Meet our Senior Contributors
Chris
Senior ContributorBorn in Wisconsin, Chris moved South with her family, first to Richmond, Virginia, and then to Birmingham when she was 12. She loves being a girl raised in the South, and her only remaining Midwestern traits are a love for the Packers and a fondness for bratwurst. Today, Chris is the center support that keeps the seesaw of her family balanced, leading a blended family of three young adults and enjoying an empty nest.
Leah
Senior ContributorLeah grew up in a small town in north Jefferson County. She attended UAB and graduated with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. She is the community editor of 280 Living newspaper. A resident of Chelsea since 2005, Leah and her husband Todd have been married for 16 years and have a son, Carson, and daughter, Morgan. If there is every downtime in her schedule, you will find Leah at Starbucks, Target, getting a pedicure or spending time with her girlfriends.
Erin
Special Content & Senior ContributorErin is a transplant, relocating to Birmingham from the midwest just over three years ago. Born and raised in Wisconsin, she met her husband Karl while attending Purdue University. They had no idea when they received the opportunity to move south that the city had so much to offer. Together the couple has two girls: Hadley (6) and Allyson (9).
Julie
Special Content & Senior ContributorAfter graduating from college, Julie worked for ten years as a paralegal and as a medical software programmer before becoming a SAHM to her and her husband’s two toddlers. Life is crazy for her these days, but a lot of Jesus and a little exercise and painting keeps her sane! When the kids are napping, you can find Julie illustrating wedding gown keepsakes–check out her etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/BridalIllustration.
Haley
Senior ContributorHaley is the proud wife of ten years to her chicken farming husband, Bobby. They have a seven-year-old daughter, Presley, who is as wonderfully affectionate as she is athletic, and Knox, five years old, who will undoubtedly have his own Netflix comedy special one day if he doesn't decide to follow in his dad's hardworking, farmer boots one day. In December of 2016, Haley was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer which has colored her life with a beautiful appreciation that most people don't get to experience.
Sarah
Senior ContributorGrowing up, if Sarah wasn’t in a tree channeling her inner Anne Shirley, she was riding her bike on adventures through Texas pasture land. Sarah fell in love with her best friend Tony after they shared an on-stage kiss in their high school play. Together Sarah and Tony attended Baylor University where Sarah received her undergraduate and graduate degrees. After a brief stint in Jacksonville, Florida, Tony and Sarah moved back to Birmingham where they now live with their four children, Sophia, Vincent, Luisa, and Grace.
Meet our Contributor Team
Alexis
ContributorAlexis is the current Creative Director and Event Leader at Back Forty Beer Co. Birmingham where she coordinates events, manages social media, and designs deliverables including beer labels. Her and her husband enjoy thrifting, discovering the best hole in the wall restaurants, and watching mixed martial arts. You can catch her and her family at Whiskey Foxtrot in Hoover enjoying a wagyu burger and local brew!
Ashley S.
ContributorAlissa
ContributorAlissa holds an esthetician and real estate license and currently works as a real estate agent while balancing caring for her household . You can often find Alissa spending time with her family, baking a new recipe, or trying to learn a new dance for fun.
Briana
ContributorBriana's been married for 14 years to Matthew, a CPA, and they have three children- Harrison {12}, Easby {8}, and Josephine {3}. They completed their family with a rambunctious rescue pup, Daisy Mae, and a frisky cat, Elliot. Briana and her family live in Hoover, and while she enjoys working full-time, Briana enjoys volunteering, spending time at the family's home on Lake Martin, and binging on Netflix!
Ashlee
ContributorThrough an absolute miracle, Ashlee became pregnant in 2021 and welcomed a healthy baby girl named Zoee in January 2022. When Ashlee is not caring for Zoee or working, she enjoys trying new recipes, discovering new restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops, and strengthning her faith.
Brittany
ContributorBrittany and her kids reside in Pelham with her mother. She devotes her time to raising her children and bringing awareness to autism and special needs children. She enjoys reading and writing and all things outdoors.
Chelsea
ContributorChelsea Allin (31 years old) was born in Birmingham and both grew up /now resides in south Shelby County. Central Alabama is her home and her heart. She's a new mom to a beautiful baby girl, wife of a chef/restaurant owner, and a full time administrative assistant. To say her schedule is odd and full is an understatement (1 AM bedtimes, anyone?).
Hannah
Special Content & ContributorHannah Trammell was born and raised in Birmingham, and while college took her away to Kentucky, she eventually found her way back home to the magic city. She and her husband currently reside in Roebuck springs with their two boys Franklin (4yrs) and Amos Jon (17mo), and their sweet German shorthaired pointer Leita. They’re an outdoor loving family and some of their favorite memories together have been made hiking, camping taking cross country road trips, exploring national parks, and riding bikes. During the week Hannah is a Spanish interpreter at Children’s hospital.
Emalee
ContributorEmalee is an associate licensed mental health counselor working in private practice. During her free time, she enjoys exploring the city, spending time at her family’s condo at the beach, and reading.
Hayes
ContributorErica
ContributorHeather
ContributorHeather has a four-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son, and she works as a REALTORⓇ with Century 21 Advantage assisting clients with buying and selling of residential homes, land, and farms, and she’s always happy to lend both clients and friends a hand with their garden plans!
Jenny
ContributorJenny is a registered nurse, lactation consultant, and birth doula. She and her husband Matthew met in college at Auburn and have been married for 9 years. They have 3 children: Harris-5, Charlie-2, and Emma Grace-2 months, and a geriatric chocolate lab named Troy. She has called Birmingham home since 2014, and loves raising a family here. In her spare time, she enjoys running, reading, wine nights, and making her children gift baskets for every occasion, both real and made up.
Kristina G.
Special Content & ContributorKristina is an Alabama native who came to Birmingham in 2005 for college (has it really been 15 years?!). She had lived in Muscle Shoals her whole life up until that point. After graduating from UAB in 2009 with a degree in journalism and a minor in music, she married Paul in 2011.
LaMarria
ContributorLauren
ContributorAfter living in a loft downtown, a bungalow in Crestline, and briefly in Long Beach California – Lauren and her family now live in Homewood with their silly pug Bruce. When she’s not wrangling her two busy kiddos, you can find Lauren thrifting for vintage treasures, working in the garden, taking the occasional yoga class or enjoying a girls night!
Mary Anne
ContributorWhen Mary Anne’s not at home doing the laundry, you can find her dancing at the gym, training for a 5k, or crafting in the dining room. The kids weren’t keeping her busy enough, so she started The Confetti Shoppe in 2022 making party décor, personalized totes, and handmade gifts.
Madison
Contributor
Michelle
ContributorMichelle works a couple hours a week teaching preschool childcare for The Church at Brook Hills. She also teaches a ladies' Bible study class and assists in providing leadership to some ladies' multigenerational classes. She also volunteers with Leeds Elementary School and the Leeds High School marching band. In her spare time she likes to read and play around in the arts and crafts.
Mary
ContributorMary is a Northern girl living her best life in the South. She grew up in Pennsylvania and had the privilege of growing up in a suburb right outside of Philadelphia. Of course, she still loves cheering on Philadelphia sports (Fly Eagles Fly). In 2013 her family moved to Montgomery, Alabama so that her brother could pursue football. Montgomery is very special; it is where she met her husband, Chase. They met in a math class in high school (I know, how romantic). Now they have been married for almost 4 years and they have a sassy, Frozen 2 loving, 2-year-old (Claude).
Rachel
Special Content & ContributorRachel Gunn is a former teacher turned full time mom and family coach. She obtained her masters in Education from UAB and taught middle school for ten years. She lives in the Oak Mountain community with her husband, Brent, two teenagers; Katelyn and Sarah, and their Sheepadoodle, Pearl. Rachel founded Seeds of Impact, a nonprofit with a mission to empower and equip moms to impact the next generation in a powerful way.
Tameka
Special Content & ContributorA Birmingham native raised in the small town of Alabaster, Tameka is a family oriented woman with a servant heart. She attended Jefferson State community college where she majored in Early Childhood Development. She is a mentor, advocate for youth and enjoys serving her church and community as children’s director and a substitute teacher for Alabaster City schools while being a SAHM. She has a passion for helping others but her biggest and best blessings are her husband and their six children, three boys and three girls, ages 24, 19, 18, 11, 7, and 5.
Virginia
ContributorVirginia has always loved creating beauty in everything. One of her favorite ways she gets to do this is through her photography business Virginia Schultz Photography. Getting to show mothers how incredibly gorgeous they are through fine art photography has brought her so much joy.
Meet our Video Content Team
Alexandra
Video Content TeamAlthough teaching was Alex's original career path, her passion has been and will always be anything in photography or videography. In a turn of events, from a tragic event, came the love for photography in 2005. She knew that she always loved film making, but being able to capture photographic moments and memories became yet another life changing event. Since then she labeled herself a photographer and then later on dabbling with videography enough to call herself an amatuer filmmaker. With a renewed faith in life, a growing family, a camera career, and a love for traveling that only grows day by day, she still loves to call Birmingham, Alabama her home.
Kimberly
Video Content TeamKimberly feels like she can relate to a variety of “mom lives”, from being a divorced, single mom to now navigating a blended family as a mom of two. She balances changing dirty diapers, and waiting in the car pool line, with her career in Real Estate (licensed in Alabama and California), and her freelance marketing company, 30A Social. Not quite as fun as her Disney days, when she was Tinkerbell at Disney World while she attended the University of Central Florida.
Ashaunte
Video Content TeamBorn and raised in Mobile, Ashaunte has called Birmingham home since 2016. She is the proud wife of her college sweetheart, Adam and they are first time parents to Beaux (1). Ashaunte currently works in higher education and is working on her Ph.D. in Communications. She is a foodie at heart and loves trying new restaurants with her husband. In her spare time she loves to make TikToks with Beaux, and blog about fun new recipes that she's discovered.
Lourys
Video Content TeamLourys is from Mexico, she moved to the US last year, she and her family lived for 6 months in Ridgeland, MS and during August 2022 they settled in Birmingham, AL. She studied Communication Mass Media, has TV, press and radio experience; her latest professional drive has been in HR, mainly working for automotive companies. She loves to cook desserts, solo morning runs, romantic comedies, mystery series and having weekends plans to get to know the area better.
Dianne
Video Content TeamDianne Boltin is a 30 year old Birmingham native. Dianne and her husband, Pierce have a 4 year old daughter named Elliott also known as "Ellie" and she is the light of their lives. When she is not at her desk or with her family she enjoys attending Burn Bootcamp, baking yummy treats and going to Disneyworld!