For Immediate Release

Local nonprofit director turns entrepreneur

Courtesy of Emptymess.com

ORMOND BEACH – A local woman known for her dedicated service to Volusia County’s favorite nonprofits launched a company of her own.

Chances are if you’ve been to any local networking or skill building events, you’ve met Stephanie Mason-Teague. She’s been a well-connected part of the Daytona Beach business scene for years, working to bring arts and business together through her leadership over a decade at the Cinematique of Daytona Beach and more recently the Museum of Arts and Sciences.

But this smiling professional with great fashion sense, a firm handshake and impeccable articulation has also been “moonlighting” all these years as a full-time mom, wife and homemaker – or she was - until her youngest child left “the nest” in 2016.

In the years that followed, Mason-Teague, like so many other women realized her place in her home, family, and marriage had somehow changed without her doing anything intentionally to change it. She found herself wondering “How did I let my kids leave home without teaching them some really important life skills? Do I even know my husband anymore? Why do I suddenly need to drive a convertible at this stage in my life?”

As she pondered these important questions, she began a very private blog project to sort out her thoughts and feelings about her new place in her world. Over the months that followed, the writing took on a life of its own. Finally, after coaxing from friends and meticulous planning on her part, Mason-Teague is sharing her musings with world through her new website, EmptyMess.com.

Her writing is available to subscribers on the popular site Substack where notable journalists and essayists like Glen Greenwald and Bryan Collins now publish directly for subscribers, who receive subscription articles in their email as “newsletters.”

In addition to writing about her new role in life and rediscovering the joys and frustrations of marriage with her long-term spouse, Mason-Teague is developing short fun videos for future release, and curating an online store featuring an all-natural face and body cream she formulated herself. “The goal is really to create a community for people like me, who are at this place in life where everything is sort of new again, and hopefully this blog and this space can help us all relate and figure it out together,” Mason-Teague says.

She launched her company September 10, 2021 at a “Boss Lady” event for female entrepreneurs at the Plaza Resort and Spa in Daytona Beach by enrolling 50 subscribers to her Substack on her first day and handing out dozens of samples of her Shine Cream Oil body and face lotion. As she works to scale up production of her cream to meet rising demand, she continues to blog, and still manages to run a tight ship both at MOAS and at home.

The new company has put even more spring in her step. “These days, I wake up really excited about this whole project and meeting all the new people I hope to reach with this newsletter. It’s fun and it gives me something to look forward to every day.”

“Looking forward” for Mason-Teague includes more networking and business-building at the upcoming Positive Thought Alliance Conference in Deland, FL on Saturday October 2, 2021.

The daylong conference will give her more opportunity to meet face-to-face with people to welcome into her virtual community of fellow travelers. She concludes that anyone who has ever been married or in a relationship, whose chicks have left the nest, and who sees that life can be both hard and funny will love joining her community at EmptyMess.com.

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