2 weeks Ago
Harmony Hobbs, far left, with her husband, Robbie, and their children (from left to right) Pepper, 11, Asher, 13, and Maverick, 16. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Harmony Hobbs, wife to Robbie and mother of three children, considers motherhood her greatest accomplishment after sobriety. (She got sober in 2017.
) Hobbs is a communications professional and freelance writer who is passionate about helping people understand complex social issues. She has worked on several major projects for Upworthy, a media brand on a mission to share uplifting stories that foster positive connections. Most recently, Hobbs worked on the book, "Good People: Stories From the Best of Humanity.
" She co-founded Hobbs & Hayworth, a three-time Pollie Award-winning duo dedicated to empowering women to run for political office. Hobbs & Hayworth volunteered time and talent to handle campaign messaging, branding and social media for multiple local political campaigns for female candidates. As a communicator, Hobbs prides herself on reaching diverse groups of people and creating shared understandings of what matters.
Through her work as the communications director for the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools in Metairie, she hopes that she can remind people that what really matters is our children. Harmony Hobbs is a communications professional and freelance writer in Baton Rouge who is passionate about helping people understand complex social issues. Tell us more about Upworthy's new book and your role in it.
Upworthy kind of does the same thing (as Louisiana Inspired) on a bigger scale. They want to find the good in the world and share it on a big platform, and that really spoke to me. The book is a compilation of uplifting stories from Upworthy's social media.
In the comments, people would share these awesome stories, about any topic under the sun. People had stories to share about their favorite teacher, or about a time where a stranger helped them. I basically took the comment from a person I had never met, and then I interviewed them to hear their voice and get a sense of what they were about.
Then, I wrote the story. How did these stories restore your hope in humanity? Did the experience change your perspective at all? I was born an optimist, but the past eight years have beat the optimism out of me. The project was a very important and timely reminder for me of just how much good there really is out there.
People are kind, overall, but I was stuck in my bubble because of the pandemic. My social circle shrank, and you just don't hear as many good stories as there actually are. It was really uplifting and good for my morale in general to work on this project.
Do you have any tips for people to intentionally find good in their day-to-day routines? In my own life, I'm in AA — so my sponsor requires me to write a gratitude list every day. It can be two things, or it can be 10 things. I just have to come up with a list, and I have to send it to her every day.
That has helped me reframe my thoughts. Also, people should look each other in the eye more often and take a moment to connect — and not be afraid to do that. We're all craving that connection with others.
Every story that I ghostwrote in the book involved human connection — some kind of moment where one of them needed something, and the other person provided it. I think that most people are good, and most people are willing to help out another human if you're willing to connect with them. And isn't that the root of very simple human decency? It is, and all of these stories involved something like that.
My favorite story was from this woman who, when she was a little girl, lived in Tennessee. She went to the drugstore with her mother, and she said, "I saw the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. She was so fabulous, and she was looking at lipstick.
" This little girl told the lady, "You are so pretty." And it was Dolly Parton. And Dolly Parton bought her a tube of lipstick and said, "Every time you put this on, I want you to think about how beautiful you are.
" I think people need to be reminded all the time that not everything is bad and that people are, overall, good. In your work and in your life, how are you creating solutions for people in Louisiana? My contribution to that is by demonstrating that it's just fine to show up as yourself. Whatever skills you can bring to the table are all needed.
I find that people are waiting for someone to nominate them to participate in the community or life in general when, in fact, everyone is needed. You just have to jump in and find your spot. I like to think that I encourage other people to do that, especially women.
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