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In a bygone era, they used to say “A woman’s work is never done.” Frankly, that statement feels very familiar to me. I’ve been a bit of a workaholic for many decades, starting at a very young age (dare I say 12).  

These days, my feet hit the floor at 7:30 a.m. My mornings begin with a brisk 3-mile walk (5 miles and more on weekends). On these walks I pick up trash along my route: two to four bags’ worth of trash is not uncommon. It’s part of my community service work. I’ve done this for decades, no matter where I’ve lived. 

Every other morning, I switch gears and do a weight lifting program called Happy Body, which I’ve been doing every other day for 8-10 years. These exercise efforts take an hour (longer on weekends), and they are mandatory for me. Health is a key component in my life — staying as strong as possible, feeling as robust as possible, enjoying life, loving my creator, my family and my livelihood. Work-life balance is hard for me, but I try very hard to make it happen. I almost never vacation — it’s been eight years since the last one.

Next comes feeding my koi fish and doing a little garden manicuring, weeding or watering. My gardens are important, and I enjoy everything about working in them so much. I follow this with a little time at my piano — at least doing some scales or exercises, but maybe a couple of pieces of music too — and get two to three hours of playing on weekends. 

Now comes my morning smoothie, a concoction made up of frozen fruit I’ve individually bagged (blueberries, greenish bananas, orange, lemon, pineapple), turmeric root, ginger root, pumpkin seeds, raw cacao, maca powder and various supplements. Add to this a huge handful or two of arugula and turn on the VitaMix. Voila! The color is disgusting, but to me it’s quite good. 

Work begins early with constantly clearing out unwanted spam emails while responding to important text and email messages. A hot bath feels great after the major exercise routine, followed by readying myself for work while intermittently playing with a brain teaser like a crossword or sudoku puzzle. Keeping mind, body and spirit healthy are high priorities. KFBK news talk or a political podcast commentary is usually in the background during all of my morning routines and my drive time. 

I arrive at our offices at 11:00 a.m. or after a lunch appointment, which I try to have at least three days a week with an editorial board member, a prospective advertising client or a community business leader. When I don’t have a lunch appointment, I eat at my desk (soup, salad or both). As a publisher, I wear many hats — from circulation development to business planning and story proofing. I’m a prolific reader, and I do financial overview, lease negotiations, equipment contracting and much more. 

A major work priority on my plate is bringing in revenue — I’m also on our advertising sales team of four. Office time is heavily dominated by phone calls to existing clients, new prospects or responding to the needs of team members. All phone calls get an immediate email follow-up. Much time is spent considering topics for my monthly publisher’s letters and then constructing them.  

Today’s lunch was with a group of businesswomen I meet with every other month or so — an architectural photographer, a professional interior designer, a former modeling agency owner, a professional volunteer, fundraiser and event designer for nonprofits, and a former banker. It’s fun to catch up on each other’s lives. Our lunch today was at Wildwood Kitchen & Bar in Pavilions. 

Back to the office, where an email tells me that one of my favorite educational institutions, Jessup University, has hired a new marketing manager, whom I’ll be excited to meet. Scheduled that meeting. Another call tells me that one of our scheduled ads for the next issue has been dropped. Oh phooey! But wait, two others just confirmed to place. Yay! Our sales team and I all work diligently to secure the advertising it takes to keep our publication afloat. Some months we do very well and other months not so well, but that’s how sales fall — win a few, lose a few. 

I’m a woman of great faith, and I give my Heavenly Father credit for the success we’ve enjoyed at Comstock’s, keeping us in business for 35 years. He’s brought me a wonderful team of professionals who all love the product. In this industry, 35 years is no small accomplishment. I’m happy to be the person He’s chosen to launch and steer this company. And it all started 35 years ago, at 3 in the morning, when I abruptly awakened to a room-sized vision of a magazine cover with the name Comstock’s on it. The main graphic on the cover was the number 15 in large type. I wouldn’t know until we were about 18 years old that the 15 represented the number of years before Comstock’s would make its first penny in this business. The first 15 years were riddled with high stress and juggling.  

More sales calls, follow-up emails, reading press releases and news of the day, clearing out spam, setting a couple more appointments and dealing with the beloved HR challenges. (Who doesn’t love those?) Today, I’m proofing many of our next issue’s stories — it’s our Young Professionals issue coming up. Lots of proofing — I read every syllable before we go to press. Our superb team catches most of the errors, but I catch several as well. It takes a great team — a great editor, a great art director, a great sales team and a great support team. 

Time for our weekly sales meeting — how high or how low are sales this week? Is the number getting closer to where we need to be? This part of the job can be “stress on steroids.” Ad sales comprise a huge piece of running a magazine — it’s the fuel that runs the entire train. You literally live or die by the numbers. This business takes a chunk of grit, a huge dose of courage and a pile of that very important component we call stamina to do the job. I couldn’t do it without my faith. 

Tomorrow is our editorial board meeting, so I’m needing to prepare. Our board meetings are very important to me, as we have many captains of industry who sit around the table to discuss the magazine — story ideas, how we can make the magazine better, how they feel about what they’re reading each month. We have a guest speaker too, which I usually schedule (sometimes I have help from a board member). Tomorrow’s speaker will be Orville Thomas, the new CEO of the California Mobility Center. Our board meetings always give me an enormous spark of enthusiasm as I listen to the dialogue around the table. If I arrive a bit low in spirit, I’m fully energized by the time I depart. Great ideas come from these meetings, great wisdom, insight and how I love it when they call it “our magazine.” They are all engaged, which makes my heart sing.

Creative writing fills my after-hours time. It’s currently almost 10 p.m., and I’m still at work. Whether it’s a story idea, my publisher’s letter, an advertising proposal or memos to team members, this is when that happens. Writing is a big part of the job. Coming up with subject matter for stories is a favorite, and I often get these ideas from meetings with board members, community leaders and even advertising prospects. I believe Editor Judy Farah gets very tired of hearing all the story ideas. We’d need a much larger magazine to carry them all.  

Workdays usually end at 10:30 p.m., then the drive home. My last priority of the day comes before I turn out the light. It’s reading a couple of pages from the Old Testament and a couple of pages from the New Testament of the Bible, then reading through a daily devotional. This is my 10th run-through of the devotional, and it’s interesting how every page seems new each year — you see different meanings each year based on experiences you’re having. It’s amazing.  

It wasn’t part of my day today, but I spend a good amount of time (at least on the phone if not in person) with my daughter, Carmel, who lives nearby. We’re quite close souls, she and I. My granddaughter Bella graduates from high school this year and is trying to determine what she wants to do next. Grandson Jack is a freshman at Jesuit, where he plays on the varsity volleyball team. The team made it all the way to the NorCal championships (that’s huge, by the way), where they ended up taking second place. What a thrilling season of volleyball it was for the entire family, including the Nevada City folks who often came down to attend games.

Tomorrow’s another big and full day as we continue our prep to go to press. More story proofing and review of layouts. It all looks quite good, so far. But this woman’s work is never done — and I wouldn’t have it any other way!  

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