Welcome to Guided by Giggles
- Jolene Phillips
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Hey, I’m Jolene.
I’m a wife.
I’m a mom to a toddler boy (turning 3 in May) and twin toddler girls (1 year olds).
I also get to be a bonus mom to an awesome pre-teen (who’s 12 in 2 months). He is with us during long breaks from school now that both our household and his mom’s have moved out of Alaska.
We have two dogs, one mischievous and one who firmly believes he’s actually a cat.
Life at our house is loud. Creative. A little chaotic. And completely joy-filled.
And that’s exactly where Guided by Giggles was born.
Where It All Began
I grew up with incredible parents, the kind who champion your dreams before you even fully understand them yourself. They’ve always been my biggest cheerleaders.
As a kid, my world revolved around softball.
At ten years old, I decided I was going to the Olympics. And I structured my life around that goal.
I practiced constantly.
Played whenever I could.
If a team needed a player and mine wasn’t playing, I was there.
By 19, I was sitting in front of a surgeon who told me there was “no way” my shoulder could be as damaged as I thought.
It was worse.
Multiple tears. Nerve damage. The result of throwing upward of 1,000 pitches a week.
After surgery, he told me I could keep playing for a little while longer…but I might not be able to toss my future kids in the air one day.
I didn’t hesitate.
Softball had shaped me.
But my future children mattered more than any dream of medals ever could.
That season of letting go shaped me just as much as the years of striving.
It’s also when I finally completed A Player’s Petition, a book I had started in college about the life lessons softball gave me, now expanded on through the lens of both a mom and a counselor.
A Calling I Never Expected
About a year later, I boarded a plane to Cambodia for a mission trip supporting workers fighting human trafficking.
I questioned the entire trip.
What did 20-year-old me have to offer?
A few days in, I sat surrounded by girls who had been rescued from trafficking. One young girl had brain damage from her trauma and struggled to speak. But she lit up when she sang.
Listening to her, I felt something shift in my heart.
A calling.
I called my mom that night and told her that while I had never imagined following in her footsteps as a counselor, I knew with certainty that I was meant to help others in that way.
When I returned home, I began my Master’s program in counseling. Because I had completed much of my Bachelor’s degree early, I earned my Master’s at 22 and became licensed by 25.
Most of my counseling career was spent in Alaska, and I loved it.
Kodiak, Alaska became the place where I grew professionally, personally…and creatively. When I met my husband, I relocated to the mainland of Alaska, near Anchorage, and helped my mom expand her private practice into that area by working as a counselor there. I went from an unlicensed counselor with a variety of experience, to finding my niche in the counseling world. I knew I loved working with kids and teens, so this was my primary client population. But, I also worked with a lot of military families or active duty military members. While struggling with infertility, and after having my son, I also began working more with pregnant and postpartum women. All populations that I feel a personal connection to for one reason or another.
The Stories Started in Alaska
While still in my Master’s program in Kodiak, I led a teen girls’ group and gave them a writing prompt:
“Write a fairytale about your life, with you as the protagonist.”
I always complete prompts alongside my groups (I never want them to feel stared at, or like I’m waiting impatiently for them to finish. Plus art and writing are my outlets, too).
So I wrote a silly fairytale about my dog Buskin.
And then I kept writing.
What started as one story became an entire whimsical series, “Buskin’s Doodles” now called the “Magic of Buskin” series. The Doodle Who Found a Friend, about fairytale lands, friendship, skills, growth, and joy is the story from that group session I led.
I tried to publish them.
And got “no” after “no.”
So I tucked them away.
But I didn’t stop writing.
Stories Fueled by Family
When I met my husband and my step-son, I began writing wild, over-the-top adventure stories about our two dogs. Stories silly enough to make an eight-year-old excited to read and write.
That’s when the Wrinkles and Curls series was born (still waiting patiently for me to draw fast enough to publish them!).
As my toddler son grew, his imagination exploded.
One day, while playing on our bed, I joked that there was a shark (our dog’s wagging tail) circling our raft.
That tiny comment sparked an entire world.
And just like that, Imogen and the House of Make-Believe began, opening with Imogen and her dog Biscuit on a raft, being circled by a shark (her cat).
Every story I write is inspired by my children in some way:
• A spider who’s more afraid of humans than they are of him
• Pink cows that “make” strawberry milk (thanks to a joke with my step-son)
• Cowboys and rival twin sisters
• My son’s love for trains
• Grandparent relationships
• Heartstring Village, inspired by a play village I created for my son and Guided by Giggles
• And tools for managing big emotions that I use to help my son
So. Many. Stories.
Choosing My Favorite Role
When my twin girls were around seven months old, my husband and I made a big decision.
I stepped back from working directly with clients.
Not because I didn’t love counseling.
Not because I wasn’t passionate about the work.
But because I knew something had to give.
My younger twin was experiencing some health concerns, and we didn’t know what that would mean for her future, or ours. The unknown felt heavy. Trying to manage client work, our home, three toddlers (including twins), a pre-teen, and the weight of medical uncertainty was simply too much.
So I chose my favorite role.
I chose to be home.
It wasn’t a dramatic, lights-flashing decision. It was quiet. The kind of choice that feels both terrifying and completely right at the same time.
I didn’t know what life would look like moving forward.
But I knew I wanted to be present.
I wanted to be available, physically and emotionally, for whatever came next.
Returning to an Old Outlet
Stepping back from counseling left space.
And in that space, I began blogging.
Writing and verbalizing has always helped me process life. So I poured my thoughts about motherhood, emotions, and play into posts, partly to encourage others, and partly because it helped me breathe.
Around the same time, I started designing fabric patterns.
That part surprised me.
Drawing had been my outlet since I was 14, back when I was recovering from a knee injury and surgery and trying to figure out who I was outside of softball. Art became the place I could safely process depression, identity shifts, and disappointment.
But I had never shared it publicly.
Designing patterns felt small at first. Quiet. Just for fun.
But slowly, I began gaining confidence in letting others see what I created.
When It All Came Together
For a while, I ran two separate spaces:
One for blogging.
One for art.
Two websites.
Two social media accounts.
And honestly? I would pour into one…and unintentionally neglect the other. Then I’d switch focus and repeat the cycle.
Eventually, I realized something simple:
They were never meant to be separate.
The counselor.
The writer.
The artist.
The mom.
They were always the same person.
So I merged it all.
I began sharing counseling activities I had created over the years. I offered learning tools and resources. I redesigned and reimagined activities to make them more playful and accessible for families. I combined art, emotional regulation tools, storytelling, and play-based learning.
And that’s how Guided by Giggles became what it is today:
A hub for
-Learning activities
-Play-based fun
-Children’s books
-Art and imagination
-Encouragement for parents
-Tools for navigating big feelings
Not just a brand.
But a reflection of every chapter that shaped me as a person, a counselor, and a mom.
So What Is Guided by Giggles?
Guided by Giggles is a space for parents who want to nurture emotional resilience without losing wonder.
It’s for the toddlers with dramatic feelings.
The imaginative kids building entire worlds in their bedrooms.
The parents trying to raise kind, confident humans while also figuring it out themselves.
It’s for giggles that guide growth. It’s for laughter through the chaos. It’s for sharing in moments that humble us. It’s for connection.
For whatever brought you here and for whatever keeps you coming back, I’m so glad you’re here 💛
What’s next?
This season feels exciting.
Full.
Creative.
Purposeful.
There are more books coming, many more.
I’ve already written them. The stories are waiting patiently. What’s left now are the illustrations…and my goal is to publish one book each month as I complete them.
You can expect:
-More children’s books rooted in imagination and emotional growth
-More learning tools designed with both the counselor and mom lens
-More play-based activities that make connection feel natural
-More resources for navigating big feelings in little bodies
-Tons of play
-And, of course, lots of giggles
Pattern design is still part of my creative world, I’m partnered with a few fabric shops and continue designing, but it’s no longer my primary focus. It’s something I return to when inspiration strikes, rather than something I’m building around.
Right now, Guided by Giggles is centered on stories, tools, play, and encouragement.
It’s centered on helping families build connection in everyday moments.
And I cannot wait to see where things continue to grow.
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