Today we’d like to introduce you to Hailey Johnston.
Hi Hailey, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
For as long as I can remember I have loved to be creative and I have always loved serving my community and others. I learned to sew in my late teens and realized that I could use the skill to do a lot of different things. I had a close friend that also loved to sew so we began a small business making children’s clothing. A couple years later during a bible study with my local church, I felt like I was being called to use the skill to serve my community in a unique way. A perfect pairing of using my skill of sewing with the desire to serve my community and reach others (women specifically).
With the help of other like minded women in our community, we developed the foundation for a nonprofit organization, Free 2 Fly. An organization that would use sewing, mentorship, and life enrichment to create a supportive community for women that desired to bridge the gap from past crisis circumstances to a healthy and sustainable future. A year into launching our nonprofit, our Creative Director, Joanna Ivey, joined me in this endeavor and we have been working side by side building this organization from the ground up. 11 years later, we have seen how this model has transformed lives and we have truly been able to change our community one woman at a time. Starting Free 2 Fly from the ground up has had many challenges, but the life transformation we get to witness within our walls is one of the most rewarding things I have been a part of in my life.
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I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Starting anything from the ground up is going to have many seasons. Seasons of triumph, success, failure, setbacks, disappointments, progress, and unexpected challenges. Learning to train your mind to remember that what you are experiencing is only a season is very important. We experienced a lot of growth and expansion during the first 5 years of launching our nonprofit and even though it was confirmation that we were headed in the right direction, it felt overwhelming at times. Keeping our head down and choosing to grow slow- even though it felt fast and furious- was crucial in not scaling beyond what we could handle.
We’ve also had to learn to pivot and change throughout the years. Experiencing a global pandemic, economical instability, ever changing marketing strategies, and lack of resources are several things that we’ve had to navigate. Our mission has remained the same, but strategies to accomplish our mission have evolved and shifted through the years.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At Project Free 2 Fly, we believe in the power of transformation. We are committed to helping women discover their purpose and value, regardless of their past experiences. Through the art of sewing, we provide a supportive community that nurtures growth, builds self-confidence, and empowers women to create sustainable futures for themselves and their families.
Our approach is holistic and hands-on. We offer a unique program where women earn hourly wages while learning the valuable skill of sewing. But it’s about much more than just sewing—it’s about building a foundation for lifelong success. Every stitch represents resilience, determination, and the courage to rewrite one’s story.
Participants in our program are more than just learners; they are resilient individuals making hard choices to shape brighter futures. We’re incredibly proud of their tenacity and the bravery it takes to leave the past behind. We support them through mentorship, life enrichment courses, and personal goal-setting meetings, equipping them with essential skills such as accountability, conflict resolution, and prioritization.
When you purchase our products, you’re not just buying something beautiful—you’re joining a community that believes in the power of every stitch to create a story of hope. Together, we can help women soar beyond their pasts and into a future full of possibilities. While the sales of our products contribute to covering women’s wages, we rely heavily on the generosity of individual donors, community partners, and various fundraising efforts to fully support the women in our program.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Connecting with a successful nonprofit leader early in my career has been incredibly beneficial. She was someone that I had looked up to and admired and even served under as a volunteer. The best piece of advice she gave me was, “There is no blueprint for what you are trying to do. You are writing the blueprint.” In times that I felt the stress of feeling like I should have everything figured out, I remembered those words. We were creating something completely new and unique and those words gave me the freedom to take my time figuring it all out.
It is so important to have others that can speak into what you are trying to accomplish. Either as an advisor, mentor, or encourager- these relationships are important and life giving in times you need it most.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.projectfree2fly.com
- Instagram: @projectfree2fly
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16kvkZSHmn/?mibextid=wwXIfr
