FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #1 From Classroom to CEO: Dori Stewart's Journey in STEM and Local Media
Dori Stewart, former high school engineering teacher turned successful entrepreneur, reveals her remarkable journey from the classroom to the helm of her own STEM education company, and ultimately, into the world of local magazine publishing. Tune in to discover how she transformed a passion for teaching into a global franchise that reached millions of students, and how she now channels that same zeal into connecting her community through storytelling. Her transition into media wasn't just a career change but a perfect fusion of her love for community engagement and business acumen.
This episode offers a treasure trove of insights into navigating major career shifts, embracing change, and the art of delegation. Dori candidly discusses the hurdles she faced and the lessons learned as she adjusted to new scales of operation, all while building meaningful connections within the Fredericksburg and Stafford areas. She dispels common myths about print advertising, championing its enduring reliability and trustworthiness. For anyone eager to understand the impact of local media or seeking inspiration to make their own mark within their community, Dori's story is a must-listen.
FXBG Neighbors
Dori Stewart
dori@FXBGneighbors.com
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 2:Welcome good neighbors, to episode number one of the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast with our future host, Dori Stewart. Welcome.
Speaker 3:So exciting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, see you're getting into the world of podcasting. It's going to be exciting, You're going to be great. But first let's learn a little bit about Dori. So go ahead and share a little bit about what you do. Sure, yeah.
Speaker 3:So I am the publisher of several local magazines here in the Fredericksburg and Stafford area. So we've got Neighbors of Courthouse, which covers the Courthouse Road area of Stafford County as well as Stafford Living, which is the western part of Stafford County, and then we've got Neighbors of Chancellorsville, which covers the neighborhoods off of River Road in Spotsylvania as well as the Fawn Lake area. And yeah, we do both print and digital. We love sharing the stories of our neighbors and bringing people together.
Speaker 2:That is awesome. So let's back up your story a little bit. How did you get involved with the magazines and podcasting in general?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so my background is in education. I was a high school engineering teacher here in Stafford County at Colonial Forge High School. I taught for 11 years before starting my own STEM education company here in Stafford, and I grew. That company, ended up getting interest from all over the world and I ended up franchising my company and grew it to hundreds of locations in 35 countries, reaching millions of students. And 10 years into it, in 2019, I received an offer from an ed tech firm out of Canada that had several education franchise brands under their belt and they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. So I sold my education company and started doing business consulting and I fell upon this opportunity to start these local magazines and it really kind of married my love for community that I got with teaching with my love for helping businesses, and so it was, you know, kind of the perfect fit. I get to, you know, be a big part of the community and share what's going on in the community as well as helping businesses grow. So it was perfect fit.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Let's talk about challenges. Everybody has challenges, whether personally, professionally, but obviously through a career change and into a new industry. What type of challenges have you faced that you can look back at now and you know what? You know what I'm in a better place now because of it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I mean I think that there. I mean every business owner has challenges and this was a big career shift. You know I went from teaching to you know, kind of being, you know, a franchisor, you know, to what I'm doing now, and so the scale of it all is completely different. So it's, you know, it's a new learning process. But what I have learned along the way is to kind of take each stage of growth one stage at a time and just kind of you got to go with the flow and make adjustments in your business, you, your business, as time goes on. And I think the biggest challenge I had was kind of delegating and letting go and allowing others to kind of take some of the tasks that a founder is used to handling all on their own.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you've got that spirit and you're like I want to do it. I know how to do it I can do it. You just don't want to give up that control, but sometimes it allows you to pursue other things and grow in other ways as well.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:So let's talk about myths or misconceptions surrounding what you do as far as advertising promoting sponsorship within the communities. Can we clear some of that up for listeners?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, sure. I think that a lot of businesses have had experiences in the past with print advertising and they've put ads in publications like you know, clipper Magazine or something like that, where there's very low readership, there's no content, it's just ads, and so a lot of businesses have not had a lot of luck with print advertising and what we do is so different because at least 60% of our publications is local, community content that's important to the neighbors, and so our ads actually get seen. Print is the most trusted form of advertising and I think that there's a lot of misconceptions that print is dead, but it's far from the truth. People love that connection that they're getting through the community publications that they're really not getting anywhere else, and there's so much you know stuff online that people don't trust, especially with AI and all of that.
Speaker 3:So I think that that is the biggest misconception is that you know people don't read print which is so far from the truth.
Speaker 2:Well, and you know, you take it a step further and say people don't read magazines. I love reading print, I love reading the newspaper. Reading a magazine digitally online is kind of difficult. It doesn't have the same feel, it's kind of cold and sterile. I'm like I want to flip through the pages and I want to see what I want, but that is great. So, along with what you're doing, do you notice anything changing or trending lately that you're adding to your portfolio?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, so you know we also. It's not just about the magazines, we also have a digital component that goes along with it, and so what we have found is that print and digital are better together and that when you combine the two, that the effectiveness is 300 times if you were to do print or digital alone. So that is something super powerful that we're able to help businesses. You know, with the print they're gaining that trust, but with the digital we're keeping them in front of those neighbors and keeping them top of mind. But also we help businesses stay ranked high on Google organically through our listings and review services as well, and so it's really important. Someone's going to see the ad in the publication they're going to.
Speaker 1:You know, go, they're going to do their due diligence their homework.
Speaker 3:They're going to go online, they're going to get on Google, they're going to want to read reviews, and we make sure that businesses are seen both in print and digital.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And it's a part of that branding aspect too, because they're going to recognize hey, that's the guy that advertises my magazine. I see him every month. So you've got that familiarity with with those people when you do see them. Because what's everybody do? Like you said, if I'm looking for business, I jump to Google and I Google something. Well, if I'm popping up in the top. That's where people are going to see me and they're going to recognize me and they're going to click on me and choose me.
Speaker 3:So yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Love that, so are you from this area originally.
Speaker 3:I'm not from this area, but I have spent my entire adult life in Stafford County. I moved to Virginia when I was in high school. My first job right out of college was teaching in Stafford County.
Speaker 2:So Stafford Virginia is my home, so yeah, it's nice to be back and kind of give back to the community and help connect the community as well.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So it sounds like you're a very busy woman. You got a lot going on, so when you do get a moment of free time, what do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Speaker 3:So fun fact, my family, ever since my kids were little, we play cards every single night. It's pretty fierce gin rummy competition every night. Still to this day, we play cards every night, so that's a little fun fact about us.
Speaker 2:I love that. I love that Family game night Exactly Every night. There you go. Yeah, so is there one thing you wish our listeners knew about what you do, that maybe they wouldn't be so familiar with.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that most people are really familiar with the publications. You know they're very popular, people love them, and so they get them in their mailboxes. But what I think a lot of people don't know is that you know we also do a lot to champion our local nonprofits. We do a lot to give back to the community and we love, you know, sharing things that are going on. But on the business side, you know, not only are we in print, but we have digital, and we just released our websites, and so what's wonderful is, businesses get this amazing dashboard and they can track exactly where their ads are going. So our digital component is connected to their websites, and so the data that they can gain from that is just fantastic and really game changing for a business.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. If you were, if I were a business and I was looking to connect with the community, how would I go about contacting you?
Speaker 3:So fxbgneighborscom is the best place to go. From there a business can find my Calendly link and schedule a time to meet. But we're also found on social media, so Facebook and Instagram as well as fxbgneighbors.
Speaker 2:Perfect. Are there any types of businesses that kind of are better for you or kind of everybody?
Speaker 3:Really any business that is interested in getting out in front of single family homeowners in Stafford and Fredericksburg would be people that I would want to talk to.
Speaker 2:Perfect, and then the neighbors out here as well, too. If they wanted to learn more, they can go to your websites and learn more about the magazines and the businesses in them as well.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Any last words for our listeners today.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you for listening to the first episode of the FXBG Neighbors podcast. I appreciate you coming along this journey with us and I hope I get to interview some of you very soon.
Speaker 2:Very good, and if you are a local business and you're interested in being on a podcast, feel free to reach out to Dori. She would be more than happy to have you on the show.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Very good. Well, thank you you've been. It's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor and we hope to see you out in the community soon. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show go to FXBGneighborspodcast. com, or call 540-534-4618.