Folks We Love with Jenna Jackson from August California
Who’s in your family? Ages? Names?
Keller – 3
Everett – 5 months
Wyatt Dog – 4 😉
Jenna and Charley
How did you choose your kids names?
Keller is a really old family name on my father’s side and I’ve loved it since I was a little girl. I always knew I wanted to name my son Keller if I was ever lucky enough to have a son. Everett, we wanted something that went with Keller. We were watching a TV show and one of the characters had that name and we thought it was great and very Gallic like Keller. We threw around a few other ideas but kept coming back to it. Their middle names are Charles and Benjamin after my husband and his twin brother.
Location?
Los Angeles, CA
Occupation?
Founder and CEO – August – a luxury handbag company inspired by a journey around the world, handcrafted in LA and with a one-for-one for students in the Los Angeles Unified School District
Tell us some of your most loved ways to spend the day with your clan?
At the beach! Keller begs us to go every day and we are there as much as possible. Our whole crew goes down and we have a day together outside playing and swimming and laughing. Heaven.
What are some silly/fun things that the kids do or say?
I don’t even know where to begin! Keller is hysterical these days. He’s really trying to learn to interact with people and picking up on things and he LOVES to be funny so if there’s something we laugh at he jumps at it. He’s a super fan of star wars (the lego version on disney) and the other day I asked him to do something and he turned to me and in his “Darth Vader” voice said “As. You. Wish. Maaaaaster.”
When you were a teenager what did you dream of? Do things look different?
As a kid I reeeeally wanted to be Whitney Houston and I sang to the trees in my back yard, to any audience that would listen including church and school and in the shower, you name it! I mixed music and theater with sports in high school. About half way through it became pretty clear that sports were my thing and so I focused on volleyball. I think I wanted to be in the Olympics but settled for playing at Berkeley for four years and playing in the NCAAs instead.
What are some things you really believe in?
Respect and loyalty. I’m loyal to a fault. I’m not the easiest nut to crack as a person or a friend but once you’re in I’m ride or die.
Where do your passions lie?
My family, my friends, sports, fitness, fashion, wine and food. AND TRAVEL
Has your relationship with your other half changed since having kids?
yes! how can it not! Charley and I had a really incredible foundation to begin. We lived together for 4 years before getting married, we were married 3 before we had kids, we traveled the world together, went through really hard things with health and parent’s health so we had a lot to go on BUT kids rock your world.
What do you find most challenging about being somebody’s parent?
The awesome responsibility of molding a human being. Raising two sons I feel a tremendous amount of pressure to raise confident, compassionate, empathetic boys. How do I teach them to be kind while also being strong. How do I teach them to stand up for others and themselves? How do I keep them safe? Protect their emotions while teaching them to cope? I think about this stuff all day, every day and most of the night – ha!
What do you want your kids to learn about the world?
We travel a lot with our boys. Keller has been to 16 countries! I want them to learn about different ways of thinking and of doing things. A larger perspective on the world is healthy, especially in our time of a shrinking world through technology. I want them to be cultured and worldly and have a broad perspective. It’s also great to know that if you’re unhappy where you are, there’s always escape and a new place to look for happiness, inspiration and home.