Meet Jessica Stone | Novelist + Nonprofit Development

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessica Stone and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I became a single mother at a young age, and for many years of my daughter’s life, I worked three jobs to make ends meet. It wasn’t a healthy balance, but it was necessary. As my life situation changed, I was eventually able to be a stay-at-home mom, but a health crisis not long after leaving my corporate position slowed me way down for almost two years. As I recovered, I loved the opportunity to volunteer at my teenager’s school and take care of our home while my then-husband provided for us, but I was restless and picked up a WFH position while also going back to school for a degree in Occupational Therapy.

When that marriage ended, I started a position WFH in healthcare, and I admit, I let it take over my life. I hated the idea that someone could be waiting on me to do my part of something so they could do their part, so I kept myself “on” nearly around the clock. I realized then how much I like to feel needed, often to my own detriment.

I am currently working as the Fundraising + Development Coordinator for a local nonprofit, Hope + Vine, while also churning out manuscripts as a novelist represented by Barb Roose of Books & Such Literary Management. Being able to determine my own schedule for both endeavors is what keeps me going, but having so much on my plate does make it difficult to not get behind. Eventually, I see myself writing full-time and staying inspired by being able to travel even more.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Miraculously, I signed with the only agent I pitched for that first manuscript, which led me to turn the storyline into a series. The fourth book centered on a young woman who had aged out of the foster care system, and ultimately, this is how I found myself with Hope + Vine.

This particular series explores some serious topics, some of which I have firsthand exposure to, but others, not so much. When I started considering how an eighteen-year-old with no family who had run away from a group foster home would survive on her own, I began researching organizations in my city who worked with people in similar situations.

I volunteered with several different nonprofits and met some amazing people, but it took a couple of years to discover Hope + Vine. I had just completed a writing project and decided early one morning to just glance online for a part-time staff position with a nonprofit. The post for a newly available Fundraising + Development Coordinator role was on the top of the page, and I applied for it, closed my laptop, and went to take a shower. By the time I got out of the shower, I’d been offered an interview.

That’s not to say any of this was easy. A year prior, I had, against all of my better judgment and copious warning signs, gone back to corporate America in the field I had gladly retired from to be a SAHM twelve years earlier. The company was awful, the position was beyond stressful, and although the money was great, I probably wouldn’t have survived long enough to spend it, as my physical health was deteriorating by the hour. Worst of all, it had sucked my creative fountain dry and left me with almost no time to write anyway. A lesson I learned the hard way there was not to waste a moment longer of my one, beautiful, precious life forcing any situation that clearly isn’t good for me.

Hope + Vine’s mission is to equip young women who have aged out of foster care to live with purpose and freedom. Their circumstances do not determine their future. Foster care may be part of their history, but it doesn’t define them. Having the right support system and being purposeful in who we allow into our circle are critical elements in becoming the best versions of ourselves. This is what we provide for the women who come to us, and this is what I would tell my younger self, if I only could.

Often, I write about mother/daughter relationships–simultaneously complex, painful, and beautiful. But I also write about trauma and redemption because my personal story includes both. Being able to portray grace and hope by writing faith-filled fiction is all I’ve ever wanted, and my “day job” provides both inspiration and connection to people living these stories that matter.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
It’s so funny to get this question now, as my best friend–my almost 26-year-old daughter–just came home for ten days to spend Mother’s Day with my mom and me! This was a particularly special trip, as it was the first time she’d been back for Mother’s Day since she moved to Paris eight years ago.

We originally moved to Raleigh thirty years ago, and although I did leave for ten years, it’s been interesting to see the changes over the years and experience them myself since moving back in 2020. Downtown has grown and changed so much. It wasn’t necessarily the cool place to hang out when I was in my prime, but I had to take my daughter down there to explore the antique and consignment shops. Our favorite is Cheshire Cat Gallery in Cameron Village. We go every single time she’s here. I also had to make sure to take her to a couple of my favorite out-of-the-way coffee shops, because I’m always looking for new places to write. This time, we made time for lunch at Full Bloom Coffee Roasters in Garner, Jubala Coffee in North Hills (although I still prefer the Lafayette Village location), and Parallax Coffee Lab in Wendell.

For dinners, we have to choose places she can’t get in Paris, so Chick-fil-A was a must, as was Cowfish. We also have favorites like Northside Bistro, Rosewater in North Hills, The Kitchen Table for board games, and Whiskey Kitchen downtown. And this time, her visit was timed perfectly to score a reservation at Brodeto in the new Iron Works area. That certainly seemed to pop up out of nowhere!

We also had to hit up Nordstrom Rack (don’t tell my husband) because…SHOES. This visit, she also really wanted to fit in a family game of Putt-Putt, and the weather called for outdoors at Frankie’s, although we are excited to try Partee Shack’s indoor course with a different crowd at some point.

Her last visit, we discovered a speakeasy called The Blind Barber…great drinks and excellent bartenders (IF you can find it, hee hee). The Art Museum is another place we typically fit in, especially if there’s an interesting temporary exhibit.

Lastly, this particular visit coincided with a beautiful garden party dinner thrown by my author friend’s ministry, The Hive. If you’re seeking a community of exceptional women, consider joining this group.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would never be where I am, finally having time to pursue my lifelong dream of writing novels, if it weren’t for my parents encouraging me, my husband supporting me and cheering me on, and quite especially, my daughter inspiring me.

I have tried (and failed miserably at) so many things in life that I was scared to write for a long time. I’d always believed it was my calling and the one thing I was created to do, but what if I wasn’t as good as I always hoped? There’d be nothing left. So, even though I started my first manuscript in 2012, I put off finishing it or even opening it back up for eight years, until moving states at the very start of the pandemic left me with lots of time on my hands.

I dug out those first five chapters, at first only peering with one eye, to see if there was anything worth salvaging. I will never forget my elation when I discovered the story was better than I remembered. My husband insisted I focus on it rather than figuring out a return to the traditional workforce. My parents critiqued each page with thoughtfulness. And my daughter, who at the age of four informed me she’d be moving to Paris to be a fashion designer after high school, had done just that. Seeing her fulfilling her purpose in life with such determination gave me hope that my dream could become a goal as well.

Website: https://jessicastonestories.com

Instagram: @JessicaStoneStoryteller

Facebook: @JessicaStone–Storyteller

Other: https://hopeandvine.org

Image Credits
Fofia Studio Creation