South magazine 50: Power Issue | Page 18

PUBLISHER’S LETTER TIME TO RE-BRAND. “You re-branded yourself,” he said. “I barely recognized you.” He was a guy that I see in the gym quite of ten. We rarely speak. I guess my new “brand” was reason enough to strike up a conversation. The fact that my new look—a shaved head in honor St. Baldrick’s Day—was never intended to be a personal branding statement didn’t matter. I was really warming up to my leaner, meaner image. Hair is highly overrated. The happy truth is that aside from my shorn locks (skillfully done by Rob Horton of Rob’s Salon), the entire South crew, dubbed South Baldzine, re-branded the same way and raised over $10,000 f or the f ight against pediatric cancer. Even my wif e f orsook her lovely Publisher, Michael Brooks and wife Frankie "re-branded" by Rob Horton tresses to join us chrome-domes (se e page 28). A strange-but-happy day. It was such a simple and seemingly insignificant gesture. But it meant a lot to St. Baldrick’s goals and its staff, lead by Dr. Yael Elfassy, who, you may recall, graced our January cover with an immaculately buffed scalp. We owed her one. And, of course, the kids always deserve our support. But as I was standing there in the gym, I was thinking of me. I was reminded of how simple changes can make large and far-reaching waves. It was already working for me. People took notice. They looked closely, as if they were seeing a new side of me. It was time to do the same for South. Just like an old hairstyle, our design, look and feel had grown on me. It was comfortable and familiar. We knew how it to keep it neatly groomed. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, for many businesses, it’s a very good thing. But not for us. Much of our mission involves reinvention and reinterpretation. Worse, others in our region were starting to look and feel a lot like us. It was time to do some of that re-stuff. Quick. So, as promised in our last issue, we have been hard at work tearing down the last eight years of design and rebuilding a fresh new magazine in its place just in time for our 50th issue. And this time we have a secret ingredient. Nope, we’re not telling. The Colonel keeps his formula a secret, and we love and revere the Colonel and his tasty chicken. What we can tell you is that we think you won’t be able to put this issue down; whether or not you can work out why is not important. You’ll never know how much heart, soul and downright hard work went into the pages of this issue, but we know you’ll feel it. Just relax, kick back and enjoy the changes, the fresh perspective, and the wonderful unfamiliarity of it all; sort of like I’m doing with my head. Many thanks, God Bless & Keep Reading. –Michael Brooks, Publisher 18 S O U T H M A G A Z I N E .C O M [1] JUN-JULY FOB.indd 18 ABOUT THE COVERS Beauty and the Bees: Our 50th cover was art directed by Michael Brooks and photographed by Jabberpics. Model, Savannah Christine was wearing a top from Villa and a bee necklace by Shelly Smith. Location was at the Savannah Bee Company headquarters. The bees are the makers of wildfl wer honey, aka Southern gold. Commemorative Edition: This special edition cover had a limited run of only one thousand copies. Designed by Tom White, this cover is one you will want to get your hands on! The symbol of the bee and honey sticks appear throughout the design, signifying our goldenanniversary issue. P h o t o g r a p h b y JA B B E R P I C S 5/11/14 9:13 PM