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Serenbe Stories
Serenbe Stories is a podcast about making an impact, building a better life, and the extraordinary power of nature and community. Hear from founder Steve Nygren about Serenbe’s unlikely origins and from the many residents, artists, environmentalists, and thought leaders who have influenced the community’s development over the years. Join us as we share stories and conversations that capture the essence of this extraordinary place.
Episodes
166 episodes
Style, Storytelling, and Life in Serenbe with Tia Morill & Jose Nava
Tia Morrill and Jose Nava are the creative duo behind Levie, a boutique branding and design agency known for blending storytelling, design, and placemaking for global clients. But their Serenbe story began long before they ever called it home, ...
Beyond Skin Deep: Rethinking Care & Dermatology with Dr. Mary Alice Mina
Dr. Mary Alice Mina is a dermatologist and entrepreneur whose approach to skin health blends clinical expertise with a broader, lifestyle-driven perspective. After years of building a successful, procedure-focused practice in Midtown Atlanta, h...
From Stable to Sanctuary with Darby Pollock
From Maryland’s Eastern Shore to Serenbe, Darby Pollock’s story is about finding the balance between wide-open space and true community. After one visit in early 2020, she and her family made the move, drawn to a place where nature, connection,...
Gary Cassis on Jazz, Community & A New Creative Chapter
From global finance to Serenbe’s creative scene, Gary Cassis is redefining what semi-retirement can look like. A native New Yorker with a lifelong love of jazz, Gary spent years building a career in banking and international finance that took h...
Growing a Local Food System with Brandi Whitney
Long before she ever set foot in Serenbe, Brandi Whitney knew it as a place where farm-to-table wasn’t just a trend, but a way of life. After years spent in culinary school, working in kitchens, and building her own restaurant, her focus began ...
Spiritually Curious: Intuition, Energy, and Serenbe with Christina Trifero
Christina Trifero didn’t exactly plan her way to Serenbe, she followed a feeling she couldn’t ignore. After years working in the fast-paced startup worlds of San Francisco and New York, something started to shift. So she made a bold decision: s...
Let Them Roam: Serenbe Parents Choose Another Way
In Serenbe, we often joke about raising “free-range kids”, but it speaks to something real: a childhood shaped by time outdoors, independence, and a close-knit community. When The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt was released last ...
The Spirit of Early Serenbe with Tim & Lindsey Mosby
In 2002, before Serenbe had a name or a plan, Tim and Lindsey Mosby came down for a weekend at Steve and Marie Nygren’s bed-and-breakfast and never quite left it behind. Living in Candler Park at the time, they were drawn to the slower pace, to...
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Serenbe at 20: Voices from the Community
Serenbe is often described as a place that feels different the moment you arrive.Last spring, the community marked 20 years since its groundbreaking, when that first shovel hit the ground and vision started to become reality. We celebrat...
Introducing Season 13 of Serenbe Stories
,Season 13 of Serenbe Stories premieres Monday, March 16th. Over and over again, we hear the same thing: there's just something different about Serenbe. Is it the thoughtfully designed streets, the miles of trails and protected forests, the fac...
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The Spark of Possibility
In this final episode of the Start In Your Own Backyard mini-series, Steve Nygren reflects on the journey of building Serenbe. What started out as an unlikely idea, sparked in a moment of fear and panic is now a living, breathing community wher...
A Place That Feels Like Home
A lot of what we’ve been exploring on this podcast comes back to an idea known as placemaking: the art of designing spaces that feel meaningful, welcoming, and rooted in community. At its core, it’s about creating places where people t...
The Deepest Wells of the Human Spirit
Food, shelter, walkable streets, even access to nature are all vital ingredients for a thriving community. But on their own, they aren’t quite enough. To truly flourish, people also need beauty, inspiration, and creativity woven into daily life...
Community Potluck
Once upon a time, community wasn’t something you had to schedule, swipe for, or search out in a Facebook group. It was simply part of daily life. In this episode, Steve Nygren explores the loneliness epidemic, how our modern world has stripped ...
Where Wellness Grows
Most of us know that a sedentary, stress-filled lifestyle can take a heavy toll on our wellbeing. Yet when communities are designed for cars instead of people, when fast food is easier to find than fresh produce, and when green space feels tota...
Why Beauty Matters
What makes a place feel magnetic? Why do some neighborhoods and buildings leave you feeling inspired, while others feel sterile and disconnected? In this episode of Start In Your Own Backyard, we explore how the built environment shape...
A Village at the Forest’s Edge
Access to nature isn’t just a luxury. It's essential for our health, our well-being, and the resilience of our communities. But what happens when the fields, forests, and streams we once knew are paved over by highways, strip malls, and suburba...
The Land That Changed Everything
Start In Your Own Backyard is a mini-series about how the choices we make, both big and small, can transform the world around us. For host Steve Nygren, this is personal. Two decades ago, while running through the woods on his beloved family fa...
Christina Escalante on Intentional Living and Community-Centered Care
Christina and Jeff Escalante first discovered the transformative power of community during a whirlwind backpacking trip that took them to intentional communities in places like Spain, Israel, and Japan. At the time, they were living in a New Yo...
Josh Green on Serenbe’s Growth and Why Storytelling Matters
Josh Green is an Atlanta-based journalist whose work has appeared in prominent publications such as Garden & Gun, Atlanta Magazine, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of <...
Simple, Radical, Local: Steve Nygren on His Upcoming Book “Start In Your Own Backyard”
If you’re a longtime listener , you already know that Serenbe is more than just a place - it’s a nature-based model for living that inspires others to challenge the status quo, embrace optimism, and reimagine their communities. And along the wa...
Trading Busy London Streets for Peaceful Serenbe Trails
Jennifer Band and Josh Hiller spent 13 years living in London—including a full year in lockdown—before making the move to Serenbe in 2021. As parents of two young children, they had been thinking about returning to the States for some time, but...
Spring in Serenbe: Where The Wild Things Grow
Spring has officially arrived in Serenbe and the community is in full bloom. Despite the haze of pollen, residents are eager to embrace the outdoors, whether they’re digging into garden beds or hitting the trails.In this special episode ...
Settling Down in Serenbe with World Travelers T.J. & Natalie Aldridge
When Natalie and TJ Aldridge first discovered Serenbe in early 2016, it felt like fate. While planning their wedding nearby, a friend suggested they direct guests to the Inn . So they decided to check it out -- and that first visit absolutely c...
Jack Kidd on Real Estate, ‘Seasons,’ and Summers in Serenbe
Jack Kidd first heard about Serenbe as a movie-obsessed teenager growing up in Peachtree City—and from the first moment he visited, he knew this was a place where he wanted to spend more time. Fast forward a decade, and Jack is now on his third...
