Idaho Family Magazine marks a decade

By Gaye Bunderson

In 2012, I applied for a sales position at a classified ads publication in Boise. Now, I couldn’t sell cheese to a pizza factory, but I needed a job. The publication was essentially a newspaper full of advertisements, and I definitely had newspaper experience. All kinds, in fact – except for selling ads. I thought if I could at least get an interview, I’d offer my services as a proofreader or a paginator (laying out pages on a computer). I’d done both those things, as well as writing, editing, and photography.

To my surprise, I got a phone call from the advertising director at the publication; and even more to my surprise, she told me that her publisher was hoping to launch a couple of magazines and could I come in for an interview?

No, I don’t believe it was coincidence. People may scoff at this, but I do believe it was something closer to “divine intervention,” if you will. Because long story short, as they say, I got the job. All in all, it took something like five interviews before it was nailed down, but I started my employment in January of 2013. Many ideas were tossed about, such as the thought we could eventually start a handful of different publications and ultimately hire more staff to move them all along. What really happened was that I started two magazines that year – and almost three – with a staff of just one person doing all the editorial work: me. Sound easy? It wasn’t. I look back on copies of Idaho Family Magazine from that first year and see that if there were three or four stories in them, I’d written them all. But I’d enlisted some contributors to write columns around family topics, and we were in business. We had a crackerjack ad saleswoman that I hardly ever saw because she was out doing cold calls for advertisers, and she hauled in a bunch of them. Yep, we were in business all right.

The good news is that a decade later, we’re still in business, marking our tenth anniversary with this issue. We’ve had different advertising salespeople, different writers, different printers, and even a different owner. J.J. Plew of Gem Production Co., LLC has owned the magazine now for five years and had this to say:

“Idaho Family Magazine was more than just a business venture; it meant something more to me. I remember picking it up when I was a young dad out and about the Treasure Valley for years, using it as a resource for my kids. One friend of ours even had their kid on the cover years before I took it over.

“One big reason my brother and I got involved is we didn’t want to see a positive family focused publication go away like so many others have started to. I’m happy to say we are still going. It hasn’t been easy and we’ve had to make some changes; but given the times we live in, I’m very proud of our team and what we have been able to accomplish these last five and a half years.”

To still be here through pandemics and other trials is a testament to all the hard-working people who’ve been involved with the publication. Commitment was – and is – the key.

As for me, I like what I do. But on days when it sometimes seemed too much, I recalled the lyrics of the Twenty One Pilots’ song, “Stressed Out”: Wake up, you need to make money!

But the magazine is certainly about more than dollars, be they advertising dollars or salaries. It’s about the message – that families are the foundation of just about everything: who we are and what we do. And families will always be important as the firm footing of society that takes tiny little people and makes them grownup reflections of all that is decent in life. At least, that’s the case if parenting is done well, and we hope our stories help teach, edify and encourage readers to be the best parents they can be.

Here’s to ten more years. And thanks to all the advertisers, writers and readers who’ve kept us in business for an entire decade.