After growing up in Fernie, it was the last place I expected to be living and working let alone as an entrepreneur! After graduating High School, I took off for the west coast to attend the University of Victoria, where I fell in love with English Literature.
After graduating, I was a bit lost. I considered pursuing a masters in Lit, but business kept creeping into my mind. In the end, it was an MBA program out of Missoula, Montana that caught my eye. Its close proximity and similarity to Fernie began the slow process of coming home. After graduation, I moved to Calgary to pursue a "career" but soon realized that I needed to be closer to the mountains and the community that had raised me. Soon after Claris Media was born.
The Fernie Fix has become my life. I'm always thinking about possible stories to tell and about interesting people that make up our distinct mountain community. The process begins even before the latest issue hits the stands. I start thinking about next month, interviewing people, researching, and writing. I also begin the sales process, rounding up old and new advertisers. Our content is usually around 60% editorial, 40% ads, a ratio that is very important to us. I send Vanessa the list of advertisers, begin to contact our monthly writers to remind them of the deadline, and finish off the stories I personally write. Once the editorial is set up, I go through an editing process and send the complete file (now up to 22,000 words) to Vanessa who has completed the ads and is working on the layout.
