I quit my corporate job to carry the mantle of FATE Magazine, Part 1

Part 2 here

When I was a kid my mom would drop me off at the library while she went grocery shopping. (She doesn’t like me telling you that since she thinks it makes her sound like a bad parent or something, but it was the 1990s, THINGS WERE DIFFERENT THEN, KIDS!) I spent hours running between two specific sections of that establishment to see what was in stock.

First was upstairs where they kept the grown-up books—not because I was an advanced reader—but because that’s where they shelved their comic collections. Calvin & Hobbes, Foxtrot, and Overboard (remember that one with the pirates?) were in constant circulation, so each visit held the promise of something new. If not, I wasn’t above taking home a well worn classic. I got Revenge of the Baby-sat stamped so many times the librarian had to add a new card in the front pocket.

My other go-to was on the main floor, way in the back. I saved this stop for last since it’s where I would spend the majority of my mother’s grocery-shopping time. I don’t recall the section’s name, but it housed all of the “fringe” titles. There were tomes on everything from UFOs to spontaneous human combustion. I’m still haunted by the cover of that Jenny Randles’ book! The selection allowed me to get my little hands on serious books about the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, and other unexplainables. I swear, someone on that library staff must have been a MUFON member.

I say all of that to say this: high strangeness has been with me since a young age. I was born three years before Whitley Stieber published Communion. I grew up in the X-files era. Shows like Unsolved Mysteries and Sightings gave “fringe” topics a boost of credibility. Printed magazines like FATE provided regular updates in an official format—same as Time or Newsweek.

There was no doubt in my mind that these phenomena were real. What other reason was there for my friend David and I to start the exclusive Paranormal Investigation Division (PID) in 6th grade? It was our excuse to meet in the open field between our homes to scan for UFOs at night. It also pushed us to capture video evidence of Bigfoot aka my unaware sister who we’d film walking around the woods to a sinister sounding voice-over. (Sorry, sis!)

For the sake of time I’ll skip ahead 20 years. After graduating college with a history degree and teaching 5th grade in Mississippi, I made my way back to my home state of Michigan. I got a gig with a great company in “the accounting space,” weaseled my way up the corporate ladder, and was compensated well for my efforts.

I didn’t like the stress inherent in my job, and I didn’t overly enjoy the work, but I knew from watching others that it didn’t matter how I felt about where I spent 10+ hours each day, as long as it brought in money. Queue Phonte’s The Good Fight.

To combat the toll the corporate world was taking on me, I looked for a creative outlet. I started THE OBSERVER in 2020 with the goal of producing a physical artifact about UFOs and conspiracies that could be mailed to likeminded readers. The trials and tribulations of producing a free physical zine were many and varied, and probably worth an entirely different article at some point. Suffice it to say, THE OBSERVER made me believe I could take my talents to the Bigs.

More than that, it made me realize that there was really nothing else in the world I would rather do with 10+ hours each day.

Little did I know that 6 years later, my dream (or “obsession,” depending who you ask) would manifest in the best way possible.

OK, so we’re still acting a bit coy. While you wait for Part 2, check out what’s going on over at FATE Magazine and The FATE Files!