Get to know Jodie Robinson in this week's Member Spotlight.
I am the baby of 3 girls. My dad owns Shawnee Pools and now runs that with my sister Deanna. I grew up around animals, showing horses in 4-H and competitively showing reining horses. This passion continued and I’ve been a horse 4-H advisor for over 10 years. I went to The University of Findlay and got a Bachelor of Science so that I could move to Colorado Springs and be a zookeeper. Although it was gorgeous, I found Lima calling me home, to be a more active part of my nieces and nephews lives’. I have 2 nieces and 4 nephews and my family is very close, with Sunday Family day every week.
I worked for the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce, Dex Media and then partnered with my oldest sister, Brenda, to buy/re-brand and move Yazel’s Flowers & Gifts into a new location with rental space behind. While living in Indianbrook I enjoyed reading the Shawnee Living magazine and when the opportunity presented itself to own the franchise, I jumped. The magazine allows me the best of all my talents, offering event planning with monthly neighborhood socials, working closely with business partners to develop a brand in the market and introduce them to residents, and meet new residents weekly to find out what they’d like in their neighborhood magazine. I absolutely love it!
After having my 2nd child, the writing was on the wall, that the time commitment of juggling 2 businesses was too much for my work life balance, so my sister bought me out, at the end of the year, so I could focus more on the kids while they’re little.
So, like any mom, every single day brings new obstacles, new joys, new pains. Sometimes someone throws up on me, bites, scratches or pulls my hair, tells me they hate me, screams when they don’t get their way, tries to seriously injury themselves, needs fed way too many times, wants their butt wiped, nose wiped, boo boo kissed and I’m exhausted because I already worked and did 50 other things, but then they do something sweet and at the end of the day, I’d do it all over again, because they’re my favorite people.
My daughter, Elena, is 5 years old and will attend Shawnee kindergarten this fall. My son, Jackson, will be a year old on August 9. They’re everything I ever dreamed of and so much more.
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