Celebrating a New Chapter
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years since we started IMARA Woman Magazine. It’s been an incredible journey, and when we think about all the events, places and new friends we’ve made along the way, the journey has even more meaning. We started the magazine on just a wing and a prayer. Neither of us had degrees in journalism, but our business degrees helped prepare us for the challenges of starting the new venture. Fortunately for us, the talent and skills that we needed were just a phone call away. We recruited six dynamic women to serve on the publication’s advisory board. Each of them with the precise expertise we needed.
Words cannot express our appreciation for the Advisory Board’s willingness to give of their time, talent and encouragement to the concept of a new publication designed to share the “good news” happening in our communities. Thank you, Lynette Allston, IMARA’s Advisory Board Chairperson, and board members Martha Scott Smith, Perdita Spriggs, Elizabeth Nkuo, Marva Smalls and Jacqueline Rhinehart for making sure that the dream of IMARA Woman Magazine became a reality.
We also thank the IMARA team, some of whom have been with us since we started the publication 25 years ago. Our photographer, Rose Fuller, is the absolute best! When IMARA hit the road heading across South Carolina with the publication’s Health Empowerment Tour, Rose was always the first to arrive, capturing every moment in the beautiful photography you see in each edition of the publication. Thank you to our son, Paul Brawley Jr. (PJ),our Marketing Manager, who dedicated much of his adult life to working to make the magazine and IMARA’s television show a success. Even though we sometimes butt heads, he is always right there when we need him. Many of the segments on our TV show were produced by PJ. Words cannot express our appreciation for IMARA’s excellent team of writers. A special thank you to Phyllis Allen, a top state nutritionist, who wrote every healhty recipe featured in IMARA, and she also spearheaded the IMARA Kitchen Segment on the TV show.
Thank you to our amazing TV show co-hosts, Marcia Brevard Wynn, Dona Ayers, Jessica Martinez, Kelly Seabrook and Angela Carr Patterson. These ladies made our work on the IMARA set not seem like work at all. The fun we had doing the TV show gave us the energy and enthusiasm needed to push through the tough times. We are incredibly grateful to them for volunteering their time and talent. And to our sponsors and collaborating partners, we are grateful for your continued resources that allowed us to keep operating during the recession of 2008, the thousand-year flood of 2015, the pandemic of 2020 and the fire that destroyed our building in 2021. Thank you for not giving up and continuing to work together with the publication to reach our shared goals.
Twenty-five years went by quickly and you, our readers and viewers, have been with us every step of the way. We would not have made it without you. Every good thing must come to an end, and we are looking to turn our attention to our next life chapter. This will be last printed edition of IMARA Woman Magazine. As we end this chapter, please know that we’ll still be around and look forward to seeing what’s next. We are grateful to God for blessing us to do this work, and we are thankful we were able to share the beauty of South Carolina and its people with you for 25 years!
Thank you for being there, always,
Blessings,
Wendy & Paul Brawley