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Thank You!

Five Years. Is that a lot of time, or hardly any time at all? I’ve been thinking about this as we work on our fifth anniversary issue. In five years, my two kids have grown at least a foot taller. In another five, they’ll be out the door on their own journeys through adulthood. We got our first family dog. I finally found yoga. Within my extended family and among my friends there have been new babies, marriages and divorce, lost jobs and career changes. Cancer has unfairly struck the way-too-young, and we lost a dear relative. If I could turn back the clock, I would.

For a local magazine like Seattle Woman, five years is a significant milestone, especially in this economy. Yet a long track record in publishing doesn’t guarantee future success, as the Seattle PI, Colors NW and Conscious Choice have all shown us this past year or so when they moved entirely online. To stay in business — and in print — we’ll have to keep getting better and work even harder.

At least we’ve made it to Issue #58! (Along the way, we went from 12 issues a year to 10, so the number isn’t a multiple of 5 as you would expect). Fifty or so profiles of inspiring local leaders. About the same number of stories specifically on women’s health. Four dozen or so business stories. Maybe it’s not all that much, yet when I look at what we’ve published — which you can find on our Web site — I do feel that we’ve provided something useful to women in our area.

One of the reasons we’ve made it this far is our virtual office. We’ve avoided overhead by not leasing office space, and our small, part-time staff works comfortably, perhaps even in pajamas, from their homes. Being efficient, though, means that around deadlines we work late nights and on weekends, and I am indebted to our deeply committed staff who never complain (at least not to me) about the odd hours. They, along with our talented freelance writers and photographer Ingrid Pape-Sheldon, are our greatest assets.

Then there are the partnerships with advertisers, many of whom have been with us since year one. Take a close look at the ads in this issue. I know you’ll recognize most of them as longtime supporters of Seattle Woman. The business owners and decision makers behind these ads, most of whom are women, get the point of the magazine and fortunately have wanted to be a part of it. They understand who reads the magazine and why. I am grateful to them for making this magazine possible.

And then there are all of you, our readers. Thank you for subscribing to or picking up the magazine each month. You are what Seattle Woman is all about.

Marianne Scholl
Publisher and Editor

©October 2009, Caliope Publishing Company