25 YEARS of Our Brown County
Some years in a person’ s life are pivotal. You are heading down a clear, safe path with signs guiding you along the way— then BAM!— You go over the guardrails and deep into the dangerous woods without any directions or limits. 1995 was that kind of year for me. I had a corporate job with a lot of responsibility, a good salary, and lots of benefits. I had 15 years of computer support and analysis experience that was very much in demand at the time.
My mother had inherited some money and she shared a piece of that with me, to be used in whatever way I desired. I wrestled with what I should do. I could travel, fix up the house a bit, or save it for emergencies. Or I could take a big risk and fund a dream. In January, my friend Bill Weaver and I sat at my kitchen table to brainstorm about creating a new publication about this area. Bill had some experience with writing and collaborating with other artists. I asked him who he thought might be interested in
contributing. He said he was, and our mutual friend Rachel Perry, might be. Another friend, Joe Lee, could create some illustrations. We considered some photographers for cover images. Darryl Jones came to mind because I had taken a photography class from him in Columbus.
After tossing around a long list of ideas for a name we agreed on Our Brown County. We had a name and needed a format. The vision was modeled from several Bloomington publications that existed at the time: The Ryder, The Bloomington Voice( Independent), and Bloomington Monthly. The CBS television program Sunday Morning also offered some inspiration.
We wanted it to be easy to read, to highlight the history of the Brown County Art Colony, and to profile some of the“ come here” and“ from here” characters we loved.
My employer, a newspaper group, provided some tabloid commercial printing estimates to consider.
I knew 70 % of the newspaper’ s revenue came from advertising because I worked with the company’ s accounting software. It would be 100 % for a free publication. But advertising wasn’ t the first priority in this endeavor.
I took the approach,“ If you build it, they will come.”
The first issue of Our Brown County came out April of 1995. It contained two ads, one for Ski World and one for the Pine Box Theater. My garage was filled with 5,000 copies. Amazingly, the copies found homes from that point on, and the magazine paid for itself in the first year.
My determination served me well over the years, but my shy nature proved to be a stumbling block. It was tough. I slowly built up trust with customers and established a good reputation. There were times of big disappointment when businesses closed, burned down, moved away, and / or dropped out. I learned that selling is like a Ferris Wheel where you must stop to let some customers off, and you must also work very hard to fill those empty seats.
This quarter of a century milestone was made possible by the readers, advertisers, writers, artists, photographers, profiled people / businesses, delivery contractors, Bill Weaver’ s imagination, and my mother’ s generosity. THANK YOU!
~ Cindy Steele Jan./ Feb. 2020 • Our Brown County 25