Jenna Pollard is a timber framer, a farmer, and an advocate for organic agriculture, but at her core, she is a teacher. The list of Jenna’s inspiring projects, causes, and interests is too extensive to summarize in a few sentences, but to give you an overview: She hosts workshops for women in which they learn the art of timber framing and build structures as a team from the ground up. She’s a team member with Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (also known as WWOOF), where she helps to provide opportunities for aspiring farmers to build their careers. She’s also a committed traveler, community builder, reader, and all-around inspiring human.
Born and raised in South Dakota, Jenna grew up immersed in the outdoors and various outdoor adventures. After college, she went to work on an organic farm, which began her professional passion for working closely with the land surrounded by a community of like-minded individuals. As you’ll hear, she continued to follow her curiosity and has enjoyed a fulfilling and wide-ranging career– she worked as a teacher in Japan, built her own timber-frame home on the South Dakota prairie, and became deeply involved in helping to develop the skills and confidence of future farmers and timber framers. But if there’s a thread that connects all of Jenna’s work, it’s her commitment to building community through hard work and shared purpose– one of my favorite topics to discuss.
I first learned about Jenna through a short film by Patagonia Workwear that profiled her women’s timber-framing workshops– I’ve linked to the film in the episode notes. So I was thrilled that our schedules aligned so that we could have this conversation, and I learned so much for her. We discussed her upbringing in South Dakota and how her outdoor-focused childhood laid the foundation for her career. We discussed the intricacies of timber framing, and why it is such a powerful skill for building community and confidence. We talk a lot about WWOOF and its Future Farming Program, and Jenna offers some ways that aspiring farmers can get involved. We also discuss books, how Jenna accomplishes so much, how Patagonia has encouraged and supported her work, lessons learned from Japan, and much much more.
If you want to connect with Jenna, attend a workshop, or learn more about WWOOF, there are links to everything in the episode notes. Thanks for listening, hope you enjoy.
Photos courtesy of Jenna Pollard.
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RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 2:30 – Where Jenna grew up
- 4:15 – What Jenna did for fun as a kid
- 6:30 – Turning points in Jenna’s life regarding self-sufficiency in the outdoors
- 8:45 – Post-high school for Jenna
- 11:00 – How something like WWOOFing drew Jenna’s career attention
- 13:30 – Books and thinkers that influenced Jenna’s agrarian lifestyle
- 16:00 – Defining “timber framing,” and exploring why it captured Jenna’s attention
- 20:00 – When Jenna decided to start teaching timber framing
- 21:15 – Discussing the process of Jenna building her house in South Dakota
- 24:45 – How Jenna came to specifically teach women how to timber frame
- 38:15 – How Patagonia became interested in Jenna’s timber framing classes
- 30:45 – Continuing to explore the importance of Jenna’s work with women
- 33:00 – Jenna’s success stories from her classes
- 37:15 – The relationships that Jenna builds through timber framing
- 39:15 – Jenna’s students’ goals
- 40:45 – Discussing WWOOF
- 43:15 – Discussing the 2024 Future Farming Program
- 47:15 – How Jenna manages to do all of this!
- 48:15 – Jenna’s time as a teacher in Japan
- 52:30 – Whether or not Jenna ever questioned her path
- 55:15 – Jenna’s book recommendations
- 1:01:15 – Jenna’s parting words of wisdom
Information Referenced:
- Patagonia film Reframed
- WWOOF
- Places to hear about Jenna’s upcoming classes:
- Email Jenna – jennampollard@gmail.com
- Steger Center
- Canelo Project
- Olympic Outpost
- Timber framing
- Wendell Berry
- Mary Oliver
- The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
- Patagonia
- Patagonia Workwear
- Yvon Chouinard
- Tenkara
- Tribe by Sebastian Junger
- Will Steger
- Patagonia workwear
- Future Farmer Program
- MESA
- Quivira Coalition
- New Agrarian Program
- Kumamoto, Japan
- Jack London
- Just Enough by Azby Brown
- The Art of Taking Action by Gregg Krech
- Shoma Morita
- Jack Sobon
- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (not mentioned in the episode, but this book has been incredibly influential)
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:
- Anna Borgman – Obsession, Curiosity, and Purpose-Driven Work
- Christy Sing Robertson – On Grit, Hard Work, & Going All In
- Jesse Griffiths – Humility, Curiosity, and Creative Cuisine
- Kathie Sever – Chainstitching, Craftsmanship, and Cosmic Western Wear
- Cate Havstad-Casad, Part 2 – Building Businesses for the Greater Good
- Jess Mudgett – Humble & Grateful
- Megan Torgerson – Storytelling from Rural America
Visit the podcast page for a full, searchable list of episodes
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