family tools
choose a tool resource directory
find a practitioner parenting toolbox product safety media reviews family fun guide send an e-card family astrology

community features choose a feature birth stories find a Mothering friend live chat mothers' writing group teen voices

	a quiet place by peggy o'mara

30 Years of Mothering
Issue 136
by Peggy O'Mara

Addie Vorys Eavenson (now Cranson) had her first baby, Birdie, in 1974, and was inspired by her experience to start Mothering. She recognized that there were few resources for new, natural mothers, and few places in society that celebrated the art of mothering. The first issue of Mothering was put together in the summer of 1976 by members of the Montrose Natural Childbirth Class and other volunteers at the old Fort Smith Saloon, in the tiny town of Ridgway, Colorado.

My first child, Lally, was born in 1974 in southern New Mexico, and a few years later, in a natural foods store in Albuquerque, I was lucky enough to find the second issue of Mothering. I was astounded that there was a magazine that so well articulated my own point of view.

As soon as I got back home, I sent to Mothering an article Ia^?(TM)d written, a^?oeIn Defense of Motherhood.a^?? Both New Age (now Body and Soul) and Redbook had rejected it, but Addie accepted it immediately, as well as my poem, a^?oeThere Will Be Timea^?? (reprinted in the 2005 Mothering calendar).

In early 1978, Addie called and asked me to be an editor for Mothering. I was ecstatic. Fortunately, our family was already planning to move from La Luz to Albuquerque, where Addie had recently relocated the magazine.

I worked on several issues with Addie and Kate Cook in Corrales, just north of Albuquerque, but soon quit because I had my hands full with three kids under five.

In the summer of 1979, at my son, Brama^?(TM)s, first birthday party, Addie told me that she wanted to sell the magazine. Of course, I told her that I wanted to buy it, though I had no idea how I would do so. I asked my dad and my cousin to loan me the $5,000 down payment, and both declined.

I went to the Small Business Administration, but they dona^?(TM)t make loans to publications. At my local bank, as my children played in the ashtrays, I asked for a loan to buy a business that was losing money. I didna^?(TM)t get it.

I liked being with my children, and had the dream of a home business, but I had to give up the idea of buying Mothering. I let it go, satisfied to be a^?oejust a mom,a^?? and Addie sold the magazine to Canadians Rolf and Wendy Priesnitz. Issue no. 14 announces them as the new owners.

As it turned out, Rolf and Wendy didna^?(TM)t have the down payment either. Addie once again offered to sell the magazine to me, this time for no down payment at all, as long as we agreed to sign a very binding contract that her father had written. At that time, Mothering had a circulation of 3,000, a nonexistent billing system, and lots of potential. My husband, John McMahon, and I decided to take the risk.

Our first issue was no. 15. The cover photo of the dad was tender but did not reproduce well, and the purple I had chosen for the cover type did not read well. I had no idea these kinds of mistakes could happena^??hpublishing Mothering was a real learn-as-you-go experience. I felt that my strength was as a reader, which gave me a unique perspective on what other readers looked for in Mothering. And, I shared common experiences with the readers. But neither John nor I had any real business education.

By 1984, we had worked out some of the businessa^?(TM)s organizational bugs, and the revenue had doubled for two years in a row. We thought we were rich. We moved the magazine to Santa Fe because of the holistic-medicine practitioners and alternative schools available there, and because we fell in love with La Barbaria Canyon. We made an office in a house on Galisteo Street and registered with the city as a home business. Ashisha lived in the back of the house.

In the mid- to late 1980s, we were inspired by The Briarpatch Network, a group of socially responsible businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area, and were helped many times in those early years with loans from socially conscious funds in Berkeley. We had a typesetting machine in-house and were creating and perfecting editorial processes we still use today. The number-one subject in the magazine was home schooling; except for regular meetings in the office, most of the staff still worked at home.

In 1989, John and I divorced. This was a turning point for the magazine. Our loss created a void in the business as well as an opportunity for our home business to become more sophisticated. Not surprisingly, the early to mid-1990s was a time of financial instability for Mothering, and I had to lay off good friends. With three separate streams of revenuea^??hsubscriptions, newsstand, and advertisinga^??hmagazines are among the most risky businesses, and there are many pitfalls. I fell into every one of them and learned how to overcome them.

In 1996, after several close calls, we nearly went bankrupt. Because of a late holiday mailing, we could not pay the printer in time for the January issue, which ended up being distributed several weeks late. Ironically, by the spring of that year, we were receiving increased recognition and were invited to testify on vaccinations and risk communication before the Institute of Medicine in Washington, DC. By that summer, however, we were down to a skeleton crew. One Friday, I spoke to Ashisha about the possibility of having to lay her off. But the following Monday we decided that, as long as the phones were still ringing, we would just carry on.

We limped through that year on the good will of our creditors and survived by making a payment plan with them that took several years to fulfill but that resulted in everyone being paid in full. The cash flow of a magazine can be uneven, and over the years we have often had to impose on the generosity of our vendors and contributorsa^??hbut we have always eventually paid everyone.

1997 saw a lot of change for Mothering. We began to slowly recover from our near disaster. We went from black and white to color in the design and photos, and in 1998 went from quarterly to bimonthly publication. That was also the year that we first attended the Natural Products Expo. We began to take pride in ourselves as a business and to see ourselves as part of a larger industry.

During 2001, like many businesses, we suffered from the economic downturns related to the events of September 11. People didna^?(TM)t put anything in the mail for weeks afterward, and we lost money for several months. But so did everyone else. Our vendors, especially Quad Graphics, worked with us and other publishers during this time to help us all get back on our feet, and we learned new efficiency measures that still serve us today.

In the last few years wea^?(TM)ve again been in the process of redefining ourselves. In many ways wea^?(TM)ve grown up as a business. Our website is one of the top family sites online, and our discussion board, with 50,000 members, is a top board. Last year we redesigned the magazinea^?(TM)s cover style and imagery to more accurately reflect the image of the modern natural mom, and at the same time received an award from the Western Publications Association (WPA) for our hard-hitting coverage of vaccines and autism.

We have won many awards over the years for public-service journalism, from Utne Reader, WPA, Folio, and other trade publications. We have also been recognized in our community as Employer of the Year by the Capitol City Business and Professional Women, and by the city of Santa Fe as one of five finalists for the 2005 Santa Fe Small Business of the Year award.

In addition, we are an environmentally friendly business. We recycle the paper we use in the office, use recycled stationery and other paper products, and print the magazine on 80 percent de-inked, recycled fiber that is processed a^??Nwithout chlorine.

We have a family-friendly environment. Staff members receive two monthsa^?(TM) paid maternity leave. We offer flexible work schedules, at-home work, and welcome babies in the office with their working moms. We also maintain a lending library of books for pregnant moms and new parents that is available to our local community.

More than anything, Mothering is the story of an exceptional bunch of caring people. John McMahon and I bought the magazine together in 1980 and divorced in 1989, and 11 years later, in 2000, John returned to become our Circulation Director. Our two daughters, Lally and Nora, work with us at the magazine. My dear friend Ashisha and I have worked side by side for 22 years (see a^?oeLiving Treasure,a^?? page 96).

I am indebted to the work of the Colorado staff who birthed the magazine: Arlyn Macdonald, Lil Comstock, Queta Van Wyngarden, Theanna Sparr, and Nancy Lawson. Ia^?(TM)m grateful to our first staff in Albuquerque: Laura Grunfeld, Linda Seelau, Kim Fischer, Kathy Parte-Willbergh, andDonna and Peter MacFarlane. Ellen Kleiner was our original copy editor in Santa Fe, and she and the other editors from those years are pioneers in their own rights: Mary Steigerwald, Meria Loeks, Joan Logghe, Carly Newfeld, Susanne Miller, and Pacia Sallomi.

Our designersa^??hMina Yamashita, Mary Shapiro, Madeleine Tilin, Chris Myers, Maria Levy, and Laura Egley Taylora^??hhave each taken the magazine to a new level. I appreciate the loyalty of Jeni Panagos, Juan Bernardez, and Michelle Barliant during tough times. I remember Ann Church, Beth Stephens, Vickie Nelson, and Todd McCoy, who heralded a new era for Mothering. And I mourn Ellie Becker and Jennifer Miller, beloved old staffers who died of cancer in recent years.

Our current staff is young, vibrant, dedicated, aware of the issues, and refreshingly conscious in their dealings with others. I love working with them, and I am grateful to all of the people who have helped me to make Mothering a respected resource for new parents.

Since announcing our 30th anniversary, we have received heartfelt letters from families whose lives have been changed by reading the magazine. As Addie said in Mothering no. 2, a^?oeI didna^?(TM)t start Mothering. People wanted to get together to share with and learn from one another, and I gave them a medium for that exchange. But they started Mothering by writing to me. The birth of Mothering is a happy occasion for us all.a^?? This is as true now as it was in the beginning.

As readers of Mothering, we are like an extended family. We share a common dream. This is a magazine made by families for families. I sincerely thank all of our readers. This is your magazine. It is what you have made. We should all be very proud.