When Jesus came down to earth and started his ministry among the people of Israel, he communicated in stories. Jesus understood the impact of narrative. Many of the most complicated theological concepts are contextualized through his famous parables.
In the same way, Christian entrepreneurs should seek to emulate that characteristic of our Lord and Savior. When we take the time to understand the importance of story, we can better communicate with our audience and share our values with others.
Jonas Paul eyewear embodies this idea. The harness their personal story to convey the importance of their products. That story begins with Ben and Laura Harrison’s son, Jonas Paul. Jonas had a serious condition. He was born blind. After 21 painful surgeries, some of the toddler’s vision was restored, but Jonas needed glasses. His parents searched high and low for comfortable and stylish glasses for their son, but they could not find anything that worked. (From personal experience, I know that the market for children’s glasses is really small and none of the glasses have any style. Most of the glasses on the market are hideous pieces of cheap plastic in a variety neon colors or ugly basic metal frames.) Ben and Laura Harrison wanted something more for their child. With that pain point in mind, the couple founded Jonas Paul in 2013. The company’s goal is to provide fashionable child’s eyewear, and that concept has worked. The company has exploded in popularity in recent years. According the Jonas Paul website, the company “has been featured on NBC Nightly News and NBC Today Show, The Wall Street Journal, & Huffington Post.”
Their story is about overcoming adversity and tragedy to give self-confidence to children who have to wear glasses at a young age. The Jonas Paul company craft beautiful glasses, and they use their personal story to connect with an audience and reach unserved market.
(Photo credit: Unsplash – Frank Mckenna)
As a first semester freshman in Entrepreneurial Mind, I was tasked with coming up with…
After learning about the four mindsets that are critical to every Gospel-minded organization I wanted…
A question that I have been asking is, "How does entrepreneurship and worship (within a…
In my group with Hezekiah, Tessa, and Ben we have created a company called Silver…
This past weekend I had the honor of speaking at a church retreat in Somerset,…
This blog post prompt caught my eye this week. I did some reflection and digiing…