Exploring Life & Business with Jas Kirk of Hunni Duoe NFP

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jas Kirk.

Hi Jas, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I want to begin by saying I am so grateful that God gifted me the opportunity to birth a brand and uses me to help others. Hunni Duoe is my baby, it is a non-profit organization, but in creating it, I wanted to make it a movement of mental wellness when it comes to mental health, anxiety, depression, and suicide prevention. I am very unconventional in my approach in talking about mental health. I want to make mental wellness cool in the sense that people are taking care of themselves and aware that it is a daily practice, finding the power in expressing their truth.

After the suicide of my brother, Daniel Kirk, I found my purpose and just natural gift to the world which was through sharing peace, hope, and love. At first I didn’t know what I was doing. Day by day it became very apparent that the lifestyle I was living, the message I was sharing, “You are strong, gifted, and talented” became the mission, mantra, and message of Hunni Duoe. It was natural and effortless. It’s not just me, it’s not just my brother’s story. The amount of people I meet and connect with help holding the conversation and trusting me with their stories help me realize how important this is in our world today. So when I say, I want to make mental health cool, I really mean it. I want to make mental health as much of an element of wellness as beauty or self-care routines, and overall help heal.

As Hunni Duoe NFP continues to grow, I am more aware of how flawed self-care and self-love messages are based on the statistics surrounding mental health, anxiety, and depression. Impact became a huge question I asked myself and now a major goal. “How can I help, how can I meet people where they are, how can I make a difference?” Hunni Duoe is rooted in supporting and empowering individuals’ mental health through meditation and yoga. I want to share and teach healthy and conscious lifestyle habits through overall “mental wellness.” We want to give individuals access to the power of yoga and meditation, helping their mental health and lowering the numbers of suicide, anxiety, and depression. How amazing is it to show people they do not have to go outside of themselves to heal, but if they do they are still supported. Self-love and self-work are practices that are needed daily, and we remind individuals that “hunni you can duoe it.”

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?
Simply put… no. The road will never be smooth because it is untraveled. I am grateful that it has not been, though. We tend to have a perfect plan in our head, and when we begin to execute that plan, it is awesome to have to find myself adjusting and pivoting when necessary. To me, that is being able to evolve and adapt where necessary, which strengthens me in the long run. I embrace information and having to get uncomfortable and staring fear right in the face.

My obstacles and challenges have helped me always keep a beginner’s mindset. The greatest thing I think we have to realize and we are forever tested with is the belief in ourselves. That was a major lesson I learned and had been my greatest obstacle; myself. Yes money, people supporting, etc. may come up, but it was a lot of how I approached and looked at those challenges. They were simple tests. If I really wanted what I said, I wanted to do. My only goal is to make an impact, and I believed and believe I can. That’s it. Every step of the way is trust. No, the path in front of you is not pathed, but you believe in yourself enough that you are trailblazing the way and you have the tools and resources to do that.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am passionate about defining mental wellness and introducing that into every aspect of my life. I do not like being in a box and I do not like the misconceptions when it comes to mental health. As a mental health advocate, certified yoga instructor, and business professional, I found that many individuals have and do suffer with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, etc on a daily basis. It’s not that people do not want to talk about the stuff going on in their heads, it’s making them feel okay. It’s bringing the conversation up and not creating a dark cloud around the subject. This includes children in this conversation.

Health & wellness, self-care, and beauty industry markets are changing, but not realizing the effects it is having on individuals’ health, especially their mental health. . Mental health-conscious spaces are seemingly necessary with the growing numbers of issues during CoVid 19 rising.

Our goal is to become one of the leading organizations rooted in supporting, empowering, and impacting an individual’s mental health through lifestyle, wellness, and inspiration. We wish to give access to yoga and meditation and mental health information/resources to individuals for free. We found that providing people with the tools and resources vs. just information would be most impactful in the long run. Equipping children with these resources impacts our next generation of change-makers.

When we think about mental wellness, we were able to narrow it down into three key areas; lifestyle, inspiration, and wellness. Mental health is important to just flat out begin to have the conversation. When it comes to lifestyle, we thought, “change your mind, and you can change your life”. Powerful and conscious self-talk can be done through 20 minutes of meditation daily. We are redefining and knocking down the door to mental health, health and wellness practices, self-love routines, and the beauty industry in unconventional ways. We want to build individuals up and meet them exactly where they are. As we grow and evolve, we want to continue to help eliminate the burdens that affect individuals’ mental health and well-being.

Can you talk about how you think about risk?
Yes… absolutely. Take the Risk… that’s how you learn. “Even when you play it safe, the odds are still against you. When you take bigger risks, the odds aren’t that much worse, and the rewards are exponentially higher”. I live by this quote. I feel like every day, I am blessed with the opportunity to stay the same or dare greatly, and I choose to dare greatly. That’s not to say I am not scared, or looking at fear or even nervous, but I know risk-taking is just trial and error. My greatest risk was going into business for myself. Every day I find myself holding a conversation on a topic that though on social media, seemingly is comfortable, honestly it is really hard for individuals to be vulnerable and real about when it comes to expressing and sharing outside of a like or repost their mental health. I use my story, my life, my brother’s story to shed light and help people become comfortable with the reality of everybody. Literally every single individual has a mental and has to do self-work.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://gofund.me/5e601407
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hunniduoe/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HunniDuoe/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hunniduoenfp
• Other: https://mailchi.mp/7bd879a7ab50/hunniduoenfp

Image Credits
@stevecannon_ @tayojaiye