Charity is a multi-passionate creative professional from the thriving city of Atlanta, with over 8 years of extensive experience in digital marketing and design. She’s empowered ambitious women from Atlanta to Dubai to elevate their brands, exceed their business goals, and most importantly, make money.
On today’s episode of Creator Stories, Charity is sharing how faith has helped her courageously commit to everything that comes her way and led her to where she is today, in business and life.
Charity’s website: https://www.charitymahone.com/
Jessmyn Solana:
Hi guys, and welcome back to Interact’s Creator Stories podcast. As usual, I’m so excited to have you all here, and I’m so excited to be here. I’m your host, Jessmyn Solana. And with me today, I have Charity Mahone. Charity, thank you so much for hopping on with us. I’m really excited to chat.
Charity Mahone:
Thank you for having me. I’m super excited.
Jessmyn Solana:
Of course, of course. And to give you guys a little bit of a background on who Charity is, she’s a web designer, or web plus brand designer, I should say, be more specific, from Atlanta, Georgia, with over eight years of experience in branding and digital marketing. She’s worked with clients featured on HBO, BET, NBC, Essence, and The Washington post. She helps early entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs looking to scale their business online. And your brand, your business is just, Charity Mahone, right? Charitymahone.com.
Charity Mahone:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah. And so, the business name is Charity Mahone Digital Design Co, but everybody just refers to, Charity.
Jessmyn Solana:
I love that. I love that. So, give us a little bit more about what you do, who you are, and then take us back to the beginning. How did you get started in all of this?
Charity Mahone:
Okay. So back to the beginning, I’m a self-taught graphic designer, so my journey started after graduate school. And it started while I was taking care of my grandmother who had dementia. And so during the time, I was applying for jobs and that process was… It sucked. I was applying, I had an Excel sheet, and it was like, “No, no, no, no.” And I was just very frustrated, and so I remember during that time, asking my dad for help. I’m a preacher’s kid, and so I was asking my dad for help, and he told me to pray about it. And so I was like, “Well, I have nothing else to lose from this.”, and so I prayed. And I had a dream that God was kind of showing me what I was doing now. And it kind of felt like my mind was shifting from, looking for a job to just trying to build my skillset.
And as I was building my skillset at home, taking care of my grandmother, my brother began to tell people, “Oh, my sister can help you with that. My sister can help you with that. My sister [inaudible 00:02:24].” he was like the one man sales team, and I started getting clients and my business started growing. And that’s kind of how it started, word of mouth, really being-
Jessmyn Solana:
Wow.
Charity Mahone:
… a sucky, stuck place. But now looking back, I know I was supposed to be in that place to be where I am now. So, that’s how it started. And so now, over time, just word of mouth, people from college and grad school were telling different people about me. And I was working with clients. And you have one or two clients, you’re trying to… they’re your babies, so you’re trying to take care of them. And one of the first projects I had back, I think in like 2016, she was transitioning from full-time to having a private practice. And I designed her brand identity, I built out her website, and so she was telling other people about me, and they would tell other people. And that’s how I was able to grow my business.
Jessmyn Solana:
Wow.
Charity Mahone:
So word of mouth really helped.
Jessmyn Solana:
That’s amazing. My first thought in that was, “My brother would not be my number one sales [inaudible 00:03:38].” But I think that’s it credible though, because people, I think… I mean, word of mouth is ancient, old times, of how you get your business up and running. Right? It’s like the first type of marketing. And I mean, now of course, it’s amplified with social media, but yours is still… your story has that more intimate kind of style of word of mouth of just friends of friends of friends of friends. And I think that’s incredible because not a lot of people can do that.
Charity Mahone:
Yeah. I’m like… What really helped is, I’m an extrovert, I can be, but I don’t have to go outside [inaudible 00:04:23]. My brother, he’s very sociable, he’s really quick like, “Oh…” talking, “What do you do?” “Such and such” “Oh, my sister can help you with it.” He’s that type of person. He’s a social butterfly. And so, that really helped out. And the way we were raised, my dad raised us to be really close. He was like, “It’s only two of y’all, so y’all have to work together.” And I’m so happy we were raised like that because it really helped. I’m so happy.
But yeah, like you were saying, word of mouth is really a big deal. And a lot of people don’t realize, the way you take care of people, can really help out in the future. And that goes back to, when I think about when you starting a business, it’s really good to have really good relationships. That plays a part of your longevity.
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah. Something that came to mind too was just, because it was this sort of really raw, word of mouth, and not curated. Right? It wasn’t like you could say, “Here’s my ideal client.” to your brother. “Go find these people.”, which is what a lot of people do online right now. How were you able to kind of figure out, this is right for me, this is not the right client for me? Were you taking on every single person, until you were able to kind of pick and choose?
Charity Mahone:
Yeah. Oh, so you… That’s a good point. So in the beginning, I was so happy to get paid to create and be creative. I was so happy, so I was taking everyone, and I was kind of burned a couple of times. I was talking to my brother about this yesterday. I remember having a check bounce for $40, a $40 check bounce. And I’m thinking, “Okay, this isn’t going to work.” And so, I remember having other clients, it really didn’t go really well, our personalities didn’t mesh. I just really didn’t understand the value of what I was providing them, so I kind of let them take advantage of me, in a way. And so, I’m not sure if it was my mom or my dad, but they told me to pray this prayer.
And I’ve been praying it to now… Praying, “Okay, Lord, if this is your will for the client for me, please bless it’ll come together. Your will, your way, and I’ll be happy in it. If it’s not your will, please bless it won’t come together. And it won’t be on me.” And that prayer still works. That prayer has allowed me to have really big projects, work with really great people. That prayer has allowed where people are like, “I’ve been trying to work with you for years. It hasn’t come together.” [inaudible 00:07:01] like, “Oh, I know why.” I’m like, “Well, I don’t know. I’ve been here.” So that [inaudible 00:07:08]… a real, simple prayer, but it’s really helped me because, you can’t just imagine the disappointment, like a $40 check bouncing. What?
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah.
Charity Mahone:
That’s it?
Jessmyn Solana:
I love that though, because, gosh, I remember this… It’s… Well, it’s not really a stat or, I don’t know. I guess it’s a statistic, but when I was in high school, I was doing this project and I had a teacher at the time. And I don’t even know how this kind of conversation came up in class, but pretty much, she was talking about how faith to… at one part, of course, is someone’s everyday life. But it can actually do a lot of things, in terms of decreasing stress, knowing it’s not in your hands. And kind of putting it out on the table, which I feel like a lot of people, even if they don’t necessarily have a specific religion, still do something similar. Whether it be more spiritual, whether it be something more of nature, or whether it be even just journaling. But just kind of putting it out there into the universe and letting it kind of play out.
Charity Mahone:
Yeah, because I feel like when you’re running your business, there’s so many variables. No two days are the same. You’re putting out fires. And for me, leaning on my faith, it was like, “Okay, this is a fire I can’t put out. I need the super head, firefighter to come in.” And for me, that’s God. And that’s really helped me to realize, “Okay, it’s okay.” Because what was happening in the beginning, the way I was working wasn’t sustainable, working long hours.
Do you know the myth or the different things that people say like, “Team no sleep.”? And just like, “Okay, I got to work. I got to get this done. I’m trying to get paid and all of this.” And you run your body down. You’re burnt out, you’re tired, you really don’t have anything to give. And you just… I’m happy I have a business, but I’m sick, I don’t feel well. And then clients notice it. They’re like, “You can chill. We’re doing good, fall back. It’s okay. It is okay. Girl, chill. Get some rest.” But you’re like, “No, I got to be on it. I want to be all things.” And just… I believe we’re not made to live that type of lifestyle.
Jessmyn Solana:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Charity Mahone:
Yeah.
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah. It’s really crazy because, I’m sure I’ve said this on so many episodes to the people who are listening, but the kind of hustle and grind mentality, I think, was just so big for so long that people thought this is what is just expected of everybody. But really, if you’re giving yourself at 150% every day, how can you really produce over time? Right?
Charity Mahone:
Yeah.
Jessmyn Solana:
At some point, it’s going to die out. You’re going to be too burned out and it won’t work out. But I guess my question from this conversation that’s happening is, as you were going through that, I know you mentioned that some of your clients are like, “It’s okay. Relax for a little bit.” What was that like, having to kind of admit, “Hey, I’m not in a good place right now, and I need some time.”?
Charity Mahone:
That was like a mind-blowing situation because you’re… I really don’t have any… I didn’t have any mentors, anything like that, so I’m going off of what I see. Number one, I’m already beating myself down because I’m more of a night owl, so trying to force myself to get up early. And I’m already like, “Eh, [inaudible 00:11:02].” I don’t like doing it. So forcing myself to get up early, then forcing myself to work. And then, your clients are giving you feedback, telling you, “It’s okay to fall back.” And they’re the ones paying you, so it was like, “You know what, maybe I do need to fall back. Maybe I need to chill and maybe I need to enjoy life.”
But for me, this is kind of like, in my head, when you’re raised up and let’s say, you’re not where you would like to be, financially. And it’s kind of a reminder like… I’m thinking, “If I don’t grind, I can go back to that place.” And you don’t want to go back to that place. There’s a lot of trauma there, there’s a lot of hurt, there’s a lot of disappointment. And so, sometimes I feel like, in the past, I was moving where I’m running away from poverty or running away from not having. And as a result, that mindset was kind of burning me out, and I wasn’t trusting.
So it got better, honestly, when I started trusting God. And I had to tell people… I had to ask my mom to help me pray. One time we were getting ready to pray, and I was like, “Pray that I will work really hard.” And she was just like, “No, I’ll pray that you work smart.” And I’m like, “Huh, that’s an interesting concept.”
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah.
Charity Mahone:
“Wow. I never thought of that.” Mind blown. So now I’m like, “Okay. Well pray. I work smart, y’all.” So yeah, just kind of shifting different mindset, because it’s like, I’m having mindsets that I think how things are supposed to be, and it’s not what… that’s not sustainable.
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah.
Charity Mahone:
That may work one or two years, but you’re getting older. Eventually, I want to get married, I want to have kids. Working hard like that, that’s not sustainable with kids, a husband, and anything else I may want to do when I get older. So…
Jessmyn Solana:
I think even too, just sometimes when I think of it, it’s like, for me personally, and I’m sure a lot of people have heard me say this a million times, but I love just having time to sit down at the end of the night and watch TV, and not-
Charity Mahone:
[inaudible 00:13:18].
Jessmyn Solana:
Turn my brain off and just not have to think. Right?
Charity Mahone:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jessmyn Solana:
Letting it play. And I think what’s funny about it is, growing up, I remember my parents always being like, “Oh, why are you watching so much TV? It’s bad for your brain. You should read or something.” But for me, that’s not relaxing. It’s like-
Charity Mahone:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jessmyn Solana:
… I’m thinking. So for me, it’s like, I want to be able to actually just sit down and not have to think, if that makes.
Charity Mahone:
Yeah. Yeah. There’s something… It’s so interesting that you said that. I was thinking about Chadwick Boseman. I was watching an interview, I think it was a year or two. And they were asking him, “What do you do when you’re not filming and different things like that?” And he said, “I like to watch TV.” They were like, “What?” He was like, “Yeah, I like to watch reality housewives.” It was like, “What is this?”
Jessmyn Solana:
That’s hilarious.
Charity Mahone:
He’s achieve… Well, he achieved so much, but for him to say, “I need to watch TV.” Just something… He said something where it’s not pulling from his mind and you’re stressing.
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah.
Charity Mahone:
Just something relaxing.
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah.
Charity Mahone:
So I love TV too. I can put on a good Lifetime movie, and that’s it.
Jessmyn Solana:
I love that. I love that. But I do… I think there’s just so much courage in kind of admitting, “I can’t keep going this way. And before I do burnout, I have to take that step back.” So I love that you do that, and I think a lot of people kind of forget that they’re allowed to do that, if that makes sense. They forget like, “Oh, this… I actually… This is in my control to say, ‘Hey, I need to take a step back.'”
Charity Mahone:
Yeah. I think with that, it helps you store what you have well, store your time, store your resources, and just store your life really well. And then, something that really helped is, I have a client and before the pandemic, they were going on four vacations out the year. And I thought that was unheard of. I’m like, “Four vacations? What? What Are you doing?” And so, I took that same philosophy.
Now, my vacations weren’t as extravagant, but it may be like a week, where I’m not doing anything, or taking a road trip. And that was so helpful. And I was like, “Wow, I’m taking time off and I’m getting more done. What else can I add?” And so over time, I started adding a gym membership and that was very helpful. And then now, I’m striving to eat better. I have good days and bad days. So just over time figuring out, “Okay, how can I take care of myself better? Because when I’m taking care of myself better, that helps the business, that helps clients.” And then thinking about, “Okay, who can I bring on my team to help?” And that’s still really helpful. Allowed me to scale and different things like that.
Jessmyn Solana:
I love that. Tell me a little bit more about that. What do you mean by, bringing someone onto your team?
Charity Mahone:
Yeah. So for instance, I would have projects and they would ask for things that I couldn’t do the best. So I would say, “Oh, well, I don’t offer that.” But over time, with me knowing different people… For instance, let’s say, if I’m working on a branding and web design, my brother’s a photographer. So I can refer my brother like, “Okay. He’ll be a great fit.” So my brother and I, we work on a lot of projects together.
Jessmyn Solana:
Oh, cool.
Charity Mahone:
And then I’ve been able to… I have a virtual assistant, is really good with helping me stay active with marketing. And so, I love that piece showing up online. And so, I was kind of in a feast and famine. So I would do really well marketing, then I’d get clients and I’m like, “Oh, I’ve got to worry about client work.” And then I stopped marketing. It was like a cycle. God, please get me off this cycle. So he allowed me to come across someone.
She honestly reached out to me and was like, “Hey, I think we would be a good fit together to work.” And I’m like, “Oh, okay.” But I’ve never brought anybody, and paying them consistently. And honestly, I was afraid. So I was like, “I don’t know if I can do that.” And so, she reached out again and this was actually before the pandemic. And I felt like… I honestly felt God did want me to bring her on, but I was afraid. But I did it. And so, that made things so much better because I was able to give tasks for her, that was part of projects. And she’s really skilled in marketing and design. And so, I was like, “Oh, what? I can give someone work and I can focus on other things?”
And so over time, kind of reaching out, looking on Instagram, basically, to see who’s really good in branding and different things like that. And just trying to build relationships. And I’ve been working with… So far, my team is small, but it’s me, David, Asia, Leah, and [Amari 00:18:22]. So about five people. So-
Jessmyn Solana:
Nice.
Charity Mahone:
… being able to find people. And I feel like God’s going to allow me to discover people that we work really well together and we’ve been able to grow. Oh, and I forgot [Latanya 00:18:37]. That helped, when I was able to get a project manager because-
Jessmyn Solana:
Wow.
Charity Mahone:
Yeah. That will get your life. Okay? She’s really good. She’s really, really good. And she helps me know, okay, what projects I’m working on. She sends me a list. “Okay. This is what you’re working on this week. These are the deliverables. This month, this is coming up. This project is coming up. Want me to check and see if they have any homework due? This is what we’re making this quarter. To hit our goal, we need this.” And so it helped me stay more in my zone of genius, because I love the work, but the organization and the project management, I was doing it, but I felt like somebody can do that better.
And so, she’s been helpful. I’ve been working with her for a couple of months now. And so, that’s been getting me together and allowed me to really kind of scale and see the numbers. In my head, I know what the numbers are at all times, because she tells me, “Hey, these are the numbers.” Yesterday, she told me… She was like, “Oh, I was telling her about my birthday trip. And I was like, “I want to go on the trip. Then she said, “Well, you may need to get your wig and shoot some reels on Instagram to get some clients or something like that if you want to bring some more money in.” So just kind of having somebody to check, let you know, “Okay, this is where we are. This is where we need to be.” Or, “We’re over. Let’s celebrate it. You can kind of do something special to celebrate. Your over.” Not always working and not celebrating how far you’ve come along.
Jessmyn Solana:
So, because I love all of this. And this has actually been a common theme, I think, throughout the season where, of the podcast, I mean, where a lot of people had to kind of take the courage in adding onto their team, in order to kind of focus on the things that they like doing in their business, and in order to grow, which is totally natural. But what I found and what’s something that came to mind as you were speaking was, it doesn’t sound like everybody came on at once. So how do you figure out what kind of help you need at that moment? Or I guess, for example, a project manager versus a virtual assistant? Or a project manager manager versus somebody to do branding and so on.
Charity Mahone:
Gotcha. That’s a good question. You’re on it.
Jessmyn Solana:
Thank you.
Charity Mahone:
So I’ve been reading a book that… I can’t think of the name of the book right now. But it talks about how, if you’re the CEO, you have to kind of like… For so long, I’ve been working in my business and not on my business. But when you’re working on growing the business, you have to kind of be like a bird and seeing, “Okay, what problems are coming up? What issues are we having? How can we solve those things before it becomes a huge fire?”
And so when I first started, the first person I brought on was David. My brother helped me because I’m working on branding and web design, but I’ve had clients that say, “Oh, I DIY my photos.” And it’s like, “no. No, baby. No.” So I would either research and look for photographers in their area, and [inaudible 00:22:04] them, or if, they’re the Atlanta area, just refer them to my brother. And I’m just being transparent and say, “Okay, I understand that you may want to save some dollars and do the photos yourself, but you’re risking not having the impact that you want. Do you want that to happen, basically?” And they’re like, “Well, I didn’t look at it like that.”
And so, he was one of the ones that was helping me in the beginning. And with the marketing, the virtual assistant. So I already knew she was good in marketing and things like that. So she was helping me market and things were growing. And I was like, “Okay, I need help staying together.” And so Latanya, she’s like my little sister and she goes to my church. And I already know she’s super organized. She had a business when she was 16 years old.
Jessmyn Solana:
Wow.
Charity Mahone:
Yeah. She was saving up money to go on vacations that costs thousands of dollars, so I knew that it was organized. And so… I helped her I helped her and her a little… She had a business pitch at like 16, and she was able to raise money. So, I knew she was organized. And so she wanted, I guess, to learn more and she was getting a marketing degree. So I was like, “Okay, well this is the areas I need help with. Can you help me?” And she was like, “Yeah.” So I was kind of training her and letting her learn my systems and different things. And she caught on quick, like so quick. I was like, “Oh, snap. I got to get it together.” So, she helped me stay organized.
Then we were bringing in more clients, and I’m like, “Wait a minute. I need some more assistance.” So I was basically… I would tell people, “See what problems are happening or see areas that can be a problem. Okay. Start bringing in people to help you with those areas. And then over time, you’ll continue to build.” That’s something that I’m trying to do this year, is continuing to build, and not lose momentum. And one way that you can do that is, having these problems come up and you’re not fixing them. You’re just letting them… “I’ll get to that. I’ll get to that.” And then the whole house is on fire. So, that’s kind of what helped me do that.
Jessmyn Solana:
Oh, I love that. I love that because it’s, I feel like when you hear it on the surface of, “Yeah, I built this team, I got all these people to work for me.” It sounds like there was this kind of very strategic business proposal that you came up with and then hired on these people. But a lot of it is just really organic where it’s like-
Charity Mahone:
mm-hmm.
Jessmyn Solana:
… “All right, I’m at this stage, I need somebody to help me do this. All right, let’s look for them.” And it really could be as simple as that.
Charity Mahone:
Yeah. I forgot, it’s some other people that work with me. Even like, I used to sit at a kitchen table thinking like, “Oh my God, I need to write a blog post.” I’m looking at the stats, I know the benefits blogging yields, but I just physically did not want to do that. And I was the one holding up progress because I didn’t want to do it. And so, I think it was like last year, last year, the year before last, I was like, “You know what, I’m going to just pay somebody to do this. Just pay somebody to do it, tell them what I need, have an outline.” And then that freed up more work.
And it’s kind of like just realizing that sometimes we’re the one holding up progress because we’re afraid to kind of bring somebody in. And doesn’t have to be like a huge investment. It can start small. You can say, “Okay, let’s see how this works for this month. If it works really well, we’re going to continue. If it doesn’t, maybe we need to scale back a little bit further then on a monthly. It can be, maybe, I get you to do something quarterly.” Just taking small steps.
Jessmyn Solana:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). I love that. I think that’s so good. I also totally forgot to ask this, but I really wanted to make sure I got it in because you mentioned, and I also saw this on your website, that you were self-taught for, was it, graphic design? Did I get that right?
Charity Mahone:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Graphic design and web design. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jessmyn Solana:
And I know you mentioned that early on, you had just graduated and you were looking for a job. You weren’t really sure what you wanted to do, until you decide to start your own business. So, I think my question is just, for anybody out there listening, who are maybe thinking of starting a new skill, but they didn’t necessarily, I guess, quote, unquote, go to school for it or anything like that, what was that like? What was that process like? And how did you get to a place where were comfortable enough to be like, “Okay, this is something that I’m good at.”?
Charity Mahone:
Gotcha. So, I spent a lot of time, first, on YouTube and watching the videos and different things like that. But to get more of a structure, what I did was, I looked at a university and I saw their course curriculum and I-
Jessmyn Solana:
Oh.
Charity Mahone:
Yeah. And I looked and see what they were focusing on. And I was like, “Okay, well I need to focus on this. I need to focus on that.” And then I would get… I would look at the professors. And honey, I would stalk them. It was this one guy, named Brandon. I watched probably all his videos on YouTube. He’s my teacher. He doesn’t know it. Listen how to talk, listen to what the different things he would say. And doing research like that. And then I would get books and I read the books just for the foundation piece.
And it’s another part of the story I forgot to say. So when I started getting a little bit better, it was like God was leading me to… I felt like he wanted me to do a workshop. And so, I was like, “Okay, this is what I was supposed to do.” And I was super excited. So I was looking for venues and I came across this new co-working space. And it was a creative space, a lot of great individuals there. It was called, Foster. And I had the event there. One person signed up for the workshop and I was like, “Oh my God.” I was so broken up about it.
But the interesting thing about it, they needed people, because they were startup, they needed people to work the front. And so you would work the front desk in exchange for office space.
Jessmyn Solana:
Oh.
Charity Mahone:
And that was amazing. Through there, I was able to interact with a lot of individuals that were further along. They went to school, they went to SCAD, they were doing these amazing things. And they weren’t able to answer all my questions. When I had a question about pricing, when I had a question about, “How do you do this?” About like… Asking, “What’s this [thingamajiggerbob 00:28:56]?” They would know the proper term. And so, that allowed me to be in alignment to meet more people and that allow… Being at that place, I was able to learn so much.
It kind of fast tracked me because, I would just ask the owner. For instance, my brother was starting in photography and he was confused about his pricing. And I was telling him what was going on. And he would say, “Oh no. He needs to take his pricing up. Or if he’s scared to take his pricing up, I want to keep it at that price point, then he needs to do like a mini session.” Just getting valuable advice, being in the community. And they weren’t threatened by me or they didn’t feel like, “Okay, I got to keep this.” Or, “I don’t feel… I don’t want to share.” But they were sharing, and I learned a lot from being there.
And yeah, reading books, YouTube university, and just kind of finding people that you really look up to and seeing how they operate, how they move. And that can really influence you. You can have people that are your mentors, that you’ve never had a conversation with.
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah.
Charity Mahone:
They do not know who you are, but in your head, y’all are best friends. Y’all have coffee together. Y’all Kiki. Like… So-
Jessmyn Solana:
I love that perspective though. I think that’s… I haven’t had anyone kind of make that distinction of, they could be a mentor. Somebody that’s teaching you a lot of things, but they don’t… you’ve never had a conversation with them. They don’t know who you are. But also what I found really interesting was, it kind of sounds like, for you, you put yourself out there a lot more, and even in places that you didn’t think anything would come out of it. But that’s how you ended up networking and finding other people that ended up giving you really valuable advice and information.
Charity Mahone:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah. Not being scared, and I know sometimes, well, for me, I practice conversations. So sometimes I can be afraid, so I may practice, “Okay, this is what I want to say to them.” So I’ll be in the mirror asking the question, asking it, doing the impressions, to make sure I get it right.
Jessmyn Solana:
I do the same thing.
Charity Mahone:
Yeah so… Yeah, that played a part. So yeah, just not being afraid. And I know that sounds easier said than done, but everyone has to start small because it can be really anxiety like, “I’m afraid to put myself out there. I’m afraid.”
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah.
Charity Mahone:
But yeah, I feel like when you take the leap of faith in having your own business, you have to keep leaping. Don’t stop jumping. You have to keep… Every stage, it’s something else-
Jessmyn Solana:
I love that.
Charity Mahone:
… it’s something else, and something else. So, it’s really interesting, but I believe that the people that take the most leaps get the furthest in their journey.
Jessmyn Solana:
I like that a lot. I like that. I like that. Well, we’re coming up on time.
Charity Mahone:
Okay.
Jessmyn Solana:
So before we do jump off, I have my last two questions that-
Charity Mahone:
Okay.
Jessmyn Solana:
… I like to ask everybody, if you’re up for it.
Charity Mahone:
Okay. Let’s go.
Jessmyn Solana:
So first, what are three things that most people wouldn’t know about you?
Charity Mahone:
Oh, my gosh. I’m a prankster. I am a big… I don’t even know why, I’m a huge prankster. I love practical jokes. I love watching TikTok to see different jokes to play on my parents or anybody. I love jokes. That’s number one. Number two, I actually like songwriting. So I like writing.
Jessmyn Solana:
Oh, nice.
Charity Mahone:
Yeah, I like writing songs. It allows me create and I don’t have to worry about feedback from it. You know how when you’re paid to create, you’re creating for other people. But it’s like, I’m creating for myself, so it’s very freeing. So I like that. Many people don’t know about that. I rarely talk about that. And I wanted to be a football player, but-
Jessmyn Solana:
Whoa.
Charity Mahone:
Yeah, my dad… I’m the first born, so my dad had me doing all the wrestling and sports and stuff. And I wanted to play football, but I can catch really well, I can throw really well. I was really fast. But back then, that was a no-go.
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah. Yeah. I honestly feel like it’s still kind of a no-go, still too.
Charity Mahone:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jessmyn Solana:
It’s kind of they’re, not really-
Charity Mahone:
Yeah.
Jessmyn Solana:
… not so much. No, that’s awesome. Do you sing?
Charity Mahone:
Yeah, I do sing. I’m getting out of fear with that. The leap that we were talking about.
Jessmyn Solana:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Charity Mahone:
But yeah, I do sing. And just at first, I was kind of like keeping it to myself and over time… I was in the children’s choir and then it was like a pause. And then recently, maybe like three or four years, I got into the adult choir. So I enjoy it.
Jessmyn Solana:
Cool. Oh, I love that. So my last question for you is just, if you could give yourself a single piece of advice at the start of it all, what would it be?
Charity Mahone:
Oh, I love that. I would probably tell myself to take a deep breath and exhale, and God has everything under control. It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be all right. Don’t stress. I know this this can feel overwhelming, but you are where you need to be right now. And it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay. Stop overthinking, because I can overthink, so I would tell myself, “Don’t overthink. It’s going to be okay. Don’t worry. Don’t stress. It’s going to be all right.” Because in the beginning I’m like, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!, Oh, my God!” So now I’m just like, “Girl, take a deep breath. Go for a walk. Okay?”
I would probably tell myself to work out more, work out more, get more sleep, drink more water, laugh more. Sometimes in the beginning, I was just so stressed, so overwhelmed, it’s like you wonder, “Will I ever get out of this?”, because the beginning stages of growing a business can be overwhelming. You’re wondering, “Where’s the money going to come? “Oh, my God. [Geesh 00:35:18].” But I feel like if your purpose to do this, if you’re called to do it, you’re going to be all right. You’re going to be all right. You just got to keep at it. Don’t quit and be consistent.
Jessmyn Solana:
I love that. That’s awesome. Well, Charity, thank you so much for being on here with us today. Can you let everyone know where they can find you online?
Charity Mahone:
Yeah. So you can find me at charitymahone.com, also on Instagram @charitymahone. I’m basically Charity Mahone all over social media, so you’ll be able to find me like that. And thank you for having me. I really enjoyed this.
Jessmyn Solana:
Of course, of course. I think this was great. I love your whole story, and what you’re about. If you guys, also for spelling wise, it’s M-A-H-O-N-E. And we’ll link it also, per usual, in description and the transcripts. So check her out. And yeah, thank you so much. We’ll see everybody next time.
Charity Mahone:
Thank you.