Our Editors

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SMW Editors / Advisory Board Members / Contributors

Relationships Editor
	Josie Brown is a feature writer whose articles on relationships and couples communication have appeared in Redbook and Complete Woman, as well as AOL’s Women Channel, Yahoo.com’s Personals Channel, askmen.com, affluentmale.com and numerous news and media outlets. She is also the editor of John Gray’s Mars Venus Advice, Dr. Gray’s internationally syndicated question-and-answer columns; and co-author, along with her husband, Martin, of Marriage Confidential: 102 Honest Answers to the Questions Every Husband Wants to Ask, and Every Wife Needs to Know [Signal Press]. She left the advertising industry to become a crusading investigative reporter. But because we live in a voyeuristic culture vulture society with an insatiable appetite for celebrity journalism, Josie found more work (and better pay) by rubbing elbows (not to mention egos) with the rich and famous. These days Josie still writes about celebrity, sex and scandal, only now it’s fiction-which, she insists, is just as strange as what she knows to be fact. Her two novels are Impossibly Tongue-Tied and True Hollywood Lies. You can read excerpts of all her books on her blog: www.josiebrown.com. She lives in Marin County, California, with Martin and their two children. Email Josie
Looks Editor
	Erin Donnelly is an accomplished fashion and beauty writer who has traveled the globe in search of miracle wrinkle creams, comfortable heels, and bikinis that create the illusion of perfect abs. In addition to overseeing SingleMindedWomen.com’s Style channel, Erin also contributes to style sites like Refinery 29, Lemondrop, TopButton.com, UptownScoop.com and PursePage.com. As the former senior editor for Sheckys.com, Erin wrote and edited the annual Beauty Book, a guide to New York City’s premier spas and salons and top beauty products. Erin has also written for WWD Scoop, Bust, Tango, RaveSQ, Upscale, Red Nightlife, and the new in-flight magazine from Skybus Airlines, as well as numerous New York City travel guidebooks. Erin’s style and nightlife expertise has caught the attention of several media outlets, including: “Good Day NY”; CBS 2 in New York; Crain’s Business News; The Daily News, NYC; and Century FM in the UK, for which Erin posted dispatches as “The ‘Sex and the City’ Girl.” After spending the past five years living in New York City and London, Erin is currently based in the mellower climes of Austin, TX. Email Erin*
Career Editor
	Paula Santonocito has extensive experience as a business journalist and editor covering a wide range of employment issues. She is the author of nearly 1,000 articles that are featured in many global and domestic publications and information outlets. In addition, her work been posted at more than 100 websites throughout the world, referenced in academic publications, and translated into several languages. Paula also serves as AIRS News editor, overseeing news content for the award-winning recruitment training and sourcing technology company, and she is features editor of the North American edition of Online Recruitment Magazine, a publication of the highly-respected UK-based organization Onrec. Because Paula often writes from the employer side of the desk, she brings a unique “insider” perspective to topics important to SMW readers–topics like what employers are looking for in new hires, how to best use the Internet when searching for a job, why your online image matters, and much more. An early adopter of Internet technology, Paula is passionate about the opportunities the Internet offers with regard to career advancement–from job search to business networking to education and training, and beyond. The Internet has impacted Paula’s life and career. After living and working for many years in New York City and the surrounding metropolitan area, Paula moved to Vermont, where, thanks to technology, she has her fingers, quite literally, on what happens in the employment arena. Email Paula
Money & Health Editor
	Martin Brown is a former CBS Radio Network news journalist whose articles on relationships have appeared in Redbook, Playboy, and Complete Woman magazines, as well as affluentmale.com, askmen.com, and redbookmag.com, AOL Women’s Network, and Yahoo!.com’s relationship network. He is also co-editor of the syndicated column John Gray’s Mars Venus Advice, and co-author, along with his wife, Josie, of Marriage Confidential: 101 Honest Answers to the Questions Every Husband Wants to Ask, and Every Wife Needs to Know. Email Martin
Escapes Editor
	Melanie Nayer is an award-winning editor and writer for various travel and online publications and a member of the Society of American Travel Writers – the world’s largest association of professional travel journalists and photographers. She is a frequent guest on national radio shows and an expert in social media initiatives. Melanie’s goal is to bring readers the best inside information on travel, food, and culture from her experiences around the world. Melanie is currently the Senior Site Editor of Cheapflights.com, and a contributing columnist to various online publications including Women On Their Way, Medical Travel Today, Boston.com and more. Previously, Melanie was a business, community and political/economics reporter for leading newspapers including The Boston Globe. She also contributed articles to magazines and online publications including Fortune Magazine, NYT.com, and various in-flight airline magazines and travel sites. Melanie teaches social media seminars including ‘Effective Blogging and Social Media Strategies’ with MediaBistro.com. With a background in legal, economic, political, business and community reporting, Melanie brings a diverse and unique knowledge base to her travel stories and published articles. Melanie lives by one simple rule: No matter where you travel — whether it’s to another part of the world, or to your next door neighbor’s house — there’s always something worthwhile waiting to be discovered. On a personal note, Melanie’s one true love is travel, and she hopes to ignite the same excitement and inspiration that guides her around the world to the SingleMindedWomen.com Escape readers.
Food Editor
	Fabiana Santana is a freelance food writer, editor, and recipe tester & developer based in New York City. She is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute’s Culinary Technique program and has worked as a writer and recipe taster for Family Circle, Profile Magazine, Shecky’s, Julib.com, Time Out NY and many others. Fabiana also wrote the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of BLT Living, Chef Laurent Tourondel’s Lifestyle and Food magazine. In addition, she has done food styling and produced food photography. As an experienced photo editor, Fabiana has also worked at Vanity Fair, CN Portfolio, Maxim, Stuff, Men’s Health, Star, TV Guide, and a variety of other consumer magazines during the course of her career.
Editor
	“Sex & the Single Woman” blogger Maggie Malach is a young journalist whose works have appeared in online magazines such as REALITY Check Girl and Inspired Mother. As a relationship writer, she focuses on one of the most complex topics in the known world: men. Maggie also writes about beauty and style, which has served to feed her addiction to fashion.Her resume includes a bi-weekly opinions column in which she ponders over such serious matters as vampires, Facebook and Dora the Explorer. She gained (slight) notoriety earlier this year when her column on Michael Jackson was noticed by some enthusiasts, who in turn created a web forum devoted to her demise.


SMW Advisory Board Members / Contributors

	John Gray is the author of 15 best-selling books, including Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, the number one best-selling relationship book of the last decade. In the past ten years, over 30 million Mars and Venus books have been sold in over 40 languages throughout the world. An expert in the field of communication, John Gray’s focus is to help men and women understand, respect and appreciate their differences in both personal and professional relationships. In his many books, CDs, DVDs, tapes, workshops and seminars, he provides practical tools and insights to effectively manage stress and improve relationships at all stages and ages by creating the brain chemistry of health, happiness and lasting romance. Dr. John Gray has appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, CBS Morning Show, Good Morning America, The View, Politically Incorrect, Larry King, and others. He has been profiled in Newsweek, Time, Forbes, USA Today, TV Guide, and People, among others. John Gray, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of communication and relationships, is the author of fifteen books, was a certified marriage and family therapist for over 15 years, and has been conducting personal-growth seminars for over thirty years. John Gray lives with his wife and three children in Northern California.

	John Challenger is chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., the global outplacement consultancy that pioneered outplacement as an employer-paid benefit in the 1960s. A recognized thought leader on workplace, labor, and economic issues, his insight is frequently sought out by major foreign and domestic broadcast and print media. Challenger serves on the President’s Circle steering committee of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is president and board member of the Japan America Society of Chicago. In 2004, he served on the Host Committee for the Annual Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference. Challenger is also a member of the board of the Human Resources Management Association of Chicago and chaired the organization’s 2005 Summit, during which he conducted an interview with former Labor Secretary Alexis Herman. Challenger is active in the Chicago chapters of World Presidents Organization and Chief Executives Organization. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Union League Club and is active in the Economic Club of Chicago, Chicago Club and Metropolitan Club. He also was a member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago International Film Festival. A graduate of Harvard University, Challenger currently serves as Regional Director Great Lakes of the Harvard Alumni Association. He also sits on the board of the Harvard Club of Chicago and served as its President from 2002 to 2004. Challenger serves on the Parent’s Council of Miami (Ohio) University, where his oldest son is a student. Challenger resides in Winnetka, Illinois, with his wife Nancy and five children.

	Dr. Keith Ablow is a controversial voice in an age of over-medication, quick fixes, and “get over it” mainstream ways. As one of the leading healing voices in America, Dr. Ablow’s core message is that no one has a perfect life, that all of us have pain we must overcome and that when we face our conflicts head-on we become more powerful than ever before. He graduated Brown University and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and is on the faculty of New England Medical Center in Boston. Board certified not only in adult and adolescent psychiatry, but also forensic psychiatry, he has a relentless passion to help people find the truth and has testified an expert witness in numerous high profile murder trials. Dr. Ablow is also a FOX News contributor and contributing editor at Good Housekeeping and Men’s Fitness.

	Dr. Susan Bartell is a nationally renowned psychologist and author who has been helping families lead healthier, happier lives for over fifteen years. She is the author of four books, Dr. Susan’s Kids-Only Weight Loss Guide: The Parent Action Plan for Success, Dr. Susan’s Girls-Only Weight Loss Guide: The EASY, FUN way to Look and Feel Good!, Stepliving for Teens and Mommy or Daddy: Whose Side am I On?. She is also the author of the internationally syndicated parenting column, A Teachable Moment. She is the founder and director of www.girlsonlyweightloss.com and www.havinganotherbaby.com. Dr. Susan is a popular media expert who can regularly be found offering advice on national TV as well as well as on radio stations across the country. She is also frequently quoted in national print media; she is an expert advisor to KIWI parenting magazine, Disney iParenting Media, BonusFamilies.com and Nickelodeon and ParentConnect.com. Dr. Susan lives and works in suburban New York, maintaining a private practice, counseling adults, children, and teens. She is a sought after speaker, lecturing widely on a broad range of topics and in many different settings including schools, community centers, parenting groups and corporations.

Contributors

	Sandi Duffy is a freelance writer whose article topics range from relationships to educational issues to parenting. She has been an educator for the past 13 years. Sandi once worked as a Project Manager for various pharmaceutical advertising and medical education companies and has been employed an editor for medical and surgical publications. She left the advertising industry in 1995 to pursue a career as an educator and has never looked back. Currently she works as a teacher in New Jersey and also runs workshops for other professional educators covering various educational practices. Widowed suddenly in 2007 and left to care for her two young children alone, Sandi started her blog A Widow for One Year and is currently working on a memoir, Young Widow: One Woman’s Journey Through the First Year and Beyond. She lives in Northern New Jersey with her two young children.

	Ginny Mees has been a REALTOR for the past eleven years in the San Francisco Bay area, and she is the Founder of the Independent Women Homeowner network: WomenHomeowners.com. She says she did not seek out her passion, her passion found her! Over the course of her real estate career, she found more and more single women: business professionals, divorcees, and widows entrusted her to serve their real estate needs. She herself had been a single mother for more than eight years, and had relied on real estate professionals to make buying and selling decisions four different times while being corporately relocated throughout the USA. She gained a unique insight into the difference between serving single women in what is often their most valuable financial asset.Women today represent the fastest growing demographic of homebuyers: 23% of the buyers are single women, compared with only 9% being single men. Men more likely view homeownership as something they do when they settle down and get married. Women on the other hand, understand the emotional and financial independence associated with owning their own home without a man or partner. Ginny has taken these life experiences and built a network that serves both the real estate needs of single women, but also the professional needs of women looking to differentiate themselves by serving this niche. Featured in the July 2009 issue of REALTOR magazine as an overlooked niche, The Independent Women Homeowner Network is a great service for single women. Ginny is also writing a Single Women’s guide to buying and selling real estate. Ginny and her husband Paul, spend their time between San Francisco, The Hague and Lago di Garda. In their blended family they have four children: three grown, and one nine year old son.

	Lynn Armitage’s childhood dream of the perfect life never included divorce and single parenting. Barbie and Ken are supposed to live happily ever after. There’s no such thing as Divorced Barbie or Single Mom Barbie. But perhaps Mattel missed the boat. Had we played with these super heroes, maybe we’d be better prepared as adults for the hard reality that in California, where Lynn lives, close to 60% of marriages end in divorce, with Barbie forced to vacate the Dream House and move to the Barbie Trailer. Lynn is a divorced, single parent, as many of us are. And she didn’t realize until after her divorce what a tremendous responsibility it is to shape the life of another human being. In her case, two human beings, who were 6 and 2 when she split up with their father. While Lynn tries her hardest to maintain a semblance of strength and normalcy in their fractured and altered lives, there’s a strong undercurrent of guilt and worry. She wonders, “Did I do the right thing? Are my kids happy? Will they end up in therapy? While I would love to go back about 15 years, knowing what I know now, and marry the RIGHT man, I can’t. Instead, I have to make lemonade and remember why I chose to be a single parent in the first place – because it was the only shot at happiness for me and my girls.” As single parents, there are many issues we grapple with day after day independent of two-parent households. Lynn hopes to provide readers with a voice in the wilderness of single parenting, and address those topics that are so relevant to us. While being a single parent isn’t easy, it helps to know that no matter how alone we feel sometimes, we’re definitely in good company.

	Erin Lozano is co-founder and COO of Green Sherpa and is dedicated to inspiring women to live and spend authentically. Her 13 years of experience in cash flow analysis for businesses and individuals helped her formulate the basis for the Green Sherpa™ Personal Cash Flow Management™ solution.Previously, Erin served 6 years as CEO of Simplicity Services, a personal assistance service for the home that helped families organize their finances, bills and other personal living expenses. Having earned a BA in anthropology (focus: patterns of currency and trade) from UC Berkeley, Erin has gone on to run three businesses after studying advanced accounting as a post-grad at UC Berkeley. Over her career, she has built up experience as a real estate and economic development executive, having represented major personal financiers, investors and companies in a number of mid-range purchases throughout the US. Erin blogs about money and food at greensherpette.com, where she touts living out of her backyard by buying locally, discovering the joys of cooking, and raising kids. My intent is to inspire myself and others to live authentically. Green Sherpa is remaking the online personal financial management market with a product that is forward looking, answering in real time the questions “how am I doing and can I afford this.” In this current economic environment, where individuals and families are stressed about their financial health, Green Sherpa is the product to bring in more Clarity, Power and Choice in your financial life. It’s a 3-step process: organize your financial history, make a plan for the future and then discuss that plan with someone.

	Barbara Slate is a graphic novelist who created characters for Marvel and DCComics. She writes Betty and Veronica for Archie Comics and her book, YOU CAN DO A GRAPHIC NOVEL is coming out Jan. 2010 from ALPHA, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Her character, MS. LIZ appeared on millions of greeting cards, a comic strip in Cosmopolitan magazine, and as an animated feature on NBC’S TODAY SHOW. Barbara created ANGEL LOVE for DCCOMICS , YUPPIES FROM HELL for Marvel Comics, and put her own spin on the Disney Classics BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and POCAHONTAS, and Mattel’s BARBIE. Barbara’s art has been exhibited in many galleries and reviewed by THE NEW YORK TIMES. She is profiled in A CENTURY OF WOMAN CARTOONISTS. Barbara is currently writing her column, teaching, and doing her graphic novel.

	Animator Allen Mezquida worked at Disney, Warner Bros., and Sony. He’s even had a film on Nickelodeon. We fell in love with his Smigly character, a lovelorn dude who misses out on a perfect relationship with one well-drawn gal by about THIS much. You can enjoy Smigly’s adventures here on SMW, as well as on Allen’s website: Smigly.tv