About us

Georgia Family magazine is Central Georgia’s only parenting publication. Since 1993, the magazine has empowered our 45,000+ readers as they face today’s choices and challenges, throughout all stages of parenting. While we may not be the experts on everything parenting, we are committed to finding the best available information for parents who are intent upon helping their children live up to their highest potential. Georgia Family has proven to be the place to go to find out what to buy, what to read and watch, and where to go with kids in Middle Georgia.

Georgia Family was the first regional parenting publication in the nation to encompass articles geared toward parents of tweens and teens as well as younger children. It has consistently won national awards from the Medill School of Journalism for both its editorial and graphics. It has won numerous awards in the categories of Excellence, Best Writing, Best Layout, and Best Reviews.

Along with the incredible joyful, funny, excruciating, and unique experiences that parents through the ages have experienced, today’s parents are faced with the most exciting and ever-changing environments ever. Today’s dads are more involved in parenting, most mothers have outside jobs, and extensive worldwide media can be downright confusing. We aim to help parents navigate this world of change with the fewest impediments with our printed edition of Georgia Family Magazine as well as our digital edition.

GEORGIA FAMILY MAGAZINE MASTHEAD

Publisher Olya Cannon Fessard founded Georgia Family Magazine in March 1992. Prior to that, Olya graduated from Mercer University and completed two years of graduate study at Georgetown University Graduate School. Her experience includes several years in foreign service with the Department of State with tours in Paris, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C.. After marriage, she started a French restaurant, Le Normandie, (yes, “le”—after the ocean liner) with her husband, a French chef, in Georgia where their clients often included such notables as Dan Rather, Sam Donaldson, Kenny Rogers, and President Jimmy Carter. She has traveled extensively in Europe and the Middle East. Following the closing of the restaurant, Olya returned to graduate school at Mercer in order to earn a teaching certificate in learning disabilities. After becoming frustrated with the demands of the public school system that learning disabled children be taught in the same way as regular students, Olya decided that she could help these children better, albeit indirectly, by keeping parents abreast of ways they can help their children to develop and maintain learning and social skills.

Managing Editor Veronique Saiya is a graduate of Goucher College in Baltimore with a BA in Psychology. Before she joined Georgia Family in 2002, Veronique taught at The Frazier Center in Atlanta, a preschool that served both typical and special-needs kids. She and her husband Ken are now the proud parents of one-year-old Gabrielle Shay Saiya.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF + PUBLISHER

Olya Fessard

EXECUTIVE EDITOR + CREATIVE EDITOR

Veronique F. Saiya

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Shelly Gable

Sandra Gordon

Katherine Walden

DIGITAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Jennifer Hubbard

COPY EDITOR

Shelly Gable

PHOTOGRAPHY

JOM III Gallery LLC

Bonnie Iris Photography

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Olya Fessard

478.471.7393

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Tammy Holloway

478.320.5700

GEORGIA FAMILY MAGAZINE

523 Sioux Drive

Macon, Georgia 31210