Words of
Encouragement
When she is not teaching culinary and
agricultural skills to recovering addicts and
at-risk youth or baking treats for the bakery
and café, Tammy Jordan writes words of
encouragement to share with the masses.
As an award-winning author, she has written
two inspirational books to help others on their
journeys in life, the profits of which support
the ministry of Fruits of Labor’s training and
retreat center.
Jordan’s first book, “The Door to Fruitfulness,”
received the Reader’s Choice Award in
2013 from Readers’ Favorite, the fastest-
growing book review site online. “The Door
to Fruitfulness” is a devotional that helps
individuals embrace their purpose while
laying aside unproductive busyness.
Her second book, “The Seed Sower,” received
Readers’ Favorite’s national Silver Reader’s
Choice Award. This devotional book was
written to inspire individuals to go on a 40-
day journey of sowing positive seeds in their
community.
Jordan is currently working on a third book,
which she hopes to complete by the end of
2020 and release in 2021.
will continue to be lost.”
More than hope, though, students are
gaining a sense of community, which
was reflected in their actions during the
2016 flood. During the disaster, Fruits
of Labor’s training center in Rainelle was
completely lost.
“We have journeyed through almost
four years of flood recovery in a town
already deeply impacted by addiction,”
she says. “The journey of flood recovery is
far from over, but doors I never dreamed
possible have been opened during this
season of loss, and coming one by one
through those doors were graduates of
our program showing up to help Fruits
of Labor with its recovery. We are all
recovering together from different chal-
lenges. This is the beauty of the journey,
and this is what drives me every day.”
For her efforts, Jordan has been rec-
ognized with multiple awards, including
Business Leader of the Year by the
Greenbrier County Chamber of Com-
merce; the Don Myers Humanitarian
Award by Appalachian Regional Com-
mission and Development District Associ-
ation of Appalachia; West Virginia Social
Entrepreneur of the Year; the Power of
Performance Award for Putting People to
Work; and West Virginia’s First Lady’s
Rhododendron Award.
Despite the state’s many challenges,
Jordan remains optimistic about the future
because of the people who live here.
“We did not reach this place of chal-
lenges overnight and it will take time to
see mass improvement, but it is up to each
of us to embrace the opportunity to have
an impact on the street where we live, the
surrounding community, the county and
the entire state,” she says. “Focused ef-
forts today of building a community of
healing will create pockets of success that
have a ripple effect. We must collectively
be that change.”
W W W. W V E X E C U T I V E . C O M
WINTER 2020
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