I have a confession to make. Four years ago, when I started as your editor, I didn’t know anything. I’m not just talking about asphalt or pavement. I didn’t know how to be a “professional” editor either. I was a published author and I had been the editor for a poetry and art magazine, far from the sort of rigor and rules of being a “B2B” editor in a corporate work environment. Because of this, since day one, I have been on a mission.
My first mission was to learn everything I could about the asphalt industry, about pavement maintenance, about mix design, rolling, paving, aggregates, QC, etc. The more I learned, the more areas of the job there seemed to be, and quickly I discovered that being in the field was the only real way to properly educate myself. So, I got out into the field as much as possible, and that, my friends, was where I fell in love with the industry.
My second mission was as visible as it was glamorous: learning how to be a professional editor. This journey wasn’t posted online as content, funny videos, or podcasts – this played almost entirely behind the scenes as my boss (The great Marina Mayer) helped me through all of the growing pains. I hustled as much as I could, and only one time did I have to scrap an article because it wasn’t up to muster. Only the closest of readers might have noticed my growth in this regard through the quality of my articles over the last four years. For me, when I look back at my earlier pieces, it’s kind of shocking.
But I had a third mission, an unspoken one. I secretly wanted to see if I could get away with being able to bring into my work here some of what I am passionate about. Creativity. Community. Labor rights. Safety. Sustainability. Policy and public infrastructure. No small items, to be sure. I had a suspicion, one that has proved accurate, that what the asphalt industry does touches every life in this country. It connects us all, though most never notice.
Objectively, I don’t know how successful I’ve be in any of these aims—that is something only others can speak to—but along the way I have been fundamentally changed by my experiences these past four years. So, it is with a heavy hear that I tell you that my time as your Editor-in-Chief is coming to a close. That’s the bad news. The good news is that I won’t be far away. Where I go next is to the contractor side of our industry, and really, where my heart has always been: With those who are doing the work. Thank you all for embracing me, teaching me, and making me feel like one of your own.
I’ll see you on the road.
