Jul 15, 2020 Q & A: An Interview with Joey & Jenni Adkins of Monomyth

When I started Stonington Feeds Stonington I had very little idea how to create a Facebook Page and Group, and never did I imagine we would grow to what we have. The fact that we have reached as many people we have is in large part due to Jenni and Joey Adkins. I didn’t know Jenni and Joey, I had only seen them in passing around Town. Despite that, Jenni and Joey reached out to see how they could help. The amount of time and effort they have put in to Stonington Feeds Stonington since then is incredible, they are extremely talented, giving, and genuine. I feel incredibly lucky to have met them through this and been given the opportunity to get to know them personally. Without Jenni and Joey we wouldn’t be even close to where we are today, which means we wouldn’t have helped as many people as we have. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about them in our interview:

Are you from Stonington? If not, when did you move here.

We moved to Stonington 2 1/2 years ago. We first visited Mystic on a whim for our 10th wedding anniversary and loved it so much that we kept coming back for our anniversary for a couple years after, until we decided to slow down, spread out, and to leave Los Angeles for the quiet, quaint life that Stonington had to offer.

Tell me about where you grew up and what your family life was like.

We both grew up in Southern California; Joey in Cerritos and me in the Lakewood/Long Beach area.

Joey: My family is originally from Texas, but they moved to CA when my dad became a California Highway Patrol officer. My parents just celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary in December. I have one sister, Brooke, who is 2 years older.

Jenni: I grew up in what I like to call an “American family.” My parents separated when I was very young, but my dad remarried the most amazing woman when I was in 3rd grade. So I spent my childhood evenly divided between my mom’s house, where I had an older brother, Joe and sister, Melissa from my mom’s 1st marriage, and my dad’s house, where I had 2 younger sisters, Kenzie and Hannah, from my awesome step mom Cindy. My younger brother Freddy, from my mom and dad, traveled back and forth with me. Always feels confusing to explain to other people, but to me it was just my family. Lots of love from lots of different places.

How did your parents influence you?

Joey: My parents taught me the value of hard work, honesty, and to always put God first in my family.

Jenni: All 3 of the amazing parents I had in my life were always so loving and affectionate. While our family was by no means perfect, I learned to be honest and dependable from my dad, to put God first from my mom, and to always show compassion and kindness from my step mom Cindy.

How long have you been married? Where did you meet?

We just celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary this past October. We grew up just a city apart from each other, and unknowingly had quite a few friends in common in high school. We met when we were 20 at a party and it was an instant connection. Joey was the lead singer in a melodic hardcore band and I fell in mad groupie love. We spent the first few years of our marriage in Las Vegas, Joey owned his own recording studio and worked as a sound engineer and I was a hair stylist. We then moved back to California, then to Stonington. 19 years, a 10 year old son Riley, an 8 year old daughter Lucy, a goofy 4 year old Rottweiler named Reese, and 3 states later, we now get to work together every day.

Tell me about your business.

Monomyth is a full-scale brand studio that specializes in strategy, creative, digital technology and experiential services. Joey is our Chief Creative Officer and I serve as the bookkeeper. We feel so blessed to be able to work remotely from home, especially right now. We have 4 other amazing partners that are spread out between Nashville, TN and Southern California. We are so excited for the new clients we’ve added to our roster this year. Since we work with a lot of people in the music industry, it will be so interesting to see how we work together with bands, labels, and management companies to help these amazing artists come up with new ways to engage fans and work through the pandemic.

How did you first become involved with Stonington Feeds Stonington?

We followed them from their beginning on Facebook and loved what they were starting to do in the community. Joey reached out to Nicole knowing she would need a website and branding to grow the initiative. I came on right after as a guest admin and then helped with content strategy.

How would friends and acquaintances describe you?

Joey is for sure quiet until you get to know him. His friends would say he is witty, very bright, kind, courageous as well as a good father and husband. There is nothing quite like a big Joey hug. Whereas I am the exact opposite.

*One of Jenni’s best friends described her as “The warmest person I know. Her smile and laughter light up the room. She is someone you can go to for anything, whether its a laugh or a cry. She loves her family and friends beyond words. She’s only been in Stonington a short time, yet she has made such an impact on the community.”

What are you most proud of accomplishing?

Joey: I am most proud of making it through my first year of chemotherapy treatment in 2016. After being diagnosed with Melanoma and having 3 surgeries, making it through that year, working full time, feels like a huge accomplishment. Cancer didn’t break me or my family.

Jenni: I am most proud of this family that we have built. Building a family with a mom and dad that love and respect each other and children that I am daily amazed by, feels like more than I ever could have dreamed of having.

Describe a scene of your vision for the future of Stonington Feeds Stonington.

We look so forward to continuing a personal and professional relationship with Nicole Jones and Stonington Feeds Stonington. We were so excited to begin our next step of fundraising with starting to sell SFS branded drink tumblers, crafted by an amazing local business SuzAnne by the Sea. We have lots of ideas for keeping this amazing initiative growing, and look so forward to having Monomyth play a major part in the process.

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