We were lucky to catch up with Jennifer Smoak recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Sometimes blessings masquerade as disappointments. In the fall of 2021, I decided to leave the education field where I had served successfully for twenty years, to team up with my husband running our family business, Island Inspections. There was a great intrigue that lay in the corporate 9-5, which seemed to hold far more predictability than the near impossible balance of art and science, whimsy and regime, drama and data required of an effective educator. It was a huge risk leaving the tenure and the passion of a job well-loved, but it was time. I was right in many ways. It was predictable. Working from home from the same checklist day after day and attending the same meetings week after week kept me on a steady schedule. I was wrong about a lot of things. It was never 9-5. It was our business. There weren’t days off. There wasn’t a safety net of “outside of contractual hours.” While I loved being able to support the business, I was restless. My identity was evaporating and I was finding it difficult to feel confident in any aspect of my life. This risk had left me sorely disappointed and I wasn’t sure how to unearth the me that had been buried. My husband encouraged me to write. I’ve always been a writer. As the editor of my college newspaper, blogger, and curriculum writer, it was in every part of me. I had always wanted to write a book but thought it would never happen for someone like me who’s life was already so full. Considering the identity crisis I was drowning in, I seemed to have more than enough time to devote to what had, up until this point, only felt like a hobby. I started writing and within 6 months had published my first book. What felt like a disappointment during that time in my life, turned out to be one of my life’s greatest blessings and achievements. I’ve since returned to teaching, still support my husband’s business (though on a lesser scale), and am working on book #2.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I studied early childhood education at Charleston Southern University, earning my B.S. in 2001. I later attended Lesley University and received my M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Arts Integration. Through the years I’ve added multiple specialty certifications for literacy and Montessori. I’ve taught first, second, third and fifth grades. I am currently in first (my favorite). There is nothing as rewarding as teaching a kiddo to read.

As far as followers of my writing, both the book already published “Joy Comes in the Morning” and the one in process, are faith-based non-fiction books. I want my readers to see me as a friend and a safe space. Being vulnerable with both trauma and healing gives others courage to do the same. As messy as life can get, there’s joy still in the ickiest of places.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Oh my goodness, my entire life feels like a pivot! Studies show teachers make more than 800 decisions in a single school day. My career, coupled with my most important job – mom to three girls – means things would fall apart without a constant Plan B. From moves, to buying homes or relocating, job changes, opening our home inspection business, doing volunteer work with our favorite nonprofit, Love Recon, teen drivers, athletic events, clubs, groups….there’s relentless pivots. I think with every pivot, we just have to think about priorities, efficiency, and resourcefulness.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Progress over perfection in all things. In education we’ve gotten into some dangerous territory over-valuing quantitative data. It absolutely has its place but just as our overall health isn’t solely the number on the scale or our pulse at any given minute, learners should never be viewed only as tier group. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in parenting. (I mention a key moment of this in my book.) It usually revolves around an unspoken desire for perfection in myself that is unattainable. I began to see this expectation have negative effects on my daughters. I never want them to believe something they could do or not do would impact my love for them. In business, profits will ebb and flow. The only surety is the ups and downs. Marriage will never be perfectly blissful and at all times. In some seasons it will feel like work. In all things, progress trumps perfection and the best way to make that shift is to be a grace-giver to ourselves and others.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.islandinspectionsllc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messy_miracles_writer?igsh=b2pmMzhzZzN1Z3Bv&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyMiraclesWriter?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: Check out Jennifer Smoak’s profile on LinkedIn
• Other: To purchase “Joy Comes in the Morning” Joy Comes in the Morning: Finding Miracles in the Mess https://a.co/d/754WxWA

Image Credits
Last photo: Donald Hovis