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Interview Tina Hodges Images Toni Larsen
Lemonade
“When life throws you lemons, make lemonade”, is a saying
most of us would have heard one time or another, a poignant
phrase that encourages optimism in the face of adversity and
misfortune. When life threw Jo Guy lemons she did exactly
that, and her blog makelemonade.co.nz came to life.
Jo admits to never being much of a writer, but after
experiencing loss within her family she saw herself
beginning to journal “I started writing down things every day
to get the rubbish out of my head, I started doing more and
more and then I thought, you know what? When I look back
on these journals I’ve learnt a lot, so maybe I could pass that
on. I’ve found that I love writing which is odd because I’ve
never done it before.”
Jo sought the expertise of Jumprope, a marketing firm who
helped bring her ideas to life, creating a platform for Jo to
share and connect with others. Discussions of life, fashion
and food are what readers find on Jo’s blog, including some of
her mother’s and grandmothers’ oldest recipes. After owning
her own styling business and women’s boutique, Jo also
shares her knowledge of trends, colours, and shapes in the
hopes of building confidence and self-esteem in others.
“I met some really interesting people so I wanted to
document their stories. I wanted them to write about
themselves and what they had been through. It’s interesting
to hear how someone else overcomes something, because
we’ve all been through something, we all have a story to tell,
and it’s just whether people mind telling that story.”
For Jo, connecting with others is what she loves most about
blogging. “If I can help somebody coming behind me or their
life is touched a little by what I’ve written, then it’s worth
it. I want others to know there is a way through and I hope I
inspire others to keep going and to not give up.”
Life issues are somewhat the heart of Make Lemonade,
and it’s a topic close to Jo’s heart. “Not a lot of people talk
about the life issues, you’ll find plenty of blogs on food
and fashion. Sometimes we don’t talk about the important
things enough. Because of the hardships we went through
our priorities became very clear. Talking is really important
in relationships so that kind of fascinates me, how people
interact and communicate.”
“I think it’s trying to encourage people to sit around the table
and have a meal and talk, just getting back to the basics.
Maybe bring it to the front of people’s minds and remind
them it’s important.”
With eleven grandchildren, family is a big part of Jo’s life.
She is also looking to start writing children’s books inspired
by her own grandchildren. “I’ve got an illustrator looking at
them at the moment, I’m hoping that’s the vehicle I can use to
get them out there. My grandchildren inspired me; I want to
reinforce those values. I’d like to address different issues in a
way that children can understand.”
“I guess Make Lemonade is meant to enrich our lives, so that
other people feel better for reading it and they spread that. If
we all make a difference in our families, and the way we live,
it creates a kind of ripple effect. For us we had a ripple effect
of all these bad things, and it seemed to get worse. You think
to yourself, ‘I’ve got to turn this around’, and then it becomes
a ripple effect for the good. Hopefully Make Lemonade gives
other people that hope.”
Lifeand
Jo Guy joins the blogosphere with Make Lemonade