“To develop Grit, don’t immediately react to difficult situations”
Originally written by Phil La Duke published by Thrive Global on February 12, 2019
I had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Danielsen and Melanie Fountaine, twin co-founders of Joshin. Fueled by their personal experience of growing up with a big brother with disabilities, Melissa and Melanie founded Joshin to offer the kind of high-quality, specialized on-demand care that they would have wanted for their own brother.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path?
Thank you for the opportunity!
Growing up on a family farm and having a brother who had special needs along with being economically disadvantaged created the foundation of entrepreneurship for us. Our parents worked long hours to pay the bills, so we cared for Josh often. We learned first-hand what grit looked like through both working on the farm and working through difficult times. As we experienced our parents working tirelessly, we developed a lawn care business for cabin owners, created business cards, letterhead, invested in capital (a lawnmower!) and began door knocking by age 13. As adolescents, this outlet allowed us to have some control in a stressful home environment. We would not understand until years later, that it planted the seeds for where we are now. There is an awesome power in resiliency, and we learned to have compassion for all people. Transforming all of this with our entrepreneurial drive into a tangible, amazing app, Joshin was born — before we even knew it!