The oldest of four children, she played tennis with her sister, winning state in 1998. She was also a competitive runner. But after years of playing competitively, Jones said she felt burnt out and wanted to take a break. After graduating in 1999, she decided to go to Miami University and major in English and creative writing.
“My professor encouraged me to submit one of my stores to the Atlantic,” Jones said. “It was rejected but I kept at it and even won an award at Miami.”
Jones got her master’s degree from the University of Dayton and applied for a program through the United Nations to teach English in Tanzania.
“I went for a couple of months,” Jones said. “It ended up being one of the most powerful experiences I’ve ever had.”
Jones returned to Dayton and started working at a local PR firm. Then she went to work for Catholic Social Services as the communications director. Her oldest daughter, Cameron, was born in 2009, and her son came along in 2010. Her second daughter, Ashley, was born in 2013.
“I was able to stay home with my kids and even though we had to make sacrifices, it was important to me,” Jones said.
Jones’ husband, Aaron, was transferred to England for work, where the family lived on estate in Salisbury from 2015–2017. It was there that Jones began designing and planning a business model for “Traveling Pendants.”
“I carried the idea for traveling pendants around with me for 20 years,” Jones said. “It started when my aunt, Mary Kay Buffington, was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer and was very sick. A stranger in an elevator gave her a pendant that read ‘strength for the journey’ and it had been worn by many women before her.”
Jones said her aunt refused to part with the pendant for the entire five years she was in treatment. Then Jones’ mom, Tami Whalen, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. Buffington passed the pendant down to Whalen, who kept it with her through her mastectomy, a recurrence in 2016 and a second mastectomy.
“The pendant always seemed to bring strength to people,” Jones said. “I have always been fascinated by this.”
While in England, Jones began testing Traveling Pendants. While her youngest daughter was in school, she started working on mockups.
“The premise is that when you are ready, you pass the pendants on to another person who needs it,” Jones said. “And there is something to it, whether it’s mental or not, the stories I hear are inspiring.”
After returning to the states in 2017, Jones started working at DECA (Dayton Early College Academy) and while there she met Jahkari Jackson, a young man who became part of the Jones family.
In May of 2021, one day before his 18th birthday, Jackson was shot in Greene County, and he became paralyzed from the waist down. Throughout Jackson’s recovery period and afterwards, Jones prayed constantly for guidance.
“I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing,” Jones said. “I ended up resigning from my job and worked full time creating Traveling Pendants LLC. It launched in October of 2022.”
Jones realized sales of $30,000 in the first 90 days. She worked day and night, because she hated disappointing anyone, and she did most of the creating, order taking and shipping herself.
“I slipped a disk in my neck, and it was the worst pain of my life,” Jones said. “I think this was God telling me to slow down.”
Now focused on her health and her family, Jones has put the company on simmer — continuing to sell pendants but not actively marketing them. She loves the idea of being able to track the pendants through a website, so her husband had an idea to put QR codes on each one.
“The idea is to get your pendant and log your story on the website,” Jones said. “Then when you pass it on, the next person adds their story and so on.”
Since adding the QR codes, Jones has been working on a relaunch of her business. She has a patent pending on the jewelry and the often inspiring and touching stories she receives help reaffirm to her that she is on the right track.
“I’m a big believer in the power of connection and that’s why we are here,” Jones said. “Something happens when you meet someone, and you share parts of yourself with one another. What I’m really selling here is connection, faith and experience.”
To contact this contributing writer, email banspach@ymail.com.
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