LOCAL Houston | The City Guide JANUARY 2015

Local January 2015_FINAL_002houston 12/18/14 3:56 PM Page 11 LOCALLY GROWN A STORY 16 YEARS IN THE MAKING A s 002HOUSTON MAGAZINE, 16 years after its founding, transitions into LOCAL HOUSTON, it was time to get the story behind the name change. As the magazine’s former Arts and Entertainment Editor and resident Wise Guy, I’d been along for much of the ride. However, it wasn’t until I sat down with founder and publisher ALEJANDRO MARTINEZ and Editor-inChief CARLA VALENCIA, that I realized what a gem we have in this locally written, locally shot, locally produced and locally supported publication. TM: Alex, what were you thinking when you and your partners started the magazine? Weren’t there already enough magazines? AM: I wasn’t really thinking. Actually, Chef Arturo Boada was opening Solero back then and I was helping with the graphics. He asked me to create a newsletter for downtown because things were starting to happen and so many projects were being planned…the light rail, the new hotels, the sports facilities. There was going to be a billion dollar investment in downtown, so the magazine seemed like a good idea. TM: How did you find writers and people to work on it? AM: Our first writers were students from the University of St. Thomas. We put notices on a board outside their student center. Remember, this was pre-Craigslist or Facebook. It was an actual bulletin board. TM: And then over time, you got the best local writers and photographers working with you… CV: We have worked with so many great people, and watched many of them develop careers. Sarah Gish was our first “name” writer, and then Monique Kursar, Laurann Claridge, Lance Walker, Jeff Lane, Jeff Shell, Michael Garfield and Nadia Michel. And photographers….Ricardo Merendoni shot every cover for the first year; we’ve worked with Kennon Evett, Jack Potts, Kim Coffman, Anthony Rathbun, Jaime Lagdameo, Cody Bess, Gabriella Nissen, Colin Kelly, Pam Francis, Sofia Van Der Dys and Daniel Ortiz. And we’ve had awesome interns too; one of them, Evan Wetmore, is now the editor of Houston Modern Luxury! TM: At what point did you start covering other parts of the city besides the 77002 ZIP code? AM: Right at the end of the first year. We ran out of stories about downtown. TM: What makes you different from other magazines in Houston? CV: I think with this new name, it totally captures what we are. WE ARE COMPLETELY LOCAL. We use local talent, cultivate local talent. Everything we produce, we do it right here. We’re not shooting fashion spreads in New York or Chicago or Dallas or Miami. It all happens in Houston with Houston talent. And I think we support our local advertisers a lot better than most. TM: So what should the Local Houston reader expect to see in the new magazine? CV: It’s a total redesign, and a more curated approach to editorial. Instead of featuring 10 products, we’ll focus on the four best and tell you why. The same with restaurants – we’re not going to do tons of listings anymore. If you want to see listings, they’ll be online, but they won’t be in the printed book. We will instead focus on the best of the best each month. That doesn’t mean the most expensive or exclusive either. It just means what suits our local readers. We’re a guide to the city; we always have been. Now it’s just an easier, cleaner read and a sharper viewpoint. by Tim Moloney Photography by Anthony Rathbun january 15 | L O C A L 11

LOCAL Houston | The City Guide JANUARY 2015 | Page 11