Jessica Glendinning grew up in Highland County, Virginia – the smallest county by population east of the Mississippi – and left her hometown to attend James Madison University in 1998. Based on her writing and graphic design skills, Jessica launched her own business in 2010, which now provides content marketing strategies to social enterprise startups, small businesses, and other socially minded companies across the globe.
Before making the decision to move back to her hometown to Jessica’s family farm, she was skeptical of her ability to earn a living back home without high-speed internet. Both Jessica and her husband Ari, a water resources engineer, regularly need to send large graphic and schematic files to clients as part of their jobs. Before having high-speed connectivity to their home, they needed to download and send large files overnight, because that’s how long it took to get their electronic deliverables out the door. The couple also needed to schedule video client meetings at alternate times since only one person could be using that much bandwidth at once. And when it came to software updates for their devices? It could take forever.
When high-speed broadband finally made its way to Highland County, it was the final piece of the puzzle the couple needed to make the move.
Now, their high-speed broadband connection allows Jessica and Ari to thrive both personally and professionally. Aside from sending large files and hopping on video calls with ease, paying bills, which once required a trip to the mailbox almost a mile from the house, can now be done with the click of a button. And connecting with medical specialists, which often required a day trip, time off work and other travel expenses, can now be done virtually through telehealth appointments.
Now, Jessica and Ari can spend more time enjoying the beautiful place they call home and less time planning their day around a software update.
