📍An Urbaanite Nashville Community Directory Partner
Joy Johnson Carruthers career has spanned from government to the military and is now helping people thrive with her company JTraining Solutions and MySista Circle. Her foresight led her to intentionally center her work around inclusion and making space for everybody when she stepped into entrepreneurship. As a military vet and former police officer, Joy had a front row seat to the business of training even before she knew this would be her career path. “I had an opportunity at a very young age to sit in the back of the room and watch some of the US Army’s best trainers in the country, never thinking that one day I would become a trainer,” Joy shares.
A car accident while Joy was working as a police officer in St. Louis became the catalyst for her step into training. After being hit by a drunk driver, and then unfairly let go from her job. Joy was motivated to research and learn more about HR to ensure she was protected in the future. As Joy reflects, “I started to engage with human resources to find out what the laws are. What are the things that you can do in the workplace to protect yourself?”
Joy would become a corporate trainer working with leadership, change management, and communications. However, during these trainings, she had to filter and dial down her voice, knowing there was value in what she brought to the table. She also knew it was more than just about the money; she wanted to make an impact. In 2021, she started J Training Solutions to do just that. “It was kind of the birth of me showing up and being unapologetically black, unapologetically female, and unapologetically Joy,” she shares with a smile.
Joy helps companies across the country lean into the changing workplace by stepping up and preparing for what’s next. “Advancing inclusion and making a difference is our tagline. Any organization that’s interested in making space for everybody and doing it the right way, that’s who would hire me,” Joy shares. Building a business that allows her to show up authentically has been her north star. This space of self-love is also why she decided to create MySista Circle as an extension of her business.
MySista Circle is a community group initiative that brings Black Women together to share, connect, empower, and build sisterhood. They host talking circles designed for open, honest conversation and maintain a private community on GroupMe. “We do not really have community the way we did when we had to be in the office. I want women to have a space where we can just be ourselves, communicate and learn cross-generationally,” emphasizes Joy. The Circle meets every other month on a select Saturday, giving time for women to connect outside of the circle and build relationships. From rest, menopause to workplace stress and mental health, Joy is cultivating a space for women to share and feel seen. All while building a business that supports every facet of the life she is choosing to create, unapologetically.
Visit JTraining Solutions and MySista Circle to learn more.
Photography: Trinity Kendrick (Urbaanite Summer Intern)
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