Inspiring Conversations with Jon Willard of Longleaf Media Group, LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Willard

Hi Jon, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
People have always said, if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life. I’m trying my best to make that come true for me. Golf, travel, and sports have always been major passions of mine, and not necessarily in that order. This all started to come together while we were on a family trip to Walt Disney World last October for my daughter’s 5th birthday. At some point, my wife and I decided we wanted to document our travels and settled on a family travel blog and a podcast. I wanted to take this idea see how far it could go. That is what sparked the idea to start Longleaf Media Group – a home for multiple lifestyle niche brands. As of right now, we have our family travel focused digital brand & a golf focused digital brand. My focus for the remainder of this year is to grow those to sufficiently fund the next steps for Longleaf Media Group.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Life with two toddlers is typically bumpier than it is smooth, and the same goes for getting a digital brand off of the ground while managing schedules and other responsibilities. Some of the biggest hurdles have been simply finding the time to prepare, draft, edit, and publish the content that will keep me on the set schedule for each brand. Staying organized and planning content as far ahead as possible certainly helps, however, a sick kid or other obligation that pops up last minute can derail even the best laid plans. The toughest aspect is getting back on schedule once the derailment occurs and maintaining consistency across the brands.

As you know, we’re big fans of Longleaf Media Group, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Longleaf Media Group is home to two current lifestyle digital brands, Wayfaring Willards and Longleaf Golf, with future brands planned that will highlight North Carolina-focused topics, including a sports media brand. We mix our personal life with each brand under Longleaf Media Group. Our company is known for delivering value to all of our followers, readers, listeners, and subscribers – whether that is through our family travel planning & tips blog + podcast, or delivering entertaining sports & golf content. We look forward to the growth that’s to come and engaging with our audience across multiple platforms.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Honestly, my wife has been my biggest supporter through all of this. She’s my co-pilot, especially with our family travel brand Wayfaring Willards. She has fully embraced delivering valuable travel content to other moms and families. She keeps us on schedule when we hit those bumps in our daily lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: wayfaringwillards.com; longleaf-golf.com
• Instagram: @wayfaringwillards; @longleafgolf
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wayfaring-willards/id1721614593