The one where we geeked out about community & empowering women

Cary is married to her biggest encourager Rob and Mom to Ashlin and Carver who attend Apex High School. Cary grew up in Myrtle Beach, SC, and has lived most of her adult life in Raleigh. She’s a Clemson Tiger at heart where she attended early in college but graduated from Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina. Her family attends Hope Community Church’s Raleigh Campus and have for over 12 years. Cary’s international mission experience working with women’s artisan co-ops in Central America and Africa inspired the birth of Designed For Joy. She’s a serial entrepreneur and has founded small several businesses around creating a community for women in the Raleigh area. Cary’s a big believer in encouraging women to pursue their passion.

Designed For Joy is a transitional work experience for women coming from trafficking, homelessness, time in prison, overcoming addiction, or other vulnerable situations. They provide living wage work hours while building confidence and refreshing resumes. They are launching equipped women into the marketplace.

After a life-changing trip to Rwanda, she felt called to start a non-profit to empower women, came back, put together a board of advisors, and started hiring women.

Cary shares with us her entrepreneurial journey. It takes a while and you need to pay your dues. We talk about the developmental age of your business. One business may be in its infancy and another may be a misbehaving teenager and we shouldn’t compare our beginning to someone else’s middle.

She also shares about the role of spirituality in her non-profit. She is for Jesus and for justice and believes that those two things work together well.

We talk about how as women entrepreneurs we need to give ourselves permission to be business owners and grace for balancing our work and life responsibilities.

Cary opens up about how she is gifted to bring people together and create community but can often still at times feel like an outsider. This leads to a deeper conversation about what it feels like for women who are often the planners of social events when someone else takes on the role of planning.

You can find out more about Designed for Joy on their website | Instagram | Facebook