Things have always seemed to fall into place for Gib Ellis.
He and his wife, Olivia, moved to Greenwood in 2016. They have twin children, Austin and Mary Pope, who recently turned 2 years old.
“It was just something that fell on our lap,” said Ellis on moving to Greenwood.
Ellis was born and raised in Cleveland and graduated from Bayou Academy in 2008.
After attending Mississippi Delta Community College, he graduated from Mississippi State University, the school he always wanted to attend while growing up.
He said that while his parents are alumni of Delta State University, he always had a connection to Mississippi State and loved visiting Starkville to see his aunt and uncle.
He began dating Olivia in 2010 after knowing her for several years.
After getting married, he said the two moved to Sumner and commuted to their jobs. Olivia was a teacher at Lee Academy in Clarksdale while he worked at Nutrien Ag Solutions in Charleston, where he still works today.
An opportunity for Olivia to teach at Pillow Academy opened up the possibility of moving to Greenwood.
“Her first cousin lived in Greenwood but was getting ready to move to Nashville,” Ellis said. “He was like, ‘Look, I’m getting ready to move. If you want to buy my house, I’ll sell it to you what I paid for it.’ The stars kind of aligned perfectly for us. She was able to get an opportunity working in Greenwood. A house literally fell in our lap. My commute was going to be about the same either way.”
He said he has an office in Charleston but only spends about 25% of his working time there.
“Basically, my office is my truck,” he said.
He said his service area includes Philipp, Webb, Sumner and Charleston where he works with farmers in the field of agricultural retail.
“I service local farmers with all their input needs like chemical fertilizer,” he said.
After two years of being a father, he said the feeling is “incredible. It’s the best feeling ever.”
Ellis said he and his family enjoy Greenwood, and while the future can’t be predicted, his family has established roots here, and they plan to let them grow.
He and his family attend Episcopal Church of the Nativity.