In 2007, Jones auditioned for the reality competition show Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites. Although she had missed the deadline for auditioning, she begged producers to meet with her in hopes of getting on the show that season. She was ultimately cast as one of the 20 players competing on Fans vs. Favorites, which aired in the Spring of 2008.

In 2012, Jones’ father was diagnosed with cancer. Upon hearing the news, she immediately returned home to Austin to take care of him. In 2014, Jones learned that her father’s cancer was in remission.

In 2013, Jones organized the first TED Austin Women conference. Since then, she has also founded an organization called ProtectHer, which started as a result of a series of speaking gigs in the locker rooms of various collegiate men’s athletic programs. In 2017, she introduced to college campuses a film and curriculum series through ProtectHer, in an effort to educate young student-athletes on the dangers of sexually assaulting women, and to encourage those same athletes to treat women with respect.

Jones once served as a life coach on the MTV show MADE. She has also contributed articles to the Huffington Post. In 2014, she released a book, inspired by her Web site; the book’s foreword was written by her sorority sister, actress Sophia Bush. Jones was also an executive producer on the documentary film A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story, about fellow motivational speaker Lizzie Velásquez’s struggles with body-shaming. The film had its world premiere at SXSW on March 14, 2015. Six days later, Jones herself was featured on an episode of TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress, where she picked out the dress for her forthcoming wedding to former University of Texas men’s basketball star Brad Buckman, a childhood friend whom she had known since the age of ten, and with whom she had recently reconnected.

While back in Austin, she had reconnected with Buckman. They had attended middle school and high school together before each attending separate colleges. As soon as they reconnected, Buckman confessed that he had experienced a crush on her since childhood, but had never said anything about it. Soon after, they began dating. On September 12, 2015, she married Buckman in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

On March 20, 2016, Jones and her mother were traveling in their car through the streets of Los Angeles, when some men in another vehicle next to them got their attention while stopped at an intersection. The women thought that these men were yelling vulgarities and making obscene gestures to them, so Jones took out her phone and snapped some pictures of the men just before they drove away from the scene. After posting these photos on Instagram, in hopes of getting someone to identify who the men were, two of them were identified as professional basketball stars Jordan Clarkson and Nick Young of the Los Angeles Lakers. Once the team looked into the incident and was able to speak with Jones, Clarkson, and Young, the Lakers concluded that all parties involved had come up with “different interpretations” of what happened on the night in question. No charges or disciplinary action were brought forth, and the Lakers went on to express their continued support of the two players, while also supporting Jones’ feelings over the incident; the club even praised her organization for the work it does for women. Jones said that she was “inspired” by the way the Lakers responded after a team spokesperson apologized to her, and she was even invited by the club to give a speech to its players on the issue of respecting women.