Necessity Is the MOTHER of Invention: A Letter From the Publisher

Lee and I love passionate people. We cheer for entrepreneurs who put their hearts and souls into a project and use lessons from previous failures to spur them on to success. We love boosting small business owners. We love buying local. We love to give back wherever we can.

Tanglewood Moms started as a small Facebook group and quickly grew into an amazingly supportive community. Like any community, we rely on each other. We ask for recommendations for everything from roofers to pediatricians, and dentists to pet sitters. Many, if not most, of the businesses recommended, are local, so we started a website, TanglewoodMoms.com, as a local blog and business directory.

The Facebook group and the website caught the attention of local organizations and businesses, and Tanglewood Moms began receiving invitations to attend ribbon cuttings, business launches, and press events, only to be told, “Oh, sorry, but the invitation was meant for print publications only.”

So, we started a magazine. Call us crazy or call us passionate! In the early days, Apple’s famous Think Different ad was a driving force, rousing “the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in square holes.”  The ad campaign goes on to highlight those inventing, imagining, healing, and exploring. Which is why we choose to put a spotlight on the people in Fort Worth doing these precise things.

Madeworthy Launch Party, August 26, 2017
photo credit: Jeffrey Wooten

We are now in our eighth year of publishing Madeworthy; this issue in your hands is our forty-sixth. When we launched in August of 2017, I’m not sure we thought we would make it this long, but when we dreamed up this magazine, there weren’t any publications in Fort Worth writing for families. Clearly it resonated.

Madeworthy is our Labor of Love. It is our Passion Project. As with any passion project we’ve had our fair share of highs and lows, and we’ve learned in the doing. Print publishing is NOT for the faint of heart, and many local and national publications are but a memory. But here we are, still thriving.

Lee and I are passionate about telling the stories of the people and organizations who make Fort Worth great. We love introducing you to amazing people and groups doing incredible things all over our city. We get to work with some really talented storytellers, too. Not too bad for a couple of women with no background in journalism.

Times have changed, and digital-only publications are now treated with the same respect as print. Social media has its place, and we will continue to be present on social media and our website, but our hearts live here in black and white.