Classmate Update: Holley Johnson Grainger

After graduating from John Carroll, Holley Johnson Grainger attended the University of Alabama. She graduated in 2001, and moved to Charleston, South Carolina to complete her dietetic internship at the Medical University of South Carolina.

 

After her internship, she moved back to Birmingham and began working as a registered dietitian and Food Editor at Oxmoor House, the book publishing division at Time Inc. (then called Southern Progress).

 

During her more than 10 years at Time Inc., Holley was the Food Editor at Southern Living magazine and then the founding Food and Nutrition Editor at MyRecipes.com and CookingLight.com.

 

In 2009, she married Brent Grainger, a Homewood High School grad, who ironically knew just as many people at JCHS as Holley. They now have two little girls, Ellie, 6 and Frances 3.

 

Nearly five years ago, Holley founded HJG Communications, LLC. She works as a nutrition and lifestyle consultant, speaker, and spokesperson for various brands and commodities. She is also a food/mommy blogger at Holley’s Kitchen. Her job allows her the flexibility to be a fulltime mom, a fulltime business woman, and an entrepreneur. She’s been on numerous local and national television shows and has hosted more than 800 online cooking videos – both for herself and the Time Inc brands. Her job has allowed her to travel all over the country and the world including:  Prague, Vienna, Madrid, Vancouver and more.

 

Holley is the lead planner for the JCHS Class of ’97 Reunion and she can’t wait to see the months of planning come to fruition this weekend.

 

 

Classmate Update: Jametta White

After graduating from John Carroll, Jametta White attended Clemson University, where she also worked with the university athletic department in the Football Recruitment Office for three years. Jametta graduated from Clemson in 2001 with a degree in Marketing with a sports concentration.

 

Following graduation, she was accepted into Loyola University New Orleans School of Law, where she focused her studies in labor and employment, and sports law. After receiving her juris doctorate in 2004, Jametta began her career in the labor and employment litigation department at an internationally-recognized law firm in Atlanta, Georgia. Upon leaving her firm, she assumed her current position as general counsel for one of the largest minority-owned accounting firms in the southeast.

 

After eight years as a practicing attorney, Jametta’s personal passion for sports propelled her toward a transition into the sports industry. In 2013, she became a certified contract advisor with the NFL Players Association and a certified Sports Life Coach. She also founded Journey Sports Management, LLC – a lifestyle and career management firm focused on helping athletes reach sustainable lifestyle and career goals, by creating and driving integrated, big-picture strategies through life coaching, education and training, and career development.

Classmate Update: Karen Smaha

After graduating from John Carroll, Karen Smaha attended the University of Montevallo, earned a degree in Early Childhood Education and taught at a Montessori preschool for three years.

 

However, she decided she needed a change. So, she went to work for Southern Cal Transport – a trucking company in Birmingham. Karen was a planner there for seven years before she decided to follow her dreams. Her love of service work and traveling the world led her to quit her job and join Peace Corps.

 

She served in the Philippines for 27 months – the length of PC service. She taught English and sports, and became involved in community outreach within her city and province. Karen helped promote education and awareness for HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, and STI.

 

While in the Philippines, Karen worked with Stop Hunger Now (now called Rise Against Hunger), where she packaged meals to be used in school feeding programs and emergency response. She loved the organization and their work, and she believed in their mission.

 

When she returned home, she moved to Atlanta to work for them as a Global Logistics Coordinator. In her role, she is able to combine her passion for international humanitarian work with her love of logistics. It also provides her with the opportunity to continue traveling and seeing the world.

 

Karen can’t attend the reunion because of a work event in Atlanta that same night, but she enjoys keeping up with everyone through the blog posts!

 

Classmate Update: Julie Wehby Little

After graduating from John Carroll, Julie Wehby Little attended the University of Montevallo and graduated in 2001 with a degree in Elementary Education. She taught in Shelby County Schools for eight years as an 8th grade English teacher and a boys’ soccer coach. She earned her Master’s in Education from the University of Montevallo in 2004 and moved to DeKalb County. In 2009 she got married and worked as a school counselor at Collinsville School in Collinsville, Alabama.

Julie went back to school one more time and received a Master’s in Counseling in 2010 from the University of West Alabama. She also coached the boys’ soccer team there for six years. In 2013 her team won a state championship, becoming the first public school in 1A-4A to win a soccer championship, the first 1A school to win a soccer state championship, and the first all-Hispanic team, in any sport, to win a state championship.

 

After getting divorced in 2014, Julie was recruited by Albertville High School to take over their girls’ soccer program. She moved to Albertville in 2015, where she became the 2nd grade counselor in addition to coaching soccer. She recently moved to the middle school, where she is the 7th grade counselor, but she’s still coaching at the high school. Her team made it to the Elite 8 her first year at Albertville and to the Sweet 16 last season.

 

Julie said she did not go to college to be a soccer coach, she got recruited into it during her first years of teaching, and it stuck. She spends her summers volunteering with the Muscular Dystrophy Camp – the place she went 22 years ago to complete her John Carroll service hours. She’s been back every summer since.

 

In addition to coaching and volunteering, Julie plays adult league soccer in Birmingham, referees soccer, and spends as much time with my four nieces and 4 four nephews as she can.

Classmate Update: Jeniese Hosey

After graduating from John Carroll, Jeniese Hosey earned her undergraduate degree in Public Relations from the University of Alabama in 2001. Upon completing college she started working in retail and PR to gain experience.

 

Once she established herself in the public relations career field, Jeniese launched her fashion blog, The Jenesaisquoi, in 2010. She said although she had no idea what she was doing, she knew she wanted to express herself through fashion.







Jeniese is on the far right. She won the Redbook 2015
"Real Woman, Real Style" contest.

Jeniese took a blogging break to earn her MBA, but resumed it again upon her graduating in 2013. Two years later she won the “Real Woman, Real Style” contest hosted by Redbook Magazine, and she appeared on the cover. She describes it was the best moment of her life.

 

Jeniese said her blog has allowed her to travel, meet new people, and work with so many of her favorite brands. She’s part of the reunion planning committee and she can’t wait to see everyone.

Classmate Update: Chad Weaver

After graduating from John Carroll, Chad Weaver attended Auburn University for two years before completing his Finance degree at the University of Alabama in 2002. He went on to earn an MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2005, followed by three years of active duty military service in the United States Air Force, as a Medical Service Corps Officer.

After leaving the Air Force, Chad returned to Birmingham and accepted a position with the Internal Revenue Service. He went back to school one last time to take the necessary accounting classes required to sit for the CPA exam. During that time, he moved from the IRS to the Bureau of Fiscal Service, where he currently works as a CPA –  doing accounting, internal control, and enterprise risk management.

Chad met his wife Clarissa in 2001 when they were both in Tuscaloosa. They started dating until 2009 and they were married a year later. Clarissa will graduate from UAB with a PhD in Chemistry August 12, and the Weavers are looking forward to celebrating at the JCHS reunion.

Chad and Clarissa plan to relocate to Ann Arbor, Michigan later this year, because Clarissa accepted a post-doctoral research fellowship with the University of Michigan Life Science Institute. They have three pets – a cat named Holly, a white Boxer named Kama, and an American Staffordshire Terrier (Pit Bull), named Nicky Lou. In his free time, Chad enjoys traveling, tennis, and studying the JFK assassination.