After two and a half years of publishing Find It In Fondrenâ„¢, maybe it’s time I finally write my love letter to this neighborhood. I could extol the virtues of living such a charmed life or explain how I met my wife and fell in love here. Maybe that’s another story for another time. What I will say today is that this neighborhood full of energy, full of passion and full of opportunity has truly changed my life – and I love her for it.

Find It In Fondrenâ„¢ was a once semi-annual publication and is now a full blown brand. We have a daily website, a social media presence – that I believe rivals any – and a quarterly printed magazine that’s always online, too.

If I started naming names, I’d leave someone out. So I simply say thanks. You know who you are. I love you! You were the neighborhood “parents” so to speak who saw my vision and said “run with it.” You were the businesses who told me “good idea; I’d buy an ad!” You were the new friends (now old friends) who invited me to your businesses and homes and let me share my vision. And you supported me from day one.

This was a project that started from a need and that gave me a now full time vocation. I love to tell people “I invented my job” because I did. Out of my own pocket (and those pockets weren’t deep), I published the first magazine in the fall of 2010. And look at where it is today.

I like to think success has come because I’ve stuck to my mission: to tout the good and loveable things of Jackson, but most importantly, and especially, Fondren. My mission has always been to help promote the people, places and events that make this good happen. I don’t do controversy and I don’t do elite. Maybe that’s what makes Find It in Fondrenâ„¢ so accessible for everyone. It feels good, it looks good and, I hope, it makes you happy to see another article or photo that showcases this our little “city within a city.” I am honored to bring you a quality magazine for Fondren.

I love Fondren. I began helping people here almost six years ago and started the magazine two and a half years ago. I have many dear friends whom I have met in this neighborhood. And I’m glad my life has brought me to such a special place. Much love to the readers and supporters of Find It In Fondrenâ„¢.

Paul Wolf is the publisher and founder of Find It In Fondrenâ„¢ Magazine. Created as a way to tell the stories of the people, places and events of Jackson, Mississippi’s hippest neighborhoodâ„¢, the magazine was first published in October 2010.