The conversation started with storytelling.
It ended with a lesson about change.
My conversation with Boca magazine Editor-in-Chief Christiana Lilly was supposed to be all about leadership, local journalism, and the responsibility of helping tell a community’s story. As a Boca magazine contributor, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside Christiana and see that responsibility up close. It’s a responsibility she carries every day. Through Boca magazine and Palm Beach Media Group’s family of publications including Delray, Worth Avenue, The Boca Raton Charity Register, 1926, and Boca Chamber, Christiana and her dedicated team of writers, editors, and designers help shape stories that reflect the people, places, and ideas that define our region.
“We’re a part of the community and we’re talking to people, seeing what’s important to people. It’s not just the magazine anymore. It’s this almost 24/7 way to be involved,” said Lilly as she sat down to be a guest on The Paige Kornblue Show podcast.
But what made this conversation so meaningful to me was when we got to Christiana’s story and learned her perspective on change. Not the kind of change we choose. The kind that chooses us.
Christiana graduated from college during the Great Recession. Jobs were scarce. Journalism jobs were even scarcer. Instead of landing her dream role, she found herself working in a doctor’s office, making appointment calls and handling paperwork while continuing to pursue opportunities in journalism. Like so many of us at different moments in life, she wondered if she had somehow missed her chance.
Then came the unexpected turns.
A job interview that didn’t lead to the position she applied for eventually opened another door. A layoff during COVID pushed her into freelance work that ultimately prepared her for a leadership role she never imagined she’d hold. Years later, she would return to Boca magazine, not as a reporter or web editor, but as editor-in-chief.
Every month, her team is evaluating story ideas, identifying emerging voices, and deciding which conversations deserve a larger spotlight. It’s work that requires curiosity, judgment, and a deep understanding of community.
Listening to her story reminded me how often we confuse a chapter with the entire book.
We do it in our careers and our relationships and we certainly do it in grief. If you’ve lived long enough, you know things change and if you’re open to it, the next opportunity comes. The right person appears and the door opens.
One of the messages Christiana shares with young journalists is that life doesn’t always unfold in the neat order we expect. There will be surprises. There will be moments when the path forward isn’t clear. But there will also be opportunities you never saw coming.
“You might have setbacks. You might have the floor pulled out from underneath you. But you’ll figure something out, and these opportunities you never even knew existed will come your way,” said Lilly.
Maybe that’s what great storytellers understand better than most: No story is defined by a single chapter.
Not a magazine’s.
Not a community’s.
And certainly not our own.
Listen to this conversation in full on Episode 97 of The Paige Kornblue Show and watch here.
Community, Travel, Sports, The Paige Kornblue Show and more at PaigeKornblue.com
Instagram | Substack | YouTube
