Today we’d like to introduce you to Joini James.
Hi Joini , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Moving to America as a young child was an eye-opening experience on multiple fronts. The biggest challenges included navigating my health journey, trying to find answers both a dismissive and expensive healthcare environment. After beginning my undergraduate degree at Montclair State University, I began to discover the unfortunate relationship between healthcare and racism while diving into maternal and mental health outcomes. Social determinants of health (SoD) can impact your ability to have a healthy life, including but not limited to income, housing access, environment, and education. The idea that someone, through no fault of their own, would have worse health outcomes because of poor health education and literacy fueled something inside of me. This newfound passion was further enhanced after completing my internship with a childbirth educator and learning more about the Black Maternal/Infant Crisis in New Jersey. After graduating in 2019, I began training as a doula while working with a midwifery practice in 2019.
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?
Entreprenuership has been the most stressful and rewarding challenge I have pursued in my life. Starting a service based business in my early 20’s, during the pandemic was extremely difficult, coupled with learning to navigate so many new skills: customer service, budgeting/forecasting, bookkeeping, content creation etc because it was a one woman show e.g me. It was also very lonely. Most of my friends and peers had pursued the traditional route of getting the entry level role after college so it was hard to relate to the challenges we were each facing. I also missed so many birthdays, events, and social opportunities because I was either on call for a birth or getting in from seeing a client after a birth. This strained alot of my relationships but I’m happy to repaired the relationships now.
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?
In 2020, right before the pandemic started I left the midwifery group to start my doula and childbirth education company. The Resting Garden. Since then we’ve served over a 150 families by offering full spectrum doula support, postpartum doula support, childbirth education, and yoga classes.
Unfortunately after a series of health challenges and burning out in 2024, I stepped away from the field but felt that something was missing. I was still deeply connected to the doula world (is there such a thing as a doula leaving?) and wanted to figure out a solution to support exhausted Black women navigating the healthcare system who needed answers, support, and guidance. I created Fauna Wellness in 2026, now available in both Google and Apple, as a solution. It starts with an onboarding quiz, which allows you to tell us where you are in your journey across three areas; birth/postpartum planning, yoga, or mental health, Then your weekly toolkit blends yoga videos, short articles, and educational videos in a weekly “curriculum”. This app is both a love letter to myself and my community blending everything I’ve learned in the last decade. What sets The Resting Garden apart from other health/wellness brands is that we have both the lived experience and education to support our community.
I still fundamentally believe that health education should be accessible to everyone which is a core message from the brand. Your health and the support you need should be tailored to you and we’re here to support you along the way.
How do you define success?
Success is defined by the ability to try and learn from the outcome. Did you do your absolute best and did you learn something that can be applied for the next time you try? If both answers are yes, then whatever you attempted was successful.
Pricing:
- Bloom App Subscription $12.99/month
- Drop in Yoga Class $25
- Health Coaching (Hourly) $100
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.therestinggarden.com
- Instagram: www.instragram.com/therestinggarden
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/restinggardenwellness
