Meet Jenna Landess of Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenna Landess.

Hi Jenna, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi! My name is Jenna Landess. I was born in Michigan but grew up moving around, including spending time in Texas and North Carolina. As an adult, I’ve lived in Texas, Arizona, Georgia, and Ohio. My husband and I met while we were both living in Arizona, and eventually moved to Ohio so he could pursue his degree at the University of Cincinnati. His career later took us to Georgia for a few years before bringing us back to Ohio, where we now live and work in Miami County.

Today, I’m a real estate agent with Keller Williams Home Town Realty, but my journey to real estate started long before I ever imagined it would.

In 2015, I began a career in home design with Ernest Homes, a family-owned custom home builder in the coastal Savannah, Georgia area. I’ve had the privilege of working with them for more than a decade. For my first four years, I worked in the office as a Sales & Design Consultant, helping clients design their dream homes while also designing the company’s inventory homes. After moving back to Ohio, I continued working with Ernest Homes remotely, focusing on the design of their inventory homes. To date, I’ve had a hand in designing more than 200 new homes.

When we moved back to Ohio, I also decided to take a completely different leap and start my own business, basil & bloom. What started as a garden-based business was really a way for me to combine all of the things I loved—gardening, cooking, baking, and creating. My original plan was to grow fresh herbs, edible flowers, and unique produce to sell at farmers markets. Baking was actually just a small part of the business in the beginning.

That quickly changed.

As I became involved with the Piqua Farmers Market and Cherry Street Local Farmers Market in Troy, the demand for my gluten-free and dairy-free/vegan baked goods grew faster than I ever expected. I couldn’t bake enough to keep up! Eventually, I was able to sell my baked goods in two local shops, Rosebud’s Real Foods in Covington and ReU Juicery in Troy. I also used basil & bloom’s social media to share recipes and ideas for using fresh herbs and garden produce in everyday cooking.

For six years, basil & bloom was a huge part of my life. At its peak, I had more than 700 social media followers and was regularly selling out at the farmers market. But eventually, my body simply couldn’t keep up with the physical demands of baking and gardening full-time, and the rising cost of ingredients made the business increasingly difficult to sustain.

After more than two years of wrestling with the decision, I finally closed the doors.

Honestly, it was heartbreaking. I knew I was leaving a hole in the local market, and I struggled with the idea of walking away from something I had built from the ground up. I even wished I could find someone to take over the business and carry it forward, but that never happened. So basil & bloom is still sitting there, waiting for the right person to bring it back to life. I’d love nothing more than to eventually hand my recipes over to someone who can fill that need in our community again.

Closing basil & bloom ultimately gave me the courage to take my next leap of faith. I enrolled in real estate school, studied for six months, passed my exams, and earned my real estate license. I joined Keller Williams Home Town Realty in April 2025 and have been working as a full-time real estate agent ever since. More recently, I joined Barlow & Co., a team within Keller Williams, led by Alicia Barlow.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have found such a great team. Alicia is absolutely crushing it, and I learn something from her and the other agents around me every single day. Keller Williams’ values and culture also align closely with my own, and I’m genuinely proud to be part of the company.

When I look at my path to real estate now, it all makes sense. My years in home design taught me how a house comes together, how to listen to what people really want, and how to turn ideas into a home that feels like them. Running basil & bloom taught me about entrepreneurship, perseverance, creativity, customer relationships, and what it takes to build something from nothing.

I think all of those experiences are strengths that I bring to my clients today.

At the end of the day, my goal is pretty simple: I want people to love where they live. Making a happy home is my absolute end goal—not just for myself, but for every client I have the privilege of working with. My love of design, gardening, cooking, baking, and hosting all come back to that same idea of creating spaces where people feel comfortable, connected, and at home.

And who knows…maybe someday I’ll become the next Martha Stewart. LOL!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Gosh! Real estate is hard. Being a business owner is hard. But nothing worth having comes easy- so they say. I just have to keep showing up, keep doing my best, and keep a positive attitude.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As a real estate agent, I help people buy and sell homes, but I’ve found that one of my greatest strengths is helping buyers find a home that truly feels like theirs.

I have a natural ability to envision the potential of a space. Sometimes it can be difficult to walk into a home that belongs to someone else and picture yourself living there. Maybe the furniture isn’t your style, the rooms aren’t being used in the way you would use them, or you simply can’t see past what’s currently there. I love helping people look beyond that. Whether it’s rearranging furniture to create better flow, imagining a room with a completely different purpose, or simply pointing out possibilities they hadn’t considered, I enjoy helping clients see what a home could be.

My background in new home construction also gives me a unique perspective. After designing more than 200 new homes, I’ve become familiar with a wide variety of materials and products used on both the interior and exterior of homes. I’m able to help my clients understand the differences between materials, talk through their pros and cons, and make more informed decisions about the homes they’re considering.

But honestly, one of my favorite parts of real estate is simply showing houses and shopping for a home with my clients. I genuinely enjoy the excitement of walking through a house and wondering, Could this be it? I want the experience to be enjoyable and exciting from the very beginning—not just through the buying process, but for all of the years my clients will spend making that house their home.

For me, it’s about much more than a transaction. It’s about helping people find a place where they can build a life, make memories, and truly feel at home.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I would say diving into owning your own business is a big risk. Real estate and owning/operating basil & bloom are no different than each other. Success is based solely on how hard you work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jennalandess.kw.com
• Instagram: jennalandess.realtor ; basilnbloom
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575784690913 ; https://www.facebook.com/basilnbloom/