“ IT ’ S IMPORTANT TO LOVE WHAT YOU DO AND FIND FULFILLMENT IN YOUR CAREER PATH , BUT BE SURE TO BALANCE IT WITH OTHER JOYS IN LIFE .”
Personal Best :
Wetumpka resident and native Jenny Stubbs is one of her hometown ’ s loudest cheerleaders ; she turned her passion for making the city a better place to live into a job , leading Main Street Wetumpka and its efforts to revitalize downtown from 2016 until 2021 and helping Wetumpka score one of its biggest wins — being the focus of HGTV ’ s “ Home Town Takeover ” show . Stubbs may be retired from that role , but she ’ s not stopped creating and her love of Wetumpka and the entire region still drives her current endeavors . She ’ s recently turned her attention to writing ( an art she ’ s been honing for decades ) and is telling Southern culture stories in multiple publications , with broader plans for her creative future .
Top Tip : Find your balance . It ’ s important to love what you do and find fulfillment in your career path , but be sure to balance it with other joys in life . Sometimes this means being flexible , being willing to listen to others or prioritizing what means most to you .
I ’ M PROUD TO HAVE HELPED GET WETUMPKA ON NATIONAL TELEVISION [ via “ Home Town Takeover ’], but my proudest accomplishment is creating a nationally recognized placemaking project that significantly increased access to public art and instilled pride of place within the community . I ’ m also proud to have written for national publications and organizations , but my most cherished project is “ My Wetumpka : A Picture Book Love Story ,” a photo-history book .
Write Now : I have a great passion for learning about people and places and telling those stories as a writer . Currently , my particular focus is on completing a fellowship with the Appalachian Leadership Institute , an initiative of the Appalachian Regional Commission . There are about 40 of us representing all 13 Appalachian states , which stretch from Mississippi up to New York . Learning from scholars , preservationists , economic developers , entrepreneurs and nonprofits working to improve quality of life has been inspiring .
LOVE LIST
STUBBS ’ HOMETOWN FAVES
SHOP : Company Street Mercantile
COFFEE STOP : Restoration Coffee House
QUOTE : “ You cannot dream yourself into a character ; you must hammer and forge yourself one .” - James Anthony Froude
Helping Hand : Even if I wasn ’ t married to a public official [ her husband Troy is a past Elmore County Commissioner and now , a freshman representative in the Alabama Legislature ], having four kids keeps me busy volunteering . My husband has volunteer coached all of our children in various sports , and the Greater Montgomery YMCA is an organization we love to support . I ’ M AN ADVOCATE FOR SMALL TOWNS AND CONSISTENTLY WORK WITH COMMUNITIES ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROJECTS . I ’ m also on the Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts board and volunteer with Main Street Wetumpka .
44 CentrAL Inc !