Oh 2025, you were a busy, challenging, but overall exceptional year!

As a new platform, reflecting on the last twelve months each December feels like a gift. The growth, the experiences, learning from our mistakes, the ways we overcame the unexpected—it all reinforces our main goal: to showcase the best of the best across the Okanagan.

While we’re still in the early stages of building our digital magazine, our goal is to one day expand into other cities. But for now, our pilot launch here in the Okanagan is our entire focus and passion because afterall, it’s where we work, play, and live. We love this area as much as you because it’s our home.

In case you haven’t noticed, our passion for that editorial background drives Editors’ Picks OKANAGAN. We designed this online platform for storytelling first and foremost, and for offering those quick guides that start with feel-good images and then leave you with lasting inspiration.

“Magazines are inherently visual,” says our founder Natalie Grant. “Images are the first invitation. They stop you, draw you in, and set the tone. But it’s the story that holds your attention and gives those images meaning.”

Solid storytelling is a key foundation for us. Our team begins every story, every post, with the key fundamentals of journalism: who, what, when, where, and above all, why. Why should you care, why should you give us your time and attention, and why now. We’re big on making sure that key question gets answered right away because your time is important, especially when so many others are vying for your attention. 

If it isn’t relevant, it’s not on our feed.

There are numerous tourism platforms and media outlets not only in our valley, but across the province, and each plays an important role in serving its local audience. Editors’ Picks was created to complement that ecosystem, not compete with it. Where others focus on coverage, we focus on curation. We speak to a highly engaged audience that values quality, storytelling, and intentional experiences. For advertisers, that means your brand isn’t simply listed or seen, it’s thoughtfully positioned, contextually aligned, and remembered. Together, these platforms create a full-circle view of the Okanagan, but Editors’ Picks connects the dots in a way that feels considered, elevated, and personal.

As we prepare to enter 2026, what can you expect from us?

• True to our name, we will regularly bring you the latest, up-to-date, unique, and exciting Okanagan events and experiences—thoughtfully curated, not endlessly listed.
• As more advertisers come onboard, we aim to work harder and, quite frankly, do a better job at meaningful collaboration and cross-promotion with brands and businesses, creating partnerships that feel natural, aligned, and mutually beneficial.
• Next year, we’ll be hitting the streets and attending more events—and even hosting some of our own—bringing real-world experiences directly to our audience through storytelling and coverage.
• Face-to-face, human-led video storytelling—especially across our social platforms—is something you can expect to see much more of in 2026, offering an authentic, behind-the-scenes look at the people and places shaping the Okanagan.
• More guides on what to do in the Okanagan—ones that are easy to find, easy to follow, easy to share, and easy to return to whenever you need them. These will be designed to live longer than a single post and remain relevant over time.

A major trend we’ll continue to see in 2026 is more people choosing local and becoming tourists in their own area. As we enter the New Year, support for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and local mom-and-pop shops is already growing—and this feel-good movement is only gaining momentum. This is where Editors’ Picks becomes more important than ever: acting as your trusted insider and spokesperson, sharing in-the-know events and experiences, the kind of local knowledge you’d usually only hear about from a friend.

We love tourism as much as any other Okanagan business, but we also want to preserve that unique sense of locality and community only our valley has to offer.

But let’s face it: advertising is expensive.

Our parent company, Grant Communications, is a full-service marketing and PR agency, so we recognize and understand the struggles in business and our current economy. That’s why our premise and goal is always to make our rates obtainable, no matter what size of a business reaches out to us.

We also recognize that there’s strength in numbers—the more businesses we help promote, the better our rates and business economy. That’s why we are so passionate about more brands coming on board and working with us to spread the word about their incredible events and offerings. 

Next year we really want to work hard and present even better cross-promotion and collaborations between our platform and the businesses that work with us. It’s a big goal to host an event, so stay tuned in the New Year for announcements on that!

It’s hard, at times, to measure success. There are numbers of course—stats that let us know where we’ve succeeded or need to grow—and then there are incalculable moments. Like when we get to connect with a new business owner, hearing their story for the first time and the pride they express as they recount how they got to today. Or the joy shared at workshops, events, and exclusive experiences where locals discover something unexpected.  

So in 2025, here are just a few quick numbers we wanted to share:

• 42 articles written
• 62 newsletters sent
• 20 creative reels shared
• Thousands of views, interactions, and comments
• Hundreds of new followers

And here are the moments we can’t quantify:

• Countless experiences shared
• Numerous businesses tagged
• Endless conversations
• Limitless discoveries

We can’t wait to continue this work in 2026—bringing you the best of the best each and every week.

As we enter the holidays and look ahead to New Year’s Eve, we want to wish you an exceptional celebration and an even better start to 2026—spent with family and friends, colleagues and business partners, neighbours and community members, and all the people who matter most. It truly does take a village, or in our case, a valley, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has joined us over the past twelve months for another memorable chapter.

Cheers to the year ahead and to another exceptional year in the Okanagan!

XX,

Your Okanagan Curators