Jeff Giaimo is a big kid at heart who loves story-telling, pirates and Disney World. He owns a tanning bed and drinks enough Diet Coke a year to float a boat. If you want to tell him how either of these things are bad for his health, he will agree with you because he loves people and avoids conflict unless its absolutely necessary.
What makes you stand out from the crowd? This can be a talent, life-experience, unique hobby.
If you see spiky/shaggy brown hair poking over a fence, don’t be alarmed, that isn’t big foot: it’s me!
Other than my hair, the only thing that makes me unique is my occupation as a Producer for Andrew Wommack Ministries. A big part of my job is creating documentary films about people who have been supernaturally healed of things like cancer, brain-damage and fibromyalgia. I’ve worked this job for nearly a decade and my stories have brought me all over the world from places like Norway, to Africa and Nepal.
What is one experience that has shaped you to be the person you are today, and what advice would you give your younger self?
I grew up in a Christian drug-rehab ministry in Central Florida called Faith Farm. My parents worked there as Drug Counselors and our home was on the same property as the men and women in the program.
Growing up alongside alcoholics and drug addicts really gave me a heart for people in need. Beneath their rough exteriors, the attendees of Faith Farm had incredible hearts but for one reason or another their vices got a hold of their lives. Seeing them get set-free from their addictions and turn their lives around really showed me again and again that nothing is impossible for God and no life is beyond hope for repair.
If I was to give my younger self advice, it would be to understand this truth sooner and to trust God with my problems rather than trying to fix everything myself (I’m really not good at fixing things).
What is your most memorable childhood experience? (This can be good or bad)
Throughout my childhood my parents brought my siblings and I to Disney World. Compared to my home at Faith Farm which was a trailer in the Florida Everglades, Walt Disney World existed in a different dimension.
Here the air smelled like vanilla ice-cream and there was never any trash in sight. Here I could be a Pirate in the middle of a navy battle, or drive Mr. Toad’s car through Toad Hall. I could see ghosts but not be scared or fly a sea galleon through the Darling Families’ Nursery with the help of some Pixie dust.
It was this weird blend of seeing the aftermath drug-addiction and the imagination of the Magic Kingdom that sums me up today. Faith Farm gave me a heart to help people, Disney gave me the desire to entertain them with excellence.
What is the biggest challenge you have ever faced and how did you overcome it?
Though I have overcome childhood obesity, failing Bible College (that’s a fun story), and having an intruder walk into my bedroom in the middle of the night- none of these challenges compare to that of dating my now wife Jessica.
We met in Bible College and were best friends for nearly three-years. I had a big crush on her the entire time, but I was afraid that I would ruin our friendship if I told her my feelings and she didn’t feel the same.
On my twenty-fifth birthday I found out that Jessica was dating someone and I couldn’t sleep that night.
If I didn’t tell her my feelings now I knew I would lose her for good.
Long-story short, I told her my feelings, we went on one date, and she didn’t feel the same.
My fears had come true.
But this story has a happy ending. Jessica ended up working with me at Andrew Wommack Ministries in the television. We’d spend hours drinking coffee after a shoot, and every few weeks I would tell her bluntly that I still had feelings for her. She would then change the subject, or refuse to open up about her feelings.
It was rough. My heart was in a constant state of being broken. I wanted to move on, but I couldn’t shake my feelings for her. Even worse, she was always asking me to help her on film shoots or calling me into her office to ask questions about editing.
After seven months of this, I couldn’t stand it any long.
“I love you Jessica,” I told her one Friday evening in her office, ” and I can’t be your friend anymore.”
Those words hit her like tidal wave. Though she had heard the L-word, from many boys in her life. I was the only one that she knew meant it. I walked out of her office knowing that I had just destroyed a friendship as she sat there speechless.
Two days later she called me up for coffee, instead, I took her out for dinner. We joke that it was harder to start dating each other than it was to get married.
What is one book that you recommend our audience should read and why?
How to Win Friends and Influence People is easily one of the best books I’ve ever read. As society grows more isolated and self-centered, knowing how to navigate different personalities will make your life much easier.
I have traveled all over the world, and with the help from the teachings of this book, I have made life-long friendships that have surpassed cultural and even language barriers.
What is your favorite quote?
“A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men.” Thomas Carlyle.
What local businesses and local nonprofits would you recommend our readers support?
Charis Bible College, Light Bulb Theatre Company, and Jives Coffee Shop
Where are your favorite 5 spots in Colorado and what destination is next on your wishlist?
Charis Bible College in Woodland Park Colorado,
Diane’s Pumpkin Patch in Canyon City (go there in the fall)
The Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs,
The King Soopers off Constitution Ave, 80951. Its a far drive, but its the best grocery store you’ll ever see.
Estes Park
My next destination- Europe once the Covid Lockdowns lift. Jessica and I had stories to film in France, Poland and England, but then 2020 threw a monkey-wrench in all of that.
YOU MAY FOLLOW JEFFEREY STORIES FOR ANDREW WOMMACK MINISTRIES ON: https://www.awmi.net/video/series/healing-journeys/