"A good idea is worth about a buck and a half - it's all in the execution."

One of the things that most inspires me in my journey to live a more healthy, centred life is talking to others who are doing it. So from time to time, I’ll feature interviews here on Wholesome Hedonist of people who have taken the plunge and changed their lives for the better.

The first of these interviews is with Jamie Bussin, a commercial litigator-turned-publisher who is the driving force behind Tonic Toronto Magazine, a health and wellness magazine distributed in Toronto. As a relatively new magazine, Tonic has already developed quite a following, so I wanted to chat with Jamie about his venture.

You started your health and wellness journey five years ago by making some pretty drastic changes: you lost over fifty pounds and made a career 180. What prompted you to make these changes?

It all started with the weight. It was a problem in itself, but it was a factor in other problems too. It left me fatigued, weak and prone to illness, and it affected my ability to deal with stress. As a commercial litigator, people came to me during some of the most stressful times of their lives and they were relying on me to carry them through. As an overweight, stressed out, unfit person, I just couldn’t operate at my best.

I realized that if I didn't fix myself, I was not going to be in a good place. I was nearing 40, I was watching my father deal with numerous health problems and I was unhappy with my stressful career.  I knew I had to make a change.


How did you make the leap into publishing a health and wellness magazine?

Though it seems like a huge jump from being a litigator to being a publisher, it really wasn’t for me. I already had a background in writing - I had a humour column for Post City Magazine and I had written several screenplays, one of which had been optioned in Hollywood. As well, one of my clients was a publisher, so I knew the ins and out of the business.

I still use a lot of my skills as a litigator in running Tonic - for example, in negotiating contracts, in persuading companies to advertise with us, in dealing with my staff and partners, even in collecting debts. Writing the Editor’s Page is the fun part, but there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes.


What’s been your biggest challenge in running Tonic?

My biggest challenge was the start-up phase. The hardest part about the magazine business is that when you start, you have nothing. You’re trying to get advertisers to buy space in your magazine, but you can’t print that magazine until they buy space, so you have nothing to show them. I could’ve printed an initial 80 pages to show to advertisers, but I decided to only print as many pages as the ads allowed, so that was difficult.

What made it more difficult was that I had no background or connections in the health and wellness industry, so I really had to start from scratch. I was also responsible for generating advertising revenue, but I had no background in sales. Fortunately, as a litigator, I was trained to convince people, so those skills came in handy when I was trying to pitch the magazine to potential advertisers.


What’s been your biggest reward?

I love hearing that people read the magazine from cover to cover - that makes me happier than anything else.


What’s your advice to those looking to change careers like you did? What are your keys to success?

I firmly believe that a good idea is worth about a buck and a half - it's all about the execution.

You have to work beyond your fears. It's a scary concept to stop what you've been doing your whole adult life and change gears, but sometimes it’s what you have to do. Everybody has their own skill sets, and finding something that utilizes those skills (or transfers the skills you already possess) can make a huge difference.


I know health and wellness is an ongoing battle for you; you blogged last year about putting on some of the weight you lost. Many of us have had this same experience. What keeps you motivated and how do you get yourself back on the wagon?

I’m an emotional eater, and sometimes, I lack discipline. So I find that if I make a rigid rule, like ‘Don’t eat after 7 pm’, it’s easier for me to stick to it. Also, I’ve learned that making my goals public really keeps me on track. When I gained back about 20 pounds of the weight I had lost, I took drastic measures - I announced publicly my goal to lose the weight, and I even went so far as to tweet my weight every single day! Some might view this as a public shaming, but being so publicly accountable kept me on track - I lost the twenty pounds, and five more!


You’ve also talked about the fact that, as a Type-A personality, it’s hard for you to stay as calm and centred as you’d like (especially in the midst of stressful experiences.) What do you do to keep yourself centred and maintain your well being?

Exercise has been my salvation. Running clears my head and gives me a chance to work through my problems. I see running as a metaphor for the magazine - when I'm in the home stretch and I’m too tired to go on, I hear my own voice in my head saying 'don't give up!’

I also do yoga Friday afternoons. I really find it helpful. I tell my staff that if there's bad news, tell me after yoga, I'm much more relaxed!

I also believe in the importance of family mealtime (there’s a great article in the September issue of Tonic about this subject.) I have three kids, and our family eats together every night. Friday is my favourite night - everyone unwinds, relaxes, and shares experiences from the week.


What’s next for Tonic Toronto?

I’m happy to announce that we’re re-launching the website in the coming days so that it features all our editorial content (you can find it at tonictoronto.com.) We’re also extending the Tonic brand into events. I’m really excited about this because it means that we’ll be able to create a community outside of print and online to facilitate discussion and spark ideas.