About Us
Hi, we’re Jess and Caroline, long-time friends, mums to five brilliant kids and co-creators of the GROW Journal. We created the GROW Journal together because we wanted to equip our kids to tackle life head on, teach them how to cope with challenges, and foster positive mindsets that help them enjoy life to the fullest. Our kids have been wonderful sources of inspiration, and very helpful testers along the way. We hope you and your families love the GROW Journal as much as we do!
Jess’s story...
I never expected to create a kids journal but now that I look back it makes perfect sense! From my love of babysitting in high school, to my uni job tutoring primary school kids, to my favourite Psychology subject whilst studying - Child Development, and then my countless hours of research and books read on positive parenting after becoming a Mum. Despite an early corporate career I have always loved learning about and working with kids. Then, after learning about how powerful positive thinking can be (to build skills, boost health and improve your work) and the things we can do to strengthen it (such as a gratitude practice, journaling, positive self talk) I began to think about how wonderful it would be to teach these things to kids. I wished I had unlocked the power of positive thinking way earlier in my own life, so it made sense to figure out a way to help kids learn about it too. Not to mention that as a Mum I have seen first hand that life can be tough for our kids, and anything we can do to help build a strong sense of self worth and self belief is such a gift for them.
Caroline’s story...
I met Jess long ago at our local preschool drop offs. 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. After many chats with Jess about life skills for kids, I began to wonder if we could combine forces.
I met Jess long ago at our local preschool drop offs. 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. After many chats with Jess about life skills for kids, I began to wonder if we could combine forces.
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