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We all use the services of our local businesses to help support our communities, but do we really know the people we speak to on a daily basis? Well we are about to find out!
Pat focuses on Local Businesses
The brains behind the business, Michelle Mayo – QF Focus Magazine For those of you who know Michelle, you will know by her ever so slight accent that she comes from Newcastle, although she has been asked on a few occasions if she is Welsh!
Michelle moved to Spain in 2002 with her son Aidan, a few years after her parents, who she had visited frequently. She decided to take a career break so she could stay in Spain for a while, but never went back! She starting working in kitchens and doing waitressing jobs wherever she could just so she could afford to stay here. Michelle’s sister was also living here and she told Michelle of a lady she knew who worked for the Female Focus and suggested she send her CV to them as it would be ideal for her. Without Michelle knowing, her sister sent the CV for her and a few days later she got a call (while in the middle of grouting the bathroom) to go for an interview. It went so well that Michelle was offered the job, so in 2004 she started working for Female Focus Publications.
The Costa Blanca was booming at that time, but has since had a recession which Female Focus magazine came through. It is now in its 23rd year which shows what a success it is. Mark and Lesley, the owners of Female Focus Publications, became very good friends with Michelle, her family and the local businesses, Lesley, who usually works in the office even delivers some of the magazines herself as she likes to get out and about and meet the faces behind the adverts! They are not your typical bosses, they make everyone feel part of their family.
In April 2011 the 1st issue of what was then called Quesada Focus appeared. The magazine came about after another magazine stopped its publication and Michelle thought the area still needed a local magazine, and now 5 years later it is still going strong, in fact due to its popularity and appeal, it has expanded the number of copies and the distribution area now covers from Gran Alacant to Torrevieja, and therefore the name was changed to QF Focus.
Shortly after the Vega Baja edition of the Focus on Professional Services was launched. This six monthly magazine also goes from strength to strength. As you have probably gathered, Michelle is very passionate about her job with all three magazines.
Michelle met her husband Gary (or Spoon to those of us who have known him even longer), shortly after moving here, through mutual friends. They met in the July, got engaged in the December but it took them until 2014 to finally tie the knot. Their daughter Alicia was born in 2005 while they were still in the wedding planning stage! Both Aidan and Alicia have had Spanish schooling, and living in a Spanish village has made the Spanish way of life a big part of their family life.
Michelle has made many friends through working at the magazines, most of them started as business clients, but over the years that has changed, and she is very happy with the way her life in Spain has turned out.
QF Focus Magazine
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