Former Senior Editorial Director for Twill Health | Award-winning writer, editor & content strategist | Clients include Everyday Health, NBC Universal, TODAY Show, EatingWell magazine, SAVEUR magazine, VinePair, SevenFifty Daily, Fodor's Travel... | Author of Jen's Candy Jar (artisanal recipe book) | Expertise in food, wine/spirits, lifestyle, health, mental health, and wellness. If you find a discontinued (or redirected) link, email me for the original article at: jen.a.laskey[at]gmail[dot]com
Jen's Candy Jar: Artisanal Candy Recipes for Holidays and Special Occasions
An eLIT BOOK AWARDS — SILVER MEDAL WINNER, Jen’s Candy Jar is a unique collection of recipes that celebrates the comeback of the artisanal candy-making tradition and embraces its author’s distinctive taste in sweets. Artisanal candy-maker and author Jen Laskey has honed in on her 10 favorite confections and given them a distinctly epicurean upgrade. This 76-page, richly-photographed eBook provides easy-to-follow step-by-step recipe instructions, candy-making tool and tip suggestions...
How Groundbreaking Distiller Nicole Austin Is Reinventing Tennessee Whiskey
Let’s cut right to the chase. By all accounts, Nicole Austin is one of the biggest badasses in American distilling today. She’s broken new ground at every career turn — from her early days bucking industry trends at Kings County Distillery, to her adventures co-founding two craft distilling trade organizations, to winning accolades for her first release as general manager and distiller at Cascade Hollow. Now, with the muscle of Diageo behind her and a vision for putting Tennessee whiskey back on the bourbon map, Austin is hitting new strides.
Breaking Barriers | N Magazine
In 2022, Nantucket resident Joshua Malitsky was trying to find a job for his son, Asher. Asher, who has autism, had just graduated from a post-high school program at the Riverview School, a Cape Cod-based educational institution for students with complex language, learning, and cognitive challenges. After seeing an online post from town manager Libby Gibson about the problematic trash situation on the island, Malitsky proposed a solution that would help them both...
Health disparities: How zip codes affect the health of Black women
Being healthy isn’t just about making smart choices and behaving in a certain way. Systemic and structural racism can stand between you and good health.
Independence as a Young Adult Living With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Independence is an important part of growing up and becoming an adult. For Kenan and Tristan, two young men living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disease, it’s essential to their quality of life.
What independence means and the path to getting there is unique to each person living with Duchenne. In addition to typical coming-of-age challenges, Tristan, 18, and Kenan, 19, focus on maintaining function and mobility at each stage of their disease...
Are Your Bipolar Disorder Symptoms Under Control?
The symptoms of bipolar disorder vary from person to person, but could you be doing more to control yours? Take this assessment to find out.
Learning to Value Being Respected Over Being Desired
It was during her senior year of college that Sabrina Qiao, 27, learned the skin rash she’d been trying to ignore was psoriasis — a chronic condition that can’t be cured. It was a tumultuous time of life for her. Like all people poised on the brink of adulthood, Sabrina was as focused on her future as she was on her grades.
“You’re trying to figure out who you are, where you’re going to work, who you want to be,” she says, adding that the diagnosis was a blow....
Cultivating Empathy for Everyone — Especially Herself
One morning, Joni Kazantzis woke up covered in itchy, scaly red spots. “It hurt to put clothing on,” she says. “I was losing skin all over the place.” Diagnosis: psoriasis.
Learning you have a skin condition that can never be cured and that you’ll need to manage for your entire life is tough. For Joni, who was 15, it was devastating. And like any teenager who longs not to stand out so much as fit in, Joni’s physical discomfort was nothing compared with the impact the disease had on her mental...
My Skin Is My Superpower
In his late teens, two significant things happened in Brandon Catapane’s life. He shared with his family that he was gay. And at the same time, the areas of dry skin on his scalp that had caused flakes to snow down onto his shoulders throughout his childhood — which he’d thought was dandruff — spread to his body. Soon enough, a dermatologist diagnosed psoriasis....
How Much Is Atopic Dermatitis Affecting Your Quality of Life?
Take this assessment to find out if there’s more you could be doing to manage your eczema and improve your quality of life.
Is Atopic Dermatitis Interfering With Your Body Image?
Take this quiz to get a better understanding of how atopic dermatitis may be affecting your self-esteem and the way you feel about your body.
Is Ulcerative Colitis Taking a Toll on Your Self-Esteem?
If you have an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) like ulcerative colitis, you’ve probably felt frustrated with your body — especially when you’re experiencing symptoms such as stomach pain or fatigue, or are in the middle of a flare.
Take this quiz to get a better understanding of how ulcerative colitis may be affecting your self-esteem and the way you feel about your body.
Is Your Ulcerative Colitis-Related Stress Under Control?
Everyone deals with stress from time to time, but people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may have more than their fair share.
Take this assessment to find out if there’s more you could be doing to manage stress — and what you can do to improve your quality of life.
How Well Is Your Ulcerative Colitis Treatment Working?
If you have ulcerative colitis, the right medication can help control your symptoms. But just as your condition can change over time, so can your body’s response to certain medications. How do you know if your treatment is really working or it’s time to make a significant modification to your regimen?
6 Unexpected Signs That Your Crohn’s Is Getting Worse
If you have Crohn’s, you’re probably all too familiar with the gastrointestinal (GI) signs of a flare. But there are other, more surprising signs that your disease is acting up, including symptoms that can affect your mouth, joints, and overall well-being....