Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenna Gibbons.
Hi Jenna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in a small town in southeast Michigan with a love for riding horses, learning about animals and exploring nature. In college, I initially went to Michigan State University to pursue veterinary medicine, but realized that was not quite the path for me! I also loved traveling and learning about other cultures, so I found that another real passion of mine was teaching children from other countries and pursued a degree in teaching English as a Second Language. While attending college, I focused on gaining as much experience working with children as possible by volunteering at a leadership conference and working at a summer day camp. I graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Elementary Education and minors in English and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and moved to the Nashville area to begin teaching. I taught ESL for almost ten years in Middle Tennessee and truly loved meeting so many wonderful children and working with the best teachers and administrators.
During that time, my husband, Sean, and I moved to a small farm and my dream of having my own little homestead became a reality. We also co-founded a non-profit horse rescue called Hickory Hill Farm that provided animals and people with a place of peace, happiness, and healing. It was during the creation of HHF and our programs like “Reading with Rescues,” that I realized the value in outdoor education. I really enjoyed teaching in a unique, natural setting that truly benefited children in a very special way.
We also started to grow our family and were blessed with two wonderful boys. I loved being with them and began to feel called to come home full-time to raise and teach them on the farm. So in 2018, I left the teaching world that I knew and came home.
Throughout these experiences, I was inspired by those I met who had started their own businesses and were able to spend intentional time with their families. The freedom of raising our family and running a business inspired me to look at life as a mama and entrepreneur in a new way. So, in 2020, I started The Whole Mama blog, podcast, and coaching business to inspire and support mothers. This decision also led us into the homeschooling world which truly changed our lives! I loved being surrounded by like-minded families who felt the same way about learning and reclaiming childhood.
My business really shifted to support homeschooling parents and the creation of our farm school co-op called Little School on the Farm that offered a peaceful place for children to learn about the beautiful world God has created through nature and farm studies. It also served as a space for parents and their children to protect and honor the sacredness of childhood, strengthen children’s relationship with God’s natural world, and foster the development of the whole child and who they were called to be in this world.
Today, our school has grown tremendously with the goal of helping children get “back to their roots” by learning real-life skills that are quickly fading in our fast-paced and technology-driven world today. Our students learn a variety of life-skills and homesteading skills such as raising animals, gardening, preserving food, cooking with whole foods, sewing and weaving, and more! We also weave living books and poetry, math, science, and history into our studies. We hope that by learning these skills, children will change their families for generations to come.
My husband and I have also opened a summer day camp franchise in Mt. Juliet called Camp Mirage Mt. Juliet and hope to offer families in our community a flexible child-care option that is mainly outside and features different camp themes such as painting, Dude Camp, Girl Power, NERF, Pokemon, Babysitting, Pickleball, Street Hockey, and more! We feel that this is just another way to get kiddos outside.
I feel incredibly honored to do this work, and I hope that in our own way, we can change the trajectory of education in our country by encouraging children to pick up a book, shovel, or fishing pole instead of a tablet or phone.
I love farm life, teaching my boys and other children about God’s unending love for them and spending time outdoors. I pray that I may help mamas bravely start and continue homeschooling with the tools and guidance they need to confidently and joyfully teach and disciple their children at home. I do this through mentorship, printed materials/resources, and our farm school with other exciting ways coming in future years! I hope that my guidance will serve as a reminder of why mothers rise each day to build faith and character, educate, and reclaim the childhood their children deserve.
When I’m not wrangling up my boys and enjoying our farm, I love to cook, travel, hike, travel, enjoy a good cup of coffee, listen to live music, and grow personally and professionally through the Bible, inspirational books, workshops and conferences, mentorship, and podcasts.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I am the first in my family to own a business, so in the beginning (and even now), I had to teach myself how to start everything with the help of online resources, business coaching and fellow business owners. I watched a lot of YouTube videos about how to create a website, learned from various online courses about the steps to starting a podcast, and worked with a business coach to get my mindset in line with my faith and my business goals. I had to learn who my audience was, what service I could provide and how best to reach them. I definitely made mistakes along the way, but learned from them and grew from there!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a highly-qualified teacher in Tennessee and love the educational field – just approached it in a different way these days. I truly believe that children today are challenged daily with so many things that often steal their childhood of imagination and creativity. I hope to be a part of the movement that instead reclaims the childhood they deserve. Childhood is supposed to be a wonderful time full of play and exploration, and I hope that children experience that when they come to our farm and summer camp.
I would say now I am known more as “the farm school lady,” and I am incredibly proud of our little farm school that started with 30 kiddos and has grown to close to 80 (with a waitlist of eager families). I also love that we are teaching children essential life and homesteading skills that are slowly fading in our world today. We show them that doing hard things is possible with perseverance and grit. We also teach them about the importance of farmers in our lives and their role in providing essential crops, livestock, milk, honey, and more for our communities. We bring in various speakers who are often local farmers and business owners as a way to connect the community and support their businesses.
I tried to follow God’s lead and do what I believe He asked me to do – and that was to use our farm to serve others. We are at a pivotal time with our children these days, and I pray that I can follow His calling to teach and disciple them with the help of our sweet animals, growing garden, and little library of books waiting to be read!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
So many! I read the Bible app every morning to help set the tone for my day along with devotionals from The Daily Grace Co. I also try to save the first hour or two in the morning for my own personal and professional development before I dive into homeschool teaching and business things. Some of my favorites for business include:
Business:
-The Jennifer Allwood Show (podcast)
-Sales Strategies for Christian Coaches (podcast)
-Faith 2 Influence Christian Coaches Academy
Homeschooling:
-1000 Hours Outside (podcast)
-Read-Aloud Revival (podcast)
-Teaching from Rest (book)
-Read-Aloud Family (book)
-Call of the Wild + Free (book)
-Treehouse Schoolhouse (blog and homeschool resources)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://iamthewholemama.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_wholemama/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamthewholemama
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CampMirageMt.Juliet
- Other: https://campmiragemtjuliet.com/
