Who We Are

Magnolia & Moonshine’s pages are packed with a patchwork of authentic, entertaining, engaging and distinctly Southern stories. They forge and deepen connections by highlighting both everyday and ephemeral beauty, honoring and preserving traditions, promoting our outdoor abundance and celebrating our region’s culture in all its forms. Stitched through this wide range of story subjects is the common thread of a shared purpose: to evoke the soul and spirit of the South and add a little of its grace to modern life.

Behind the magazine’s stories and photos is our family led team based in Alabama. Our founders are a mother, Lynne Frakes, and her daughters, sisters Katie Waldrep and Leslie Anne Jones. Magnolia & Moonlight developed organically from their deep roots set in Southern soil and an equally deep love of our region. The magazine’s most constant muse is Lynne’s mother and the sisters’ grandmother, Janie, whose passion for finding and sharing her vision of beauty — the South seen through her spiritual and spirited lens — inspired its formation and guides us still today.

  • Katie Waldrep, Publisher

  • Lynne Frakes, Founder

    Pictured with her daughters.

  • Leslie Anne Jones, Contributor and Editor

What We Do

We are storytellers. With every picture and word, Magnolia & Moonshine seeks to paint a vivid portrait of the South, an image that opens others’ eyes to all its charms as well as its complexities. It’s a big task; the South is a big place. But we’re guided by a vision that makes our publication stand out in a crowded field of regional magazines. 

We’re rooted in tradition but not stuck in the past. We’re serious about sophistication and grace but never stuffy. Our stories are set in the South’s big cities, small towns and every place in between. They’re down dirt roads, at a neighborhood peanut boil, on the downtown square, alongside a riverbank, in the glitzy new boutique, on the porch of a historic inn and amid fields and forests. 

But our focus is never solely on a story’s “where;” it’s on the “who,” from ordinary folks doing meaningful things to larger-than-life characters who embody the personality of this place we call home.

Why We Do It

We live in a hectic, striving, fast-paced world. Our stories are an invitation to slow down and sit a spell on your porch. They stir recollections and strengthen pride of place, while also introducing you to interesting people, unique places to discover, fresh tastes to sample, plus entertaining, style and decor tips that will enhance your life. 

And our stories don’t stop there. By encouraging you to seek out and savor the South, they create a circle of storytelling, inspiring you to look within and look around to uncover and create your own story.