‘Quite the whirlwind’

A municipality in Northern Colorado known for its small-town feel, plains, mountains, rapidly growing population and sugar beets now has a new magazine, first published this March by 1992 Holyoke High School graduate Misty Dockins. “We all have a super power,” Misty states near the opening of her publication, Windsor City Lifestyle, “and mine is connecting others.” Its 36 pages – a size she eventually intends to double in future issues – details some of the food, markets, people and businesses found in the approximately 37,000-person Town of Windsor.
Misty, who currently resides just southeast of the town in the City of Greeley, said she has  “always been a curious person”; therefore, she believes telling “the stories of other people” to be “right up my alley.”
“The community of Windsor has welcomed me with open arms,” she said. “All of my partners are very excited and happy to be a part of it, and I’m adding new partners on a regular basis.”
Windsor City Lifestyle joins a group of nearly 200 City Lifestyle magazines, both planned and in operation, situated across the United States. City Lifestyle first launched in Fall 2019 from the creators’ hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, the magazine’s “About Us” page states, and aims to “set itself apart by positioning people first.”
“These authentic voices in each city,” according to the page, “are key drivers of the brand by providing an inspiring, genuine and trusted look at life in their communities.”
Though Windsor City Lifestyle’s March issue is Misty’s first foray into publication, she is helped in the role by significant experience in the realm of people. Her “diverse background,” she said, includes work in restaurants, bars, hospitality, hotels, automotive services and – most recently – the Greeley Area Chamber of Commerce, where she had served as business development specialist since April 2021.
While at the Greeley chamber, a friend of Misty who happened to own and publish Greeley Lifestyle magazine “saw the vision” of Misty’s next career trajectory. When City Lifestyle’s home office decided to start a publication in Windsor, Misty said, her friend “got wind of that” and promoted her for the position. By returning to Windsor, she steps back into a community she left in the mid-1980s during her sixth-grade year at Windsor Middle School, where Misty states she “first developed my love for bringing people together.”
“It’s quite the whirlwind,” she said. “Very exciting and scary, all at the same time.”
Her mother, Penny Dockins of Holyoke, has enjoyed watching Misty “grow and become the young lady and entrepreneur that she is.” In this respect, Penny continued, she “couldn’t be prouder.” Misty, meanwhile, expressed appreciation for Penny, who she called her “biggest cheerleader.”
“When she first told me about it, her eyes were just lit up,” Penny said. Once Misty and her husband decided to buy the franchise, she added, “she was out there, jumping.”
“The one day I was up there,” Penny noted, “she had eight people lined up to interview.”
For those who wish to become entrepreneurs in their own right, Misty has some advice: “Just go for it.”
“Don’t think of all the reasons why not to do it; think of all the reasons to do it,” she said. “Make sure it’s your passion. Make sure you’re surrounding yourself with like-minded people who can be creative with you.
“I’m a big advocate of surrounding yourself with good humans. I have been blessed to do that most of my life.”
Those who wish to subscribe digitally to Windsor City Lifestyle may go online to citylifestyle.com/Windsor.