Creating Home
About Jessica
My Story
Home has always been about more than how a room looks.
I’ve always had a knack for creating spaces that people feel good in. For me, home has never been just about how a room looks — it’s how it functions, how it feels and how the people living there experience it.
That instinct eventually found its way into both my real estate and interiors work, but my path here wasn’t exactly a straight line.
Before real estate, I spent more than 20 years in operations and management, first in the construction industry and later in the nonprofit world. That experience taught me how to manage a lot of moving pieces, solve problems, communicate clearly and keep things moving — skills that turned out to translate incredibly well to real estate.
When I moved into real estate, I brought all of that with me. I quickly found that the parts of the business that came most naturally to me — strategy, negotiation, problem-solving and advocating for my clients — were also the things they valued most.
“Creating Home is really the thread that runs through both.”
Real Estate + Interiors
Two parts of one perspective.
The interiors side of my business developed over time. I’ve always had an eye for color, proportion and how a room comes together, and I found myself helping real estate clients see past what was in front of them — or figure out what to do once the house was theirs.
Gemma Design was a natural next step, giving me a way to bring that experience and instinct into my work more intentionally.
Today, real estate and interiors overlap in ways that simply make sense to me. One is about helping someone find or sell a home; the other is about seeing what that home can become. Creating Home is really the thread that runs through both.
Relocation / Personal Story
I’ve made a few big moves of my own.
I’ve made a few big moves of my own. After raising our family in the Seattle area, my husband and I moved to Southern California, then six years later to Arizona, and now we’ve made our home in Upstate South Carolina.
Each move has meant getting to know a new place, building connections and discovering what makes it feel like home. I’m now based in Travelers Rest, serving the greater Greenville area with Encore Realty while continuing my Arizona real estate business and leading The Arroyo Group at Compass.
There’s something fitting about bringing Creating Home with me. I’ve built a career around helping people navigate moves, see possibilities in houses and create homes that feel like theirs — and I’ve had plenty of experience doing the same thing in my own life.
Personal
Outside of work.
My husband and I have five adult children, a granddaughter and Indy, our very spoiled pit bull mix. When I’m not working, I enjoy plants and flowers, good coffee, great food and exploring new places. We’re enjoying getting to know Greenville, Travelers Rest and our new community in the Upstate.
Creating Home
Let’s Talk About Your Space.
Have a room that isn’t quite working, a new house that doesn’t quite feel like yours yet, or just need another set of eyes? Let’s talk about what you need and whether I can help.