Creating something from nothing: a life reinvented

Mari Loewen provides inspiration for starting over after divorce

Photo credit: ANNA magazine

Inspirational entrepreneur and publishing powerhouse Mari Loewen shares her story candidly here. With her trademark optimism, Mari generally does not divulge such personal details about the struggles of her past, though chose to do so for Golden Girl Finance in the hopes of inspiring other female entrepreneurs, single moms, and women overcoming divorce and financial adversity. We thank her and applaud her honesty - and triumph!

One of the most famous rags-to-riches stories of our generation is that of British author J.K. Rowling, creator of Harry Potter. In her 2008 commencement address to Harvard graduates, titled “The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination”, Rowling recalled that “a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless.”

Rowling’s situation at that time is familiar to many divorced single moms. Besides the emotional devastation, the acrimony of divorce litigation, the loss of friends and familiar lifestyle, and the loneliness of single parenting comes the huge financial challenge, which often necessitates a career change. A report by the BMO Retirement Institute cites that “in the first year after a divorce, it has been estimated that a woman’s standard of living drops an average of 45 percent.”

From Rowling to Loewen

Mari Loewen is the founder of the lifestyle quarterly magazine ANNA (AnnaMagazine.ca), which is sold mainly by subscription and distributed across the country through McNally Robinson Booksellers, Chapters Indigo, Whole Foods Market and other retailers.

Mari had her J.K. Rowling moment a dozen years ago, when her marriage ended and she became a single parent of a one-year old daughter. “Divorce is so hard,” Mari says. “It affects you to your soul.” Financially, she was crippled. For the next few years, Mari toiled at a full-time job she knew was wrong for her, studied at night for her Certified Management Accountant designation and supplemented her income by baking cakes and pastries, which she would sell for a small profit at local shops.

“Every penny mattered,” Mari recalls. “Some days, there would be no milk in the fridge and I remember having to go into my daughter’s coin collection.”

The frustration of her situation grew. More than money, what Mari wanted was quality time with her growing daughter. She admired a girlfriend who had a sales-marketing job that allowed her to work from home with a generous salary. Mari applied to the company for a similar job, but was told she needed more experience. Mari decided to learn the art of sales.

From adversity to opportunity

The last thing one would think a single mother living on a single income would do is quit her job and her CMA program. But that’s exactly what Mari did. “I recognized that I was at the lowest point. No one was going to knock on my door and make things better. If I wanted change, I had to do it myself,” she says.

With no income, no savings and looming bills, Mari took the first sales job she could find and got busy learning techniques from the top salespeople in the company. Meanwhile, she continued to stay in touch with the company where she really wanted to work and within a year, she bagged the stay-at-home sales marketing job she had so desired.

“You need to ask for help,” Mari says. “I had no fear in calling people, asking for help, telling my story, asking how they got to where they are. Even if someone can’t give you exactly what you want, they like to be asked for advice and will have ideas that can further you along.”

Today, Mari has a great respect for people who never give up - the people who stay in touch, express their continued interest in working with her and who can sell themselves. “I love that quality in people,” she says.

Making every day special

Mari’s sales job eventually led her to another job selling advertising for a design agency. She loved being part of a creative team and realized that the world of design was where she was meant to be.

As she looked back over the previous years of her life and how far she had come, Mari reflected on how everybody faces tough, debilitating times in their lives. Yet the problems don’t – should not - define a person. Instead, how a person chooses to handle the adversity is what makes the difference – and ultimately determines the rest of their lives.

Mari says, “I chose to make every day a special day. No matter what, every day when I woke up, I knew the choice was mine as to how the day would go. I would make the choices that would make that day special for me and for my daughter - or not. And then I realized, a lot of people needed to hear that message.”

She was 41 and Mari knew it was time to take her biggest career risk yet.

Shoot for the best

As Mari and her sister-in-law mused about how to get this message out to people, they decided the best forum would be a magazine, named after Mari’s mother: Anna. The magazine would start with baking recipes and simple tips to make everyday routines beautiful and special. She quickly set up shop in her basement.

Mari sought out the best photographer and the most talented creative director she had met through her work at the design agency. “I had no budget,” Mari says. “All I knew was baking. But we were creating an inspirational magazine, and I wanted the best. So I called and asked them to teach me how I could make my magazine look as good as their work…eventually they offered to join in and help me make it happen.”

Securing advertisers was the next step. According to Mari, you can’t be afraid of selling you. “You have no product yet, so the first advertiser will make their decision based on what they think of you and whether or not they believe in you and your vision.”

When it came to distributing her first copies of ANNA, again Mari started at the top. She took a prototype of the magazine, baked a beautiful cake and dropped them off at the executive suite of The Bay. Moments later, Mari was driving away in her car when her cell phone rang. “What is this?” they asked. Mari gave her pitch and in return, The Bay offered to host ANNA’s launch party and sell subscriptions to their customers. Later, Mari walked into a local Starbucks and asked if they would sell ANNA at the till. Their answer? “Sure.”

“If you believe you’re a fit with another company,” Mari says, “you have to pursue it. Approach the decision-makers. After all, they’re just people. The worst they can say is no and you’ve lost nothing by trying.” Five years and twenty issues later, Mari’s tenacity and courage has clearly paid off. ANNA, which is 85 percent subscriber-based, has an audience of 75,000 readers per issue and has attracted advertisers such as Kraft, Campbell’s, Häagen-Dazs, San Pellegrino, Samsung and Kellogg's, among many others.

Happily ever after

As J.K. Rowling said after her divorce and encounter with poverty, “I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

Similarly, Mari says the biggest part of getting over a divorce is to realize that you can change your thinking. “We all have a sad story we can tell. Whether it’s a male perspective or a female perspective, we’ve all been wronged at some point and we’ve all not behaved well at times. We all believe ‘but my situation is worse because…’. How does that help you move forward?”

“When my marriage ended, I would have done anything to make it work,” Mari says. “Looking back now, I’m so glad that things happened the way they did. I wouldn’t be where I am today and my daughter would not be where she is.”

Mari’s final bit of advice is culled from her experience with the magazine as well as her personal life. “I’ve always felt I’ve had to invent my own experiences and make my own way in life,” Mari says. “Therefore, I’ve learned that if something isn’t working – you need to stop it. Go back to the drawing board and create again. Don’t keep doing something that isn’t working, over and over. Change it immediately, be flexible, be open-minded and re-invent.”

Hmmm, it worked for Mari, and it’s working for ANNA. Perhaps it’s good advice for you too.

 

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