Milestones

Throughout my journey as a small-business owner, I’ve been fully dedicated to three things. First, following through on what I say I’m going to do. Second, doing the best in my ability to support local businesses. Third, creating a Jefferson City that I want to live in. These three goals are my common denominator, the things at the root of every new venture. 

Obviously, I hope all of these things are evident in CITY Magazine. We do our best to level up. We continue to improve, inspire, inform, and build up others in ways we never have before, all while maintaining the integrity and foundation that was established before us. We do our best to tell stories, ensure others are shown in the best light, and make sure we pay enough attention to the partners our company depends on to succeed. 

We want to work hard and keep moving forward, but we also want to pause to recognize where we’re at. For some, myself included, it can be easy to focus so much on where we’re going and what’s next that we forget to be present and celebrate victories along the way — small or big. In fact, while writing this, I realized that this April marks my five-year anniversary of being self-employed. I often don’t realize when I hit worthy milestones. Do you know what I mean? 

Work Hard. Play Hard. 

It’s the theme of this issue, and I must say, it fits perfectly. Not only are we excited to show you some brand new winners, reigning champs, and new categories in CITY’s Best, but for the first time in CITY Magazine history, we also have 24 pages back-to-back of black-and-white photography magic. It’s a stunning way to capture those who have been on journeys of their own to create a better Jefferson City. 

This issue, we’re celebrating. Celebrating the winners. Celebrating the community. Celebrating what we bring to the table as a place to live and visit. We’re pausing in time to document our story.* It’s an issue about hard work paying off. And it’s about doing your personal best. 

I hope that when we look back at this issue in years to come, we can giggle at things like our design choices, 2021 trends, how young someone looks. (All these things will one day be dated!) But more importantly, I hope that we look back and are reminded that we were doing our best — and that, in and of itself, is timeless.

Proudly,

*This issue will be submitted to the Missouri Bicentennial Capsule. Learn more on page 23.