MEET THE TEAM!
There is no way I could do all that I do on my own! Over the past fourteen years I have gone from working alone (and lonely in my work!) to having an amazing small group of women who play a part in what I do. I am beyond blessed to have some incredibly smart, creative, and fun people alongside me to provide you with the content and resources that I offer. I call on some of these women just occasionally (like when I need to add techie stuff to my website or have fresh photos taken!) and I talk to some of them daily (like, literally every day, partly because we’ve become such good friends!) I love these ladies!
So here’s a quick introduction to the Team:
Morgan Bieber, (virtual) assistant:
Morgan started by working in my actual house about 9 years ago as a part time helper. She was newly married and fresh out of college, and she mostly worked with my youngest son (while I homeschooled the older boys and built this little website.) Before long she took on side projects in my home, like dehydrating bananas and organizing my cupboards (She’s got skills.) Morgan became like family and I have always been impressed by how capable she is.
After Morgan and her husband moved all the way back to their home in Tennessee, and as my business grew, I reached out to ask if she’d work part time as my online assistant. Now she does everything from graphic design, to email correspondence, to working on my weekly podcast show notes. Morgan is efficient, hilarious, and such a loyal team player.
(She also has two of the cutest kids you’ll ever see!)
Leanne Benson, Business Manager/Strategist: :
Leanne and I first connected online through my Women’s Wellness topic, and after some emails back and forth we discovered we were cut out of the same cloth (though she lives as far across the country in Pennsylvania.) She’s a younger, cuter, Itallian-version of me…A homeschool mom to four precious kids, and an online health and fitness coach. Leanne and I share the energizer bunny gene, a love for coffee, and fear of throwing up (among other things.) And most importantly we share a passion for God, family, and living a balanced, healthy life.
In August of 2023 I invited Leanne to officially work with me as my business manager and strategist. Now we officially run the “Swanson 24-hour Enterprise”, because one of us is always awake (one of the few perks of the challenging time zone gap.) Fun Note: Leanne and her husband will be coming to Hawaii this fall so we can finally meet in person!
Emily is the wife of our Pastor (at The Mission North Shore) and an incredibly talented photographer, business owner, and one of the few friends I actually hang out with in real life! After working as an ICU nurse for years, Emily decided to go all in as a photographer (while homeschooling two, current-teenagers.) Emily has grown to be one of the most well-respected wedding, destination, and humanitarian photographers in Hawaii (and around the world.) She can now be found anywhere from Honolulu to Iceland to Italy (engagement photos anyone?) Or maybe in Ukraine or Uganda (Compassion International or Samaritan’s Purse…) while almost always making home to manage the slides at church on Sunday mornings. Emily’s photos make me look better than I actually am, but I’m not mad about it. If you need the best photos, check out her web page. (and follow her on IG here!)
Gretchen Louise Acheson, Tech-genius:
In 2014 when I decided to upgrade my blog (then called “thegrommom.com”) someone recommended I reach out to Gretchen Louise. Wife to a farmer and homeschool mom to a crew, Gretchen is fluent in both English and computer code. (a mystery to me.) Just as Gretchen was underway revamping my very simple website, my post “What a Teenage Boy Needs Most from His Mom” went viral, wreaking havoc on everything Gretchen was trying to do on my website. That was a highlight of my life and a pain in the butt bonding experience for Gretchen and I. Since then, Gretchen has updated my website, fixed bugs, installed code (lots of code) and patiently walked me through things that I am sure are simple to her, but are overwhelmingly complicated to me. (And she doesn’t even call me boomer like my sons might!)
I will also add that Alex Field (the Bindery Agency) has been my literary agent since 2017, and taken such good care of me. I also published Boy Mom with Waterbrook Multnomah, and Raising Amazing and Becoming Homeschoolers with Zondervan. I have been blessed with incredible book editors and publicists along the way. I also am a part of Christian Parenting Podcast network, and Jeannette Tapley has been my podcast producer/editor for the past couple of years. Goodness, I feel blessed. There are too many names to mention!
I am beyond grateful for my “home team”: My husband Dave who is so supportive and encouraging, and my four sons who have helped in a myriad of ways both online, and off.
And most importantly, God has provided, protected, and guided me every step of this journey. I want so much to point others to Him and pray my work is pleasing to Him. Everything is grace and I am humbled by provision and love!