Lake Forest author also has antique business on side

Jen Lancaster of Lake Forest doesn't mind being called a “bawdy Erma Bombeck” by reviewers. She parlayed blog-writing into more than a dozen books with a New York publisher and made The New York Times best seller list.

Her latest book, “I Regret Nothing,” debuts as a hardcover in May. She then will do a promotional tour that includes Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville on May 9 and the Book Cellar @ City Winery in Chicago on May 17.

But what many fans may not know is that she has another business on the side. She and her husband, John Fletcher, buy antiques, and then repair and paint them as objects of art. She has sold about 40 pieces this past year through Re-Invent, a gallery in Lake Forest and on her website, YardAppleVintage.com.

“It's a hobby that more than pays for itself,” said Lancaster, 47.

What turned out to be just antiquing in Wisconsin or elsewhere turned into a satisfying, yet artistic business that focuses on dressers, tables, chairs and desks from the 1920s and 1930s.

“We like whatever can fit into a car or SUV,” she said.

A few years ago, Lancaster was working on a book about what it was like doing everything like Martha Stewart. That book, “The Tao of Martha,” was published in 2013. At that time, she heard a program where a fan asked Martha Stewart how she could decorate an apartment. Stewart suggest that the girl just go to Pottery Barn. Lancaster didn't like the answer and felt she could do better at less cost. That's when she started hunting around antique stores.

Lancaster and her husband started collecting items. Fletcher repaired them and Lancaster would paint and decorate them. They sold their first piece about a year ago and have since sold nearly 40.

“I don't want to limit myself as a writer,” she said. “Tastes change and I want to keep my eye on the future.”

Lancaster, who was born in Boston and later lived in New York and Indiana, moved in 1996 to Palatine with Fletcher, her then boyfriend. They married in 2002 and moved to Chicago and later bought a home in Lake Forest.

Lancaster worked as a dot-com executive, earning a great salary. But she was laid off in 2001 as the dot-com bubble hit. That's when she started an Internet blog and “people seemed to like what I had to say,” she said.

“But I needed to get a check somehow and just continued writing every day,” she said.

As she found her writing voice, she was encouraged to find a literary agent. So she placed an ad in Craig's List and thought if an editor was bored enough, they would see it. She was approached by three literary agents. Soon she had a book deal in 2003. The book was “Bitter is the New Black,” a soul-searching story of a woman trying to figure what happens after losing a six-figure salary. She has since written more than a dozen books with Penguin Random House, she said.

“Things are good, even though the publishing world is a little dicey now,” she said. “But I've had the same publisher since I started. And I would like to get into screen writing next.”

Financial exec honored by alma mater

Ron McPheron, a Mount Prospect resident and president of Financial Benefit Planners, was recently inducted into Evanston Township High School's Athletic Hall of Fame with his 1953 cross-country teammates. McPheron was part of the team that made history when two runners from the same school finished in first and second places, an accomplishment that has only been repeated three times.

FastTracks

Barrington Hills resident Henry M. Paulson Jr., founder and chairman of the Paulson Institute and former U.S. Treasury secretary, will be on a panel discussing “Global Cities Driving the Global Economy” at 5 p.m. on May 27 at the Millennium Park Jay Pritzker Pavilion, 201 E Randolph St., Chicago. ... Small business attorney William A. Price of Warrenville and founder of GrowthLaw has been reappointed to two-year terms on both the Business and Securities Law Section Council, and the Administrative Law Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association.

Benjamin Schall becomes the new CEO for Seritage Growth Properties on May 4. Seritage is a newly formed real estate investment trust by Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp. ... Michelle Hurlstone has joined the Pheasant Run Resort & Spa in St. Charles as human resources director. Hurlstone most recently served as director of human resources for the Sheraton Chicago O'Hare. ... John Calamos Sr., CEO of Calamos investments in Naperville, was in New York last week to talk about its funds at the Capital Link Closed-End Fund and Global ETFs Forum.

Godard Abel, CEO of SteelBrick in Highland Park, was at the Chicago Salesforce World Tour event. Godard is a serial entrepreneur who previously founded and sold his company BigMachines in Deerfield to Oracle for more than $400 million dollars. He is looking to take SteelBrick as an IPO. ... Dave Raymond, owner of Sweet Baby Ray's restaurant in Elk Grove Village, will serve as president-elect of the National BBQ Association. The organization promotes the business of BBQ and supports members as they operate restaurants, catering companies, spice and rub companies and BBQ supply operations.

Brian Grano, owner of Mickey Finn's Brewery, is marking one year at his newly revenovated spot at 345 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Libertyville. Altogether, he has owned the brewery and restaurant for 11 years out of the 21 years it has been operating. ... Jason Jewert, performance improvement consultant at CDK Global Inc. in Hoffman Estates, discussed digital marketing at the 18th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition last week in Tampa, Florida.

Brian Paich, owner of BuildClean in Schaumburg, was featured recently on Lou Manfredini's “Mr. Fix-It” show on WGN Radio. BuildClean also just started a new website called livableremodeling.com to inform homeowners more about remodeling dust and how to eliminate it. ... David Muslin, president of PPL Group, an asset monetization and industrial auction firm in Northbrook, said he is hiring to expand its workforce.

• There's more to business than just the bottom line. We want to tell you about the people that make business work. Send news about people in business to akukec@dailyherald.com. Follow Anna Marie Kukec on LinkedIn and Facebook and as AMKukec on Twitter.