Our Professionals
Photo by Rebecca Konas
My career as a pediatrician was truly given new life when I joined Storybook Pediatrics in the fall of 2016. After many years of burnout, my husband and I had decided that I would stop practicing medicine for the health of our family. Fortunately, God sent Ron Smith my way just in time to give me the ability to continue to do what I love and still be the wife and mother He called me to be.
I knew I wanted to be a physician from the time I was 9 years old and spent my school years planning my class schedule and extra curricular activities with that goal in mind. I received my undergraduate degree from Transylvania University in Lexington Kentucky, graduating in 1998 magna cum laude. I immediately transitioned to medical school at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Ga, graduating in 2002 in the top 20% of my class. I completed my residency in Pediatrics at the Medical Center of Central Georgia (now Navicent Health) in 2005 and became a board certified pediatrician in the fall of the same year.
Since finishing my training, I have spent 6 years on the clinical teaching faculty at Navicent Health in the outpatient clinic, newborn nursery, level II nursery, and inpatient pediatric ward. While there, I also functioned as assistant clerkship director and medical director of the family birth center. I have also spent 5 years in a hospital-owned practice in Douglas, Georgia and while there, spent time as the Chief of Pediatrics as well as President of the Medical Staff.
I have been married to my sweetheart for nearly 19 years and have a teenage son who will either run the world or run a prison gang as an adult. We are praying and working feverishly toward the former. In my free time I enjoy working out, decorating my home, reading (especially Karen Kingsbury), traveling with my hubby and chasing my trumpet -playing, competitive-swimming son around Georgia.
Over the past four years, I finally know that I have found my home here at Storybook. I am so thankful to have been given the blessing of carrying on Dr. Smith’s legacy as he enjoys retirement.
Photo by Rebecca Konas
Photo by Rebecca Konas
Dr. Gillespie is a board certified pediatrician with special emphasis in behavioral health who has a passion for ADD/ADHD and other pediatric behavioral disorders. I have known Dr. Gillespie for over 20 years and am so excited to get to work with her in this capacity!
She will be completely taking over the behavioral health portion of our practice. Not only will this allow you, as a parent, to receive passionate, attentive care for your child in the behavioral health realm, it will also allow myself and our nurse practitioners to focus on your child’s general pediatric needs. This has been a void we have been prayerfully trying to fill for several years, and God’s timing is always perfect.
Dr. Gillespie completed her MD degree at Mercer University School of Medicine and completed her residency in pediatrics at the Medical Center of Central Georgia (now Beverly Olson Children’s Hospital/ Atrium Health) in Macon, Ga. She is a board certified pediatrician and practiced general pediatrics in north Georgia; Nova Scotia, Canada; and Macon for over 20 years before realizing her true passion for ADHD. After working for many years in general peds with patients with ADD/ADHD and rearing a son with learning disabilities, Dr. Gillespie was moved to focus her attention on becoming an expert in this area, as well as other areas of behavioral health such as anxiety, depression, OCD, ODD, etc. She has thus spent the last 6 years immersing herself in this field and becoming an expert in the area.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends and traveling but she also adores curling up with a good book or grilling on the deck, kayaking and fishing, and spending time with her fur children at home.
Dr. Gillespie will be joining us from Daphne, Al where she currently cares for patients at FocusMD. She is thrilled to bring her skills and passion in the field to families in Henry County and surrounding areas.
I personally am excited that she will be filling a void that we have known this area has had for so long and to be able to provide not only our own Storybook Pediatrics patients with specialized care but also to be able to provide behavioral health services to all children in the area.
To our current families with ADHD, rest assured that this transition will be seamless for you. Your followup schedule will remain the same. The only difference will be that your yearly well check will now be focused completely on physical, developmental, and social wellbeing; and your ADHD visits will be with Dr. Gillespie each time and 100% focused on your child’s ADHD management. We are so thankful to be able to continue to improve our care in this manner.
Photo by Rebecca Konas
Photo by Rebecca Konas
My name is Jena Jones, and I am a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (CPNP) with Storybook Pediatrics!
I began my nursing career with an Associates of Science in Nursing (RN) in 2009 from Gordon State College. I went back to school while raising my family / working full time in pediatrics and completed my Bachelors of Science in Nursing in 2012 from Gordon State College. From there, I went on to gain my Masters of Science in Nursing from Georgia State University in January 2015. I am board certified in pediatrics through the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.
My nursing career includes wonderful years spent at Navicent Medical Center in Macon working on the General Pediatrics floor of the Children’s Hospital 2009-2015 as an RN. There, I gained invaluable experience caring for children and their families with a wide variety of diagnoses and health needs. I have also worked at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta as an RN on the inpatient hematology / oncology and bone marrow transplant units, 2013-2015. There, I had the opportunity to take care of families and children battling pediatric cancer and blood disorders. I began working for Ron Smith Pediatrics in February of 2015 as an APRN / CPNP. I have continued my professional career in primary care with this practice as it has evolved into Storybook Pediatrics.
On a personal note, my husband and I have been married for 2O+ years and counting. We have two adult children who are now both in college. We have had many adventures and blessings in our life, including 10 years of Army service, raising two wonderful boys, and my husband fighting and winning a battle with leukemia. We are looking forward to the next chapter of our lives as we venture into being empty nesters. I enjoy traveling with family, reading, playing pickleball with my husband, hiking, and running. Believe it or not, I even ran a Marathon in 2018. I am so blessed to be part of a wonderful practice that allows me the opportunity to not only practice in a professional capacity but to truly serve families and children as well.
“Be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things HE has done for you.” 1 Samuel 12:24 NLT
Photo by Rebecca Konas
Photo by Rebecca Konas
Photo by Rebecca Konas
I joined Storybook Pediatrics in 2015. I received my Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Georgia Baptist College of Nursing in 2000. In 2005, I completed my Masters of Science in Nursing at Georgia State University.
I have over 15 years of nursing experience in the NICU, pediatric urgent care and emergency room, and throughout Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta system. I have worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner in Atlanta, Rockdale and McDonough for the past 15 years.
I currently live in Stockbridge with my husband Cecil, our son Mason, and our dog Izzy. I am a lifelong runner who enjoys the outdoors, camping with my family, cooking and gardening.
Photo by Rebecca Konas
Photo by Rebecca Konas
In 2019, I joined Storybook Pediatrics. I am an experienced neonatal intensive care nurse with over 11 years experience. I received my associate’s degree in nursing from Gordon College in 2009 and my bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2013 from Clayton State University. I then went on to complete my Master’s in Pediatric nursing from the University of South Alabama.
I take pride in the care and dedication I have for my patients and their families. I have always loved the pediatric world and knew this was my calling.
I have been married for 10 years and we have two amazing children. We all enjoy riding horses and outdoor activities.
Photo by Rebecca Konas
Photo by Rebecca Konas
I earned my BSN from Clayton State University in 2005 and subsequently began working at Henry Medical Center ER. There I realized my heart was in pediatrics, and so I moved on to the ER at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. While there, I started working on my MSN at Georgia State University which I completed in 2009.
I completed the majority of my Pediatric Primary Care clinical hours for my MSN at Potts & Smith Pediatrics. My child was a patient of the practice as well. I had amazing experiences both as a student of the practice and a mother of a patient there. I was honored to be able to start working with Dr. Smith at Ron Smith Pediatrics when the doors opened in 2010.
It has been an amazing experience to watch how Storybook Pediatrics was born since it was just me and Dr. Smith back then. I enjoy working with such amazing staff and colleagues. Everyone is hardworking, caring, intelligent, and loving to each other and the patients.
My husband and I live in Pike county with our very smart, loving, funny, strong willed, and handsome teenaged boy. We are a very outdoorsy family and enjoy traveling, deep sea fishing, duck hunting, and horseback riding.
Photo by Rebecca Konas
Photo by Rebecca Konas
I’m Shelley Mills PNP- PC. I am over the moon excited to join the amazing staff and providers at Storybook Pediatrics. Some of you may have already met me, while I was doing clinicals this past year. I’m grateful you welcomed me while I continued to learn. I have always loved Mcdonough, as this is where I grew up. I graduated this past December, 2022 from the University of South Alabama with my Advanced Nursing Practice degree in primary care pediatrics. I knew I wanted to work with babies and children since being a little girl. I remember telling my parents my dream job would be a neonatal nurse. God led me to Gordon college, and I graduated there in 2008, with my Associate of Science in Nursing, that same year also marrying my husband Luke Mills. We both served our community, he works at the fire dept, and I was working in NICU. After the first round of college (there will be much more 🙂 , and a few years later, God blessed us with two beautiful babies. I became a mom to Cam (11 years old now) and Harper Kate (she’s 7 years old now) They bring us such joy! Our family loves spending time at the beach, enjoying our pool, riding bikes, hiking, fishing and camping. I personally love my peloton bike, health and wellness, and reading. I love watching the kids do their seasonal sports too! We also have two fur babies, Otis (Westie) and Annie (golden doodle). During the years of raising babies, I obtained by BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing). I vividly remember typing a research paper with my hands with one foot on a bouncer seat. Many years passed, working and enjoying life; and I felt lead to pursue my Nurse Practitioner degree in pediatrics. We had a few hiccups such as a house fire in 2015. But God! From that tragedy of loss, we still gave thanks as He saved my family and kept us safe and that’s what we focused on. I took some time off from school, focusing on rebuilding our home and getting settled. God continued tugging at my heart one day to finish my degree. I re-enrolled and started on the journey to obtain my pediatric nurse practitioner degree. As I say good bye to the NICU world after 12 years, I carry such excitement and enthusiasm to start working with wonderful kids! I enjoyed teaching parents how to feed
Photo by Rebecca Konas
Photo by Rebecca Konas
I have had the great privilege of managing Storybook Pediatrics (formerly known as Ron Smith MD Pediatrics) since its beginning in May of 2010. I had known Ron Smith for quite a few years prior to him asking me to help him build his new practice. My goal from the moment that I accepted the offer was to work at building, with God’s help, a five-star practice. I knew that I was starting off with a five-star physician and that was the necessary foundation upon which I could invest my time, energy and faith.
As I entered upon this endeavor, I brought with me my varied background which, as I look back, contributed to some of our success. My first career was as an operating room scrub tech. After becoming a mother I dedicated myself to caring for my home and children, which included six years of home schooling. Once the children went off to college, I entered the business world where I discovered that I had a talent for business management.
However, a great deal of credit for our success is due to the contributions of our wonderful and talented staff of individuals who are Storybook Pediatrics. I have grown to love each and everyone of them as if they are my family.
When I am not spending all my time on behalf of Storybook Pediatrics, my very dear friend and husband since 1969 and I enjoy our time together, and the time we get to spend with our two children and three nearly adult grandchildren. I also love to read, but my great passion is mentoring Christians to help them grow in their faith by the renewing of their minds.
Photo by Rebecca Konas
