Mother Warrior: My Conversation with Ana Jones

20 Minutes with Bronwyn

There are some stories that stop us in our tracks. That make us forget our own dramas and traumas long enough to feel into someone else’s experience. My guest today is Ana Jones, and she has exactly that kind of story.

Ana is the founder of Plex65, which is a labor market for caregivers of older adults. It is the first of its kind to use technology as a hiring platform for caregivers using “Rydeshare for Homecare” or the Uber for caregiving concept.

But we are here today to talk about Ana NOT as an entrepreneur (though she is).

We are here to talk about Ana as an activist. As the mother of two black sons. As someone working to change the way we talk about race, and more specifically, how we teach our children history in school.

As a word of caution: Ana is about to share her heartbreak with us. She lost her son, Maasai Jones, to suicide on June 14, 2018 … something that would leave most of us catatonic and incapacitated. But Ana’s story is hardly one of withdrawal.

Her story is about transmuting pain into power. About carrying on Maasai’s story, because it has the power to create change. And friends? If there’s anything we learned in 2020 it was this: things need to change.

I first met Ana during a virtual Village Well session (google it “Village Well San Jose” … very powerful Saturday morning medicine!), I knew I had to have her on to talk with you.

Friends, meet the marvelous Ana Jones.