Katie Jacobs | Styling My Everyday
Owner of Styling My Everyday
Katie Jacobs is a fourth-generation Nashville native author, stylist, photographer, and founder of Styling My Everyday, a food and lifestyle blog. Katie released her first book, So Much to Celebrate, in 2018 and her second book, The Chocolate Chip Cookie Book was released in October of 2023.
Caught in the Grind
Katie began her career deeply passionate about magazines and design, but found herself stuck in a corporate magazine environment that quickly drained her creative energy. Long hours spent working in windowless cubicles made it difficult to stay inspired. Despite loving the industry, the rigid, corporate culture was suffocating, and she felt disconnected from the vibrant creativity she craved.
A Leap Toward Freedom
Coming from an entrepreneurial family—her stepdad a home builder and her dad involved in real estate and startups—Katie knew she wanted something different. She launched Styling My Everyday, a business that blends her skills in food styling, photography, and book publishing. Her mission? To highlight the beauty in everyday life, not just in grand moments but in the small, often overlooked details. Katie believes pushing yourself into uncomfortable situations is key to growth. She embraced failure as part of the process and refused to quit prematurely, even when things didn’t go perfectly, like when a book didn’t sell as well as expected or a signing had low turnout.
The Power of Perseverance
Katie emphasizes the importance of following passion but grounding it in realistic purpose—knowing what you’re good at and can sustain. She’s seen many give up too soon, but she knows success requires follow-through and resilience. Through Styling My Every Day and her Instagram (@katiejacobsnashville), where she shares moments from her garden, kitchen, and creative work, Katie inspires others to find joy in their own everyday. Her journey is a testament to the power of persistence, balancing passion with practicality, and creating work that evolves alongside life.
“People give up on themselves too early and quit too early.”
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I am Katie Jacobs. The name of my business is Styling My Everyday. I'm a cookbook author, stylist, and photographer. I started in the publication industry, in magazines, and as a graphic designer. That was a really incredible background to what I do now, which has kind of moved into food styling, photography, book publishing, and that kind of thing.
I style a lot of photo shoots for magazines. I do a lot of photography work for book publications, and I'm an author myself too. Right when I got out of college, I really wanted to go into the magazine world. I loved magazines. I collected magazines. I started a small magazine in Franklin, Tennessee, then moved to Nashville Lifestyles and worked up to be the creative director there.
I loved it, but it was just so hard—exceptionally corporate. My magazine was owned by Gannett, which owns the Tennessean. I was punching the clock and working very long hours. We worked in cubicles in an older office building with no windows. As a creative, it was very difficult to stay inspired and not be burned out because you’re trying to produce incredibly beautiful, inspired layouts, but the corporate environment was difficult for me to keep up with.
I felt like I needed to do something and named my company Styling My Everyday because I wanted it to be about the larger styling work that I do, but more about everyday life. The everyday is beautiful—finding those beautiful moments in your everyday life. I come from an entrepreneurial background.
My parents have always owned their own businesses. My stepdad's a home builder. My dad is in real estate but has always been starting new companies and businesses. When I came out of college and started in a more corporate environment, I think everybody was a little bit surprised. Maybe it’s because we’re inflexible and don’t like to work for people, but we just work for ourselves.
It gave me the courage to start my own thing. I think it’s important to push yourself and do things that make you feel uncomfortable. As a younger person, you shy away from those things—you don’t put yourself in uncomfortable situations and want to stay in your lane. But as you get older, it’s like, I’m fine. Not afraid to fail.
I think that’s important. Some people fail and some people succeed because they don’t follow through. Sometimes people quit prematurely. If you have a failure—a book signing nobody shows up to, or a book that doesn’t sell as well as your last one—you can decide that it’s your last and that you failed. I think people give up on themselves too early and quit too early.
As life evolves, their business has to evolve too. I heard something recently that said people should follow their passion, but be realistic about their passion. A lot of people who start businesses rely solely on passion and don’t look at purpose or maybe what they’re really good at.
I think it’s important, when starting something, to not only realize what you’re passionate about, but what you can be successful at. You can find me at stylingmyeveryday.com and also @katiejacobsnashville on Instagram, which is super fun. I show my everyday world—our garden, baking in the kitchen—and it’s fun.
Why We Share These Stories
We believe that celebrating Tennessee’s entrepreneurs will inspire the next generation of bold thinkers, risk-takers, and community builders. Entrepreneurs don’t forget where they come from—and they carry the power to transform not just their businesses, but entire neighborhoods, towns, and local economies. See more entrepreneur stories from the Patton Foundation.
