Meet Michael OBrien | Owner/Publisher The Arizona Beehive Magazine

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael OBrien and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I label myself as “unemployable.” Not unemployed, but not available to corporations who would employ me. I have lived through corporate downsizing and layoffs and feeling like a liability rather than an asset. So I have dismissed myself from that professional lifestyle in favor of business ownership. I have generated a sales commission income for most of my career, so generating an income from my own business is not daunting, but exciting! To me, it’s all about control; the more in my control the happier I am. Business ownership offers unemployability and control.

I purchased my current business to provide these concepts, and to build something that would generate an income after my ability or desire to work the business myself fades. I purchased this particular business because I know the industry, and because the business is part of a culture and community in which I have dedicated by life.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Arizona Beehive Magazine serves members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It presents the embodiment of the Latter-day Saint local lifestyle, attitude and world view, featuring inspirational people to meet, interesting places to go, thriving businesses to patronize, exciting events to attend, and fulfilling service opportunities in which to engage in the East Phoenix, Arizona, USA Valley. It readable in print as a complementary magazine, printed every other month, and distributed at over 200 East Phoenix Valley high-traffic retail and professional locations. It is also available to read digitally, page by page, on the ISSUU app.

Ours is the only media vehicle of any type totally dedicated to this audience. There are over 400,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in Arizona, the majority of which live in the east Phoenix valley. Any person or entity wanting to target members of the Church for commercial, political, or service oriented purposes, our magazine is the way to do so.

The Arizona Beehive Magazine was established by the Taylor Family in Las Vegas in 1975, originating as a church newsletter, and evolving into a commercial concern. The Arizona version began printing in October, 1993 and was ultimately purchased by me in 2017. By this time, the Las Vegas publication was gone, and the Taylors were managing the Arizona publication from Las Vegas. I had been working for them as an advertising sales person at the time. When it appeared that the Taylors will wanting to sell the magazine, I offered to buy it.

I have been in the magazine publishing and advertising sales business – helping to launch a Northern California regional lifestyle magazine in 2006 – and in sales and sales management for my entire career. I understood a few daunting characteristics of the print media business when I agreed to buy this magazine. One, print was “dying” in favor of digital. Two, hard copy newspapers were also dying, in favor of instant news found on our smartphones. Three, because of these facts, distribution locations for any type of printed material were becoming more difficult to secure. I also realized that the word “all” usually does not apply. Not all print was dying; regional niche magazines were growing then and continue to do so. Not all businesses refuse to distribute printed material. Targeted locations successfully move hundreds of copies of each issue.

The major philosophical change made was moving the publication from a newspaper standpoint of looking back at what happened, to a magazine standpoint of looking forward at what’s coming. We write about things members of the Church are interested in, and not necessarily things about members of the Church. We also feature advertisers who wish to target our audience, and are not necessarily part of our audience.

One major point of realization upon purchasing the magazine was that the LDS Church community is scattered. Members are very close at the ward/congregation level, and not so much beyond that. Our magazine ties all members together as one group, all interested in mostly the same things. We write about those common interests. And we introduce ideas and concepts and happenings of which not all Church members are aware, but would be excited to experience.

Covid-19 of course affected us greatly. Ours is a 100% advertiser dollar-funded publication. The pandemic wiped out many of our advertisers, causing us to adjust and modify. While other publications folded during this time, causing the closure of the printing company we utilized, The Arizona Beehive Magazine remains! This due to hard work, diligence in working our finances, and some not-so-minor miracles along the way. I am very proud of this…

We have grand plans for growth. Print is no longer a commodity; it is a luxury. In similar fashion of once again listening to recorded music on vinyl, people are gravitating back to reading hard copy print material. We have begun moving the magazine away from a folded newspaper to ultimately a perfect bound magazine format. Our goal is to publish a piece of literature each issue, rather than merely a throw-away piece of paper. At the same time we are moving into more digital accouterments: video, podcast, blogs, and a more dynamic website. I see many exciting possibilities available to grow and create an increasingly desirable publication.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, I abstain from alcohol and tobacco. No bars. No gambling. No clubs. So my view of a good time might be different/boring from many others! That said, we would eat at The Henhouse in Mesa, Sushi 101 in Tempe, Los Picos in Mesa, Thai Spices in Mesa, Nunthaporn’s Thai in downtown Mesa. We’d attend a concert at the M.I.M. Take a hike at the Desert Botanical Gardens and/or Boyce Thompson Arboretum. I am on the board of a local rocket launching club, so we’d for sure launch some model rockets. A great spot we’d hang out is Riverview Park in Mesa. Lots of families there bbqing, fishing, playing, relaxing.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to my beautiful bride, Grace O’Brien, for her amazing support of this labor of love. To Enjoy Magazine in Northern California, which taught me all about magazine publishing, advertising sales, and distribution. And to the people who work as writers, graphic artists, website managers, printers and distributors. These people help me create The Arizona Beehive Magazine, and I could not create each issue without them…

Website: arizonabeehivemagazine.com

Instagram: @the_Arizona_beehive

Facebook: @BeehiveNews

Image Credits
All images courtesy of The Arizona Beehive Magazine