Girlfriends Find 'Real Simple' Solutions

Sorority sisters simultaneously featured in glossy magazines

by Alison McGaughey

When Ann Fisher Gobel '92 and Stacey Nehring Edgar '92 were college students, each had a pretty clear picture of where they would go in life after graduation.

Edgar, a social work major, was interested in humanitarian causes, and today works as president of a company that promotes fair trade.

Ann Fisher GobelGobel, a communications major who sold ads for the Western Courier, is now the East-Coast advertising director for Real Simple, the popular magazine with the motto “Life made easier.”

What neither of the longtime friends, who were Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority sisters and roommates, might have imagined back then is that one day they would find themselves featured in the glossy magazines sold in grocery store stands—let alone at exactly the same time.

Last spring, Edgar's business, Global Girlfriend, was highlighted in O, The Oprah Magazine, while Gobel was featured in the magazine she works for, in a Mother's Day-themed feature on unconventional paths to motherhood.

Stacey Nehring Edgar“It was a cool coincidence,” said Edgar, whose home and business are based in Littleton, Colo. “I still talk to Ann all the time, and when I told her I was going to be featured in O, she was like, ‘I think I'm going to be featured in Real Simple!'”

“Stacey said she was at the store and when she saw them she took a picture of them both,” said Gobel, who lives in Weehawken, N.J. and works in New York.

The national attention, however, is not entirely a coincidence, as the two have been developing notable careers since their graduation from Western. Gobel transitioned her experience working for the Courier into working in advertising for the Chicago Tribune. Before landing her position at Real Simple—for which she leads a staff of eight people, handling all the East Coast sales for the magazine, its website, and Real Simple TV—she was executive director of jewelry and watches for InStyle magazine, (a division of TimeInc, as is Real Simple.) She remembers selling Courier ads for $60. The ads she is selling today—which reach 1.9 million readers— have a page rate of $151,000.

She was approached by the Real Simple staff for the Mother's Day feature because the magazine was searching for women who had successfully gone through in vitro fertilization (IVF) after struggling with infertility.

“Everybody knew I'd gone through it (because I had discussed it openly at work), so I was more than happy to be interviewed,” she said. “It was a lot of fun. They sent photographers here for the day, and they took these beautiful pictures of my family.”

The one featured in the magazine is a playful portrait of Ann and husband, Paul, standing on top of their bed, with Paul holding four-year-old son William upside down by the ankles, and Ann, then pregnant, holding her two-year-old, Jack. Gobel has since given birth to third son Thomas.

Edgar pursued a master's degree in social work at the University of Illinois after graduating from WIU, and worked with children and families for 10 years. Her company (www.globalgirlfriend.com) was featured in O because of its unique mission. The apparel and accessories are made in Third World or poverty-ridden countries by female artisans, and the proceeds benefit women's cooperatives or non-profit organizations that support women's human rights. “Fair trade is really about making sure that workers get a fair price, a living wage, for their products,” Edgar explained.

Both women readily credit their educational and extracurricular experiences at WIU for leading them on the paths to where they are today.

“Western absolutely prepared me,” Gobel said, mentioning Joe Dobson (marketing) as a favorite professor. “I had great teachers… who were very encouraging and engaged with their students. And the people I worked with at the Courier were very involved and passionate about their work.”

Edgar named Mike Fimmen as an influence for encouraging the practical application of what she learned in her social work studies. “I think all of Western really emphasized practical applications for your education,” she said.

And for Edgar, that has led to something ideal.

“It's a dream job,” she said of Global Girlfriend. “Especially for a ‘do-gooder' social worker. We're finding a way to grow a more global marketplace.”

Articles  |   1  |  2  |  3  | More... |