by Shawn Nowlin
Few things warm Carolina Smales’ heart more than when she uses her talents and resources to make the world a happier, healthier place. Known professionally as Carol Joy, the Roanoke entrepreneur is the founder of JOI NEURON, a start-up company with an ambitious vision that offers unique, diverse educational products and tools that she and her team diligently craft.
A significant amount of strategic planning, services and product development, in addition to various collaboration efforts, are all vital to the company’s success. The committed hours required to successfully run JOI NEURON can be overwhelming at times. When that happens, Joy takes a deep breath, reflects on how far she has come over the years and allows her intuition to serve as a compass.
“Being a mom, I truly care about children and their well-being. I teach children from elementary school the art of being happy beyond unhappy and difficult circumstances with scientifically proven techniques. I also use my creativity, nerdy brain, stories and music to try to take care of their emotions and mental well-being, just as my parent, grandparents and great-grandmother did for me,” she said.
Born and raised in Venezuela, Joy is the oldest of three. At an early age, her parents instilled in her the importance of always staying true to self. “I started school very young. I was just four in the first grade because my mom was a teacher and already had taught me how to read and write. Always being the youngest meant being constantly bullied for my height and nerdiness,” she said. “A plus of that experience was the resiliency that I formed.”
In 2001, Joy took a leap of faith when she decided to leave everything she loved behind to come to America for better opportunities. That decision immediately paid off as she quickly found success in the fields of healthcare analytics and neuroscience research, starting at Harvard Medical School.
In Boston, Joy met her husband, Erik Smales. Instrumental to her life for the better part of two decades has been her soulmate’s counsel and support, through the good times and challenging times.
Joy has worked extremely hard to get to where she is today. Three years ago, her first JOI NEURON career milestone award came from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) with the PCW for teaching kids about their brain, what causes dependency and addiction and how to protect the brain beyond wearing a helmet.
Joy has written or co-written numerous storybooks. Said books, usually sold in bulks of 100’s to different organizations, offer education through numerous, fictional content in both English and Spanish.
The first in the Discover your Mind Power series, “Don’t Panic,” includes award-winning content that teaches youth and their families what happens inside the body when dealing with anxiety.
“I was Roanoke’s first businesswoman and Venezuelan to participate in this prestigious docuseries and business accelerator by BetaBlox. To this day, I am privileged to still receive ongoing mentorship from top-class business coaches,” she said.
For more information, including how interested individuals can get involved, visit caroljoycreative.com.
