Article by Jennifer Hillen, Harpeth Hall School
I always wanted to write a children’s book, and when my daughter, Harper, was born in 2014, I really got the bug to create something she and I could enjoy together. Once that happened I was like a dog with a bone. Everything happened really fast: Our spare bedroom became “'Goodnight, Nashville' Central,” and I wrote and painted nights and weekends between spending time with my family and working a very full-time job.
My Harpeth Hall colleagues were the first people to know about my project, and they ushered me out of the shadows to help me go for it — especially once I promised them this was just a side endeavor (our independent school community will always be where I want to hang my professional hat!). They were my editors, cheerleaders and confidantes. And the art teachers gave me lots of great advice for how to incorporate a mix of watercolor, acrylic, photography and graphic design. Since the book was published, the school has also helped promote it at reunions, and you can usually find a few copies in the Bear Necessities spiritwear shop on campus.
Another way I’ve been lucky is that a handful of guardian angel shop owners and buyers believed in me from the beginning. So many of them are women, and I love the added girl power and #girlboss momentum. I self-publish, so there’s a lot of potential to produce custom copies for events and specific organizations, and a popular idea lately has been for my book to serve as a tour guide for visitors to Nashville. Humbling and thrilling! It’s been amazing to hear from friends and strangers alike about their favorite pages, or see the art print [created by another artist and also available for purchase] hanging on a wall in someone's home, or have kids and parents tell me they read the book together every night before bed.
It's weird to say that I'm now a small business owner myself, but I do feel better able to empathize with parents pursuing their own dreams as well as talk with students about following their passions and ideas.
Goodnight, Nashville has done a lot to help me be a better controller, professional, volunteer and person in general. I found creating the book to be therapeutic and balancing, and the project as a whole really challenged my focus, expanded my creative side and honed my time-management and multitasking skills. In a more abstract way, it has reminded me why I work so hard for the Harpeth Hall mission: so our girls can go out into the world and be leaders and change-makers. It's weird to say that I'm now a small business owner myself, but I do feel better able to empathize with parents pursuing their own dreams as well as talk with students about following their passions and ideas. In announcing the book release, I was especially excited to talk with our upper-school students about the importance of not boxing yourself into one way of thinking. I’m hopeful that exploring my creative side has sharpened up the left side of my brain as well.
There have been many high points in this process. I’ve formed incredible relationships with other local doers, writers, artists and "makers"; it’s exhilarating to be a small part of Nashville’s thriving maker movement. I've also connected with other local children's authors and been amazed by the supportive and beautiful community here for people making their dreams come true. Mostly, I'm proud that the book and art print support local nonprofits. Nashville has one of the highest concentrations of charitable organizations per capita in the country, so it's been great to capture the amazing things that make Music City special and give back in the same process.
If I had to pick the ultimate high point of the entire project, I would say it’s been seeing a small spark through to completion and then some. I still have to pinch myself when I remember, "I really did that!"
