About Us
Hi, we’re Jess and Caroline, long-time friends, Mums, and co-creators of the GROW Journal.
We have a vision of a world in which kids grow up learning to believe in themselves, love themselves, and think optimistically, so that as life circumstances happen around them or they make mistakes and experience setbacks, they have a toolkit to rely on, and a strong and supportive internal way of being. We know that a future where kids have grown up learning these things is a very bright one.
So we created the GROW Journal as a way for kids to build this toolkit and powerful mindset.
Our kids have been wonderful sources of inspiration, and very helpful testers, so you can rest assured the Journal is kid-approved! We hope you and your families love the GROW Journal as much as ours do.
Jess’s story...
Looking back I realise I've always been drawn to having kids in my life. I loved my babysitting job in high school, found myself tutoring Primary school kids as I went through Uni (where my favourite subject happened to be Child Development!), and then becoming a Mum three times over, which happens to be the only thing I have ever been completely sure I wanted to do.
After enjoying the early years of parenting so much, where I was able to keep my kids in a relative bubble, I struggled initially when they went out into the world and experienced circumstances that weren't always pleasant. I loved them so much and wanted to protect them from these 'negative' experiences. After some self-exploration and a lot of personal growth I came to realise many things, one of which was that it was actually me I was trying to protect! And I also came to realise that both my kids and I, have everything we need to be able to live amazing lives that feel great, regardless of the circumstances, but that sometimes we need help to access them.
Journaling and a gratitude practice were amazingly supportive for me through that period (and remain so today!), so it seemed like a natural next step to find a way to offer these supportive practices to my own kids, and others, so they can unlock their own self awareness, self belief, self love and optimism.
I wrote the Journal as a way for kids to create their own toolkit and optimistic mindset so they can believe in themselves and are supported when they need it.
Caroline’s story...
I’ve always been creative - always making, crafting and drawing, which led to studying Design at University. After graduating I worked as an Art Director in magazines- for me, there’s something really nice about the tangibility of the printed word (over online). My latest position was as Art Director of National Geographic Kids magazine in Australia, where I realised how much I love designing for kids. In this time, I developed an understanding of how kids minds work when reading and processing information visually. After having my own kids, I struggled initially (like many parents) with how to raise them, and teach them the skills to succeed and thrive in life. I soon realised that learning about positive parenting psychology could help me support my kids in building important life skills.
In 2019, we came together to work out a way to create something that would bring these powerful life skills to kids. We decided to call them 'superpowers' because we think that's exactly what they are! With Jess having researched and experienced first hand the benefits of journaling, we felt that this was the perfect tool. And so the GROW Journal was born. Our hope is to empower as many budding superheroes as we can!
We would love to hear from you, so reach out anytime at
hello@thegrowjournal.com
Thanks for your support!
Caroline - BDesign; Jess - BS(Psych), BComm