“Survival depends more on adaptability to change than strength and intelligence than strength and intelligence.”
Print media was dead. Local newspapers were going online! “It’s a tactile thing. I enjoy sitting back and luxuriating with a couple of newspapers and a cup of coffee in the morning.” Ironically this is a quote taken from a recent ABC interview with Chris Jones, editor of the Courier Mail, which is today still in print. However, this luxuriating was to no longer be an option for regional folks.
They were to be ignored, overlooked and relegated as second class citizens. How dare they came the collective cry from a host of country cousins as indignation rose up from within the ranks and reverberated across the nation, followed by a host of questions.
News is news, but who would tell our stories, the stories about the people and places that make up who we are on the Fraser Coast?
Stories about the unique, the passionate, the diverse, the quick and the quirky. There is no doubt that storytelling has been important for centuries in keeping cultures alive. And that’s what the fabulous five recognised, do so very well, and wanted to continue. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention.
So when you and your amazing and talented colleagues, who’ve been hitting impossible deadlines, across multiple publications, and smashing KPIs forever are now free from the shackles of the multi-national – you strike!
Founder of Alive Magazine Joy Butler was quick to gather her troops. Within days she had it sorted. However, there were prudent questions as to the economic viability of a free magazine in the current climate. Those questions became redundant and were swiftly converted to a magazine launch date. An overwhelming tide of community support has seen the pages filled from cover to cover with contributors and advertisers ready to ride the waves with them.
Adapting to their new and independent normal the team continues to labour tirelessly in crafting a magazine of which they, and the people of the Fraser Coast, can be immensely proud.
As women, dealing with competing issues and undertaking multiple tasks, to them, it’s second nature. And to highlight how they do it, more words from the father of evolution.
“A (wo)man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”
As a self-confessed workaholic, Joy Butler doesn’t, and will not waste a precious moment in time, and that is why we are Alive!
GET ON BOARD THE BOAT AND TAKE A RIDE WITH OUR CREW
Joy Butler, comes from a creative and artistic family and has been drawing since she could hold a pencil. During the 2nd year of graphic design degree she was hired as a web designer.
After moving to Australia, marrying and having children, photography became her passion.
Working at the newspaper, as well as running photography and photobooth businesses, Joy is a superwoman.
Lizzie Macaulay worked in varied roles including, hospitality and personal training, but after stint in HR for the Scottish Football Association she met her husband Andy (and no he’s not a footballer, he’s a dentist) she returned to Australia.
After completing tertiary education and working as a features writer for the Chronicle she knew she’d found her calling.
This is where Lizzie and Joy brainstormed and kickedoff, what was, the successful Fraser Coast Life & Style magazine. Today she is an incredible content developer with her own business Write It!
Leanne Esposito is a paralegal of some forty years and restauranteur.
Words and written documents have been a huge part of her work-life but she always hankered to write that novel. After completing a master’s degree in creative writing she joined the Chronicle team as a features writer.
She has a passion for crafting personal stories to mini novellas.
Kerrie Alexander was and will always be the darling of our local newspapers. A year out of school she started as an editorial secretary with the Hervey Bay Observer where she quickly progressed as a cadet journalist for the Chronicle.
Highlights of her career include the award-winning, Let’s Learn Butchulla series, editor of the Observer and Hervey Bay Independent. She juggles her passion for writing community stories with caring for her son and running a locksmith business with her husband Shaun.
Louise Holmes acknowledges that her family has always come first, with four grown daughters and hubby to care for, and still she works non-stop. Her tenure with newspapers started with APN, the Taupo Weekender and the Taupo Times.
From area sales to features and sales manager she’s sold and done a ton! Running a small business while marketing the New Zealand Ladies Amateur Golf National Tournament was a breeze.