Building community — one story at a time.
Tara Rasmuson of Greeley Lifestyle on the lunch that brought Misty Dockins to Windsor, the event that brought Carly Taylor Drake to Fort Collins, and the four-publisher team they built in Northern Colorado.
A City Lifestyle publisher referral starts with a publisher noticing someone. Not a job board or a broker: a publisher in one market tells a person they already know, usually over lunch or at an event, that the open market next door would suit them. That person learns how the model works, talks with the City Lifestyle team, and if the market is open and it fits, signs and goes to training. In Northern Colorado it has happened twice in a row. Tara Rasmuson, publisher of Greeley Lifestyle, referred Misty Dockins into Windsor and then Carly Taylor Drake into Fort Collins, and the four publishers there now work as one team. Here is how it went, in their words.
Tara came to Greeley from the oil and gas industry, where she worked for a large developer in a neighboring community. Her husband had lived in Greeley for two decades, and when they moved there she wanted to make a name of her own. A LinkedIn posting for the Greeley market caught her eye, and the last line settled it. "At the very end of the job posting, it said, 'No experience necessary.' And I thought, you know, I'm actually perfect. I don't have any experience running a magazine."
Six years on, her read on the job is simple. "It was the perfect opportunity to tell the entire world what a great place the Greeley community is." The negative chatter she heard about the town before she moved has turned into positive chatter, she said, because someone is finally telling its stories.
Tara is open about why she refers people. "I want other people, other women specifically, to have opportunities to really step into the people that they were always meant to be." It has become a habit. "Literally every time I have a conversation with someone, men or women, and they talk about being unhappy in their job, or they don't know what their next steps look like, I just stop and I'm like, 'Have you ever thought about owning a magazine?' I kind of make it a joke, but also not, because this opportunity changes lives."
Misty Dockins was working for the Greeley Chamber of Commerce when the two went to lunch. Misty liked her job and said so, with a couple of caveats. Tara's reply: "We need a magazine publisher right next door to me in Windsor, and you'd be amazing at that."
Misty's first answer was no. "I told her she was crazy. I was like, 'I don't know anything about publications. I don't even understand what you do. I just like reading it.' And she stopped me again and she said, 'But you do understand community, and you do understand people, and you understand networking, and this is perfect for you.'"
"Five days later, I was in a signed agreement. And 44 days later, I launched a publication in Windsor, Colorado."
Tara did not stop at the introduction. "Right off the bat I was able to put many of my business partners into her magazine to just jumpstart her and get her going, and all of my businesses wanted to be in front of her community, in front of her readers also." Misty calls Tara her publisher bestie. The two share partners and do a lot together.
Last February, Tara went to a nonprofit event and sat at the table of one of her largest clients. Their marketing director, Carly Taylor Drake, had become a close friend over the years, and that night she mentioned her next chapter and the things she could not do in her current role. Tara did what she does. "You'd be a really great publisher. And as a matter of fact, we are looking for a magazine publisher in Fort Collins, Colorado."
Carly: "After learning more about the opportunities and the growth goals and what it could mean to own my own business, they said, 'If you want this, it's yours.' And I said, 'When do I start?'" That was early March. She was in training in April and has been going ever since. Tara's verdict: "She's amazing as a publisher, and she's gonna do incredible things in Fort Collins."
Northern Colorado now has four City Lifestyle publishers who work as a group: Tara in Greeley, Misty in Windsor, Desiree in Loveland and Carly in Fort Collins. Carly, the newest of the four: "They have taken me under their wing, really showed me the ropes, and it's truly a family and a team. We all support each other."
They collaborate on partners when it makes sense, travel together, and talk constantly about each other's magazines. Tara's point is that this is not a side benefit. "The more that you can surround yourself with the publishers around you, the better your publication will be. It's actually made me a better publisher." It is also why she keeps asking people the question. "Otherwise this can be a really lonely job. If you build a network of publishers by referring and inviting people to be a part of this lifestyle, it really turns into an even more rewarding thing when you have people to share this journey."
If a City Lifestyle publisher sent you this, they already think you would be good at it, the way Tara thought it about Misty and Carly. Start at the publisher referral page, where you can read the Ownership Guide, hear from more owners and book a 15-minute call to find out whether your market is open. If you found this on your own, start at future.citylifestyle.com.
For what the job looks like day to day, read What Does a City Lifestyle Publisher Actually Do? For the path from signing to first issue, read How Long Does It Take to Launch a Community Magazine?
