#MediaMonday- Kristine Cannon

If you are new to our blog, welcome to our #MediaMonday. Each Monday, we post a blog to help our readers get to know the media just a little bit better. But rather than a plan ol’ professional bio and other Google-able information, we try to dig a little bit deeper to get to know the person, not just the “media contact.”
Think of it as your first “networking” opportunity of the week!
Today’s #MediaMonday comes to us from Kristine Cannon, editor of Scottsdale Living and associate editor at AZ Big Media, which also publishes AZ Business Magazine and Ranking Arizona, to name a few.
So, Kristine, time to share!
What do you want to tell the blogosphere about yourself today?
My mom has given me more advice and more words of wisdom than anyone I know growing up. From “that boyfriend of yours is a bum; get rid of him,” to “don’t let anything get in the way of your career.” But what has stuck with me the most — and proven true more often than not — is the age-old, “Kristy, always remember: the only thing constant in this world is change.”
Well, the past couple of years have been quite the whirlwind of change. And I haven’t even reached my quarter-life crisis yet.
When I graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2010, I was like all college grads — broke, desperate (for a job, of course), but determined. I was lucky to snag a job as office manager to pay rent, but it wasn’t until a seemingly life-changing car accident during an impromptu weekend trip in Flagstaff that really shook up my world.
In short, the careless driver going 60+ mph collided with my poor Cavalier, which was moving at a steady pace of about 20 mph, slowing for a left-hand turn. All I remember was waking up to a totaled car, which had crashed head-on into a tree off the side of the road, the front windshield cracked in several places, the back windshield disappeared entirely, my trunk squeezed into my backseat, and the passenger with a fractured spine. As for me? Well, it took the Jaws of Life to pull me out of the vehicle, but somehow I walked away with a few bruises, bruised ribs and one big decision to make. (After calling State Farm a few hundred times, of course, and coping with the passenger’s severe case of short-term memory loss for about three days.)
With no vehicle and no way of getting to work, my hours were cut in half. During my downtime, I realized that I needed to stop wasting time and take the next step to pursue what I wanted to do most at the time — work for a publication. After quitting, I spent two weeks scouring the Web for any writing positions and luckily stumbled upon one at AZ Big Media, where I work today.
I drop that word a lot — “lucky” — but timing had a lot to do with it, too. If I hadn’t left that weekend for a last-minute trip, I wouldn’t have wrecked my car, I wouldn’t have quit my previous position as office manager when I did, and I wouldn’t have landed a job at AZ Big Media as Associate Editor, with an emphasis on Scottsdale Living magazine — assigning and writing stories for both print and the Web.
Plans can quickly change, especially when you least expect it; but, it’s all about how well you can adapt to it. In college, I originally wanted to pursue writing about music and art (and I briefly did at The Lumberjack, NAU’s weekly paper), but now I find myself immersed in fashion trends, plastic surgery, interior design and all things Scottsdale. But hey, that’s what’s great about journalism, right? You learn new things every day and I love every single minute of it!
I’m fortunate to have a job doing what I love and I’m determined to continue working hard to get what I want most — to publish a magazine I can call my own.
Until then, if you ever want to get a hold of me with any story ideas for Scottsdale Living and/or to meet up for some iced coffee (especially at Fair Trade), please feel free to email me at kristine.cannon@azbigmedia.com. Or, come find me at possibly my favorite place in the Valley, Crescent Ballroom — or any other live music venue for that matter, including The Sail Inn, Rhythm Room, Yucca, Long Wong’s, etc.