JOHN ARVANITIS
Administrative assistant John W. Arvanitis is a recent graduate of Western New England University with a degree in sustainability and marketing. After working in business support roles for various clean-energy cooperatives in Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley, John’s focus shifted towards the creative economy. Since 2013, he has consulted with the Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative; written, starred in, and produced an indie film; and volunteered with his local cultural council.
IZZY BERDAN
Izzy Berdan's colorful background includes dance club promotions, interior/furniture design, an advice column, dog walking, singing and dancing, a number of nonprofits, and artistic activism. For the last decade he's been day-working as a creative director in Boston and night-working as a photographer. When asked to describe the thought process behind his collections he said, "These are all running themes inside my head, and if I don't get them out I'll go crazy." Izzy joined the Take team as photo editor after losing a card game with Kusek, and still claims he was unaware of the bet he was making.
TIM FISK
Operations & finance director Tim Fisk is a strategic management and finance consultant with over 17 years of experience working with startups, businesses in transition, and vertical integration both in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Tim has served as a finance director, business manager, and director of operations in New York City, Seattle, and in western Massachusetts. He can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, serve it at a dinner party, and sing a song about it afterward.
EMILY HANNIGAN-PAGE
Social Media Manager Emily Hannigan-Page graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication. She has always been deeply connected to the New England music scene, holding positions at recording studios, record labels and a musical theater company during her college career. Emily is a Northampton native with a love for her home and an eagerness for the open road—she currently lives in Salt Lake City, UT just for the adventure of it. If it were up to Emily she would abandon all modern technology and live remotely in the woods forever but her addiction to memes keeps that fantasy from unfolding.
JENNIFER HAYES
Production manager Jennifer Hayes has been a New Englander all her life and has been fortunate enough to work on many successful, dynamic startups in the area. She has been the director of large-scale organizations and managed local, community businesses. A strong believer in public service, she is an elected official in her hometown and uses her organizational skills to help foster innovation in city government. With a background in fine art and antiques appraisals, she is uniquely positioned to wrangle the fast-paced world of arts and culture. She has a profound fondness for post-it notes.
STACEY KORS
Stacey Kors's career has come full circle: from working as a college intern for the region's first high-end culture magazine, New England Monthly, to heading its next, Take, today. Over the two decades in between, the New York native worked as an editor, music critic, and arts features writer, bringing her passion for the arts and the written word to the pages of numerous publications including the Financial Times, NY Times, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, and TimeOut New York. She's thrilled to be living and working in Western MA once again, because, well, she really loves kale.
MICHAEL KUSEK
For over 20 years, publisher Michael Kusek provided strategic public relations, marketing, branding, and event management services to a portfolio of national and regional organizations, individuals, and businesses. During a few of those years, while working as the marketing manager at the alt-weekly newspaper The Valley Advocate, he came up with the idea to start Take Magazine. He thought this would be a great way to write about — and put to work — the deep pool of creative contacts that he made from all over New England.
RICHARD MORTENSEN
Richard Mortensen, our Director of Sales and Partnerships, is a locally grown sales guru with 15+ years worth of experience. Celebrated for his leadership and performance, Richard has a long track record of driving results. His diverse background in industries ranging anywhere from food to fashion makes him an invaluable member of the Take team. Richard is passionate about community outreach and does a lot of volunteer work in his free time. When he is not working with Take, he runs mancancook.com, a catering business based in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.
ANGELA PESSOLANO
Angela Pessolano is a seasoned publicist specializing in lifestyle and culture brands. Angela focuses on bringing the brand's story to life through earned media coverage and unique, innovative events. She has worked at some of the top agencies in New York City and Boston, where she worked with clients such as Procter & Gamble's beauty and grooming brands, Seventh Generation, J. Jill and TomTom. While attending Villanova University, she interned at the Vatican in Rome.
JANET REYNOLDS
Web editor Janet Reynolds has been working in media — newspapers, magazines, radio, online — literally forever. Some might say this means she's old; she prefers to think it means she really knows her shit. Be it breaking news or the latest and greatest in lifestyle magazines, Janet loves all things media. She's also pretty obsessed with her 85-pound lab, Echo, playing the cello, and gin and tonics on the porch in summer.
AARON TAYLOR-WALDMAN
Aaron Taylor-Waldman, a native Vermonter, is a graphic designer and creative director with over twelve years of experience working with startups, non-profits, agencies, musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, coffee roasters, and butcher shops. In addition to art directing Take Magazine, he runs ATW Media, an award-winning design studio in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife Sarah and their dog Cody. He has worked at top design and advertising agencies in New York, cofounded a daily culture podcast, and licensed original electronic music compositions to PBS.
DEBBIE WAY
Managing editor Debbie Way has always loved making things: sculpture, sourdough bread, crafts, clothing, jewelry -- as well as plans, connections, and terrible jokes. She was born and raised in New Jersey, but ancestral ties to New England drew her to Massachusetts for college and beyond. An affinity for words and language led her to join the editorial staff of several national magazines that were, for a time, based in Northampton, MA. Debbie has been active in the local music and arts scene for as long as she’s lived here, but never got to combine her career with her extracurricular interests until arriving at Take.