Before ever recording a song and receiving a Grammy nomination, homeschooled 14-year-old Jamie Grace spent her free time uploading YouTube videos from her bedroom in Lithonia, Georgia (east of Atlanta), detailing her personal journey with Tourette syndrome (TS), and composing and performing original songs.

Growing up as the pastors’ kid, she was introduced to music at a young age by participating in the church’s music ministry.

Her first taste of the spotlight came at age 5, when she sang “Stop by the Church” by Babbie Mason at a co-op’s end-of-year celebration. Two years later, she wrote her first song because she felt she had something important in her head she had to get out.

Jamie Grace (left) with her parents and sister.

“I was only 11 years old when my life took its own turn,” she sings while playing guitar in one of her first YouTube videos as a teenager. Jamie had been severely struggling with TS since receiving an official diagnosis at 11 years old. Her tics were so intense they would interrupt her walking. She was also diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), ADHD, and OCD.

Songwriting had become second nature, so she found solace in writing songs about her experience.

Her parents, passionate educators who bonded at a teacher supply store on one of their first dates, helped Jamie manage her TS by buying medicine, adjusting her diet, and staying up with her when she couldn’t sleep. They also relied heavily on their homeschooling program to support her specific learning needs.

“I was able to be a disabled kid and not feel the guilt or shame of falling behind,” Jamie explained, emphasizing how her learning expectations were always based on what she was capable of. “My mom understood my brain, how I learned, how I processed information.”

Becoming a local celebrity

Jamie initially launched her YouTube channel to create awareness of Tourette syndrome, offer online support to people struggling with it, and offset negative content of people making fun of those with TS.

She remembered thinking, “If this is what I'm finding, and I have a support system, what are younger kids with Tourette’s feeling when they try to find support and see this?”

Shortly after creating the channel, she knew she wanted to dedicate her life to sharing a message of hope and resilience through music, content creation, and interpersonal education. “I knew early on I wanted this to be my job,” she said.

She also used the platform to sing cover songs with her sister Morgan Harper Nichols (now a renowned poet with 1.9 million Instagram followers) and share original songs and funny sketches about her journey as a homeschooled kid, inspired by shows like All That and The Amanda Show.

Jamie Grace playing with her sister, Morgan Harper Nichols.

Their parents supported them in their similar passions every step of the way. When Morgan wanted to improve her songwriting skills, her mom implemented a songwriting course as part of her homeschool curriculum. When Jamie asked for recording equipment, her parents found the finances to invest in it.

“The quality of the music wasn’t great, but there was a lot of heart and passion,” Jamie said.

Jamie and Morgan started landing small gigs at coffee shops and local events. They soon became local celebrities in their hometown, getting recognized during trips to Walmart and Target. They even traveled to sing at church events throughout the US.

The sketch that led to a Grammy nomination

Jamie’s first viral YouTube video was an improv sketch about escaping from her homeschool—a response that debunked assumptions that homeschooled students always wanted to escape their education at home.

The sketch landed her first TV role on the Trinity Broadcasting Network show iShine KNECT for tweens, and their tour, iShine LIVE. Jamie was only a 17-year-old college student when she embarked on her first live tour, balancing studies and the start of her music career.

Two years later, she was invited to participate in the Revolve Tour, an event organized by Women of Faith that featured famous Christian speakers and artists. Jamie had attended the tour multiple times as a fan and couldn’t believe she was being asked to speak and sing throughout the US.

“We toured in arenas [when] I was only 19,” Jamie said.

Around this time, she was signed to Gotee Records. She released two albums: A Song at a Time and Ready to Fly. Her song “Hold Me,” from her first album, earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song in 2012. That same year, she won the Dove Award for Best New Artist.

Her music blends Christian pop, hip-hop, and reggae, influenced deeply by Gospel music, especially Mahalia Jackson. Driven by her passion to share a message of hope and self-acceptance, her songs invite listeners to lean into faith during hard times and trust God.

“This child awaits strong in the faith. Lord you are the refuge that I can't wait to get to,” she sings in “Beautiful Day,” her top-streaming song on Spotify with more than 19 million listens.

When asked about homeschooling's impact on her songwriting and music career, Jamie said, “I believe we’re all inherently creative beings. Homeschool gave more time, space, and opportunity to lean into that.”

She also credited homeschooling for helping her understand at a young age that she had to be self-motivated and intentional to achieve her dreams. “You don’t have the option to rely on the smartest kid in class. You’re the kid in the room,” she said.

Homeschooling her daughter

Now 33, Jamie is a self-produced artist, recording music in her own home studio. She continues to write songs about her Christian faith, love, and mental health, and has branched out to share content on songwriting and production.

She’s happily married to Aaron Collins, a personal trainer she met eight years ago when she and Morgan performed in a church show in his hometown.

“I saw him, and I told my sister, ‘I’m going to marry him,’” Jamie said. They are now homeschooling their daughter, Isabella, who recently turned 6.

Jamie Grace with her husband, Aaron, and their daughter, Isabella.

When asked about her reason to homeschool, Jamie described herself as “obsessed with libraries, books, and curriculum.” She spent most of her life teaching children at church. Her passion for teaching led her to study child development with a focus on child ministry during college.

“I’ve always loved the idea of knowing what a kid needs to know, and figuring out how their brains understand, and how to help them,” Jamie said.

Now that she’s teaching her own daughter, Jamie is fascinated by how different their learning styles are. Jamie would use a workbook and pencil and study in silence for hours, whereas Isabella needs conversation about what she’s learning.

“My kid is not a workbook kid like I was,” she said. “She wants to have dialogue, ask questions, dig in . . . that’s been a learning curve.”

Jamie embarked on her A Little Different TOUR in the beginning of August. She’ll be touring throughout the US for the first time since 2018, playing all her famous songs. She’s excited to continue homeschooling Isabella on the road alongside her husband!

The tour’s name comes from many of her songs about “being different” and finding purpose in that, influenced by her struggles with TS, ADHD, OCD, and GAD. She’s thrilled to get back on the road and share this message with anyone who attends her shows.


“We all have something that makes us different, and there’s something about that we can still use as part of our purpose,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be the end of a chapter simply because a challenge has shown up.”

For more on her story and how she’ll balance homeschooling as a touring artist, listen to this conversation between Jamie and HSLDA Educational Specialist and Black Outreach Coordinator LaNissir James.