Thrive Beyond 55 – June/July

Celebrating 20 Years

This month marks the beginning of our 20th year of publication. What a journey it has been.

I still remember the day the first magazines arrived in my driveway – the excitement and the anxiety. So excited to be launching a new business and seeing my vision displayed in printed pages before me. Anxiety about how it would be received, and how we would find a place for 10,000 magazines!

Here we are, having survived so many ups and downs, including a global pandemic and business shutdown, not to mention countless twists and turns in the economy and marketplace.

Being a business owner, you never forget that you are always dependent upon your customers. We are very grateful to the many advertisers who found benefit in reaching out to our readers through this magazine.

We are so appreciative of our readership, which remains strong and loyal. A week rarely goes by that someone doesn’t write or email me to say how much they love the magazine.

I also want to thank the writers whose words you read each month, and the numerous suppliers who have worked with me to get the product to market.

I have had amazing staff along the way, helping me achieve this vision. While everyone is noteworthy, I want to give a special thank you to the two people who assist me today.

Bobbie Jo Reid has been a part of the magazine since its inception. She took over the editor duties very early on and so she, too, is celebrating this milestone of 20 years with me. Thank you, Bobbie Jo, for enduring with me through all these years, for maintaining my vision and so skillfully managing our writers and laying out the pages. Your attention to detail, thoroughness, and consistency has made this endeavour much easier for me.

Kathie Wagner has been with the magazine for just over 10 years. She has a love for magazines and bonded with my vision for INSPIRED from the very start. She wears many hats, from selling advertising to event planning and more. She is a strong advocate of the 55+ demographic and is always ready to engage with business owners about the benefits of marketing to this massively influential consumer group. Thank you, Kathie, for your dedication and many, many contributions.

There have been numerous other people whose efforts helped to make INSPIRED Magazine what it is today. To each and every person, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Over the coming year, I will take more time to reflect on some of the key reasons why INSPIRED Magazine exists and has such a strong and supportive reception in the community.

I am also going to take you on a little walk down memory lane by featuring some of the past covers in this space. We have had the privilege to profile many amazing people, including some celebrities. Perhaps you will recall some of them? If you happened to miss that particular issue, all our content is posted on our website, so I invite you to visit www.seniorlivingmag.com to have a read and check out what else is there.

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