Grace Advertising & Consulting, Inc.

7/ TheBucknerClarion.com April 23, 2015 Happy Birthday TBC! Wright Takes a Look Back, Talks About Future The Buckner Clarion is celebrating its one-year anniversary. Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Tonia Wright talks about her career and how the paper started. Wright is president and CEO of Grace Advertising & Consulting, Inc., a Lexington, Missouri-based advertising agency. After working for two of Kansas City's largest ad agencies, Wright started her own agency in 2007. When asked why, Wright said she experienced a glass ceiling when trying to climb the ladder. "I would fly to other cities to pitch multimillion dollar accounts and would close those deals," she said. "But when I asked for the corner office, the salary and title that comes with being what people describe as a 'closer,' I got the proverbial corner office door slammed in my face. I thought to myself, 'why should the guys have all the fun?'" With that, Wright went off on her own. She also saw an untapped market: smaller companies and nonprofits that larger agencies wouldn't touch. "I saw a need for a smaller ad agency that had the bench-depth and capabilities of the larger ad agencies," she said. "There was an apparent niche and need for an ad agency that catered to smaller companies and organizations that didn't have multimillion dollar ad budgets." As for The Buckner Clarion, Wright said she felt there was a need in Buckner for a newspaper that covered news that positively depicted the community. "There seemed to be a need for a paper that covered community news and health-related news stories," she said. "When it comes to health and wellness and even public safety issues, individuals can make small lifestyle changes to live healthier and safer. Awareness and motivation are key factors. We hope some of our stories inspire this motivation." The Buckner Clarion covers a variety of subjects, especially those that require staff to dig deep and write a story that emotes. "A lot of our pieces touch on pretty important stuff, whether it's human trafficking, sexual assault or issues affecting veterans," Wright said. "You might get a sound bite about these topics from the evening news, but we like to really dig into some of these issues and cover them in a more comprehensive manner." Another newspaper that Wright publishes, called accessHealth, focuses on rural Missouri's healthcare needs. She said articles covered in accessHealth often spark ideas for The Buckner Clarion. "We take a little bit of the flavor in accessHealth and put it into The Clarion." However, Wright says community- focused content is the priority for The Clarion. "Anything that highlights somebody who the community knows is most endearing to the reader and probably the most interesting part to the newspaper," Wright said. "But the readers also benefit from the health-related pieces that we write. Anytime we can leave readers with more information than when they started, we've done our jobs as journalists." Wright admires Buckner's close-knit community and said it is what fuels the newspaper's success. "I've been welcomed with open arms, especially by the City of Buckner. It's just a very neat little town that deserves all the things that they're planning for, including everything from revitalizing downtown, to some of the new businesses that have opened up shop. Buckner is just a nice community with very warm, nice people." By reading The Buckner Clarion, community members are able to keep in touch with their neighbors, students or city leaders. Hard-hitting healthcare topics also get the opportunity to make an impression on the community through the newspaper. "Whether it's a scholar or athlete from one of the schools, a new business opening in town, or a healthcare issue that needs more awareness, I think all of Buckner can benefit from these types of topics," Wright said. The tight-knit feel that the Buckner community represents is reflected by the team behind The Buckner Clarion. "We have a small team, made up of really strong writers," Wright said. "What I like to do is find diamonds in the rough. I enjoy walking alongside them and helping them hone their skills. Our current staff have not been formally trained in journalism, but they have learned the craft and they're still learning." Wright encourages readers to follow her staff as they grow as writers and assures that no matter what the circumstance, journalistic integrity will always come first. The team behind both The Buckner Clarion and Grace Advertising go far beyond Missouri. "We have staff all the way from Illinois to Kansas," Wright said. "You may only talk to one of us, but we're backed by a very strong team." Over the past year, The Buckner Clarion has not only impacted readers in the Buckner community, but Wright as well. "It's given me the opportunity to go back to my first love – journalism – which is where I started as a young person in my career," she said. "Being able to put together an editorial schedule, get the stories written with the help of staff and edit those pieces to get them out to our readers, is something that I thoroughly enjoy." Because The Buckner Clarion has been so positively received throughout the community, it will soon be available via newspaper stands located in high-trafficked areas in town (to be revealed soon). Wright also said there are some other changes in store for the newspaper's future, including coordinated launches between the digital and paper versions, the addition of a new writer and an expanded advertising base. One thing Wright assures won't be changing anytime soon is content. "We feel good about the content that we develop and put out there, so in terms of the types of articles that we cover, Buckner will get more of the same." With one successful year down, and many more to come, Wright is thankful for those who helped launch The Buckner Clarion. "The Buckner community has been so supportive and we've gotten to cover some great topics," Wright said. "There's no end to the positive feedback that we get and it just underscores the fact that we are doing what we are supposed to do and we are where we're supposed to be." With the help of a new editorial board, Yvonna Stapleton, Larry Neidel and Stephanie Smith, and an enthusiastic community, Wright couldn't be more grateful for the support surrounding The Buckner Clarion. "I'm excited about what comes next, but even more importantly, I want to thank the advertisers that helped us get started. Bobby Dean, the City of Buckner and the Park Board, all of the families that have advertised, Keli and Zach McSwain, Lafayette Regional Health Center, Red Cross Pharmacy, The Firm Insurance Group, Fort Osage School District, staff writers and all of the Buckner residents who look forward to reading our paper – thank you!" By Morgan Nail Get he paper mailed to your home.

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