Today we’d like to introduce you to Maya Jones.
Hi Maya, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My journey to entrepreneurship began firsthand watching my mother open the doors to her own learning center franchise at the age of 10 in Fayetteville, GA. I vividly recall seeing her put in tremendous effort to serve the families of customers who entered despite the uncertainty of guaranteed success. However, the fulfillment she received always shone brightly because she was operating in her purpose. Ultimately, I knew that whatever path I embarked upon, I always wanted to pursue my purpose.
My purpose pursuit began during my undergraduate experience at Spelman where I majored in Mathematics because of my love for solving problems. During my time at Spelman, I was surrounded by highly driven and supportive black women who quite literally had their ish together from head to toe. Being in an environment where women were effortlessly brilliant in creating ways to impact communities locally and globally, dressed to the nines simply to go to the cafeteria, and incredibly articulate in the classroom yet down to earth was an incredible blessing. This experience ignited a fire in me to figure out what my “thing” would be and how I too would “choose to change the world” (Spelman’s motto). While people often assumed I’d become a teacher because of my math degree, I knew that I wanted to solve problems beyond the confines of a classroom.
After graduation, I began my career in consulting where I was able to try out a myriad of things as I navigated the uncertainty of my purpose. Working as a consultant was pivotal in exposing my passion for all things retail as I was able to leverage my analytical skills and creative side to develop and implement strategies for retailers. However, during the pandemic when traveling was halted I found myself working extra long hours on projects that felt unaligned with the things that I truly loved, which included my love for God and the finer things in life. As a result, I started to look into opportunities to pivot my career but realized that the answer to bridging those two passions would likely require a plunge into the risky waters of entrepreneurship. But being the analytic / math-minded person I am, I figured out that going to business school was a potential way to reduce that risk by leveraging the skill sets and wisdom of some of the most esteemed business minds around the world. Thus, I left consulting and decided that I would do everything in my power to pursue my purpose of building a company that merged my faith and love for retail, which led me to launch my company in business school, 3Wise Gifts.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, this road has been as bumpy as the Arkansas dirt roads leading to my grandparents’ house. Starting and operating a business while at Columbia Business School made a lot of sense from the outside but the actual inner workings of executing it has oftentimes felt like a pressure cooker. Becoming an entrepreneur requires a growth mindset centered around resilience and focus.
Some of my greatest struggles have honestly been rooted in shifting my mindset from thinking that I would either win or lose to I will either win or learn. I only lose if I don’t try. Navigating that shift has definitely been easier said than done, (especially being a Type A person who always wants things done perfectly the first time). However, pushing myself to adopt this mindset has allowed me to give myself grace with the multitude of learning experiences I am encountering along the way.
And honestly, it’s been wayyy more realistic given that I am in the early stages of building a company where I have to play all sides from design, marketing, customer service, operations, and so forth.
Additionally, starting a business while in business school has been both a blessing and a curse because I am surrounded by so many helpful and brilliant minds, but it can also feel a little isolating at times because I am choosing a less traditional and more risky path. Although entrepreneurship is rapidly growing within the business school ecosystem, the sectors that business school students typically choose are high-tech or AI-focused. So, starting a faith-forward business in this environment has been a true test of my ability to focus on my personal pursuit of purpose.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
3Wise Gifts is a modern faith-based gifting company inspired by the gifting model of the three wise men who gave gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Through this gifting model, we curate gifts and gift sets of gold items (jewelry pieces that empower one’s soul), frankincense items (fragrance-related items for one’s body), and myrrh gifts (mindfulness items to ease one’s mind). Our unique and innovative gifting model is truly what sets us apart as we are bridging the modernity of mind, body, soul gifting with the original Christmas gifting model of gold frankincense and myrrh to help others gift with purpose. The idea for our company started from my family’s Christmas tradition of gifting like the three wise men. Each Christmas my family would put names in a hat and everyone would gift their selected person three gifts: a gold gift which was generally your biggest or most expensive gift, a frankincense which was always something for your body, and a myrrh gift which was something for your mind. This tradition is what motivated the gifting model of our company, and it has been an incredible privilege to share my family tradition with others.
One of the things I am most proud of is our first product we created, which is a coloring book for children and teens who have lost a parent. As someone whose love language is receiving gifts, I remember my friends and family providing us with traditional perishable gifts such as food or flowers to help us heal through the incredibly difficult time of losing our father unexpectedly. During that season, I remember wanting something that would be more long-lasting and allow me to cling to the memories of my father in any way that I could. While I didn’t know it at the time, that inkling would be shared by many others experiencing grief firsthand or secondhand as well.
As a result of creating this item, our company has been able to partner with non-profit organizations that are committed to helping children and teens healthily go through their grief journey and provide these coloring books as gifts. This act has allowed us as a family to help keep the memory of our father alive and keep the cycle of gifting going.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Growing up my family moved from Atlanta to Oregon for a few years due to my dad’s job coaching for the Portland Trail Blazers. During the off-season, we used to take family bike rides together through the mountains and roads with my sister attached to my dad’s bike via a wagon, my older sister and I riding a double bike, and my mom riding alongside us. While I loved having everyone together exploring new trails and paths, I also enjoyed the serenity and beauty of the mountainous landscape.
To this day, I still love being around mountains because they serve as a physical reminder to me that no matter how big the mountains in my life may seem, that my God is bigger than any of them. This memory ultimately inspired one of my favorite pieces in our gifting collection, which is a mustard seed inscribed on a mountain to remind myself and others that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, which comes from Matthew 17:20.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shop3wisegifts.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shop3wisegifts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/3wisegifts
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/3wisegifts/about/
