Founder Feature: Dana Roefer
Dana Roefer: Saying Yes Without a Five-Year Plan
Dana Roefer never planned to start a school.
She was working in project management at a web design firm when a client relationship became something more - a close friendship with the founder of Journey Academy.
Through that friendship, Dana found herself drawn to a vision of education she hadn't expected to care so much about: real-life skills, individualized pace, hands-on learning. The kind of schooling she'd wished for as a student herself.
The Yes That Didn't Come with a Plan
When the chance came to bring Journey Academy to Grand Rapids, Dana and her husband Matt said yes. There was no polished business plan, no funding round, no five-year roadmap. Just a conviction that this was worth building, and a willingness to bootstrap it themselves.
Seven Students, One Borrowed Classroom
That "yes" started small - seven students in a borrowed classroom. It's the kind of beginning that looks nothing like success from the outside. But it's also exactly where most things worth building actually start: small, uncertain, and dependent on people willing to show up before there's any proof it'll work.
From One Classroom to Four Schools
Today, that borrowed classroom has grown into a thriving Christ-centered, Montessori-based school - and it's since inspired three more Journey Academy locations across West Michigan. What began as a favor to a friend, and a shared belief in a different way to teach kids, became a network of schools shaping how hundreds of students learn.
The Bigger Lesson
Dana's story is a reminder that saying yes to God doesn't come with a five-year plan. It plants seeds only He can grow. For founders wrestling with whether they have enough of a plan to move forward, that's worth sitting with. Dana didn't have the whole picture when she said yes - she had a relationship, a conviction, and a willingness to start small. The rest was never hers to control anyway.
