Meet the ladies from Sophie magazine. Their hard work and dedication make the magazine the most stylish and informative women's magazine in WNC.


Jean Ann Taylor
Jean Ann Taylor grew up in Plant City Florida but she always knew she wanted to live in the mountains.

She has a degree in Home Economics from Mars Hill College and feels that Sophie is the perfect career for her as it encompasses all of her interests.

Jean Ann has two passions: dancing and sewing. Sewing allows her to express herself in a very unique way. She especially loves to make her own clothes by combining patterns to make original designs.

Her love of dance began as a young girl when she took ballet lessons. She has been ballroom dancing for 13 years, but has recently traded in her ballroom heels for a pair of boots. As a country dancer, Jean Ann enjoys performing and competing.

Her daughter Holly Ann, works at Western Carolina University and her son Rusty, is in the United States Air Force.



Biljana Kroll
I've always been fascinated with fashion and drawing. Since I was a little girl growing up in Macedonia, a small country on the Balkan Peninsula, I loved spending time with my grandmother, who was a seamstress. I have wonderful memories of her teaching me how to sew, knit, crochet and embroider during the long summer breaks. We would sit on her porch eating hand-picked cherries from her garden, chatting and knitting. I got my love for drawing from my mother. She is a very creative woman, who always encouraged my love for arts and crafts. She and my dad have been very supportive and sacrificed a lot for me to achieve my dream.

Carried by the desire to learn more about my interests, I came to the U.S. when I was 17 years old. It took all of my courage and sacrifice to do it at that age, but I feel like I made the right decision at the right time. I graduated high school from Interlochen Arts Academy where I majored in Visual Arts. I received a Bachelor's degree, majoring in Fashion and Interior Merchandising from Mars Hill College. Currently I am pursuing Masters in Graphic Design online at the Savannah College of Art and Design. I am also the lead graphic designer at Sophie responsible for page layout, fashion illustration and ad design.

What I love:
My husband Chad, my family, my black kitty Shadow, rollerblading, Martial Arts, painting, Star Trek, collecting bijoux jewelry, listening to world music, and chatting with my family and friends across the world on Skype.



Jennifer Leiter
I was born in Monterey, California to a Naval officer and his Danish wife. After living in California, Japan and Denmark for the first 5 years of my life, we moved to a Virginia suburb outside of Washington, DC.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Advertising from Virginia Commonwealth University in the great city of Richmond, Virginia. After graduating from college, I moved to Greeley, Colorado where I worked for a small newspaper in their graphics department for about a year. After moving back to Virginia, I worked for several small companies in various capacities as a graphic designer and from creating weekly publications to designing direct mail pieces.

When my husband, Marty, and I (mostly I) got pregnant, we decided to find a place to call home with a slower pace. My parents had retired to Asheville, and Marty and I had visited several times. We felt that it would be a good place to raise our family. After taking a year off to spend time with my new daughter, I got a job as a graphic designer with IWANNA. A few years later, I was lucky enough to start designing for Sophie magazine. After a few months, the editor approached me about writing a short article, or two. I was nervous, as I’ve never considered myself a writer. My career as a writer took off from there and I have certainly been bitten by that bug. I now regularly write "The Perfect Kitchen", "Jen's Kitchen", "Sophie Cooks!", and various other special interest pieces.

Besides writing and designing, I enjoy spending time with my husband, my children Emily and Nicholas, and our dog, cat and two fire-belly toads. I am an avid reader and crossword puzzle solver (some of the time). I love cooking and am intimidated by no recipe and I’ll try anything once.



Paula Goodblatt
I’ve come a long way since my small town upbringing in Elkhart, Indiana. I remember riding my bike along tree-lined streets to the pharmacy for candy, playing with my sister on the swing set out back, and my dad grilling burgers for us on a weekend afternoon while my mom poured us lemonades.

Whenever anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, it was always “an author” or “writer.” I started on that path at an early age, getting my first taste of journalism on my junior high newspaper. My first big front-page feature was the “Someone Special Award,” of which I eventually became a recipient myself.

I’ve stuck with newspapers and the communications field ever since. After college, I took my first job at the Rio Grande Sun newspaper in another small town this one in Espanola, New Mexico. I toughened up while writing about criminal cases in state district court and covering controversial school board meetings. I also became a bit of a world traveler, taking a Caribbean cruise and traveling to Athens and Rome.

Hoping for warmer weather and further adventure, I moved to Tampa, Florida. I tried my hand at corporate communications for an insurance company and health benefits writing. I met my husband (a native New Yorker), and we decided to move further north č ending up here in beautiful, friendly Asheville, NC. That’s about as far north as I prefer to move!

I became a contributor to Sophie magazine and Assistant Production Manager at the IWANNA newspaper.

When I’m not glued to the computer screen or hurriedly meeting deadlines, my husband and I venture out around WNC and the Charlotte/Lake Norman area.



Jordan Parker
Before I could write, I was writing. Granted, it was more like scribble, but I would fill up notebook after notebook of this "Jordanese" language, as my family liked to call it. When the time came when I could form coherent sentences, I was eager to write just about anything. Every day after school, I would hurry upstairs to my room so I could write in my journal. The same has always been for books. Once I learned how to read, I already had a stack of books on my bedside table waiting for me.

Being one of four siblings, I have a deep connection with my family. The combination of this familial connection along with my love for words has led me to become fascinated with the interaction between people, and the stories these interactions evoke.

It's no surprise, then, that I later majored in Creative Writing at UNC Asheville. While in school, I took many classes and workshops in Journalism/Newswriting, Creative writing, and Literature, eventually concentrating on Non-Fiction writing, which has helped tremendously in the publishing world.

I have lived in Asheville for five wonderful years, and can't imagine myself anywhere else right now. I first came to Sophie as an eager intern - interested in learning whatever I could about the magazine and publishing industry, and I was lucky enough to be brought on board this past November. Along with writing articles here and there each month, I edit the magazine in its entirety as well as put together Sophie's "What's Your Flavor," "Sophie Celebrates Women," the monthly calendar, and any other special monthly features. I am excited to be a part of such a fun and inviting women's magazine, and can't wait to see what's in store for it in the coming years!