b'Matters heart of thematterFeaturing Local People, Places and Thingsthat Matter Since 1990 BeingPUBLISHER& EDITOR IN CHIEFEllen DonkerASSOCIATEEDITOR Resilient & BrilliantCheryl SilverADVERTISING CONSULTANTSRene ConlonH. Leslie Gilman in a PandemicClaire K. StruppCOPY EDITORS Our business women give us insightNick HumezTia Swanson BY ELLEN DONKERCONTRIBUTORS A bouttwoyearsago,mymotherspirit to succeed.how they stayed resilient (bouncing Michelle Bobrow, Sara Courtney,Donny Levit, Jamie Meier,Malia Rulon Herman, Tia Swanson, learned to text. She was 86 years oldOur fourth annual Women in Business theme, appro-Julia Maloof Verderosa and living alone and my sister andpriately named Resilient & Brilliant, and presented in these I were concerned about how wedpages, is a vehicle that allowed us to delve into local busi-know if one day she became ill. Notness to see how our female entrepreneurs are forging ahead. wanting to pester her with phoneWe wanted to know calls on both ends of the dayes- back from adversity) and brilliant (showing great talent).pecially with her hearing challengeswe decided to startThirty-seven interviews later, I have even more insight a group text.into the tremendous energy that each woman has put into It took some practice for all of us to remember to textadjustingandadaptingherbusinessmodeltocontinue when we woke up and went to bed but now its becomeserving her community. I enjoyed each and every conversa-a habit. Occasionally my mother would forget but shestion as I caught up with friends, made new ones and heard learned to be diligent or else my sister will start the frantictheir anecdotes. In a way it was like therapy, at least for me. phone callsbetween the two of us, shes more likely toIve long said that someone is making money during this fear the worst.pandemicits not all badand that is certainly true. For Our group text has expanded to include two of mythose whose business increased, they had challenges such as Please address all correspondence to: nieces and my daughter, Madeline. Its our girls onlyramping up to handle the volume and adopting new safety Visual Impact Advertising, Inc. group and has become a nice way for us to stay connectedprotocols. Most, though, saw a decline and used their re-P.O. Box 198 in a way thats unobtrusive. After all, my mother is a vi- sourcefulness to change their circumstances or offering or Maplewood, NJ 07040 brant, self-sufficient octogenarian; she doesnt need to feeldelivery method, usually multiple timesanything to be 973-763-4900 like her children are monitoring her. And we try to makeable to continue doing what they love. mattersmagazine.comher laugh with some funny GIFs or emojis. During our conversations, I heard plenty of expressions info@mattersmagazine.com I give my mother credit for being so adaptable. She grewofgratitude:forfaithfulcustomers;forextratimewell-Matters Magazine is owned and publishedup at the height of the housewife era, marrying straight outspent; the ability to find new ways to do business; a bet-by Visual Impact Advertising, Inc., P.O.of college and starting a family a few years later. Althoughter use of technology; and staff more closely united. While Box 198 Maplewood, NJ 07040. Mattersmy father was quick to adopt new technology, my motherit almost seems wrong to talk about good coming out of Magazine is free, with editions direct mailed seven times a year to the residents of Maple- didnt have the confidence to learn how to use a computer.a pandemic, I think that being able to extract hope from wood and South Orange and distributed toWhen my father died four years ago, she decided it wasthese times is the key to moving forward.businesses and surrounding communities totaling 16,000. Subscriptions are availabletime to start using her iPad. Now she tracks her financesSo much about our future is unknown, but Im con-to non-residents for $30 (U.S.) $40 (Foreign)on it, sends email, gets up-to-the-minute information onvinced that the ability of our business owners to innovate annually. No part of the publication may beher beloved Chicago Cubs, and amuses herself with wordwill have lasting positive effects. Years from now, history reprinted or otherwise reproduced without writtenpermissionfromVisualImpactgames. And, of course, now she texts. books will be talking about how well we adapted out of Advertising, Inc. Weve heard a lot about adaptability these days. Stucknecessity. Perhaps by then my daughter and future grand-CIRCULATION VERIFIED BY in the middle of a pandemic, it seems that all we do now isdaughters will be taking care of me in a group text or some U.S. POSTAL RECEIPTS. adapt, and that takes a certain amount of resilienceandnew technology and just maybe theyll ask for my advice on READ & RECYCLE brilliance. Those were the qualities that we have seen inhow we stayed resilient and brilliant during the pandemic action as our local women harnessed their entrepreneurialof 2020. Ill have lots of stories. 8/ matters magazine / fall 2020'