GIL COHEN—Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Cohen has been with Omaha Magazine for 13 years, but he said the past three months have been the most challenging and the most rewarding. The challenging part is trying to sell advertising when businesses are not sure when and if they will reopen. The rewarding part is the way the Omaha community has banded together, how businesses have strived to stay open despite having to re-engineer their business plans, and how for-profit and nonprofit organizations have pooled resources to help those in need, including folks who never needed help before. Cohen has had great conversations with some of the Omaha area’s top business leaders and they, and he, are optimistic that things will bounce back and be better than before.
Jenna Gabrial Gallagher—Contributing Writer
Gallagher grew up in Omaha and New England reading fashion magazines—and eventually went to work for one, Harper’s Bazaar: first in the classic Devil Wears Prada role, then later as a features editor. She has written and edited several books, including the Louis Vuitton City Guide series for Paris and New York, Harper’s Bazaar’s Greatest Hits and Mary Mitchell: Drawn to Fashion about wonderful Omaha fashion illustrator Mary Mitchell. Gallagher is currently a freelance writer and editor, specializing in dining and entertaining, home décor, fashion, travel, and other lifestyle topics, and can be found on Instagram at @thebeaspora. She lives with her husband, a neurotic Maltese, and three funny little girls in a home where she’s hosted concerts, fundraisers, and even a few weddings.
Andrea Kszystyniak—Contributing Writer
Kszystyniak (pronounced Kiss-Tin-Knee-Ack) moved to Omaha in 2013 to work at the local newspaper. Kszystyniak left the job but stuck around Nebraska and has since co-founded Omaha Zine Fest, an annual event celebrating self publishing. When they’re not making zines as part of Rowdy Boys Zine Collective, they’re feeding their worm farm, trying to get back into fermentation, or reading extensively about mental health and trauma. Abolition, mutual aid, and leftist politics are a big part of Kszystyniak’s life, as is their really fussy 12 year-old-cat, Scout. Kszystyniak has worked in arts and culture journalism since they published a review of Aqua Teen Hunger Force in their high school newspaper 15 years ago. Getting to write about the things they love for other people continues to be a delightful surprise.
Douglas “Otis Twelve” Wesselmann—Columnist
Wesselmann won a Debut Dagger from the British CWA for his novel Imp: Being the Lost Notebooks of Rufus Wilmot Griswold in the Matter of the Death of Edgar Allan Poe. His first novel, On the Albino Farm, is was serialized last month on his blog, douglaswesselmann.com. Wesselmann's novel Tales of the Master (Grief Illustrated Press) was released in 2016. He has been a fixture on Omaha radio/TV for 40 years and currently hosts the morning show on Classical 90.7 FM. Despite rumors to the contrary, Wesselmann lives in the middle of North America, though he is considering moving to one of the edges.
This article first appeared in the June 2020 issue of Omaha Magazine. Click here to subscribe to the print edition.
