Decades of Dedication

Offering a wealth of local parenting insights, resources and inspiration, Birmingham Parent is known as a trusted companion for families across Central Alabama. That was the mission when it was originally founded in 2004, and two decades later—as the publication officially celebrates its 20th anniversary—it’s a mission that the magazine steadfastly holds today.

“I hope that a trusted source of parenting information,” shares Carol Evans, founder, owner and editor-in-chief of Birmingham Parent. “I hope we are known as a company that operates honestly and with journalistic integrity and that we are THE SOURCE of parenting information in Central Alabama. We try.”

Evans originally began Birmingham Parent to fill a void she saw coming to the Magic City. In January 2004, Birmingham Family Times, a well-known source of parenting information in the city, was getting ready to close its doors. “At that time, I was the local editor for Birmingham Family Times,” Evans says. “Dominion, which also then owned Auto Trader, operated about 20 parenting magazines across the country and decided to close several, including Birmingham.”

Not wanting to see the city’s parents completely lose such a valuable way to receive parenting resources and insights, Evans made the decision to start her own. “My husband had always told me that I could do the magazine myself, so when they left the market, we started Birmingham Parent,” explained Evans. “The February 2004 issue was the last for Birmingham Family Times, and the March 2004 issue was the first for Birmingham Parent. It wasn’t pretty, but we did it.”

From a journalism perspective, the shift wasn’t hard. After all, Evans did have a journalism degree, had freelanced for many years, and spent the last four as local editor of Birmingham Family Times. “The huge learning curve was in business,” Evans stresses. “My husband is a mathematician and worked in IT, so we were both novices in the business world.”

The challenge, however, didn’t stop her. She managed to keep two sales representatives from Birmingham Family Times, hired a graphic designer and continued to work to provide needed local information about parenting.

“We had a lot of ups and downs as we navigated the business side of things,” Evans says. “There were so many things I wasn’t familiar with, but we did it.”

And they did it well. The magazine continued to grow steadily, and it was able to keep hosting Camp Expo, a free, day-long exhibition for families to learn all about summer camps and programs and talk to counselors face to face. Camp Expo was originally started by Child Times (the local predecessor to Birmingham Family Times), continued by Birmingham Family Times and has become a significant and anticipated event in Birmingham each year. Additionally, Evans and her team were able to start a new exhibition—one that has even surpassed Camp Expo in its success: Special Needs Expo. “The Special Needs Expo is close to my heart,” Evans shares. “It was the brainstorm idea of a former sales rep, Crystal Mize, and it was so needed. We had always done at least one issue a year dedicated to special needs, but this was different.”

Though the first year of hosting the Special Needs Expo was difficult, Evans stayed with it. “Now, I can say it is the most popular event we do,” Evans adds. “Of course, we want to make money and pay our bills, but it is a work of love for all of the families who need these resources. They come for free and can talk to multiple services and places with products, all under one roof.”

Like any business, however, Birmingham Parent has dealt with some ups and downs over the years, whether it be navigating problems financially, relationally with employees, or others otherwise. “Running a business is hard,” shares Evans. “You make a lot of friends and some enemies. Not every nice person makes a good employee. You have to recognize that and know when it isn’t working, even if they do not. You must stay true to your standards. They will serve you well, and then you can sleep at night.

Some of those challenges came in the form of big decisions that had to be made, such as making the decision to close the offices during the 2011/2012 economic downturn and going remote or reducing the number of issues each year. “You can’t be afraid of change,” Evans says. “Being willing to reinvent yourself can save your business in difficult times.”

Then came another challenge that required adapting to more change: the Covid-19 pandemic. “We thankfully survived it,” Evans says. “We didn’t print one issue—it was online only. That is the only time we have not printed a scheduled magazine in 20 years. But it was the right decision, as our advertisers were facing the same issues we were.”

The magazine isn’t quite as big as it was pre-Covid, but what it may now lack in size, it more than makes up for in its relentless commitment to providing local information about parenting to parents and caregivers to help them have happy, healthy children. “I always wanted to remain true to journalistic integrity—even in a parenting magazine,” Evans says. “I think that is one of the reasons we lasted so long. Unless you bought an advertorial, the editorial was not for sale. That meant our readers trusted us all the more. I believe our coverage is some of the best of any magazine in town.”

QUOTES

“I’m so grateful for Birmingham Parent as our community celebrates the 20th anniversary of this amazing magazine. Over my career, I have been in a leadership role at three nonprofits: Presbyterian Home for Children, United Ability and the Alabama Family Trust. Birmingham Parent has showcased each one many times over the years and has truly helped make a meaningful impact in the lives served by these nonprofits. Thank you, BP!”

–Doug Marshall, President and CEO, Presbyterian Home for Children

“Congratulations on two decades of nurturing, informing and connecting the Birmingham community! Birmingham Parent has been the print and digital heartbeat of families with an unwavering commitment to the production of extraordinary events, articles, guides and more. SummitMedia is a proud partner!”

–Justin C. Ragland, VP, Events & Promotions, SummitMedia LLC

“I enjoy working with content that can help improve the lives of parents, grandparents, caregivers and their children, while also helping to provide a valuable resource for the local community.”

Tom Gonzales, owner, of Digital Doo-wop

“I thoroughly enjoy working with a wide range of businesses and organizations for their marketing needs, and Birmingham Parent has a solid reputation of delivering their message to our readers consistently and effectively through our print and digital offerings.”

–Kayla Kitchens Gomez, Senior Marketing Consultant for Birmingham Parent

“I have always been impressed with the emphasis on editorial integrity. The magazine staff tries hard to inform parents in the best way possible, without sensationalism or false information. It has not been afraid to tackle the tough issues facing families. There is always a huge responsibility to be accurate, relevant, informative and helpful to parents and grandparents. Birmingham Parent has been and is a reliable source for families, and I’m glad to have been a part of it.”

–Lori Pruitt, longtime copy editor of Birmingham Parent

Paige Townley is a staff writer and freelance writer.