A Badass Inheritance
by Deb Levy
The role of editor has changed constantly since it first emerged in the late 15th century. In those days, editors worked mostly on religious texts and manuscripts. The first true magazine, published in 1660, was also theological in nature. It was followed within a decade by the first “entertainment-type” publication. The first American magazine was published here in 1742. For the 250 years thereafter, editors reported on news, investigated wrongs, entertained and explained. They advanced the news and explained a topic—in our case, the window film industry—to their audience.
That all changed in the mid-1990s, with the development of the World Wide Web. The editor’s job got harder, but not for the reasons you might think. It got harder because finding news wasn’t enough—shoot, anyone with a dial-up modem could do that. And it got harder still because editors needed to be more trend-spotters, bellwethers and proverbial miners’ canaries for the industries they serve. They could no longer maintain a peripheral relationship with their readers; they needed a deep one.
Sometimes editors “click” with an industry, and sometimes they don’t. Most professional editors know that the more they learn about a topic, the more interesting it becomes, but some just take to an industry more than others. They also know that a profession is made by the people in it. That’s certainly true of the window film industry.
Over the years, Window Film magazine has had fewer than six editors. Two of them still work for our company in other fields. They all tell me the window film industry was the absolute most fun-filled and heart-warming one they ever covered.
So when the magazine’s editor departed last October, we set out to find just the right person to lead our coverage of the industry. And we found her close to home.
Abby Bowman has been an editor here at KMR for just under three years, working first as assistant editor, then editor of KMR’s Auto Glass Repair & Replacement (AGRR) magazine. During that time, she has done all the things a good editor would, including conducting great interviews and delivering top-notch storytelling, and has received major awards and recognition for her work.
But Abby did much more; she immersed herself in the field of auto glass. She learned how to install, how to calibrate, how to repair, how to open a store, expand one, and much more. She’s made friendships that will last a lifetime.
Abby’s a bit of a fooler. Her softly pitched voice belies a drive as hard as nails. I will leave her to tell you about herself (on the next page, in fact), but I will share a little story. When Abby was first learning to install, the owner of the company she was working for included me on his employee text chain updates. The chain included comments like “I told her she didn’t have to do the hard part, but she wanted to. She did.” Or “I told her we could stop, but she wanted to keep going.”
Finally, one of the techs commented simply, “Abby is a badass.”
So, to our beloved window film industry, KMR bequeaths its talented badass. I know she is excited to learn all about you and share your news and your stories.
To view the laid-in version of this issue in our digital edition, CLICK HERE.