Everything Is Coming Up Spring

I’M ONE OF THE RARE PEOPLE WHO LOVES THE RAIN, and not just because it’s a remedy for the drought we are in, but it’s moody and life slows down just a little bit. In just a few weeks the bounty of all this rain will be another much-anticipated super bloom. When I moved to Marin several years ago, we were experiencing a rather verdant spring — I’ll never forget driving north on the 101 and seeing the vibrant flowers and rolling hills covered in the most beautiful shade of green. It solidified my love of our environment. This March, I’ll be out searching for the most spectacular view; please let me know if you have a favorite place. I can hardly wait.

In this issue, we explore all things food and drink, and yes, it’s my favorite issue of the year. We delve into not just restaurants and wineries but the stories of people doing extraordinary things, like female winemakers (page 44) and Dee Coleman, who makes healthy and nutritious lunches for Marin’s kids (page 88). Marin is packed with organic farm-fresh food and it’s one of the many reasons I love calling it home.

Speaking of home, at five19 publishing we are working hard cultivating our life-first culture and loving every minute of it. Our work-from-home philosophy allows us to go for a walk in the middle of the day, care for our loved ones and not stress about the annoying things that come along with commuting — all while working more efficiently. Our team’s opinions matter and the trust we’ve developed with each other is something that is very important to each of us. The flexibility of working this way lets us travel as much as possible — we encourage it and have developed a “we can work anywhere” policy that we all treasure. We have found that our approach creates happy people and happy people provide terrific client service and loyalty to each other.

If you see us out at dinner together, you’ll be hard-pressed to know we are workmates — it’s a group who are truly happy being together. I am proud to report that our great experiment is working magnificently.

Jessica Cline, CEO and Co-Founder

from the creative director.