'Top 20 Under 40': Gina McDonald

Pocono Mountain visitors spend an average of $1.1 billion while in the area, yet until recently not a single publication had been focusing on this market. Enter, Gina McDonald and Pocono Insider Magazine.

McDonald is the publisher, and editor-in-chief of the magazine as well as president/CEO

She is excited about the publication's start and proud that it's into its second issue. "Our magazine has a unique in-room and concierge distribution," the 34-year-old McDonald says, "and is distributed monthly in the rooms of Pocono Mountain and surrounding area resorts, hotels, B&Bs, and inns."

She has always intended to own her own business and spent years working in various areas of advertising, publishing, and printing after graduating with a bachelor of fine arts degree in communication design and technology from New Jersey City University.

McDonald's career path took her to the cities of New York state and New Jersey, I but having grown up visiting relatives in the Poconos, she developed an affection for the area that remained while she was in the big cities.

Her fondness for the area even found its way into the premier issue's "Letter from the Editor" where she says, "It was during those quiet moments, witnessing nature, when I fell in love with the Poconos."

McDonald's outlook on fife is refreshing. She explains that, "I always make sure I keep what is important to me at the top of my priority list ... family, and friends ... people - not things.

She considers her father to be her role model since "he has a strong work ethic ... has always been devoted to hard work, duty, selfdiscipline, and responsibility. I admire that," she says.

Although she is a determined businesswoman, McDonald also knows how to relax. She enjoys art exhibits, country line dancing, and softball. In the past she coached a women's softball team, and during college she was the coach and umpire for a girl's team.