"When Lisa Snell left her job as a graphic artist in 2007, she didn't expect that a year later she would become the managing editor and owner of a Native American paper.

The job demands about almost 100 hours of Snell's week and requires her to juggle the roles of designer, writer, editor, online publisher and more -- all without getting paid. But Snell, who just celebrated her one-year anniversary at the paper, says the experience has been worth it.

I interviewed her to learn how she got to where she is now and what challenges she faces in essentially running a paper on her own.

In 2003, Snell accepted a graphic artist position at the Cherokee Phoenix in Tahlequah, Okla., the Native American newspaper first published in 1828. Here, she said, she finally found a job where she fit in, where her work was noticed and appreciated by a Native community, and where she got a decent paycheck.

When her fiance (and now her husband), Travis Snell, became the paper's assistant editor in December 2006, however, Snell resigned to avoid issues of nepotism. Needing a new source of income, she applied for various jobs within the tribe and at local businesses.

Through a printer she knew, Snell eventually found a part-time, work-from-home-job putting together Yellow Page ads. It wasn't a lot of work, but it provided her with some needed income. Soon after, when one of the printer's clients, Native American Times, needed a new graphic artist to put the newspaper together, he recommended Snell."

Get the Story:
Fanua J. Borodzicz: Journalist Goes from Designer to Managing Editor, Owner at Native American Times (PoynterOnline 9/9)