Scotch Plains residents for over 16 years, Terry Azad and Veronica Kautz are the new owners of Scotch Plains City Lifestyle magazine, serving as Editor and Publisher, respectively. They credit the magazine's strong foundation as the ideal platform to expand upon with their own vision. Affectionately known as "the sisters" they are seen here brainstorming over their favorite cocktails.
As teenagers, Terry and Veronica used to spend summer days floating in their neighbors pool avoiding the list of chores their mom left for them on the kitchen counter. Even though the pool was not that big, they would hold onto each other's float so they couldn't drift apart. They dreamed of a future where they lived across the street from one another raising their imaginary kids more like siblings than cousins, and maybe - just maybe - owning a business together.
It was that summer that the sisters became best friends.
Fast forward to today, Terry and Veronica both live in Scotch Plains, less than 2 miles apart. They celebrate holidays as one family, go on vacations together and share a large group of mutual friends ("the friend group"). The stars aligned when Terry retired from her 30-year career in Commercial Real Estate, Veronica sold her interest in a Tech Start Up and Scotch Plains City Lifestyle Magazine became an ownership opportunity.
It was then that the sisters became business partners.
'Scotch Plains City Life Style Magazine gives us a chance to embrace the community we love. We're passionate about connecting people, businesses and stories that create bonds across all of us that call Scotch Plains and Fanwood home", says Terry.
And "home" is something that the sisters take very seriously. Having grown up in a big family on the north shore of Long Island, "39 Wilmont" set a high bar. Disguised as a big red house, 39 Wilmont was the center of the universe for Terry, Veronica, and their three other sisters. It is where backyard barbecues, family game nights, and Christmas mornings created countless memories, and a legacy for their parents. At 39 Wilmont the fridge was always stocked, the beer was always cold, and the porch light was on to welcome neighbors that would become life-long friends.
Veronica gets teary when she thinks of it all coming together. "The Scotch Plains Fanwood community has given us something we never thought possible...that feeling of home we were gifted in our childhood. To be able to give that to my own family is a dream. We have found home again in Scotch Plains."
We are Sisters. We are Partners. We are Friends.
We are SPF!