind our name. On a personal level, my husband’s and my initials are JR. We have always had this saying, “if you’re going to do it, do it big,” and from the trips we take to our wedding and beyond, we have certainly lived up to that mantra. So when thinking about a name for the business, we wanted to convey that getting to a destination is just the tip of the iceberg, it’s what you experience while there that counts. Justify the reason for your travel or stepping out for a day’s adventure, and leave no stone unturned. Make it count for something in a way that’s meaningful for you! Furthermore, seeing our brand name extend into our offerings and give more life to our services is so rewarding.
We offer Monthly subscription to “Playground of the Month” ( highlighting one destination or Hot Spot per month for people who know they want to explore the world around them but aren’t sure where to go. The Atlanta area will be a primary focus). Recess Itineraries (Planning of daily activities while at your destination)
Personalized Playgrounds: (Service offering destination research and or some Recess recommendations based on the client’s specific interest). The Field Trip (Full vacation planning from playground and hotel selection to recess itineraries and more).
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Commitment to succeeding is number one. It can be grueling to create content, create travel itineraries and make connections but it’s the commitment to success that drives our efforts to think out of the box and produce quality for people.
Contact Info:
- Email: JustifiedRecess@gmail.com
- Website: JustifiedRecess.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/justifiedrecess?igshid=trn23wb9rexo
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/create_channel?channel_creation_token=GiDSoN25ARoSGFVDeXN4VVhNQU91M3dpNlZtX0RKM2prZw%253D%253D&upsell=channel
