As I near my eighth month as publisher of the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal, one thing I refuse to give up is going out into the community and covering stories. 

My team has done a great job of reeling me in so I can continue to focus on building sponsorships and partnerships; however, I can’t be cooped up in an office every day. 

In the past few months, I think I’ve done a good job of getting out and about, shaking hands, making new connections, providing coverage and, most importantly, continuing to support businesses by coming in not as a publisher or reporter, but as a customer willing to put my money where our coverage is.

Way back when the idea of me becoming publisher was tossed out, I began to think about what kind of leader I would want to be. While I don’t quite think I'm a public figure in any way, I’d consider this to be a public-facing role. I decided a long time ago that I didn’t just want my name listed in the paper as publisher; I wanted to be involved in our community, meet business owners face to face and see for myself some of the great new things becoming available in and around Fayetteville. 

I’ve been recognized in the grocery store, out on assignment and even in a restaurant when I was coming in to pick up takeout. 

I’ve received the comment “Wow, you are everywhere,” from mem bers of the community and I guess it’s true because in order for me to sell the Business Journal I want the community to know me, to know our brand and know that while yes, we are reporters, we aren’t there to highlight the negative, we’re here to be a source for good news, develop ment and growth. 

I hope to keep that going as we continue to build our social media following, brand awareness, visibility and our impact in Cumberland and its six surrounding counties. 

We hope you enjoy this issue focusing on “Dynamic Duos” in our community. In this issue, we feature Two Brothers Catering (check the cover), who you may recognize from our Power Breakfasts and from business events around the area. We also feature Brian and Staci Graybill, a husband-and-wife team working to explore the possibilities in downtown Fayetteville, and business partners Robert Savage and Andre Thomas, who have brought a new event venue experience to the community. 

I actually thought our Editor, Stephanie Meador, and I should have featured ourselves, as we both started at the Journal around the same time and the two of us have seen the Journal grow and change over the years. (I was overruled.) Maybe that will be a feature in the future.