Olivia opened The Walnut Grove in 2017 after the birth of her first child. She now has three children and still loves what she does everyday. She loves the dynamic, ever changing creativity of working with children and spends a large amount of her free time devising interesting ways to connect concepts or create accessible, inventive, and healthy meals. She has a BA in Anthropology from UCLA and a Permaculture certificate from Merritt College. She loves to garden, ceramics, and occasionally shoots photographs professionally in her free time.

Over the past 17 years, Jaq has worked within many different sectors of early childhood and youth education, including roles as a preschool co-director and lead teacher, dance and piano teacher, curriculum developer, family assistant, head camp counselor, gender inclusivity consultant and nanny. They hold a MFA in dance, BFA in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in dance within early childhood development, and an AAS in human services. A life-long student, Jaq is currently working toward their M.Ed. in advanced teaching. They teach from a Reggio-inspired lens, focusing on child-led and emergent curriculum that is taught through dance, music, social emotional development, art projects, social justice, nature and visual art.