WOMEN INSPIRED | Meet Jonna Kelleher, Owner of The Cottage Geneva
- Glancer Magazine
- Jun 1, 2023
- 2 min read
SWITCHING CAREERS AND COMMITTED TO FULLFILLING HER DREAM
GENEVA–Jonna has been in healthcare since she was 19 years old, starting as a unit clerk in the Emergency Room and eventually becoming a nurse in 2018. She loves the fast-paced environment and caring for the unique patient needs; however, she has always loved decorating.
“I think it comes from my mother who used to do interior decorating on the side before she got sick,” Jonna shares. “I don’t think I truly understood why curating a style for your home was so important until I lost both of my parents at a young age. My mother passed away at 41 from her second battle of breast cancer and my father passed away at 56 from complications of sepsis.”
Because of losing her parents so young, she bounced from home to home, even becoming homeless.
“I remember thinking, when I am able to pull myself out of this predicament, I will never take the feeling of “being home” for granted.”
As time went on, she pulled herself together, saved money, met her husband Sean, got married, and bought her first home in 2019.
“I was so excited to have my OWN home,” Jonna adds. “As we were renovating, I used to joke with Sean that if I could give this feeling of how I felt about my own home to others, my dreams would be fulfilled.”
Soon after, at only 35 years old, Jonna now owns The Cottage Geneva with her husband. What started as an idea for an online business, turned into finding the perfect space for a brick and mortar. Jonna spent the next couple years curating vintage heirlooms to compliment a clean modern.
“My favorite quote is by Florence Nightengale, I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse,” she says.
Jonna has put nursing aside for now and is committed fulltime to her dream. Like most women, she is continually striving to find work home balance, but always makes time to shop antiques, pursue her foodie passions at The Walrus Room, and spend time with their Yorkshire terrier, Maisy. -Kristen Kucharski, Photos by Mike Catuara
