Woman finds niche in publishing

In the fall of 2006, Logan Olson became a publisher, and a young one at that.

She was 21 when the first edition of Logan Magazine hit the stands. Producing a glossy magazine four times a year is a big job for anyone, yet Olson had mainly one person on her staff: her mom, Laurie. Neither had any publishing or professional writing background, and there were many times they found themselves overwhelmed by the decisions they had to make.

“We thought we were just going to do a magazine for Spokane,” Laurie Olson said. “But now it’s going national and we’re hearing from people from all over the country, all over the world. We never thought that would happen.”

Perhaps what’s most amazing about their publishing success is that Logan Olson is living with a brain injury, which makes it a little difficult for her to talk and type.

“It’s awesome that we have the magazine,” Logan Olson said. “We are having a blast with it.”

Since the first issue came out, Logan Olson has been invited to speak to community and professional groups, school and college classes, and she’s become a local celebrity.

The magazine and the Olsons have received business and advertising awards, disability awards and inspirational awards from across the state and the country.

The latest honor to come their way is that Washington Reads – a statewide program that promotes reading – is featuring Logan Olson on its poster.

“It’s just, wow, that’s me on the poster,” Olson said.

From the get-go, Klundt Hosmer, a local public relations firm, has been a big part of the magazine’s success, essentially volunteering between 135 and 150 hours per issue.

“It was just a big leap of faith with this project,” said Jean Klundt, creative director of Klundt Hosmer. “We stuck with them, and we’re hoping they get more advertisers. I’ve gotten quite close with Logan, and her mission is important to me.”

Finding magazine advertisers is a challenge, but Nordstrom and Microsoft are two main sponsors.

Klundt encouraged the Olsons to apply for nonprofit status in the hopes that grants would be available to help fund the magazine.

“There is just huge potential here with this magazine,” said Klundt, adding that the Olsons have yet to draw a salary. ENSO, a Washington state supported individualized employment program for people with disabilities, also contributes to the magazine, but the Olsons pay out of pocket for printing.

“It’s their lifeblood, they have such a passion for it, and somehow God keeps providing us with opportunities to pull it off as a team,” Klundt said.

That can certainly be said about Logan Olson’s life as well. Born with a congenital heart defect, she had undergone six surgeries by the time she was 16. On Halloween 2001, just before she turned 17, she suffered a heart attack while visiting a haunted house in Post Falls. Weeks later, when she came out of the coma, she’d forgotten pretty much everything. She couldn’t walk, sit or stand. Her hands wouldn’t go where she wanted them to go, picking up pencils and putting on clothes had turned into a major ordeal. Her life had been turned upside down.

“And I wanted to shop, and go out, and do what I used to do,” Logan Olson said. “I thought, now what”

Laurie Olson said the family got the best medical and acute advice, but something was missing.

“We didn’t get a lot of advice on how you live with disabilities,” said Laurie Olson. “All the magazines we found were real heavy on the medical side of things.”

Logan Olson wanted to do the same things and wear the same clothes as ll other teenage girls. A self-described “fashionista,” she wasn’t going to give up her love of clothes and makeup.

“I thought, it’s not over, it’s not over,” she said. “I hated the word therapy, until I turned it into shopping therapy.”

So when the duo couldn’t find a fashion magazine for young disabled women, they decided to start one.

“Another thing is, when a disabled person is done with high school, there’s often not a lot to do,” said Laurie Olson.

Logan Olson agrees: “It’s like your life is over.”

As her senior project at North Central High School, Logan Olson produced a model for her magazine making collages of fashion tips and makeup advice cut from other publications, and the response was overwhelming.

“The special-ed kids just flipped out,” Logan Olson said, laughing. “The girls wanted a cute boy in every edition. But they just flipped out when they saw it.”

Today, Logan Olson stays in touch with her readers via Facebook and MySpace, and the magazine’s Web site.

“I hear from so many people,” Logan Olson said. “There are so many stories. We don’t know how to get to it all.”