Hi, we’re Jess and Caroline, Co-Creators of the Grow Journals, as well as Mums to 5 kids between us, and long-time friends.  

We want to empower kids and teens to believe in themselves, and think optimistically, so that as life circumstances happen around them or they make mistakes and experience setbacks, they have a strong, supportive mindset to rely on. 

So we created the Grow Journals as a simple way for kids and teens to build these powerful life skills, in a way that feels good, and fits easily into their often busy lives.

Co-founders of the GROW Journal Caroline Coquet-Smith & Jessica Kent

Jess’s story...

I’ve always been drawn to working with kids, even since my first jobs as babysitter, and then tutor, but I opted for a corporate career early on. Then after having kids, I began learning more about resilience and emotional wellbeing (both theirs and mine - parenting is a tough gig! But also the most wonderful journey I've ever taken). 

Over the years I’ve learned all about the power of gratitude and emotional awareness/literacy, how to feel safe experiencing all our feelings (even the uncomfortable ones), and learning how impactful and important it is to recognise what self talk is, and help turn it into something positive and supportive. I’ve learned and practiced this for myself, and then with my kids, and I’ve seen the incredible benefits it has in mindset, overall wellbeing, and how we all experience life.

From all this has come the Grow Journal, a practical and tangible way for me to share this learning and empower all kids (and now teens), to reap the benefits of these amazing life skills.

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