When inRegister launched in 1989, co-founder Chris Russo Blackwood had no idea that high interest rates and casual sexism practiced by loan offices would be the least of her worries. After the death of her business partner Wanda Horn in 1997, Blackwood, who had worked previously for The Advocate, found herself reassessing her entrepreneurial goals, understanding that the venture—a publication dedicated to the stylish and humanitarian human interest stories of Baton Rouge—would need to adapt not just to a change in leadership, but to a change in the way the world consumed media in the first place. Later, inRegister entered the umbrella of Louisiana Business Inc., ever-evolving into the publication you know and love today—combining a love of style and design with the celebration of local achievers and nonprofits.

Maybe you also recognize Blackwood’s name as the co-owner of RussoRoss Boutique, or as the author of the 2017 true-crime novel My Brother’s Keeper. Over the years, Blackwood has diversified her professional endeavors and worked tirelessly to make them successful, despite any obstacles that get in her way–especially a global pandemic.

To read more about Blackwood’s resilient reincarnations and her impact on us here at inRegister, check out this piece in “The Network,” the newest e-newsletter from our sister magazine, the Baton Rouge Business Report, aimed at professional women making a difference in our city. Subscribe here for more.