More News

Everyone has a dream, and Clinton resident Kanika Tolver hopes to share hers while helping others, promoting artists and entrepreneurs throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia in her recently launched online magazine.

Tolver, 26, launched the online magazine AMADI, which means birth and rejoice, in October, putting in long hours with two other young entrepreneurs who hold down full-time day jobs as they work to get their Web site through its pivotal first six months.

Tolver — an IT professional for the government by day and a producer and writer by night — and staff writer Toccara Lanett, 25, of Greenbelt — a real estate investor — have been able to make the most of their nights and weekends by telecommuting for the magazine, writing their articles at home and then uploading them to the site without having to meet in person.

"We knew a lot of people in our age group who had 9-to-5 [jobs] and were doing something on the side, and we wanted to showcase that," Lanett said.

In addition to Tolver and Lanett, who have been friends since grammar school, the team also consists of Web developer Jonathan Swann, 22, of Fort Washington, who is finishing up his last year at Bowie State University, studying visual communications and digital media arts.

The three staffers only met for the first time last week to discuss advertising and marketing in an effort to expand the Web site.

The meeting was the first time Lanett and Swann met, even though they have been working together since October, sharing documents and information online, Tolver said.

For now, Tolver said she will be focusing on marketing and advertising, looking to local businesses and AdSense, an advertisement application run by Google, to make the magazine profitable.

"We're going to keep it small for now," she said. "Once we're more stable we'll be ready to branch out."

Tolver has big plans for the magazine, including a print edition, event-hosting and even a clothing line.

Traffic is growing, and the site is seeing about 2,000 visitors a month, she said. Once a month, the AMADI site (www.amadimag.com) is refreshed with monthly articles on business, fashion, art and music, as well as photos and videos.

Matthew Horne, an author and motivational speaker from Fort Washington, was featured in the November issue of AMADI. Horne started his Fort Washington-based company, Optimum Success International, two years ago and hosts motivational lectures nationally as well as trains others to be motivational speakers.

Lanett "asked relevant questions, and the interview didn't drag on," Horne said. "It's one of the better articles that has been written about me."

Every time a new article is added to AMADI, Tolver and Lanett post the article to their Facebook pages, Horne said, adding that he received a good deal of positive comments online and from people he would run into on the street.

Lanett said they haven't had trouble finding people, such as Horne, to cover, adding that the area is rich in performers and entrepreneurs.

"We will always have something to cover. Always," she said.