When I graduated from college in 1985, I never imagined I would spend more than 40 years in publishing. Every summer during college, I worked for a landscaping company. I loved the outdoors and the hard labor that came with the job. At the time, my dream career was completely different. One of my best friends worked for a large advertising firm in Chicago, and I pictured myself as a creative director at his company, producing commercials for Bud Light, McDonald’s and other big-name clients.
That dream didn’t materialize—no one would hire me after graduation because I had zero experience in the advertising world. Instead, I found my way to a small publishing company in Chicago, selling advertising for a landscaping magazine. The owner hired me because of my landscaping background, thinking I’d be a natural fit. And he was right!
That job taught me the details of the advertising business—lessons I took with me to my next advertising sales role. Now, here I am, more than 40 years later, still publishing magazines.
In 2000, I took a leap and launched my first publication as an owner. Five magazines later—after selling two of them—I’m still going strong. I started retrofit in 2010 and, during COVID, I launched retrofit home because so many people were renovating their homes rather than moving (remember those interest rates?!).
Today, the renovation market remains strong, as seen in this issue of retrofit home in which we feature three winners from our Metamorphosis Awards program. (The commercial-building winners were featured in our November-December 2025 issue of retrofit.) I hope you enjoy reading about these amazing residential projects—as much as I have enjoyed being part of the process of bringing them to you these past 40 years! (Take a look at how to enter your own stunning projects to the Metamorphosis Awards program.)
Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a healthy and successful 2026!
