One of my favorite college instructors, Ed Wheeler, had a unique way of inspiring and challenging young students at the same time.

In one of his inspiring moments, he said, “Behind every door, there’s a story.”

The idea wasn’t unique, but it’s spot on advice.

So when the word “door” came up during a brainstorming meeting in October for this year’s Profile section, I started smiling — thinking back to Wheeler’s inspiration.

Eventually, our staff fleshed out the full theme — Door by Door: Unlocking the character of our community.

Really, once the theme was set, I didn’t put much thought into it for a couple of months.

Then, as the articles and marketing messages began trickling in, it amazed me what great information we had in this year’s section.

Through words and pictures, readers of this year’s Profile section will get an unusual glimpse into the lives of many of your friends and neighbors.

From whimsical to controversial, some of the stories told in this year’s Profile are certain to bring a smile to your face or make you think a bit.

The marketing messages tell stories of the businesses that drive our local economy. They celebrate their great staff members and their long history of business.

Home Hardware turns 25 this year. The Natchez-Adams Chamber of Commerce hits 100.

Even some of the marketing messages are a little more personal and tell a personal story.

Natchez Ford gave a fond farewell to long-time friend and car salesman, L.B. Jones, who recently died. The owners of Cathy’s Cowboy Corral honor the memory of the late owner, Cathy Gamberi.

The story behind the stories, however, is all of the hardworking people who work for months to make the section happen and the more than 125 local sponsors who choose to market their businesses and services in the section, too.

From members of our newsroom staff who hit the streets and knocked on a bunch of doors to get the stories, to members of our marketing staff who helped businesses develop their stories, Profile has been in the works since October.

Then as their portions of Profile were completed, the production, circulation and accounting staff begins to pick up their portions.

Profile is truly a staff-wide project and it takes an incredibly talented group of people to pull it off while also working to produce a daily newspaper, too.

Each staff member’s name is listed on page 92 of today’s Profile section.

I thank each of them for all of the hard work they do to make Profile become a reality this year and to create our newspaper each and every day.

I’ve always thought our staff was made up of amazing people, but last year proved it to me forever.

In the days after Hurricane Gustav which put us in the dark, the people of this newspaper showed their true grit. They showed up every day, did whatever was necessary all with one goal in mind — provide our readers with news and information in print and online.

Their hard work and dedication makes me feel truly blessed to work alongside each of them.

We hope you enjoy Profile today and in the coming days as much as we’ve enjoyed producing it.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.