Hidden Gems: Meet Kathy Fox of Music City Publications, Inc.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Fox.

Hi Kathy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In October 2015, I started publishing a quarterly travel magazine to provide tourists with a resource guide during their stay in the Nashville area. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Nashville and providing content and suggestions for visitors. However, in March 2020, as I was getting ready to print the upcoming issue, the pandemic and lockdowns were beginning, so I decided not to go to print for that issue. Since my primary business partners were those in the tourism industry, many businesses I worked with had closed and did not need to do any marketing at that time since travel around the world was shutting down. While I was waiting out the pandemic, I was looking for options where I could utilize my staff and thought publishing a lifestyle magazine would be a nice change of pace. I learned that Maury County had never shut down during the pandemic, and many people from Nashville and Williamson County were going there to shop, dine, and get away. After waiting more than a year for the tourism market to rebound, and much consideration and prayer, I gave myself two weeks in October 2020 to see if starting Maury County Living magazine would be a viable option. My goal was to provide a very high-end lifestyle magazine, mailed to residents, that was affordable for businesses to advertise in. Now almost two years later, I can say we achieved that goal. The community and businesses have embraced the publication and have been very supportive of the magazine, and came together to help each other during very uncertain times. The magazine gave the community the voice to share local uplifting and positive stories while everyone was dealing with the pandemic. Maury County has grown so much in the past two years. With many people visiting from Williamson County, I decided to launch Williamson County Living magazine in May 2022 to provide those businesses and residents with localized positive content as well as another avenue for those Maury County businesses to reach the Williamson County market and vice versa. The two sister magazines complement each other, and businesses can now affordably directly market to households in each of these counties. In addition, once tourists started returning to Nashville, I began publishing another tourist resource guide. This annual coffee table-styled book goes into hotel rooms from Nashville to Franklin, allowing me to continue supporting the businesses I had relationships with before the pandemic.

 We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The hardest part about my endeavor was waiting out the pandemic since tourism was shut down. I went stir-crazy, and getting out in Maury County was the saving grace. I love getting out, meeting people, and telling their stories, and I was able to do this again when I started the new magazine even during the pandemic! Starting Maury County Living magazine brought normalcy back into my life during 2020 since tourism was still at a standstill.

 Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Music City Publications, Inc.?
As a female-owned business, I take pride in the fact that my team produces three high-quality publications at affordable rates for both local residents and tourists. It’s an amazing experience to have the privilege to meet so many local talented people and successful business owners while also working with publicists of high-profile people in the area to share their stories with the community. My goal is that the stories we write are a blessing to the community and business owners. Small businesses are the heart and soul of the communities, whether they have a brick-and-mortar store or restaurant, sell online, or are in the music business. Every day we should be thankful they exist because that’s what makes Middle Tennessee such a wonderfully unique place to live!

What are your plans for the future?
We just launched the new Williamson County Living magazine in May 2022, so at this time, we are settling in with that. However, we have been evaluating different areas to expand and look forward to seeing what 2023 holds.

Contact Info:

• Website: maurycountyliving.com and williamsoncoliving.com
• Instagram: @maurycountyliving and @williamsoncoliving
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maurycountyliving https://www.facebook.com/williamsoncoliving

Image Credits
Nathan Zucker, Ray Liz Studios, Jim Zuckerman, Brandon Wood – Indi Bling Studio, Jason Davis