‘Ah Ha’ moment that led to launching this business: My first corporate job in 2004 had me altering images of people’s (including my own) faces. Spending so much time distorting and reworking myself, essentially who I was—my identity—began to take its toll. I didn’t want to spend my time as a guinea pig, manipulating my then 25-year-old face, so that my company would have a “perfectly” proportioned scale to work with. I wanted to leave work feeling fulfilled, not inadequate. Hence, Identity Magazine was born.

Ideal customer: Any woman who has invested in personal development, self-help books, and reading self-help magazines or online blogs. Women who may read Oprah or Chicken Soup for the Soul also fit in our target.

First customer: I landed my first reader because they were my friends and family. Therefore, building awareness was at first from word of mouth.  My first paying client wasn’t until 2009 and it was out of the “know, like and trust” relationship.

Read full article here

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…

We are all individual in our thoughts, interests, beliefs, and experiences. Each of us harbors our own fears, doubts, questions, and insecurities. That’s why we bring you a positive and safe place to turn for information, inspiration, support, sharing, and permission to just be who you are.

We’re not all about the latest and greatest diets, fashion fads, celebrity chatter, and beauty miracles—there’s enough of that out there—and there is no quick fix when it comes to your health. Identity’s purpose is to encourage our readers to embrace their inner selves, to love who they are, and to achieve their potential without comparison to anyone else.

Our articles and insights are hand selected to reflect these important philosophies of self-love and self-help. They are meant to guide so that you see yourself in the best possible light, as you always should.

So, celebrate your lives, your bodies, your successes, and your imperfections.

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
Yes, we donate to OneSimpleWish.org, a site where you grant wishes to children and families in need. For my 30th birthday I wanted to grant 30 wishes and was able to grant 39 wishes. I actually won an award, and I have the event  on Sept. 24th. I have a video for the success of the wishes. The second charity is from our 48-state tour – The B.I.G. Scholarship Fund – which is geared towards helping Juniors and Seniors in High School to pursue their business idea.

Read full article here

WLBz 2 News

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — A tour focused on empowering women in the U.S. kicked off in the Queen City Thursday evening.

The ‘Identity 5′ workshop looks to instill confidence in women by promoting self acceptance. It was put together by Susan Vernicek who founded the online women’s magazine ‘Identity.’

She says women’s portrayal in the mainstream media can cause many females to reach for unattainable standards. Through discussion and reflection she is hoping to help women achieve in life through recognizing both their strengths and flaws.

“They share their stories to help other women just accept who they are, appreciate who they are and be able to achieve on a much greater level once they do that,” Vernicek said, “It’s not settling…it’s just owning what you’ve got going on and then appreciating so you can achieve and move forward.”

The tour will be stopping in 48 states over the course of 2012. Some of the proceeds raised from it will go to support the B.I.G. Scholarship Fund for female high school entrepreneurs.

WHARTON, NJ ( September 24, 2011) – Entrepreneur, Susan Vernicek, 30, is launching a 48-state book tour entitled, “Identity Five Tour – A Touring Workshop with a TWIST!” Vernicek recently celebrated the publishing of her first MagBook, which is a compilation of articles and reader contributions from her online magazine, Identity (www.identitymagazine.net) that encourages women to strive for acceptance, appreciation, and achievement, helping women get all A’s in the Game of Life. The first workshop will be held Thursday, November 3, 2011, 6:30-8:30 p.m at the Four Points, Sheraton on Bangor, Maine.



“Identity’s first online issue was in 2006, and was designed to empower women to Accept. Appreciate. Achieve.™ I didn’t know what would happen. I took a risk and am so happy I did!” said Vernicek. “The Identity MagBook came about because readers asked me to take my website content and create a book – they wanted to be able to take Identity to the beach, on an airplane, or in the car. I also wanted a unique way to archive the first three years of the online magazine. I can’t wait to bring Identity across the country!”

The “Identity Five Tour – A Touring Workshop with a TWIST” is a two-hour intimate workshop. There are hundreds of books out there that may give some guidance or shed some light on self-esteem. But, how many times have you read a book and wished you could immediately implement the message in your life to affect real change? Wouldn’t it be great to meet the author, pick their brain, and spend time with other women who are just like you? This is it, now is your chance to do just that! The Identity 5 Tour is a workshop designed around the Identity Magbook and the Identity 5 questions.

“The Identity Five are five questions I developed to help women dig deep and self reflect,” said Vernicek. “I use them, they are a feature in Identity’s Scratch the Surface articles, and my goal is to have book tour attendees answer the Identity Five (participants don’t have to share their answers). It’s a great tool to learn more about yourself and grow as a person, which is part of Identity’s mission.”

Four Points, Sheraton is the first of the 47 other book tour/workshop stops. A schedule is being planned and will be posted on Identity’s tour website (www.identity5tour.com) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/identitymagazine) as book tour dates become available.

By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Last week I was honored, flattered and extremely surprised to learn that a TPE had a tattoo with "TPE" permanently inked on her body. Check out the pics below to see Susan Vernick’s wicked tribute to all of the organizations that she claims has helped her become the success she is today.

Susan is the CEO and founder of Identitymagazine.net, a great resource dedicated to empowering women as well as a loyal TPE and a great entrepreneur. I saw a few pics on Facebook, with a Tweet about her new tat and was floored! We made the cut!

Susan, thank you for the homage, and congratulations on your sweet ink. You just made the TPE hall of fame!

By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Local Woman Makes Her Passion Happen With Online Magazine and Book

It took discontent with a job that focused on women’s beauty for Jefferson Township resident Susan Vernicek to launch “Identity” magazine.

“I worked as a graphic designer for a company where they put a lot of effort into plastic surgery, and changing women’s faces and bodies to be something they’re not,” Vernicek said. “I got to the point where I was obsessed. I was very critical of my own face. It got to be crazy after a while.”

And so was born “Identity,” an online magazine dedicated to making women feel safe and comfortable with themselves. Vernicek coined the tag line “accept, appreciate, achieve” as the magazine’s mission, because that’s just what she wants women to do.

“I want ‘Identity’ to be a site that embraces women,” Vernicek said. “I’ve found everyday women that I’ve tapped as mentors. It’s just women helping other women through every day.”

The online magazine was born in 2006, after years of work on Vernicek’s part. She started working on it on a part-time basis in 2005.

“I had no business background when I started, and no contacts at first either,” she said. “I took classes, went to networking events, and learned what I needed to know one step at a time. I’m still learning, every single day,” she said.
“Identity” thrives using sponsors, and one of Vernicek’s main supporters is BIG, Believe, Inspire, Grow. The support, education and networking group supports  the efforts of female entrepreneurs. Vernicek leads a local group of BIG women in Sparta.

“I get to help women get their businesses going. I help them find their passion and take it to the next level,” Vernicek said. “The people at BIG and I have grown to know, like and trust each other. I hope that we can continue to grow with each other.”

Growth is another of Vernicek’s goals and to that end, she wanted to be working on the magazine full-time. She was able to do that in 2009.

Another goal was to write a book, and she was able to accomplish that as well. The first edition of the “Identity” magbook is a collection of articles from the magazine, as well as a short autobiography of Vernicek.

The book is available at “Identity’s” web site, www.identitymagazine.com, as well as through Amazon, Bares & Noble, and booksamillion.com. The first edition has been released, with the next coming out in about two weeks.

Inspirasoul

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Jennifer Rogers interviews Susan Vernicek, click here to listen!