Twelve years ago, I decided to take a leap of faith (or lack of sense) and start my own business. I was thirty-seven years old and had been Managing Publisher of a community magazine here in Williamson County for nearly six years but  I NEVER…let me stress NEVER, in a million years, imagined myself a business owner. But with strength of purpose and a conviction that I had the ability, along with my existing team, who (longer story short) collectively jumped ship with me, would be able to start our better version of a great community publication. I thankfully had plenty of encouragement along the way from this community to do so. I had been working, living in, volunteering in and yes, socializing in, this community for over twenty years. People knew me. People knew my work, and  trusted my ability to put together a great product. And so… YOUR Williamson was born. 

 

The dynamic duo of sisters Shelly Robertson and Anna Robertson Ham, continued to do our thing over the next few years, adding Mr. Johnny Birdsong into the mix pretty quickly to take over sales and development. Johnny can sell ice cubes to snow men, or however the saying goes… so it was a good move for the magazine. You would have to ask him how he feels, twelve years later, still working in an office full of only women and navigating terms like, pre-production, page count and AP style when all he cares about is ad traffic, ROI and multi-platform bundling. We are all tasked with learning a lot here. Everyone wears numerous hats, no matter how many singular task-oriented people we hire, we all end up in the mix of it all every day. I still edit every single word of the magazine monthly! Everyone on my team cares profoundly, not just that we put out an exceptional product, but that it means something. That what we do here, means something. 

 

In twelve years, we have donated over $2 million in advertising, promotion and marketing services to the local nonprofits, and events we sponsor. That is something worth celebrating! And it’s the purpose that motivated me from the beginning. Being a media mogul (insert laugh here), has its advantages. I do get to go to my fair share of parties, meet exceptionally interesting people and know about things before they happen on pretty much a weekly basis. But after 120 issues, my true passion still lies in our ability to capture the stories that truly matter and recognize the people who are making them happen; way more important things than what we do. But being able to share those things with the community  which I TRULY eat, live and breathe every day – and call it a job – feels more like a calling, a purpose, however small, to give back in whatever way possible. 

 

That’s what it’s all about here at RMG and YOUR Williamson. It’s Real. It’s Local. It’s who WE are. This one is for the girls – and by girls, I mean the talented and steadfast ladies I have the honor to surround myself with daily: My team - Anna, Christian, Emma, Katie and Madison and the many before you that I still call family – Congratulations! Saying I am proud of your work is an understatement. Thank you for the twelve years and here’s to many more!