We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ciara Horton-Stevenson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ciara below.

Hi Ciara , thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I started from a vision that God gave me while doing laundry! I literally seen the words of my magazine and I decided to start researching how to create magazines. Honestly, I didn’t know where to start but I begin to ask the ladies in my life is they wanted to share their stories. What better stories to share than that of the everyday woman? Of course they shared their stories. The next thing I knew, I had a years worth of covers. When starting I decided to create an online magazine using Google Publisher. I used an app to create the covers and added pages inside of the magazine using Word. I had a launch party and offered free magazines to build my subscription base. It was a risk but it was well worth it.

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’m a bookworm and love magazines. I grew up with a dad for a writer and my mother a bookworm. I feel like they instilled the need to read a book in my life. I love to read so it’s fitting that I am now the creator of 2 magazines! Currently, I create a platform that allows men and women to showcase their businesses by providing a voice to the everyday man and woman. You don’t have to be a celebrity to have a story. You just need a platform or outlet. What sets me apart from others is that anybody can share their stories with my platform. The main thing I want potential clients to know is that they will always have an outlet as long as they are willing to share their story. There is no judgement and we all want to know how we can help them get to the next level.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that your family isn’t your clientele. I know it sounds bad but it’s true. You may create products that your family has absolutely no use for or would rather buy from others. That’s ok because your people are your people and you have to know that the word family doesn’t mean the word customer! Tough lesson but everyone needs to know this.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

I remember pitching my magazine to a celebrity reality star. I just knew that she would love to be featured and I’ve always looked up to her because of her profession before reality tv. Her team shot me down! I almost gave up because I wanted to start featuring celebrities more. About 6 months later, another celebrity’s publicist sent me a dm saying their client would fit perfect with the magazine. At the time the show she was on was very popular and still is. It all worked out and I realized that people are watching you even when you don’t think so. I didn’t shut the magazine down because women from everywhere begin to book the magazine out with paid features! No need to quit. I’m catching my second wind.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @sheisemagazine
• Facebook: @sheisemag
• Youtube: @sheisemagazine

Image Credits
Bobby Kearns Productions