Baton Rouge's #1 lifestyle magazine since 2005

15 years of 225

By
Jennifer Tormo Alvarez, Jeffrey Roedel and Cynthea Corfah
-

“It will be fun, but it won’t be fluff.”

These were the words of 225 publisher Julio Melara in November 2005, when he wrote his first column introducing the magazine.

“Our mission is to become the indispensable guide to living in the Capital Region,” he wrote. “We’ll be a provocative, yet familiar, friend, and we’ll make a difference as we build our city of the future.”

Here we are, 15 years into that future. And what a ride it has been! We’d like to think we’ve made a difference, as Julio promised. But as our staff dug through hundreds of pages from the 225 archive, gathering research for this issue, one thing did become clear. 225 is a time capsule, a chronicle of an ever-changing city. Each issue of this magazine freezes in time all the hopes and dreams of those who were interviewed in it.

As the creatives who make this magazine, we routinely crank out an issue, put it on stands and move on. It’s not that we’re not proud of our work. It’s just that we’re too busy hustling to put together the next one, so we rarely have time to stop and reflect on our accomplishments. The great thing about a project like an anniversary issue is the rare chance it gives us to look backward. This time, we realized something: The same phenomenon happens with our city.

Life moves so quickly and is so fraught with challenges that we rarely slow down to appreciate what we’ve achieved in Baton Rouge—or to celebrate all that we’ve risen above.

Thank you for reading 225, for letting us be your provocative yet familiar friend. We hope this issue makes you proud to live here. But more than that, we hope it helps you realize Baton Rouge wouldn’t be where it is today without its most important ingredient: all of you.

225 BY THE NUMBERS

15 YEARS LATER: RENEE CHATELAIN

14 YEARS LATER: COLLINS PHILLIPS III

7 YEARS LATER: NICK HUFFT

3 YEARS LATER: MAXINE CRUMP

MORE THAN AN AREA CODE

A LOOK BACK ON 15 YEARS OF ‘225’ COVERS

A TIMELINE OF HOW ‘225’ HAS EVOLVED DIGITALLY

MEMORIES FROM CURRENT AND FORMER ‘225’ CONTRIBUTORS

This cover story was originally published in the November 2020 issue of 225 Magazine.
Jennifer Tormo Alvarez
By Jennifer Tormo Alvarez
Jennifer Tormo Alvarez was the editor of “225” for nearly 11 years, leading the magazine through two print and digital redesigns, three anniversary years, a flood and the pandemic. She is obsessed with restaurant interiors, sparkling water, Scorpio astrology memes and, admittedly, the word “obsessed.” She is willing to travel to see indie bands in concert, but even better if they play a show at Chelsea’s Live.
Jeffrey Roedel
By Jeffrey Roedel
Jeffrey Roedel is a media producer for Louisiana Economic Development, a spoken-word poet and the former editor of 225 Magazine. He maintains long-running columns about creativity for inRegister and Louisiana Life magazines, believing everyone can be and should be creative in their lives. Standing at 6'6," he's often mistaken for a pro basketball player, and he just might be the tallest culture writer in the tristate area (though editors have yet to fact check this.)
Cynthea Corfah
By Cynthea Corfah
Cynthea Corfah is a multimedia journalist, community builder and passionate eczema advocate. As a true arts lover and "Essence" contributor, she has interviewed music stars like Coi Leray, captured the energy of epic Boiler Room DJ sets and profiled influential fashion designers. Through partnerships with brands like Pfizer and WebMD, she sparks honest and impactful conversations about life with eczema and promotes inclusive skin representation.

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