We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aryn Henning Nichols. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aryn below.

Aryn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

In journalism, a common phrase is “if it bleeds, it leads.” The notion that the tragedy, the negativity, the trauma must be the leading news story is something we see in mainstream media every day. It gives the public the skewed perspective that people are horrible and everything in the world is totally going to crap.

But I’ve traveled across the world, and everywhere I’ve gone, there were far more good people than bad. Yes, there are terrible things happening. But there are good things happening even more. People are, as a whole, good – this is a fact I want everyone to believe in again. Our mission is to build that new perspective through positive, local news.

Inspire(d) Media writes stories about the people, places, and things that make our communities great. We write relatable news – stories about our neighbors, doing good stuff – so that readers can see, and hopefully say, “Hey, we’re not so different from them. We could do that too!”

The name – Inspire(d) – stands for Inspire and Be Inspired, and represents the constant cycle of inspiration that exists in the world.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was first inspired to start Inspire(d) my senior year of college. It was 2003, I was 22, and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, beyond writing. I was on track to graduate with a degree in English and journalism. But what next? That spring, I read a biography about a man named Dan Eldon (Dan Eldon: The Art of Life, by Jennifer New).

Dan had Iowa ties (his mom is from Cedar Rapids), was interested in telling stories (he was a photojournalist), but he was killed on assignment when he was 22. In his short, bright life, he did some wonderful things for his various communities. He raised money for neighbors in need. He aided friends at the drop of a hat. He helped organize a rag-tag team of fundraisers, took them on a perspective-broadening safari in Africa, and donated the funds they raised – $20,000 – to a refugee camp in Malawi.

He documented his life through art-filled journals, focusing on photography and collage.

Dan’s story lit a fire inside of me. I was inspired. I wanted to tell more of these stories of people helping their communities. Stories that proved you could make a difference as a slightly responsible kid in their 20s or as an elderly grandma in her 80s. Stories that inspired other people to want to make their world a better place as well.

After that spring, I spent one more semester finishing up college at a magazine program in Canada, one year teaching English in China, and finally, I came back to the US in 2005, thinking I had to get a “real job” before I could start the magazine that had been formulating in my head.

I met my now-husband and business partner, Benji, in 2006, and told him my dreams about changing the world through positive news. The first Inspire(d) Magazine rolled off the press October 2007. I like to think we’ve made our world a little better with each issue. Through our content, we work to foster town pride and civic engagement, promote tourism, and advocate for mental health and conservation awareness.

Even though we work hard each quarter to put together a beautiful, high quality print magazine, we give it away for free, as I believe positive news should be accessible for all. We also publish our content online (including an online reader), and have a companion podcast for even more in-depth interviews. This commitment to quality content has garnered us an incredibly loyal readership and advertising base – which is where we make our income. Luckily for us, our readers are happy to support the local businesses that advertise in or sponsor Inspire(d), making our “experiment in positive news” possible.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

When I came back to Iowa in 2005 after my year teaching English in China, I did the typical English major thing: Started working as a server in a restaurant. I had the idea for Inspire(d) percolating in my brain, but thought I needed to actually work in a magazine before I started one. So during this time, I was applying for tons of jobs “totally perfect for me”… and was astonished that no one hired me, ha!

I decided to beef up my resume and began work as a lifestyles editor at the local newspaper in Decorah early 2006. The first feature story that came across my desk was a “local boy does good” piece about a Decorah High School graduate, Benji Nichols, who was associate producer on a Riverwalk Jazz CD produced by Pacific Vista Productions in Petaluma, California. I interviewed Benji on the phone… and we had a great conversation.

He came back to visit his parents in June of 2006, and we met up for a drink. It was a cheesy love-at-first-sight thing, and on our first official date a few days later, I told Benji about my idea for starting a local, positive news magazine. To which he said, “Let’s do it!”

He asked me to marry him after a week, and just over a year later, we made it official at our wedding August 17, 2007. Our first Inspire(d) Magazine rolled off the press October 4, 2007. We’ve been running our business together ever since! There have certainly been difficulties in being married co-founders, but it has been an amazing way to create our family (we have one 11-year-old daughter) and continue building up this community.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I’ve always said, “Content is king.” Neither Benji nor I had degrees in business – we had to quickly learn how to sell ads, invoice, handle all the logistics of being self-employed (Benji handles what he calls the “nuts and bolts” of the business, and I am ever-grateful) – and I didn’t have any formal graphic design training. But I could write, and I did have a journalism degree angled toward writing and editing. I was vigilant from day one that we had to be writing genuine, quality stories. This has led the way in communicating our mission to our readers. Over the years, we got much better at design (turns out I had a knack for it) and more organized in business-running. And our readers got to witness this growth.

Beyond that, we’ve worked incredibly hard to be honest and respectful members of the business community in our region. We understand the difficulties of being a small business owner. We strive to make Inspire(d) the best showcase possible for the businesses advertising with us, and for the communities we represent to tourists and locals alike. This long-standing, consistent commitment to honesty, quality, and integrity has been everything for building our reputation in our market, and within our communities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://iloveinspired.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iloveinspired
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iloveinspired
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aryn-henning-nichols-68051821a/
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/iloveinspired/ https://issuu.com/inspired_media

Image Credits
Vesterheim Mural photos by Silver Moon Photography