Jessica N. Turner has a passion for helping women find more joy and ease in their days. Over the last 18 years, the Nashville-based mother of three has built a full-time business driven by this purpose. A veteran of the family blogging space, she’s published books, made television appearances, spoken at events, and earned industry awards. Through it all, she’s remained steadfast in her commitment to vulnerability and authenticity.
By the Numbers
18 — How long Jessica has been creating content online
2021 — The year she made the decision to go full time as a content creator
9k+ – Purchases she drove last year
340 — How many days per year Jessica publishes content
40 – How many brands she linked last year
1 — How many team members she’s brought onboard
Creator Origin Story
Before Pinterest, before Instagram, before “blogger” was a popular job title, Jessica N. Turner was building an online community.
“I started blogging in 2006 to share about my family and my scrapbooking projects,” recalls Jessica. “My family was in Wisconsin, and my then-husband’s family lived in Maryland, so it was a fun way for them to keep up with us as newlyweds.”
In 2008, at the height of the mommy blogging boom, the Nashville-based creator gave birth to her first child. Soon after, the focus of her content shifted from primarily crafting to sharing parenting stories and shopping finds with fellow moms.
“I like to say that I help busy moms with decision-fatigue make decisions,” says Jessica, who got started with affiliate marketing in 2009.“Those could be decisions about what to buy for their families as they go into summer, decisions on gifts to buy over the holidays, or decisions about how to manage their time or the mental load they’re carrying every day.”
Jessica is passionate about being a resource for maxed-out moms because she’s been there. For many years, she balanced the roles of wife, mom, and creator all while holding down a corporate marketing career. Back then, leaving her day job was simply a risk she wasn’t ready to take.
“I wanted to be a full-time creator for a long time. My ex-husband is an author, so I was carrying the healthcare benefits and the consistent salary,” Jessica says. “It just felt really secure for our family to be set up that way versus two of us having jobs that would have volatile incomes.”
Pursuing her dream
“The flexibility has been incredible. The income has been incredible. I don’t work less, but it’s so different.”
Then an unexpected turn of events empowered Jessica to turn her passion into her career:
“During the pandemic, my then-husband actually came out, and we went through a divorce,” remembers Jessica. “I thought to myself, ‘The dream of my marriage has died; I don’t want to let this other dream die.’ And so, I saved enough of a financial cushion to feel comfortable taking the leap to become a full-time influencer.”
While navigating these major life changes, the mom of three has used her platform as a space to openly share her experiences with co-parenting, dating in her 40s, and more. Being authentic and vulnerable about her family’s story has led to a feature in People Magazine and appearances on The Today Show and the Tamron Hall Show. And since becoming a full-time creator in May 2021, she’s also cultivated new brand partnerships and signed a book deal — the third in her career so far.
“I just signed a contract for my third book called I Thought It Would Be Better Than This which will come out in April 2025,” says Jessica, whose previous books are titled The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You and Stretched Too Thin: How Working Moms Can Lose the Guilt, Work Smarter, and Thrive. “All of my published work is about supporting women and helping them to build lives that they love, whether that’s through self-care or having more work-life satisfaction.”
Looking back, the author and creator believes leaving her day job is one of the best decisions she’s ever made. In fact, she says she’s still pinching herself. One of the things she loves most is how every day is different. Whether she’s brainstorming blog content, filming Instagram reels, or publishing personal updates to her Facebook feed, there’s always something to do, and with the help of her teammate, she manages to post about 340 days a year.
“The flexibility has been incredible. The income has been incredible. I don’t work less, but it’s so different,” she says. “I get to work with teams like Mavely and brands like Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, and Wayfair. Some extraordinary partnerships have come from me having the ability to do this full time.”
Getting vulnerable
“People will often say to me, ‘I came for the deals, and I stayed for the stories.’”
Jessica is grateful for the role she’s able to play in so many women’s lives — and she doesn’t take her platform or her responsibilities as a creator lightly.
“I love that every day I have the opportunity to help busy women make decisions and hopefully bring a little joy and ease to their day,” she says. “I don’t take it for granted that someone might come to my feed and buy a gadget that they end up using in their home every day or buy a gift for their kids that they really love and makes their lives a little easier. It is a privilege to have that kind of trust.”
One way she builds this trust is by aligning with brands she believes in and knows her followers would be enthusiastic to support. Another is by being honest, transparent, and vulnerable — qualities that have become hallmarks of her content. Her vulnerable posts, such as this one about being blamed for her husband being gay and this one about struggling with her weight demonstrate how much her community resonates with her content.
“People will often say to me, ‘I came for the deals, and I stayed for the stories.’ Those stories really matter to people because they see themselves in my honesty,” says Jessica. “And if they can’t find themselves, they still feel like they’re sitting with a vulnerable friend they can trust.”
Staying the course
From book deals to talk show segments to winning the 2021 Iris Award for Best Mom Blog to being nominated as a top family influencer in the 2024 Nashville Creator Awards, Jessica has accomplished a lot in her career. But the one of the things she’s most proud of is her ability to stay the course.
“I’m really proud to still be working in this space after 18 years,” she says. “I think my ability to be nimble and evolve my strategic business acumen and my passion combined have made me successful.”
Jessica believes it’s important to be a student of the industry. To her, part of that means not becoming tied to one platform or one stream of revenue.
“I know many creators who rely heavily on sponsored content as their bread and butter,” she says. “I have always diversified my income streams with affiliate marketing, publishing, courses, and ad revenue. I think that has allowed me to grow my business to what it is today.”
Partnering with Mavely has also helped her keep evolving and growing.
“I love the huge roster of brands that they work with and the opportunities with those brands,” says the creator. “Mavely has become an important piece of my business and I’m so grateful that we get to partner together.”
Advice to other creators
As a veteran of the industry, Jessica remains optimistic for those looking to break in. Her best advice? Stay persistent.
“I’m a big believer that there is room at the table for everyone. It is not too late to be a creator. The industry is not too saturated,” she says. “I think that if you are someone who is willing to work hard and to experience disappointment along the way, if you have that persistence, you will succeed in this space.”
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