Meet Jana Tingom | Local Influencer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jana Tingom and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jana, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Phoenix With Kids was started as a natural outcome of what we already enjoyed doing – exploring and sharing! My husband, Chris, and I had traveled a fair amount before meeting and getting married, and we both had various blogs and other ways to share our thoughts over the years. Chris was the one who actually started the Phoenix With Kids blog in 2013, as a simple way to list things to do with kids in Phoenix. We had one very active child at the time, so getting out and about was a necessity! As the list grew, and we added reviews of those places, families would always share how helpful the first hand perspective was and asked for more. The blog expanded in to social media and YouTube and a weekly newsletter, reaching thousands of families around Phoenix, Arizona and beyond! 10 years later (and now with 3 kids), we still enjoy exploring and sharing adventures!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We’ve always aimed to give honest and detailed reviews on Phoenix With Kids. As a parent or caregiver, reading that a local spot is “kid friendly and fun” doesn’t really help decide if it’s best for your family. But giving the specifics on why a place is kid friendly, like included activities or food offered or even tips, as well as a first hand account of what our kids (or the children of our writers) enjoyed offers a much more rounded perspective. Our family is really just a normal Phoenix family, sharing what we’ve found! Sometimes we haven’t enjoyed a place, and it’s always good to pause and determine why. Was it just not a good fit for our family? Or was there something that truly could be improved upon at the business? In either case, we strive to offer the facts and let others decide what works for them. We’ve learned alot about authenticity and relatability over the years! It’s been a good journey, and one we hope to continue for years to come.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Love this question! Visiting Phoenix can be great any time of the year. Of course there’s the extreme summer heat, but did you know there’s a huge musical instrument museum to explore, or an indoor water park? There’s no shortage of indoor play places or trampoline parks, some even have go-karts too! Organ Stop Pizza makes a great place for kids, with familiar pizza and a fantastic theatre organ. And definitely plan to take a day or two to explore outside of Phoenix in the summer! Some of our favorite cities are Show Low, Williams, and Prescott. Not only do you get cooler weather, but it’s just amazing to realize that Arizona isn’t all cactus and desert. Now the winter time, Nov-April, is probably our favorite time of the year and there’s so much to explore in the city! One of our favorite activities is hiking. We have so many hiking reviews on the blog. Some our favorites involve waterfalls (yes, there is seasonal waterfalls in the desert, it’s so beautiful), like Blue Wash Trail, Hieroglyphic Trail, or the Waterfall Trail in White Tank Mountain Regional Park. The Desert Botanical Gardens is not to miss as a great introduction to local plant life. Also on the top of our list is the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park! This time of year is prime patio weather and places like Luci’s at the Orchard or The Farm at South Mountain offer great food and great outdoor seating.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A huge shoutout definitely goes out to the Phoenix With Kids writers! We’ve had numerous contributors join us along the way, each adding their perspective to the blog and social media. The Phoenix Metro area has grown so much over the last 5-8 years, and it would be impossible to explore it all on our own. Thank you to our regular writers Kim, Lindsay, Liz, and Tamie, as well as our Tucson writer, Abbey! And to Desa Rae, Larissa, and Jennifer who have shared as well. You can find their posts on the blog.

Website: www.phoenixwithkids.net

Instagram: www.instagram.com/phoenixwithkids

Facebook: www.facebook.com/phoenixwithkids

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@phoenixwithkids