Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jessica Shafer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jessica , thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I started Knoxville Parent as a way to share ideas and activities with other local parents, and I recently had the opportunity to utilize the Knoxville Parent audience to serve families in need. Helping Mamas Knoxville provides assistance to local families, including help with obtaining clean diapers. One in three families has to choose between diapers and food at some point, and Helping Mamas Knoxville does a huge diaper drive each September to help stock their warehouse for families in need. This year, Knoxville Parent participated as a team, and together my audience collected over 2,000 diapers to donate to the cause. This was my first time to use this platform directly for a charitable cause, and I was overwhelmed with the generosity shown by the Knoxville Parent audience.

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 started the Instagram account @knoxvilleparent as a way to share local activities and events with other Knoxville families. My family is very active, and we are huge proponents of collecting experiences over things. I believe that shared experiences create stronger families, and I want Knoxville Parent to encourage other families to get out and experience life together. Many parents feel intimidated trying new things with their young kids, and I hope to make activities easier by offering tips and insight from my own experiences. My goal is for the Knoxville Parent account to be a resource for parents as they plan fun activities with their own families.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding thing about Knoxville Parent has been the messages I’ve received from parents saying that my account has encouraged them to try something new with their family. I have received such encouraging notes and photos showing that the tips I share are helping actual families, which is incredibly meaningful. I love knowing that Knoxville Parent has played a small role in creating memories for other families.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I am definitely still building my audience! My numbers are not impressive to most people, but I try to remember that creating something successful isn’t just about numbers. I believe that being authentic and creating content that adds value to people’s lives is the best way to grow. The goal is always to create something so helpful that your audience shares it with their own followers, which will hopefully introduce new people to your account.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/knoxvilleparent/