Serenbe Stories

Patrice Sumpter is an award-winning real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway Georgia Properties, receiving the Chairman's Circle Award in 2018, 2019, and 2020, and consistently performing in the top 1% of agents in the country. As a self-professed "city girl," she and her husband, Ron first chose the Mado neighborhood for it's city energy. In this episode we talk about their avid support of Serenbe's restaurants, her dream of living in Spain, and her new desire of owning a horse (but we'll see what Ron has to say about that).  Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Today through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle TodayPre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.

Stacy Simmonds had a long career in retail, branding, and sales, all the while with a lifelong dream of opening her own store. Before settling in Serenbe, Stacy, and her husband, Jason, lived in cities all over the country. She didn't know it at the time, but everywhere she lived she was acquiring the inspiration for what is now Hamlin, her modern lifestyle store in the Selborne neighborhood. The relaxing in-store atmosphere, the curated "necesary(ish)" products, and the amazing experiences she creates, including an Adult Big Wheel Race, are all about "making adults feel like kids again." Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Today through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle TodayPre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.

Today we're talking with Penny McPhee, who is the former President of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, a well known philanthropic nonprofit that has donated over $800 million to initiatives from early childhood development to the arts.She knew from an early age that she wanted to change the world and that writing was her talent. In this episode, we talk with Penny about her career in journalism and media, her influence in making the art collection at Atlanta's Mercedes Benz stadium worthy of a fine arts museum, and what she's looking forward to for her next adventure. Penny first visited Serenbe before homes had been built, and he and her husband even joked about wondering if Steve's vision could work. Nearly 20 years later, the vision is realized and the McPhee's have found a happier healthier life living at Serenbe. Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Today through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle TodayPre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.

Our neighbor Gemmie Dayrit has worked with traveling museum exhibitions throughout Asia and the U.S., including iconic shows RMS Titanic and Bodies: The Exhibition. Her specialty is curating museum gift shops,  and she recently launched Wild Tribe Productions that is also creating pop-up retail experiences. In this episode, we talk about how a trip to a haunted New York hotel room led her to Serenbe, how living here opened a dimension of life she never expected, and the gift of being a Godmother. Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Today through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle TodayPre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.

Today we have another great guest, Dr. Kate Edwards who founded Precision Physical Therapy.Running is where is all started for Kate. Her first race was the Hyannis Half Marathon back in 2003. She said she had no idea what she was doing and did everything wrong: trained inconsistently, did a nine-mile-long run, wore brand new shoes, went out too fast...the list goes on. Since then she has completed multiple marathons, went back to school to become a Physical Therapist, and then subsequently opened two successful offices. She's also written two books and just launched a podcast focused on endurance athletes, and if that's not enough she's also launching online courses and planning a retreat at Serenbe later this year.Take a listen to this dynamic episode with Kate and learn all about her incredible journey and how she got to Serenbe. Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Today through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle TodayPre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.

Biophilic Solutions is a new nature and science podcast. Biophilia is the innate connection that human beings seek with the natural world and this podcast will help understand, elevate, and amplify biophilic solutions across a broad range of industries. Because we believe nature has the answers.Serenbe resident Dr. Phill Tabb is the first guest on Biophilic Solutions and we wanted to share his unique point of view with the Serenbe Stories audience by asking the question "How Do We Build Resilient Communities for the Future?"Join the growing biophilic movement to understand, elevate, and amplify biophilic solutions across a broad range of industries. Find out how can we take local and global actions that nurture the living, social, and economic systems that will sustain future generations. Listen in every other week, as hosts Monica Olsen and Jennifer Walsh pose questions centered around finding common-sense solutions to some of society's biggest problems.They'll speak with experts in the growing field of biophilia and environmental research about everything from offsetting your personal carbon footprint to putting pressure on the corporations and policy-makers that can affect major, systemic change. We hope you'll join them on their biophilic journey. Subscribe, follow and listen to Biophilic Solutions today on Apple, Spotify and all the podcast places.Biophilic Solutions podcast is brought to you by The Biophilic Institute, creating a world in which individuals take local and global actions that nurture the living, social and economic systems that will sustain future generations. Learn more about programs, research and the Fall 2021 Biophilic Leadership Summit at biophilicinstitute.com. Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Today through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle TodayPre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.

Dr. Eden Hinds came to Serenbe to lead and grow Acton Academy at Serenbe and ended up finding home. As the Head of School and CEO she embodies the Acton ideal of a curious, lifelong learner - she holds multiple degrees and certificates in education and never stops asking questions. In this episode, we talk about instilling practical life skills in children and the benefits of place, specifically how the school thrives in community by having the opportunity to benefit from Serenbe's assets, especially of nature as a learning environment. She and Steve also share the first details of a new campus being built in the Mado neighborhood. Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Today through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle TodayPre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.

Pierre Ferrari is the President and CEO of Heifer International, an organization on a mission to end hunger and poverty by supporting and investing alongside local farmers and their communities. He has worked or held board roles at Coca-Cola, Ben & Jerry's and the Small Enterprise Assistance Fund, and he has a Master’s degree in economics from Cambridge and an MBA from Harvard. Pierre's 40 years of business experience are being put into his passion for social issues at Heifer. You can find his recent opinion pieces in TIME magazine with Chef Tom Coliccio about the fixes we need to food system, and in Fast Company on ethical meat standards. Pierre and his wife Kim have been fans of Serenbe for years and recently made the move full time. Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Today through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle TodayPre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.

Today we're talking with Juliet Cutler, a teacher, author, and Serenbe resident, whose memoir, Among The Maasai, documents her time teaching English at a Maasai girls' school in the late '90s and she addresses the challenges inherent in tackling issues of extreme poverty across vastly different cultures. In this episode, we talk about the power of educating women and girls, how Juliet has continued to advocate for Maasai girls over the last 20 years, and the importance of having a community. Juliet Cutler is a writer, an educator, and a designer of award-winning exhibits for museums, parks, and cultural centers throughout the world. Her teaching career began in Tanzania in 1999, and since that time she has been an activist for girls’ education worldwide.Cutler’s literary and professional publications now number more than two dozen, and she has taught writing in many settings including as adjunct faculty for the College of St. Scholastica in Minnesota. Her first book, Among the Maasai, has received critical acclaim through several national and international awards including the Independent Publisher Book Award, the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, and the National Indie Excellence Award.In 2009, she was selected by Orion Magazine to participate in their annual writing workshop, and in 2013, she participated in a writer’s residency at La Muse in Labastide-Esparbairenque, France. In 2019, The Serenbe Institute for Art, Culture, and the Environment honored Cutler as a Serenbe Fellow—a distinction given to nationally recognized thought leaders, scholars, and artists. Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Today through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle TodayPre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.

Camille Lowe thought she'd stay on the West Coast when she left Georgia after college. Not only did Serenbe draw her back, she was inspired by the place and people to get involved in determining its future, and is now our city council representative for Chattahoochee Hills. In this episode, we talk with our neighbor Camille about the gift of nature homebuyers get when they move here, her favorite time of day to explore Serenbe, and the city's future. Camille was raised in Macon, Georgia, attended the University of Georgia where she received a BBA in Risk Management/Insurance, and was a four-year starter for the UGA Women’s Basketball Team. Her 20-year career in biopharmaceuticals has involved a lot of travel, working from a home base on the west coast, then back to the Atlanta area. Prior to moving into sales, Camille was an Account Executive for Marsh in San Francisco, CA, a global leader in insurance and risk management. Camille moved to Serenbe in 2015 as she looked for a place she could enjoy her love of nature and connect with community in a place that is beautiful, healthy, and environmentally sensitive, and currently serves as Chattahoochee Hills City Council Member for District 4. Step off the treadmill of life and book a stay at the Inn at Serenbe. Use code Serenbe Stories when you book online or over the phone and receive 10% off your stay!Today through October 12, order a copy of Start In Your Own Backyard and you'll receive a tote bag, keychain and signed bookplate from Steve Nygren.Get a Start In Your Own Backyard Book Bundle TodayPre-Order from your favorite bookseller, send in your receipt and we'll mail you a book bundle as our gift.