Blue Water Woman--spring 2017

perpetual
motion
by dale hemmila
rhonda jones
Rhonda Jones may not be in perpetual motion, but if you blink you
might miss her as she whizzes by.
She works full-time in Corporate America, is the owner of a second
business, and is the new owner of two St. Clair County yoga studios.
Top that all off with a husband and family and you have one very busy
woman.
About her busy life she said: “I always have to be doing something.”
It’s because of that drive, her business success and her commitment
to giving back to her community that she has been named Blue Water
Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.
Her professional career includes more than 20 years as a sales team
leader for Detroit Chemical and Paper Supply Company, which
provides sanitation and cleaning supplies to various industries. In 2010
she opened her own business called Wellness by Prevention, which
provides infection control equipment to long-term care facilities. Then
in 2015 she opened Happy Dog Yoga Studio in Port Huron and a few
months later a companion facility in St. Clair.
“Rhonda is a fiercely hard worker and entrepreneur,” said her
nominator Suzi Straffon. “We all say ‘If you want something done,
get Rhonda to do it.’ Sheer grit and determination are the reasons for
Rhonda’s success.”
It was determination that led her to open Happy Dog Yoga Studio,
the first dedicated facility of its kind in St. Clair County.
“That yoga studio came about because we hadn’t had a yoga studio
here and I got tired of travelling to other studios,” Jones said. “I came
home one day and said if someone doesn’t open a studio, I am and
shortly after that we signed the lease for the space.”
Located on Krafft Road in Port Huron, the original Happy Dog
Studio has been successful from the beginning.
“The response has been incredible,” she said. “We opened with
one teacher and now we have 14 teachers and the client base keeps
growing.”
Not only is the studio itself unique but so is the way she manages its
cash flow. Jones said she didn’t open the studio to make money but
instead to have a place for her and other Yoga enthusiasts to go. So any
funds the studio makes are recycled back into the community.
She has made donations to the Angels of Hope Foundation, which
provides financial assistance and programs to children and parents
with minor children battling cancer, anywhere in Michigan.
She also supports Stiggys Dogs, which rescues and trains shelter dogs
to be service dogs for military veterans living with Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder or Traumatic Brain Injury.
In addition, Special Dreams Farm in St. Clair, a working farm for
adults with developmental disabilities and Mid-City Nutrition soup
kitchen in Port Huron are among other non-profits supported.
Recently, Jones and her daughters, Georgia and Hannah, reached
beyond Michigan to volunteer and donate athletic equipment and
clothes to the Barrio Planta Project in Nicaragua, which supports
the children and youth in the city of San Juan del Sur with free
supplementary schooling and activities.
Their volunteer endeavors were all funded by Happy Dog’s summerlong
beach yoga program.
“It was a life changing trip and we plan to do it again,” she said. “To
go down there and step out of our norm and work with those kids—life
changing.”
So while some people may sit on the sidelines of life, Rhoda Jones has
been motivated to do what she can, where she can, when she can as a
business person, entrepreneur and humanitarian.
“I just want to try everything,” she said. “I tell my girls you have
the opportunity to do anything and you only live once so why not give
everything a try.”
10 SPRING 2017 BlueWaterWoman.com