Wonolo
Let’s meet Jared!
Hi, I’m Jared Favole. I’m based in Franklin, Massachusetts, which is just about 30 miles south of Boston. I work on public policy and media for Wonolo.
What events in your life have brought you to your current role today?
When I think about the events that have brought me to Wonolo, I think of a couple of things. The fact that I have a different background from a lot of people who are in PR. I was a reporter for a long time, for about 10 years. I bring that up because being a reporter is a sort of mission. It’s kind of missionary in a way, in terms of the fact that you really believe in what you’re doing. It’s a profession. It’s a career. It’s a lifestyle. I left reporting, which was a hard decision. After I did that, I was still looking for something that would give me a sense of mission, something that would feel important. I wanted to contribute, at least in some small way, to society. The other part of my life that’s interesting is that I come from a family of entrepreneurs. My grandfather was an entrepreneur and started a bunch of businesses in New Jersey. My father was an entrepreneur as well, and I’ve always just been fascinated with entrepreneurialism, even though I don’t consider myself an entrepreneur in any way. I’ve never started a business. Getting to be at Wonolo and combining that mission aspect of myself and my interests and entrepreneurialism has been really great!
Who do you look up to and why do you look up to them?
There are three people I look up to the most and consult in one way or the other. More than anyone, I look up to mom, my wife, and my dad. Each for their own individual reasons. My wife is just somebody who’s really smart, hard-working. Whenever a decision is going to come her way, she’s always going to do the right thing. She has an impressive ability to do that.
My mom, because she’s my mom. I mean, she is super hardworking. She’s really successful in her professional life and has always been somebody I could talk to. I talk to her a lot, and especially now that I have kids, we call her J Ma for a reason. She’s just a wonderful grandma, and it’s great to see her in that role.
And then my dad. He passed away when I was young, unfortunately, but he came to this country from Cuba, spoke five languages, was an entrepreneur. He was a smart guy and had a ton of confidence in me, which I don’t know why he did when I was a kid. I wasn’t the greatest. I looked up to what he was able to do in coming to this country and being as successful as he was and joyful. He was just a happy person to be around.
What is one of your favorite memories at Wonolo?
There’s a little bit of recency bias here, but I was excited to wake up last week and open up The New York Times and see an entire ad taken out by our CEO talking about the importance of paying workers a living wage. That’s just awesome! Few companies are going to do anything as big and bold in that way.
Another good memory I have is when Yong made a video with his daughters to a Britney Spears song in the middle of the pandemic to lift all our spirits. I thought that was another just great memory and pretty awesome to see. I’ve been at Wonolo now for a year, and it’s been a great place to be and great to work with wonderful people.
If you really knew me, you would know that…
If you really knew me, you would know that when I get angry or frustrated, I double down on being nice. I try very hard when I get frustrated at the world, at world events, whatever it is to try and just work hard on being kind. As a kid, I had a little bit of a temper. I was a little bit of a wild man. Had too much energy, and I still have too much energy. However, I’ve gotten it under control a little bit now. That’s an important thing that I think people who are really close to me know.
