Five Fantastic Beachwood Women: Susan Borison

Susan Borison

It didn’t make sense.

Four years ago, during a conversation with other moms, Susan Borison said the question kept coming up: Why were store shelves flush with parenting magazines for babies and toddlers, but nothing for when those kids grew up to be teens?

A year later, and without a bit of business or publishing experience, she offered a solution with the first issue of Your Teen magazine. The quarterly publication she started with friend and  member Jennifer Tramer features advice about raising an adolescent using both experts and other parents as sources. 

“When kids get older there’s a very big shift in sharing information,” said the mother of five, including three teens, a 21-year-old and a pre-teen. “It’s much more difficult to get that strength and support.”

She said the magazine fills a very real need. Often parents are afraid to ask questions for fear that it will reflect poorly on their parenting skills, and some feel they’re betraying their teen by discussing personal issues with others. One of the ways Borison said the magazine really aids is helping parents distinguish between what is normal behavior for a teenager, and what is a cause for concern.

“None of us have a clue of what is normal when raising teens,” she said, adding as an example: “If they’re spending a lot of time in their bedroom, it could be depression or it could be a normal part of development.”

The publication, which can be purchased at  and  stores in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania, is designed and created at the kitchen table of Borison’s Beachwood home with a staff of 10, including managing editor and co-publisher Stephanie Silverman. They’ve all had to learn how to run a business and create a magazine along the way, she said, but the reward is the feeling that they’re actually helping parents just like them.

“We’re creating a dialogue about what are the real things to worry about when raising teens,” she said. Another way they’ve done that is with wildly successful public forums they’ve held locally where issues relating to parenting teens are discussed with a panel of experts.  The next one, about teen sexuality, will be April 14 at the Ratner School in Pepper Pike.

Visit the Your Teen Magazine website for more information, including how to subscribe.

Look for the remaining parts of this series Wednesday and Thursday on Beachwood Patch.