Author: mollymessana

To your heart’s content in Hermit’s Cave

#FOWAllTrailsChallenge
Our route using the AllTrails app.

“I wish we’d brought Kermit to the cave of the hermit,” I said to Luca as we passed the trail marker. 

“But we’d probably need a permit to bring Kermit to the hermit,” he said matter-of-factly. 

“If your hand feels too clean, you can touch the ground and germ it.” 

“When the shoreline erodes, sometimes they berm it.”

“If you want straight hair to be curly, you can pin it or perm it.” 

“If your hook needs a lure, you can bob it or worm it.”

“To settle an issue quickly, you can try to short-term it.” 

“Did you enjoy the new film starring Dylan McDermott?!” 

“Mom, what are you even talking about?” 

In honor of my parents,
I’m challenging myself to hike all 50 miles of trails in Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley Park, raising funds for the Friends of Wissahickon, and sharing stories along the way.

Check out my tribute to Connie and Tom, and please consider donating.

Town and Country on the Cresheim Trail

#FOWAllTrailsChallenge
My route using the AllTrails app.

More to come

dobedobedoooo

The McCallum Street Bridge that spans above the trail blends into it, as well.

I’ll write stuff here later.

In honor of my parents,
I’m challenging myself to hike all 50 miles of trails in Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley Park, raising funds for the Friends of Wissahickon, and sharing stories along the way.

Check out my tribute to Connie and Tom, and please consider donating.

Motivation in Andorra Meadow 

#FOWAllTrailsChallenge
My route using the AllTrails app.

When the pandemic started and the world stopped, I began hiking again. Everywhere. I’d open the AllTrails app, pick a trail within an hour’s drive, and head out with my young son. Later a scrappy Basenji mix we adopted and named Lily Birdie, aka Lil’ Bird, also came along.  

Andorra Meadow was one of many new-to-me trails in that first isolated year. Winter was melting and the bright, neon green lichen covering the ground lifted my spirit. Luca’s vibe was opposite.

“How much longer?” he asked, over and over and over again, as he exaggeratingly stomped forward. Then he spotted a forest hut fashioned from fallen branches and promptly ran away to climb inside, smiling. 

Luca’s smile beamed from behind the branches.

His change in attitude felt familiar and reminded me of a story my family loves to tell. 

My mom on the Beehive Basin Trail in Montana, 1990s.

We were backpacking in Montana on the Beehive Basin Trail. My cousin Nikki and I were nearly out of steam as we trudged one heavy foot in front of the other up a hill. Our aunt Debbie and uncle Neil, and my mom and brother Ian, were already at the top. Neil could sense our lack of motivation, so he came up with one for us and excitedly yelled down.

“Girls! There’s a pop machine up here!” 

The race was on! The promise of a glacier-cold, carbonated beverage (that everyone outside of Minnesota calls “soda”) was exactly what we needed to cross the finish line. 

When we did, Nikki and I didn’t find a pop machine – just our family dispensing laughs. 

  • The Andorra Natural Area was once a tree nursery.
  • Luca and I wore masks outdoors back then in March 2021.
  • Nearly spring in 2021
  • This is my favorite part of the trail.
  • When I enter the meadow, I leave my worries behind.

In honor of my parents,
I’m challenging myself to hike all 50 miles of trails in Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley Park, raising funds for the Friends of Wissahickon, and sharing stories along the way.

Check out my tribute to Connie and Tom, and please consider donating.

Email Onboarding for Prevention

Customer Onboarding, Email, Prevention Magazine

Background: Flat sales and poor user experience led the Prevention folks to rethink how they were talking with their customers via email.

Step 1: Welcome them with 21 days of fun, informative emails that introduce the brand and its benefits, as well as sell Prevention-branded and Rodale products (books, DVDs, etc.)–without sounding like a sales pitch. (No big deal, right?)

The first three emails are shown below.

Subject Line: Welcome to Prevention

pvn-onboarding_day1

Subject Line: We’ve got exciting stuff to share

pvn-onboarding_day2

Subject Line: Tell us more about you

pvn-onboarding_day3

 

 

Step 2: Experiment! Topics, lengths, frequency, ratio of content to commerce–we tinkered with all the variables for over a year. And for most of that time, we were sending one email a day.  I was busy coming up with countless concepts and copy strategies.

Below are three of the best.

Subject Line: 4 Moves That Banish Bra Fat

pvn-onboarding_bra-fat

 

Subject Line: Start Your 2-Week Turnaround Now

pvn-onboarding_flat-belly-breakthrough

 

Subject Line: A Strong, Sexy Belly from Yoga? Yes!

pvn-onboarding_flat-belly-yoga

Branding for Men’s Health

Uncategorized

Screen Shot 2016-11-14 at 4.52.46 PM.png

The Assignment: Promote Men’s Health Fitness Director BJ Gaddour with a super cool landing page

The Audience: Men’s Health reader profile and reach to come 

Direct Mail for Prevention Magazine

Direct Mail, Prevention Magazine, Uncategorized

Background: Pioneers that they are, the folks at Prevention dropped all advertising in July 2016 and reenergized the brand with edgy health and wellness content. I wrote this brochure and order card to announce the big news.

Audience: former Prevention subscribers and recent customers across all Rodale brands