Meet Joi Turner | CEO & Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joi Turner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joi, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
From an early age, I understood the concept of problem and solution, it was something I was taught in school and at home. When I got older and I started to see and understand the problems that were going on in my community, I knew that I could create a solution, or at least, be apart of the solution. One of the biggest problems that I see in my community, especially during this pandemic, is hunger and homelessness. So, I did research about it. I was about 9 or 10 at the time, and I thought that if I could understand it, so could other people. But, I didn’t just want to spread knowledge about the hunger epidemic, I also wanted to go out into the world, and help firsthand. And, that’s exactly what I did. I created Delivering Joi – Nurturing Bodies and Souls. I have always loved cooking and being in the kitchen, and my entire life, my family and I have been doing work in the community. With my love for cooking and my community, along with my eagerness to be apart of the solution, I decided to start cooking hot meals for the hungry and homeless people in my community. Since the start of Delivering Joi, I have been able to educate many people, including myself, about hunger and homelessness in the community.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The biggest thing that sets me apart from others is the fact that I am thirteen years old and I started Delivering Joi when I was 10 years old. It was not easy to do because people doubted that I could cook on my own at such a young age. Now that I’m older, people are less hesitant to believe that I prepare the meals all by myself, but some people are still skeptical. People are even more shocked when they find out that Delivering Joi is not all that I do. I have been home schooled for about a year and a half. I was promoted a grade during my elementary years, I’m now in the eighth grade, but I’m in mostly high school classes. I have also recently become a dual enrollment student at Miami-Dade College. I have the honor of representing the South Dade One Voice Community Coalition as the Youth Coalition Chair. With the help of myself and other youth, The South Dade One Voice Youth Coalition is dedicated to educating our peers and their families about substance use. Which is done in many ways including, advocating, assessing community needs, and working within our community to provide resources and knowledge that will help families understand more about underage substance use and other critical areas that surround our community. Being apart of this organization allows me to connect to others that share a similar passion of improving the community that we live in.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend was visiting the area, first, I would take her to one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants, El Dos Ruedas. I would recommend that she tried the beans and rice because it is extremely delicious. We would go to the beach and play in the sand and in the ocean. If we’re hungry after that, we would go to the Big Cheese in South Miami, and order a little bit of everything, including their amazing garlic rolls. The next day, we would go to Super Wheels Skating Center and roller skate for a little while. And then we would go to Deering Estate to walk down to the water and watch the fish and the birds. We would definitely go to Starbucks a few times that week. We would do many more things in that week including, going to the Frost Museum of Science, Zoo Miami, Wynwood Walls, Bayside Marketplace, the Farmers Market, and more.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to Shoutout my mom. My mom has always been supportive of Delivering Joi, even when it was just an idea floating around in my brain. When we first got started, she helped me spread the word and get donations. She has also paid for the food that I deliver and almost all of the materials I use on a day-to-day basis. I would also like to Shoutout the rest of my family, who have been incredibly supportive and loving on this journey, even though some of us aren’t in the same city, state, or country.

Website: https://www.deliveringjoi.com/

Instagram: @deliveringjoi

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deliveringjoi/

Other: Cashapp: $DeliveringJoi