HGTV Digital Content Editor and 2024 School of Journalism and Media Alumna of the Year Jessica Yonker (’12) poses in an HGTV pumpkin outside the Discovery Offices.
Alumna Jessica Yonker (’12) first learned about a potential job opportunity at HGTV from a fellow student.
During her senior year, she applied for a summer digital internship with the company. Prior to her interview, Yonker’s professor and mentor Professor Elizabeth Hendrickson introduced her to then vice president of HGTV Digital, Jillian St. Charles, during Social Media Week at the College of Communication and Information.
“Years later, I learned that after our conversation, Hendrickson took Jillian around the corner and basically said ‘you should give her a chance,’” Yonker said.
And they did.
Yonker started working as an intern for HGTV at their Knoxville headquarters the summer of 2012, which eventually blossomed into a full-time career spanning more than ten years. During her tenure, Yonker has photographed festivals and celebrities, became a certified Tennessee Master Gardener, and conceptualized and produced YouTube videos.
She currently serves as a digital content editor for HGTV.com and FoodNetwork.com at Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD). She spends her day-to-day writing email marketing newsletter campaigns for HGTV and Food Network, working with writers and photographers to create buzzy content for HGTV.com, and optimizing WBD websites.
For her post-graduation success and continued support of the School of Journalism and Media, Yonker has been named the school’s 2024 Alumna of the Year.
“I am so elated, surprised, and grateful for all my experiences at UT,” Yonker said. “I was able to kickstart my career thanks to the incredible support of my peers and mentors, and formed some of my strongest bonds and friendships thanks to the connections I made there. Rocky Top will definitely always feel like home.”
As a highschooler, Yonker’s goal was to study music management at Belmont University.
She spent a lot of time volunteering at music venues working towards this goal. However, after volunteering at different venues, such as Rocketown in Nashville, for two years in high school, she started to feel burned out and not enjoy music as much anymore. Not wanting to lose her love for music, she decided to amend her initial goal and pursue another path.
Fortunately, she had also applied to go to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as a backup school. At this time, she knew little about UT and Knoxville, so was uncertain about what awaited her on Rocky Top.
Settling on an area of study took some time. Her “lightbulb moment” came when reading a quiz about Tiger Woods in a magazine. She thought “I can do this,” and began researching journalism and media courses.
Her first class was Professor Rob Heller’s photojournalism course. She loved it, noting Heller’s passion for the subject matter and his students really resonated with her. He also helped get her out of her shell as projects like “Eyes on LaFollette”—an annual photography project where students capture a day in the life of people in the town of LaFollette, Tennessee—required her to get comfortable approaching others.
Her experience in Heller’s class motivated her to explore other journalism and media courses, which only deepened her affinity for the industry. This led her to meeting another lifelong mentor and friend, Professor Amber Roessener.
Yonker said from day one the two clicked. Roessener agreed, noting Yonker was one of the first students she met in her first class at UT.
“She impressed me with her willingness to try new roles, some outside of her comfort zone, and she won over my heart with her dedication and enthusiasm to her classes and to working in this industry,” Roessner said.
Roessner also served as Yonker’s school advisor and encouraged her to get involved in the Society of Professional Journalists chapter at UT and to help organize the inaugural Social Media Week event.
In addition, Yonker’s friends encouraged her to join the Tennessee Journalist, a student-run digital news site. There, she worked as a copy editor before becoming the arts and culture editor. She also worked for The Daily Beacon as a photographer.
Yonker would later enroll in Hendrickson’s magazine and feature writing class. As part of the class, students produced Scoop Magazine. Yonker was managing editor and later editor-in-chief of the magazine.
All these different experiences, Yonker said, prepared her for that first interview with HGTV. Once she started working at HGTV, Yonker said she had to be flexible, and over the years she has worn different hats at the company.
She enjoys working for HGTV, especially having the opportunity to work alongside other journalism and media graduates such as Mariana Canada (’00), who took her under her wing and acts as another mentor for Yonker.
She is grateful for everyone who supported her career and tries to pay that back by returning to Rocky Top to speak with students and through her service on the school’s alumni board.
“I am so incredibly proud of everything that Jessica accomplished as a student and in her career, and her receiving this award is a testament to all that she has accomplished and given to this place,” Roessner said. “She embodies the Volunteer Creed, never failing to give back—as a guest speaker, as a mentor to our students, on our alumni board. She is our rock, our rock star, and we are eternally grateful for her.”