Jenna @itsmejennahobbs
"If you want to change the world, go home and love your family."
I've always loved that quote because it reminds me that some of the most important work in the world happens far from boardrooms, stages, and headlines.
When I think about Jenna Hobbs, that quote comes to mind.
Jenna is a mother of five, the creator of Homegrown, and one half of Hobbs Photo. Through her work, she has become a storyteller of rural life, helping preserve the experiences, knowledge, and beauty that exist in communities like ours.
But before any of those roles, she is a mother.
When I asked what kind of work fills her hands most days, she said:
"As much as my kids have grown and are all in school, you'd think a lot less of my time would be centred around motherhood. But even when they're bigger, the tasks change, but how much you are needed stays the same. I am still a mother first and fitting my creative pursuits into the cracks surrounding motherhood."
An ordinary day starts early, packing lunches and getting children out the door. When she has the house all to herself, the first thing she does is make a matcha latte, find a sunny spot, and soak it all in before completing the indoor and outdoor chores and getting to any computer work or photography work that needs doing. Before long, the kids are off the bus, then it’s time for afternoon chores, supper, time together, evening football practices, and everything else that comes with raising five kids.
Jenna made a point of mentioning that no two days are alike. The day she answered these questions, she went from a work call to carrying an eighty-pound lamb in a matter of minutes. Somewhere in between there was a grocery delivery and a search for a missing dog. That blend of responsibilities feels familiar to many rural women. Life can’t be neatly compartmentalized into “work life” and “home life”. For rural women, motherhood, work, creativity, family, farming, and community all overlap.
What I admire about Jenna is that she hasn't fallen into the trap of waiting for the perfect season of life to pursue creative work. She has built her creative work within the life she already has. Homegrown began with a vintage recipe box gifted to Jenna by her mother-in-law. Tucked between recipes for cake, peach pie, and potato soup were notes on caring for livestock and tending a farm. Looking through those well-worn cards, she found herself reflecting on the value of the knowledge they contained and the women who had passed it down. In a world that often overlooks rural voices, Homegrown creates space for them to be heard. In many ways, Homegrown feels like an extension of motherhood itself. It is an act of gathering, nurturing, teaching, and passing something valuable on to the next generation. Through its pages, Jenna is not only preserving knowledge, but creating a space where women can encourage one another and find inspiration in the lives being lived around them.
The same spirit can be found in Hobbs Photo, the photography business Jenna owns alongside her sister-in-law, Aimee. Their photography and film work focuses on authentically capturing the beauty of everyday life, without the posing, coordinated outfits, or carefully planned locations. To Jenna and Aimee “it’s the ordinary stuff that really fills our hearts”.
Whether through photography or publishing, Jenna's work is about finding and highlighting the beauty in the simple, perhaps chaotic, perhaps quiet, moments in everyday life.
When I asked what drew her to rural life, she explained that her husband grew up on a farm, while she grew up in town. After moving to the country a few years into their marriage, she discovered a life she could never leave behind.
"The space, the peace, the sounds, the feeling. It really is the best."
Perhaps that slower pace is what allows her to notice things worth preserving. The stories she shares through Homegrown and her photography celebrate family traditions, shared meals, changing seasons, community, and the wisdom passed from one generation to the next. They remind us that the most meaningful parts of life are often found in the everyday.
In these photographs, Jenna is wearing The Alder Vest, Cropped in Peat, Size 1. Made from undyed wool grown on the Canadian Prairies and knit in my rural Alberta studio, it was designed for women moving between chores, work, family, and creativity. Women whose impact reaches far beyond what most people see. Through the way they care for their families, support their communities, create beauty, and show up day after day, they help shape the world around them
