Welcome to Ohio Authority!

Ohio's premier online magazine

This site was made possible by the efforts of a talented community of writers, designers, editors and illustrators who share a strong commitment to promoting Ohio. We are based in northeast Ohio, so much of our content will relate to the North Coast. However, we chose to extend our scope of coverage to the entire state, as there are too many amazing people, places and events throughout the state to limit ourselves

The authority in OhioAuthority.com comes from the community of veteran journalists, writers and experts who give the site credibility. We have removed much of the anonymity associated with traditional media, and we encourage you to leave comments and email us. The contemporary design is more than just a nod to aesthetics: it will help make it easy to find what interests you – from stories and photos, to audio and video that are updated daily.

We are an independently owned and operated company based in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. We feature stories about Ohioans, written by Ohioans for Ohioans on a site designed and edited by Ohioans. As a small business, we understand the importance of partnership, and we are committed to partnering with like-minded local businesses. In a down economy, local businesses need to support each other more than ever. We are a young company, founded by two experienced journalists who were inspired by the positive and forward-looking business developments surrounding them in northeast Ohio. 

We stood in awe as Jonathon and Amelia Sawyer opened one of the country’s most ambitious restaurants, The Greenhouse Tavern, on Cleveland’s East Fourth Street, uniting their youthful exuberance and ambition to create a unique – and delicious – enterprise that has grown in the face of the recession. They’ve influenced tastes, and encouraged many Clevelanders to go green, leading by example as the state’s only certified green restaurant. 

We were inspired by the likes of Danielle DeBoe, who returned to Cleveland after a stint in California to pursue the dream of owning a boutique. Now, as the style-savvy owner of Room Service, her vision is a testament to what hard work and energy can bring to a neighborhood. Her optimism and faith in Cleveland led her to create the Made in the 216 series, where she has gathered the region’s most talented artists and designers for showcases of local talent that would make even the most jaded Clevelander proud of his or her hometown.

We were delighted by the story of University Heights resident Michelle Mismas, who started a blog on a whim – and now has major beauty brands reading and listening, along with tens of thousands of consumers that look to her for the latest news and trends.

We listened to Cleveland’s Afternoon Naps as OhioAuthority.com moved into the final development stages. The group, led by Tom Dechristofaro and Leia Hohenfeld, create the type of musical escapism that transcends all time and place, but finds a particularly poignant home in northeast Ohio. Their unique brand of pop idealism matched the positive developments throughout Ohio that we hope to capture on these pages. 

As the former editors of Northern Ohio Live magazine, we were lucky to work with some of the region’s most talented writers, designers and photographers. We had the privilege of meeting many personalities whose character, talent and expertise have shaped our region. You’ll find many of the people we’ve found so inspiring and engaging now contributing to OhioAuthority.com. We look up to writers such as Carlo Wolff, Gail Bellamy and Bev Shaffer, so we’re proud to publish their work under the OhioAuthority.com banner. We are honored to have expert musings on myriad subjects from the likes of Velvet Tango Room owner Paulius Nasvytis and chef Stefanie Paganini featured on our pages. We are truly humbled by all our contributors’ eagerness to contribute to OhioAuthority.com, and we know you’ll enjoy reading and watching them here. 

We also think it’s important for you to know what OhioAuthority is not. We’re not affiliated with a major publishing house, or managed by corporate interests outside the Buckeye State. We’re not a travel site, or an endless list of links – there are already plenty of sites that do those things. We hope you’re looking for something else – a place to find stories about the people, places and things that shape our communities and neighborhoods. In short, a place to find other people like yourself, and to rediscover everything you love about where you live.

As former print magazine editors, we are passionate about media and about the quality of media in Cleveland and beyond. Great cities don’t deserve great publications – they work for them. We believe in continually re-establishing high standards for our profession, and we are starting with OhioAuthority. 

So, look around. Read. And let us know what you think. We have many more contributors making OhioAuthority.com debuts in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

Ivan J. Sheehan & Sarah R. Sphar