By Anna Grace Moore
Photos by Grace Fountain & Contributed

The heart’s most indelible imprint, kindness is a healing presence that paints the world with hope, surpassing all understanding. The quandary to emotional logic, it appears in undeserving moments, breaking down barriers and uniting people over one bridge: shared humanity.

Vestavia Hills resident Jennifer Hallman is spearheading this movement, emphasizing the importance of every encounter.

In February 2025, her debut children’s book, “How Mae Got Moxie,” first hit the shelves. The tale of an aspiring hedgehog, Mae, this story parallels Jennifer’s own childhood as she battled both fitting in and falling out of the status quo.

“Moxie,” a unique take on the traditional spelling of moxy, means bold, courageous, unique, persistent–qualities, she says, she always desired but has not always had.

“This story was just something that I felt like I was being called to share with the world,” she says.

As a kid growing up in Homewood, she recalls being laughed at, or so she thought, on her first day of school as the “new kid.” Though she once might have described herself as bright and spunky, her moxy eluded her grasp for years from that day forward.

A blink of an eye passed, and Jennifer found herself as a student at Auburn University, dipping her toe into photography and soon discovering she had an eye for design.

“I see the world through the lens of a camera,” she says.

This sparked what would be her 20-year-long career in photography, specializing in portrait and lifestyle photography. Ironically, it was only after she hung up the camera that she rediscovered her livelihood.

One fateful day, she received a call from her dear friend Juliet Dobbs, who painstakingly delivered the news that her cancer had returned. Without skipping a beat, Jennifer rushed out the door with only her purse and her Bible in tow.

Rising before dawn each day, Jennifer recalls watching the sunset through the hospital room’s window. She marveled at how the author of life could weave so many colors into the fabric of a sunrise.

“I wanted to do something to help [Juliet] out along the way, so I started painting these little cards,” she says. “I had 40 of them, and I put little scripture verses on the front of them and all I put on them was color. I look back now, and I realize that I was painting what I had seen in the sunrise.”

Unfortunately, Juliet’s cancer was not responding well to chemotherapy, so she was transferred to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Jennifer tagged along, eager to uplift Juliet’s spirits.

“When we got to Houston, we gave them to everybody that we came in contact with,” Jennifer says. “It could be our Uber driver, the person checking us in at the hotel, the doctor, the nurses. What I watched happen was people’s reaction and things get better for Juliet.”

It was as if this simple gesture of kindness carried the power to change someone’s day. Though she started with 40, Jennifer says the cards were given out in no time.

She jokes her first-ever art studio was her hotel room on an ironing board. Utilizing a small knife, she cut out pieces of paper, painting unique designs on each, drying them and praying over each one.

“That’s when I realized you’ve got to let the art stay out to gather layers,” she says. “If you’re trying to paint at your house and you’ve got to clean it all up, you’re done at whatever layer you stopped on.”

Upon returning home, she continued her mission to spread kindness, one card at a time. Today, she’s handpainted and given away more than 7,000 cards.

“This lady told me once, ‘When you’re in nature, take a little piece of it home that reminds you about that time, so that you’ll be grateful and you’ll remember, you know, when you go out in nature, how beautiful our world is,’” Jennifer says.

Not long afterwards did she come across a magnolia cone, which had red berries but seeds falling out of it. Although imperfect, she took it as a token of finding beauty in the mundane.

“I feel like it was God’s way of telling me, ‘It’s okay. Your past is okay, but don’t forget it. Just use it for the future, and take whatever the past is and use it to help other people,’” Jennifer says.

This epiphany prompted a question: How many layers of kindness does someone need to experience to reciprocate it in the world? These soul-searching conversations inspired her to share her testimony through a child’s lens; thus, “How Mae Got Moxie” was born.

The loveable tale follows Mae on her first day of school and how it goes far from planned. Purposefully, Jennifer chose for Mae to be a hedgehog because as a defense mechanism, hedgehogs’ spikes flare up if they feel anxious or threatened.

She says everyone remembers their first day in a new place–for most, those feelings are mutual, walking through the walls of a new school as the newcomer with no new friends. As the story progresses, Mae discovers her “moxie,” and just how she chooses to share it starts to change the world, one interaction at a time.

This beautiful metaphor, Jennifer hopes, will teach children how often people protect themselves from feeling vulnerable, but love is all they need to embrace individuality.

“If you can’t love yourself, how do you know how to love other people?” she says. “I wanted this book to teach kids the importance of being themselves and that they were created for a purpose. That word, moxie, encompasses so many words. So, this is kind of like my love letter to children, or to adults that have forgotten who they are.”

Since launching her book, Jennifer has done read aloud workshops with more than 4,000 students across 25 different schools. Every event she hosts, she teaches lessons of empathy and respect with every page turn, inviting students to paint their own cards of kindness to share with their loved ones during the workshops.

“Everyone that reads this book is brought back to whatever point in their life that these things were relevant, and I think for a lot of adults, it’s going to cause some reflection,” she says. “I hope it does. My hope is that this book changes lives.”

Now, “How Mae Got Moxie” is part of Louis Pizitz Middle School’s counseling curriculum. Its reach isn’t confined to classrooms, however.

Back at her alma mater, Jennifer spoke at a sorority function, leading a workshop on modeling empathy through these tangible creations. Now, those same sorority members are ministering to victims of domestic violence throughout the state.

Recipients of kindness cards have received them at Six Flags, on Disney cruises and even in other countries.

“As we get older and we have life experiences, I feel like it’s our calling to help younger people,” Jennifer says, later adding, “everyone deserves a redemption story, and Mae teaches that in the book.”

For her, Mae’s message applies to everyone: Every person was created on purpose for a purpose. Every person’s testimony matters. Every person is worthy of love.

As societal pressures seem ever-growing, Jennifer remains a beacon of light–her authenticity has no rival. She never dreamed her once shy, softspoken demeanor would be profoundly transformed through learning self-love.

Now, she’s fulfilling her own commission to help others on their journeys, radicalizing kindness one card, one testimony and one encounter at a time.

Those interested in reading and purchasing copies of “How Mae Got Moxie,” or requesting Jennifer Hallman to speak at their events, visit moxymae.com.