 Aloha, and welcome to Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. We broadcast live every Thursday at 2 o'clock for 30 minutes, 2 to 2.30, from the downtown Pioneer Plaza Studios of ThinkTek Hawaii. We're a show that educates and communicates success stories in Hawaii about individuals and their companies. We all know that there are challenges, but there are ways around those challenges. And we have a lot of successful people that share their views on how to do that. Today, we have the owner and co-founder of Elevent Media. And they've got some very popular magazines that they publish, and we're going to learn all about it. And I've got the co-founder here, Naomi Hazeltang and Bruden. I know I said that wrong, but she'll correct me. Here to explain Elevent Media and to give us some background on herself. Welcome, Naomi. It's great to be here. It's great that you can make it today. I know you're very busy. You just came back from a trip, right? I did. Barcelona was amazing. Yeah. They live to live. They don't live to work, you know? It's fabulous. I've heard that. That's something that happens throughout Europe, isn't it? Well, especially in Spain, you know, I woke up and, you know, it was around 8 o'clock in the morning, and no one was rolling around, and there was no one on the streets, and about 10, 30, 11 people started popping out of their homes. And we were eating at 11, 30, 12 o'clock for dinner, and it was a totally different world for dinner. Wow. Yeah. What did they do at 5 or 6 o'clock in the afternoon? Siesta. Very nice. Yeah. And you just came back a day or so ago, so you might have a little bit of jet lag. Yeah, which is good. We'll be on local Hawaiian time. We'll be nice and slow and mellow today. All right. Speaking of slow and mellow, you've been in Hawaii a long time, and actually you were born here. Actually, I moved to Kaua'i when I was 8. 8 years old on Kaua'i. Yeah. And I was, you know, obviously, it was an interesting experience. I was the only local Hawley girl at the time in my school, so I learned to speak Pigeon probably in a week. I remember a gentleman, a young guy came up to me and he said, What? No, me. You like candy? And he said, Yeah, I like candy. Candy is good. And he said, No, no, me. You like. You like. And I was like, Oh, he's asking me, do I want some? So I picked it up pretty quickly. And when I go home and I can speak some Pigeon for sure. And you were on Kaua'i for a while? I was. I was on Kaua'i until the age of 18. And then I went to school in San Diego, which was also another beautiful, beautiful place. As a matter of fact, I think they've got one of the, the narrowest temperature ranges of any place in the country. They maintain a variation of only 10 or 15 degrees. All year round. It's great. That's amazing. You know that. Yeah. Well, I, I went to school there too. Oh, okay. Yeah. Over in Coronado. Oh, yeah. Coronado. It's beautiful. So yeah. Navy. Spent some, yeah. Spent some time there and a lot of it was in the water, which is not so warm. Yeah. It is chilly there. Actually, you do need a wetsuit when you surf for sure. Yeah. So dive. Yeah. And so when you were in San Diego, you went, which school? I went to the university of San Diego, which was on top of the hill. And it was an amazing experience. We would go into T1 often. It was very safe at the time and, you know, sort of Baja Malibu and different areas of Mexico. And yeah, San Diego was, it was not super, you know, it wasn't booming at the time. It was still kind of slow and sleepy. And now it's just unbelievable. It's, it's pretty soon it's going to be connected somehow or another to LA. Yeah. It's just an extension of, right? It's just amazing how it's growing. And what's, you went to the university of San Diego and you majored in what? I majored in corporate communications with a minor in business. Uh-huh. Yeah. Well, and that was a perfect prep for you to get into the media industry. It was. It was funny. When I came back home to Cuaí after graduating from the university of San Diego, the Garden Island newspaper hired me. And it was a wonderful experience in that the editor said, we want you to go do stories on small business owners. Perfect. And it was great. It was the attorney turn restaurant tour. The CPA turned pet shop owner. And it was a lot of fun. I love people. I love connecting people. And I loved being out of the office. And so it was my first experience in the world of meeting small business owners, but certainly also writing editorial copy for the newspaper. And that probably made you somewhat unique because a lot of magazines don't really focus on that small business aspect. I agree. I agree. It's very, you know, who, what, why, when, where. And certainly, you know, what's going on in the world and locally. And if it bleeds, it reads. Well, or if it bleeds, it leads. It leads, yeah. And unfortunately, you don't get a lot of that in the business community. I mean, occasionally, you know, something might pop up, but that's not very often. So it's nice to be able to promote businesses in a positive sense and talk about success. And there's a lot of good stories out there. Absolutely. Absolutely. There's so many amazing people, too, that really have gumption and tenacity and vision and just all of the things that really make a strong entrepreneur. And generally, they're very willing to share that knowledge and that wisdom that they've gathered over the years. And we found that out on this show and through your magazine as well. And we're going to get into that here shortly. But you were with The Garden Isle for how long? I was with The Garden Isle in newspaper for a year. And then a gentleman named Gary Hoosier hired me when he owned H&S Publishing Company. And so I worked with him and wrote stories for many of his publications and then he said, you know, would you ever consider going out and doing sales? And at the time, I was 24 and I was running from his koi. And so they, of course, said, you need to go out and promote this program book. And I loved talking to people and perpetuating, you know, the fact that I really needed, you know, their support and the fact that this goes towards the greater good of, you know, the pageant and the promotion of the self-confidence for these women in the scholarship that was applied to the pageant. And it was my first step at sales, advertising sales for that program book. And so I was working with Gary. He said, would you ever consider selling for my company as far as advertising goes? I said, sure, it gets me out of the office and it's with people, I'm there. Very good. And so you actually started to get some experience with the sales. Yeah, I loved it. Yeah, it's a great training ground. Oh, absolutely. And everyone is different. And, you know, so if you listen and you can be a chameleon and kind of adapt to the individual or your surroundings, it really helps you understand the full capacity of where you're going to head in that relationship. Well, and you understand, you know, some of the psychology, if you will, of the process that people use to make decisions and to get to that yes or to that no. If you go into the sales environment and you worked there for a while, it's almost like getting a degree in psychology. Oh, I agree. Absolutely. And that's the beauty of it, is everyone is different and all their needs are different. And you always want to come out with a win-win situation and a partnership. You never want it to be one-sided, at least in my book. And I think, you know, if you have that human interest and that human spirit, that it can be beneficial for both parties. And it doesn't make sense for everybody. Well, and if it works the worst of it, then it doesn't. Absolutely, absolutely. But having that win-win balance allows for a longer relationship to occur. You know, if it's lopsided, it won't last very long. Yeah. You know, and so that's important to reach that equilibrium. Mm-hmm. Very good. And so you were at the Gardner Island newspaper for a while, and then you started selling some other things. Now, I'm curious, you said you were running for Ms. Kauai. I was, yes. And did you make it? I first run her up. It was great. And then, unfortunately, Rose, who was Ms. Kauai at the time, had to go to Japan. So, by default, I took the crown for about three months. Well, so you didn't get it. It was fun, yeah. It was fun. It was a great experience. Now, there's another bit of trivia that I just want to, you know, and sometimes I just see you all over town, but partly because you've got a sister that kind of looks like you. Yes. Yes. My twin. A twin sister. She's really not, but we like to say, she's seven years younger, so I always say, yeah, she's my twin. Well, you look the same age to me. But, yeah, the resemblance is striking. Mm-hmm. And so that's another little bit of trivia that I've seen and I've made the mistake like I think a lot of other people have. Sure. You know, to come up and say, hi, I'm embarrassed that it's not you. It happens all the time. And then did you stay on Kauai? So, yeah, so when I was with Gary, actually one of my clients, I was with Gary H&S Publishing for over two years. And one of my clients actually, his name was David Evry, and he had a magazine on Oahu. And actually he had three magazines, excuse me, one on Maui, one on Big Island, and one on Kauai. And he said, would you be willing to come with me and really spearhead the publication here on Oahu? So at the time, I thought this was a perfect time for me to get my masters. And so I enrolled at HPU and worked and went through HPU for five years to obtain my degree and worked for Gary Hoosier and helped him set up distribution and grow that publication. And then it was when I was at HPU on my fifth year where the dean of the School of Communications said you can do a master's, or you can do a thesis, or you can do a practicum. And my right brain thinking went, ah, I'd love to do a practicum. And so in a nutshell, that's how Pacific Edge started. Oh, okay. Now explain the difference between a thesis and a practicum. Sure. So a thesis, a practicum is really a project. So you can really get your hands in, do some due diligence, look at the qualitative quantitative analysis of, you know, the publication that you're working on based on other publications. A thesis is more of a white paper, if you will. Or a conceptual. Correct. Yeah. I mean, it's not a white paper, but in layman's terms, it's certainly more of a conceptual. Put on paper and process the thoughts. Whereas with the practicum, we could also do all types of very amazing out of the box type of research. And certainly a business plan was involved as well. All right. And so it was through that process that your current career, if you will, was born. Yes. Yes. Very good. And that happened how long ago? So that started in 2005. And I took a look at, if I may, I took a look at Hoy Business and I took a look at PBN, two very longstanding, excellent products in the market. And no one was at the time really featuring the inspiration, the innovation, the motivation behind why Hawaii's entrepreneurs at a very young age were doing what they did. And so I saw a really amazing fit. I saw a niche there. Right. And that's one of the, I guess from my perspective, and I've been a long time reader for the PBN and Hoy Business. And I look at your current publication that will go into the details more in the second half. But it just seems that the demographics are maybe shifting a little bit to the younger side of the scale a little bit. And the focus is more towards the millennium and a little slightly older group. Are there any hitting the mark on this? Well, when we started it ten years ago, we wanted to ensure that it was business and lifestyle. And our direct mail, or 9000 direct mail, and our direct mail really did target the seasoned veteran, 50% seasoned veteran, and then 50% Generation X, if you will. So Genwire and then Millennial are still kind of getting into the publication if you will from a readership standpoint. But we were very, very keen and focused on ensuring that the top level leaders were reading it. And they're really the, we're all decision makers, but at the time, they were really in the marketplace, stronghold. Very good. But I know that some of the social media aspects of what you do are light years ahead of others in that same market space. And to me, that just, that brand is a, dispels youth. Absolutely. It seems to be a youthful type of flavor to what you're doing. And so I just had the impression that it was a younger demographic. But you know, that's, but I read the magazine, you know, and it's a quarterly or is it? It is, it's quarterly. So we, yeah, we have three publications. They're all quarterly. And I agree with you. I think that our social media has a young at heart vibe, certainly. And I think social media is, I mean, it's obviously it's proliferant everywhere, but it's perfect when you're a publication and you have a lot of content and you can perpetuate businesses and small business owners and just kind of having a beat on the street and the game changers. And it's fun when it, when you can infuse that with social media. Very good. Well, we're going to take a break here shortly. And we're going to come back and then we're going to, kind of go into the details a little bit more on element media. And there's, there's other things going on in there too, other than just Pacific Edge. Of course, we'll talk about that as well. But this is Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. I'm here with the owner and co-founder of Element Media. And we're going to find out a little bit more about the company and its publications right after this one minute break. Aloha, everyone. I'm Maria Mera and I'm here to invite you to my bilingual show, Viva Hawaii on Thintech Hawaii every other Monday at 3 p.m. We are here to talk about news, issues and events local and around the world. Join me. Aloha. Aloha. My name is Josh Green. I serve as Senator from the Big Island on the Kona side and I'm also an emergency room physician. My program here on Thintech is called Health Care in Hawaii. I'll have guests that should be interesting to you twice a month. We'll talk about issues that range from mental health care to drug addiction to our health care system and any challenges that we face here in Hawaii. We hope you'll join us. Again, thanks for supporting Thintech. Aloha and welcome to The Savvy Chick Show on Thintech Hawaii. I'm the weekly host at 11 a.m. Honolulu time. I'm very excited for the next six weeks. We have the Aspire series, which is all about the coolest careers I could find and interviewing and getting insights from these amazing people who want to share it with you and help you live your dreams. Look forward to seeing you on the show. Aloha. Welcome back. This is Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker and I'm here with Naomi. We're talking about element media. Now there's a lot of different aspects to element media. We just touched on one of them. We're going to spend a little bit more time on that here shortly. But Naomi, can you give us a general overview? What is element media? Sure. So element media is a publishing event and design firm. And we publish three quarterly publications. We do the in-flight for Vacations Hawaii, which we work with Boyd Gaming and it's also in room in the downtown California hotel Fremont and the Main Street hotels. Great place to visit. So fun. Spam Musubi and Oxtail Soup. And then we also just recently purchased a phenomenal magazine called Green Magazine Hawaii. And it's the voice of sustainability. We like to say it's Earth Day every day. Great partnerships around nonprofits and for-profits that work within sustainability, that partner with Green. And then of course our flagship publication, Pacific Edge Magazine. And around those products, we have quarterly business networking events and then we do ad design for some pretty large corporations here in Hawaii on the business side. Ad design. So you actually work with them to come up with their advertising? Correct. Actually we do everything from start to finish, from hiring the models, to scouting locations, to hair and makeup. And so it's full, yeah. Pretty comprehensive. I didn't know that you did that. Yes, yes, we do. Next time we'll have to have them come over and work on me a little bit before we go on the show. I was thinking the same thing. Thank you. Not for you, for me. That's a pretty large, it almost sounds like a conglomerate. You've got a lot of moving parts to this. Yeah, I think when you're in publishing, it just comes naturally. You meet people and they need writing. They need ad design. They may need video production. And so you partner with a lot of different moving pieces in the form of an integrative approach to marketing. And a lot of people don't realize how complicated it can be. And so having those resources available really helps fill those pukas when they come to get serious about doing your advertising. Absolutely. And when we go to shoot from an editorial perspective, some of the amazing leaders that we do feature, it's interesting in that our photographer ends up actually working for some of these individuals to shoot other things as well. So it's full circle for everyone. So this thing just seems to be getting bigger and bigger as you continue to do this. Congratulations. Getting back to Pacific Edge, can you share with us a little bit about, I mean, how large of a distribution it is and how many people do you actually get out and touch? Certainly. When it comes to the actual printed piece for 10 years, we have printed 10,000 copies. And we do a 9,000 direct mail to targeted individuals. And what happens to the other 1,000? The other 1,000 are through partnerships. So for example, we partner with Goodwill Foundation. They have a great nonprofit event called Goodwill Goes Glam. And so with our partnership, we say we would love to have Pacific Edge on the table setting of every attendee. The same would go for the American Cancer Society. So we strategically distribute the other 1,000 copies throughout the community based on our nonprofit partnerships that we have. And that's every quarter? Correct. Yes. And at the end of the year, because of all the different events that are happening, you still stick with the 10,000? We do. We do. We found that 10,000 is our sweet spot and that we're able to really diligently get the word out. However, we do have an online digital publication as well, which certainly has readership. And then as we touched on, we have large events. We're about 350 to 375 attendees. And we like to say it's socializing on the front end and networking on the back end. So the way we roll, if you will, with our events is you come in, we might have some Iona dancers. We might have champagne served as you walk in. Kaloa Rum might be there. We might be doing a specialty drink. The networking is very social. We have a program, of course. But the vibe is very, very fun. It's light-hearted. And yet the business networking that happens is very targeted and qualified. And I've been to a number of them. And there's some good quality people there that I still have discussions with and we communicate. And it's a great opportunity. You had them downtown quite a bit too, don't you? Yes. And we move them quarterly. So for this year alone, our first event of the year was at Ward Village in conjunction with Howard Hughes. And it was just a fabulous venue and turnout. And then our second was at HPU, with HPU at Aloha Tower for our 10-year anniversary. And then we just recently had one at the BMW dealership. And then our next one will be at November 9th at the T Galleria in the Men's Watch Department, which they only open up for us once a year, and you can normally only access if you have a foreign passport. So it's a really special venue. Now, you get 300-plus people with these things. I mean, it gets kind of crowded in there, doesn't it? Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of fun. It is. Well, strategically, we ensure, based on the way we set up our events and the way we structure them, is that we, and I don't like to use force, but we strongly push you in the direction of networking. So we like to have a large crowd so that as you're walking through the crowd, oh, Reg, nice to see you. I haven't seen you in a while. Whereas if it's super spread out, you have to walk from one end to the other to find each other. And so we strategically do that. Sometimes you never do. Correct. Sometimes you never do. Yes. That is true. Sometimes, and I'm sure you have the same challenge, sometimes you walk into an event, and you get halfway through. And it's over already because you've been talking to so many people. Yes. Yeah. Now, how do you go about selecting the people that you interview and get into the magazine? Sure. So our managing editor, actually, there are so many different processes. So, for example, there are many PR firms in the state of Hawaii, and they send us emails on different individuals and different businesses to consider for feature. Having a beat on the street, networking, meeting different individuals as it applies to our entire team, being out at different events. That's the way we find other individuals or businesses to feature. And then our nonprofit partners, we obtain information from so many different avenues. And what is the selection criteria? What are you looking for? From a business profile standpoint of a young entrepreneur, you have had to have been in business for at least five years plus, raised in Hawaii, or have lived in Hawaii for over 15 years. And, you know, we like to look at what is the story behind this entrepreneur. You know, for example, there's a gentleman we featured nine years ago named Rob Ayopa. Heal-O-Boy, born and raised in Heal-O. I think he went to Waikea. I think it was called high school. And, you know, I remember he said, I never even considered going to college. And, you know, now he owns WCIT architecture, which is one of the largest architecture firms in the state of Hawaii. And here he is nine years later, just doing amazing design as it applies to hotels and restaurants. And so it's really, wow, this Heal-O-Boy didn't want to go to college, and then obviously ended up in the industry of architecture. And look what he's doing now, and yet still staying humble and employing the aspect of let's keep the cultural, you know, entity of Hawaii within what we do. So it's the story behind the individual and where they got there and how they got there. See, and that's what this show tries to communicate as well, is that there is no cookie-carter approach to this. You know, success can come in a lot of different ways, and it can, you don't have to be educated, you don't have to be younger or old, you don't have to be experienced or not. There's just so many different ways to be successful. I agree. And it's fun to hear the stories. It is, and it's inspiring, and it's amazing. I mean, it makes, and I know you understand this as well, but it makes you understand how every single person's life on this planet is completely different. And sometimes people think it's fate, and sometimes people think it's good luck, but I think it's a little bit of hard work, tenacity, planning, mentorship, possibly the right place, the right time, timing, you know, all of that, and that's debatable, and we could go round and round, obviously, and how that all works, but it's just amazing how people get to where they are. It is, and there's the old cliche that, you know, you got to work really hard at getting lucky. You know, it just doesn't happen. It's usually, people say they got lucky, but usually it's the result of doing something very intentional that led them to an opportunity. Absolutely. And they have to be awake enough to take advantage of that opportunity. And be open. You know, be open. Exactly. Because who knows where life is going to take you, you know, and you keep your options open, and it could take you to some very interesting places. Absolutely. Very good. Well, what's next? I mean, I know that you've got to print, and I know you've gotten into the social and the digital. I mean, is that the future of media, do you think? Well, I think the future of media is targeted events and certainly infusing an aspect of digital media. We're a lot of publishers right now are looking at their email database as a qualified targeted aspect of marketing. And, you know, we work with a lot of clients right now that give us, you know, sponsored emails, if you will. And so we have a 14,000-plus email database. All opted in. Our open rate is 17%, which is around national average. And so we're very strategic, however, in how many sponsored email blasts we will do given the fact that we also do green drinks, which is a networking event for people to get together to talk about sustainability over drinks. So we do green drinks, email blasts. We do Pacific Edge email blasts. You know, we do Green Magazine email blasts. So we only allow one sponsored email a month. So that's only 12 a year, but it's very targeted. You don't want to dilute the value. Exactly. And you don't want people to glaze over either. Right. You know, and I think we all have plenty of emails to read. But that's good. We can always be looking out for yours. We've reached the end of the time for today's show. It went really quick. We're going to have to have you come back and we'll spend some more time about the future of media and how that's all going to evolve into targeting events. Sounds fascinating. And congratulations on everything that you've done. Thank you, Reg. It's an honor to be on your show. Super thank you. I'm glad you can make it. But this is Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. We broadcast live every Thursday at 2 o'clock from 2 to 2.30. Hopefully we'll see you next week. Until then, aloha.