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Striking a balance is important to Nora Isaacs ’94. So when she had the unexpected opportunity to harmonize two of her primary interests–publishing and yoga–she couldn’t turn it down. In January 2001 she became managing editor of Yoga Journal, a national consumer magazine for those who practice and teach yoga.
“I was a freelance writer in the San Francisco area and really loved it,” Isaacs says. “I wasn’t thinking about doing anything else, but when this job came along it seemed like the perfect fit. Finally my two interests would be combined in one place.”
Isaacs brings experience in both fields to Yoga Journal. Her parents are yoga instructors, as is Isaacs herself. At one time she envisioned a dual career as a freelance writer and yoga instructor. She continues to teach, in fact, with a current focus on prenatal yoga.
Isaacs’ path to writing and editing has been equally direct. “When I came to Lafayette, I knew I wanted to do something with words and writing,” she says. “Deborah Byrd (associate professor of English) and James Woolley (Smith Professor of English) really gave me a lot of confidence in what I could do.” She wrote for the college’s alternative newspaper, Vid. After graduation, she completed a master’s degree at Columbia University School of Journalism. Her graduate school internship at Men’s Journal, a national consumer magazine based in New York City, led to a job as an editorial assistant.
“I did a lot of administrative work, answered readers’ calls about information, and learned to do some fact-checking,” Isaacs says. “I eventually started writing short pieces.” From there, she became associate editor for American Photographer, also based in New York. “I learned how to assign articles, create story ideas, and edit stories,” Isaacs says. “I got involved in the whole production cycle and did a lot of writing as well.” Eventually, though, Isaacs, a New Jersey native, grew tired of living in New York City. She quit and moved to California “with no idea of what I was going to do,” she says with a laugh. “It turned out to be a great decision.” In the late 1990s, California was in the midst of the Internet boom. Specialty magazines were multiplying rapidly, and they often bulged with advertisements. More and more articles were needed to fill these large publications. “I started freelancing–doing a lot of business and technology writing,” says Isaacs.
Yoga Journal was started in 1975 primarily as a publication for yoga teachers. The first issue had 10 pages and a circulation of 300. Today, each issue averages 200 pages with a circulation of 250,000.
“As managing editor I do everything to get the magazine to the printer. That includes writing features, editing, going to photo shoots–where I sometimes help spot the models since I’m a yoga teacher, going to conferences, and overseeing our small staff,” she says. “That’s one thing I love about publishing, every week is different depending upon where we are in the production cycle.”
And what does she do when she’s not working or teaching yoga? “I read a ton of magazines,” she says. “I’m obsessed with them. I love knowing what goes into them.”
Nora Isaacs ’94 (seated) works with Katherine Rewinkel ’03 during a January 2002 externship.