Meet Jena Stephens Allison | Communications Manager for Fernbank Museum

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jena Stephens Allison and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jena, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Fernbank Museum of Natural History offers interactive and uniquely enthralling education through various permanent and rotating exhibits, films in our Giant Screen Theater and one of the largest assemblages of urban Piedmont forest in the United States. Fernbank brings science to life through immersive programming and unmatched experiences that encourage a greater appreciation of our planet and its inhabitants, therefore enabling our visitors to be more in touch with the world around them.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My career has been eventful (pun vaguely intended). I’ve been working to curate live events and market them to the general public since I was 19 (I’ll be 32 this year). I started working prior to graduating with a Communications degree from Kennesaw State (in 2013) and got my first gig as a promotions intern for Q100 (now called Q99.7). From there, I continued to work in various radio and music-based event companies, marketing artists for Eddie’s Attic and building events around the globe with Sixthman (a concert festival company) and later, Live Nation. I have a passion for education though, something I’ve never been able to shake, even during my long time in the music industry. So, when the pandemic happened and the entertainment industry closed, I took a job as a preschool teacher, which re-ignited my love for learning and teaching. I left there and went back to music a year later, only to realize my priorities had changed; I was older, on track to get married to my now-husband, and realized the late night ‘rock n roll’ lifestyle of an entertainment event manager wasn’t for me, anymore. I had a skillset that would allow me to work in communications for nearly any industry, a long list of freelance writing credits, and a passion for education… which is eventually what lead me to Fernbank in March 2022. I’ve fallen in love with working in museums since then and I’ll likely never go back. Finding the balance between what you’re good at and what you love is difficult; I love people, at my core, knowing them and understanding them. I can take that passion into any industry if I have the right person and God leading me along the way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh man… my love for Atlanta is so strong, it’s hard to pick. Assuming funding is unlimited, I would want to show them the best parts of the city. We would venture to Decatur square, where we could see a live show in the Eddie’s Attic listening room, head to Raging Burrito for the best pineapple salsa you’ll ever have in your life and then to Jenni’s ice cream for a sweet treat with a homemade flavor. We would go to the Georgia Aquarium or the Atlanta Zoo, see my favorite team, the Atlanta Braves, play at Truist Park, wander around midtown near Smiths Olde Bar and the Botanical Gardens, and take a walk on the Belt Line toward Centennial Olympic Park, especially if there’s a festival going on. I would also definitely bring them to Fernbank, where I can not only show what I do from a personal perspective, but immerse them in the unique woodland structures of Wildwoods and the interactive Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family exhibit that fascinates me every time I’m in the room. A weekend might not be enough to really dive into the vastness of this city.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My growing success as a Communications professional is largely due to the various talented leaders, over multiple industries, that I’ve been lucky to work with over the last decade. The Fernbank team is no exception; from marketing to membership and every department in between, it takes a knowledgable assortment of strong individuals and forward thinkers to keep our museum moving at the rate that it does. I have been lucky to join in and learn from them as I enter this next stage of my career.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allisonjokay/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jena-stephens

Twitter: https://twitter.com/allisonjokay

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jsteph63

Image Credits
Channel2InterviewforFernbank image — credit to WSBTV’s Nelson Hicks Sixthman image – credit to Troy Walsh