We recently connected with Nikki Jardin and have shared our conversation below.

Nikki, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Reading has always been a big part of our family, especially newspapers and magazines. My Aunt was certainly no exception to this. Her coffee table always had a variety of news and lifestyle magazines, as well as various sections of the newspaper lying about. We often talked about things we learned through a new article, or worked through crosswords or other puzzles together.

When my Aunt was diagnosed with Young Onset Alzheimer’s Disease and I began spending time with her in a care capacity, I noticed that she stopped reading those magazines and newspapers, or she would ask me to read things for her, including things like menus or other signage. I wondered if she was no longer able to read due to her condition and tried to help by reading for her, not thinking there was much else to be done. I then began learning more about how the brain changes with a dementia diagnosis, and how visual acuity is affected. It occurred to me that my Aunt wasn’t reading because she couldn’t. She wasn’t reading because the newspapers, magazines, menus and other materials weren’t designed for her changing brain. I then quickly set out to find magazines that were created for people living with dementia so I could order them. I came to understand that not only did magazines not exist, but really hardly any reading material at all was available for those with a dementia diagnosis or brain change in general.

I was a freelance writer for many years, and had been managing editor of a local niche publication, so after some thought, pulled together a couple of friends (Mirador Co-Founder Tave Fasce and Designer Tay Juncker) who had graphic design skills and set out to create Mirador Magazine – a general interest, dementia-inclusive magazine for people experiencing dementia. To date, we have published 13 issues and have found readers all over the U.S., Canada, and have recently started publishing in the U.K.

Our mission is to underscore the importance of reading for people with brain change and provide an enjoyable, accessible publication that keeps lifelong readers reading and learning. Too many people are under the impression that people living with dementia can’t read, or no longer get enjoyment from the activity. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There have been several studies indicating that reading for people with a dementia diagnosis can reduce anxiety and feelings of loneliness. Reading can also help people feel connected to the outside world and offer a bridge for meaningful conversation between friends, families and loved ones, as well as help with memory retention, strengthen neural pathways, and maintain verbal skills. We also recognize that by providing an adaptive text publication, we are helping people retain a part of themselves and to experience success with a skill that they have had for most of their life.

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 come from a family of readers, writers, and teachers, so the written word has always been an important part of my life. I’ve also always been a very curious person and like to learn about all kinds of things, from nature and art to history and science and all around, above and below. As a freelance writer I wrote about all kinds of topics, and really especially loved interviewing people who were engaged in things they were passionate about. All of this background was put into my work with Mirador.

When we set out to create Mirador, we wanted the magazine to be a place where curious people could learn about all kinds of things as well, in a way that was friendly and fun. Currently, Mirador is a bit of an island unto itself, there isn’t really anything else like it on the market, something we are proud of, but also feel like we want to set a high bar for ourselves – so we try to improve with each issue we create. We spend a lot of time talking to our readers, and with professionals in the field to see how we can make our magazine the highest standard for this type of publication.

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

Mirador is blessed with both professional accolades and a readership who is appreciative of our work. I think part of that comes from really just working hard to create a high-quality product as well as helping to foster a sense of community with other professionals and individual families. We also really love what we are doing, and are genuinely interested and appreciative of all of the other creators in the professional space. We have always had a philosophy of “collaboration, not competition,” when it comes to working with other professionals, and I think that helps to foster goodwill. We also are so appreciative of our individual readers and do our best to respond quickly to questions and help find s0lutions to the needs of their family.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

There are always so many ways to look back at the beginning of this work and thing, wow, I would have done things so differently had I known! But, you know what you know when you know it! I am a pretty creative person but definitely could have been more savvy about the business side of things. We did our best to get our ducks in a row, signing up with a local SBA mentoring program, making sure we had our operation agreement, etc, intact, but I think I would have spent more time learning solid business tools before jumping off with the creative process. And, while we did a lot of research into creating our own product, I think I would have built up more of a network of local folks in this particular industry, or even in the entrepreneurial world in general. I have learned so much for having coffee or Zoom meetings with resource providers and creators within my industry community. Having those one-on-one conversations have been invaluable from both a networking and a business perspective.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.miradormagazine.com, miradoruk.com
• Instagram: @miradormagazine
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MiradorMagazine/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-jardin-44634326/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/mirador-magazine/?viewAsMember=true
• Twitter: @miradormagazine
• Youtube: @miradormagazine
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

Mirador Magazine