BILFPOD - The Secrets to Staying Relevant in Media & Luxury | Christopher Gialanella’s Playbook

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

🚨 New Episode Alert – BILFPod x Christopher Gialanella 🚨Christopher Gialanella has mastered the art of storytelling across every medium—publishing, acting, screenwriting, and production. As president and publisher of Modern Luxury Angeleno, Beverly Hills, and LA Confidential, he’s built a career that connects culture, fashion, and philanthropy while redefining what luxury media means today.But his journey goes beyond magazines—it’s about vision, creativity, and the power of constantly evolving. From curating unforgettable events to shaping narratives that resonate nationwide, Christopher proves that influence is built through authenticity and innovation.In this episode:• Building a career at the intersection of media, culture, and luxury 💼• Why storytelling is the foundation of influence 🎬• How adaptability keeps you relevant in today’s fast-changing world 🌍• Lessons from publishing, production, and beyond ✨• What it takes to turn creative ideas into lasting impact 🔥✨ This episode is inspiring, insightful, and unfiltered—a masterclass in staying creative, staying relevant, and building influence that lasts.🎧 Catch the full episode streaming now on all platforms.Get Connected:Follow Christopher Gialanella → @christophergiaFollow Mara Dorne → @maradorneFollow the Podcast → @bilfpod#BILFPod #Maradorne #ChristopherGialanella #PodcastInterview #LuxuryMedia #ModernLuxury #LAMagazine #EntrepreneurPodcast #LeadershipPodcast #Storytelling #MediaMogul #PublishingLife #CreativeJourney #BusinessPodcast #LuxuryLifestyle #BrandingTips #EntrepreneurLife #UnfilteredSuccess #ContentCreation #HustleAndFlow #SuccessMindset

In December, we had Billy Elish on our cover, and that opened the doors to a Barnes & Noble national distributions. I still do that, Marr. I still knock on doors, because I love to do it. And welcome back to the BuildPod, where authenticity trumps authority. I am really excited. I'm always excited about the guests that we have on. But for those you tuning in for the first time, my name is Mara Dorn. Hi, Mara. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here on this rainy day. Yeah, it's cool. Which is why I'm wearing a sweater and a hat. You look good. I like your outfit. I know you're kind of debating. You're debating. I have fun shoes.

I love your shoes, but you're debating. I like the no socks thing. That's like you're keeping cool. Yeah, I do the no socks. Yeah, I think it looks good. Thank you. Thank you. So amongst everything now you're like a fashion guru. Exactly. So it's so cool. But so tell me, I know that you're not from the West Coast. I know that you're from New Jersey. I'm a Jersey boy. Yes. My family is from New Jersey. Hackensack. Oh, fun. Okay. I had a store in Hackensack, a shoe store. They did. Yeah.

Frank Sinatra's from Hackensack. Really? Yeah. I wonder when my grandma loved Frank Sinatra. Yeah. We all love Frank Sinatra from New Jersey. And Bruce and John Bon Jovi. But anyway, it's fun.

I've been out in L.A. for 30 years. So I'm more of an Angelino now than a Jersey boy. So how did you, okay, so I know that you started in sales. Yes. Door to door knocking. I don't know if you know. I still do that, Marr. I still knock on doors because I love to do it.

Yes, that's where I started. Anybody that has done sales, it's like a high. that you get. Right? Like, I love sales. If I could still sell insurance, I would do it. I loved it. Because when I would make that sale, it was like, yes, got them. It's such a good feeling. So I also started out in sales door to door, business to business selling health insurance. I'm still, I will now, I'm the senior regional sales leader, but you, my dear, have elevated, like, to the top of the game. So what was that? So you started, okay, then I know you had a very, you had a mentor that really got you into the whole, like the whole, like the whole, idea of publishing. So how did you, just give me your full background. I'll give you a quick elevator

pitch because I'm going to have all day, right? Or do we? I don't know. I mean, whatever you want. I moved out here in 94 with a company based in New York. It was called PIMS. And I was an account executive and had a choice between Chicago and L.A. If you were given that choice, you say, I'm going to L.A. Yeah, for sure. So moved to L. I hadn't been here. I actually came to visit during the OJ Chase. That was like the first time I came to L.A. I'm like, this place is nuts, but I want to be here. I moved here and worked for this company for six years, and I met my wife, who was my girlfriend, my girlfriend at the time, who's not my wife, and she brought a copy of this magazine home and said, you would be really good in sales.

I'm like, what do you mean? She goes, well, you know so many people, you talk to everybody. So I decided to call the person who was running that magazine. It was called Angelino Magazine, which is still out today, Michael Kong, and I said, I have no experience whatsoever, but I hear salespeople get paid commission. You kind of have nothing to lose by bringing me on board. Let's see what I could do. I love that.

So he immediately brought me on board, and the best thing was they just launched, and I shared an office with him. So I literally got to know every single thing about publishing the magazine world, how to dress, what to say on a sales call from Michael Kong, who was the founder of Modern Luxury. So he was sort of the first person that kind of took a chance on me that got me where I sort of am today. Yeah, you know, you said some really just pulling,

out some really important tidbits that you said, I love how you said that you knew every facet of what you were doing. And that's really important when you are in business in general is knowing that you're not too good because you've already done every tier, everything possible in the industry, and it makes you well versed. So I call it in my industry a multifaceted agent or a multifaceted leader. And that makes you a lot more relatable. But I love that you said that because it's so true, working every tier, knowing how to dress, knowing every single, you know, every intricate detail of what you're doing is so important. And I'm sure that's exactly why you are so successful. And even like when coming here today, I think we're talking about it said, I don't like

to be late ever. I think it's a sign of like selfishness in a way where even when I interview people like for a job, if they're like 10 minutes late, I'm like, I'm kind of not really interested. I just literally have this conversation in the car on the way over here. I think being late is so rude because it's disrespectful to somebody else's time. So I'm always, I have such bad anxiety about being late because I don't ever want to disrespect your time. Exactly. And if you're running late, call or texting. Oh my God, I'm in traffic. You know, I get it. Sometimes you are late. But not two hours late. Like two hours late is a little obnoxious. Oh, I totally agree. Right? I mean, I get it. Things happen in L.A. If you've never been here, you don't know the traffic. Half hour, okay. But an hour to two hours.

That's like excessive. I'm not with that. So first impressions are everything. That's the other thing, too, that I always learned in my early days, in my 20s. What do you mean by that? The way somebody looks, because you only have one chance to make for you. I think either how you present. I think. I think either how you present. yourself on the outside and also how you present yourself on the inside saying hello how are you simple things you know i always i always feel like sales is like a first date you always want to ask so many questions to see if it makes sense to continue the relationship because our world as you know mara it's all relationships people buy from people that they trust yes i i agree with you i mean you can't have said it better it's so true in sales the best advice i ever got from my ex-husband bless his heart and i love him i will i do I actually really like him.

The best thing he told me is that you have to know a little bit about everybody. So anybody that you meet, you're relatable, whether it's one word in their language, whether it doesn't matter what it is something about their cultural food. And I literally think I know something about every culture, every person that I meet and I do it intentionally because you're right. It's about building relationships. And when you're in sales, you have to build that relationship from, I think it's, anything, not even just sales. It's business in general. And I'm assuming just from talking to you

that you probably run a very thriving business within an amazing culture. I see your energy. And your energy is infectious. You can feel it. You come in, like, I already saw you. Hey, how are you? You don't even know who we are. Oh, hey. But is this, like, what you do in your business, like, same type of culture. You're having everybody engaged. People are laughing. I just think your energy is super funny. You know what's so funny, Marr, you say that, like, when everybody was home during the pandemic and work from, I was like the person who did not enjoy working from home because it was so hard for me because I kind of like work off other people's energy. So like not being in an office was really tough because I feel like in our line of work and media, you want to be around everybody.

You want to come up with ideas and, oh, this client wants that. Does anyone think we should do this? So it was always harder for me. But now that we're kind of back, you know, we're back in the office. Our office is actually in downtown LA. So it's kind of fun to be back in that. because you want to learn off everybody else. And one thing that I always learned, like, yeah, I am the leader and the president publisher, but I'm learning something new every day from my team. Yeah. And even, like, the younger people who, you know, they know so much about social media and, like,

things that I don't really know that much about. So we're always learning from each other, which is really kind of nice. Are you too much by the younger people? Because I'm going to be honest with you. I used to be the hottest. I want to be clear. I was the hottest, youngest, right? I was one of the few females in my business.

You're not 24, Mara. I love you. I love you. You're my new best friend. I love you. But as I've gotten more seasoned, there's new people that come in. And I don't know that, I don't think that I feel intimidated by them. I think I'm intimidated by the new ideas that they're bringing in from technology and knowing social media and just their world.

So how do you feel about it in yours? I mean, it's important because our world, obviously when I first started in the magazine world, it was just the magazine. Yeah. Right. Now we're the magazine. We're digital. We're events. We're social media. So it kind of all mixes together. So I feel like that group who do all our social media, I learned so much from. And interestingly enough, I mean, we could talk about the fires in LA, but our Instagram just kind of blew up because LA magazine is a news, is a news, is a news, news, politics, sports, and luxury. And with the best places to eat, the best places to go on a hike. So it was interesting during the fires, we did a lot. And we got a lot of coverage and a lot of people started following LA Magazine more than ever. And I even started, and you'll appreciate this being an East coaster, when the fires came out, everybody thought the entire city was on fire, the way the news presented it. So like I was getting phone calls from my cousins, my friends from college,

like, what is going on? Are you okay? I'm like, I'm in Marina Del Rey. I'm fine. So I decided to do my own like weekly, daily updates where I was saying what was happening. And a lot of people really appreciated that because everyone was worried, you know, but I was out of harm's way. Obviously, it was so devastating to see what was happening in our city, but it was in areas that weren't around where I currently was living. So it was kind of like good that we were able to have the platform of social media to showcase that. Yeah. Well, you took, you actually led into one of the questions I have for you. So with the world evolving and going into, you know, social media and digital, you still have print. Yeah. So I know for me, like,

I prefer to have something that I can read in my hand. Maybe it's my, maybe that's what ages me. But I prefer, even when I read a book, I can't read it off a Kindle or an iPad. I have to have the physical. Same thing with magazines. I love magazines. I'm just not going to, it's not, I don't like that. So you've been able to keep that alive, which magazines have been around for decades.

Yeah. So are you ever planning to fully take out the print world, or do you think it brings a specific component to the business that should never die? Yeah, good question. I think print is so important because I feel like, especially regional print because we're able to, obviously we do so much local content. So let's say you're a store in Rodeo Drive, right? You want to get people into your store.

We have a bigger circulation on people who are reading the print magazine that might fit that demographic. So that demographic of like the 40, 60 to 70, those people still enjoy print. But even when I go to like the pool at a hotel and I see people on their phones and the glare and they can't see it because like you have a magazine, you know, also. the beauty of what we do is that the magazine, you're not interrupted by a text message or an alert or something. So your mind is constantly on what you're focusing on. Yeah, so it's intentional. It's important. I like that. I think it's always going to be around.

Yeah, I like that. And then just taking it back to the fires, you know, one thing I've spoken to Derek about, we were talking about, because I had texted him and I said to him, listen, I really want to get involved. How can I help with the community? And he was saying that, you know, one thing about L.A. that's really impressive is that all of a sudden, LA. People think that they don't have a community here. All of a sudden, the community of L.A. really came together. But your magazine was pretty instrumental in that, too. Oh, yeah. You know, it was interesting because February is Arts Month in L.A. So we were always doing an artist cover for February, but we decided, let's take it to another level where we asked

artists to create sort of this L.A. strong cover. So we had three artists. We had Garen Swing. we had Mr. Brainwash, he was a well-known artist in LA, and Robert Vargas created three special covers. One was, you know, a cover of the city with firemen on there and all that, but another fireman and a daughter, and then we had another fireman picture. So it was really great that we were able to capture art in what was happening. We also took it to another level and interviewed the fire department in the Palisades and what was happening in Altadena.

So the whole issue was really revolved around the fires. So it's kind of like giving back to what we went through. And then LA Magazine, we also did a clothing drive where I took a space in Marina del Rey, far away from where the fires were. We had donations, and we had about 150 families come, and we clothed them all. And hearing the stories of, like, there was one gentleman who was a school teacher in Beverly Hills for 40 years, and I looked over, and he was, like, in tears. And I said, can I help you? And he said, you know, I can't believe I'm 85.

and I'm in a clothing relief place looking for clothing. So it's just, you know, we were all in tears, but you're right, we all came together. And then next week we're doing a, obviously LA Magazine. We're in the Engine 28 building, which was in the oldest fire stations in L.A. So we're actually turning it into a comedy night. So we feel like we want to do something kind of, let's get people laughing a little bit, right? So you could buy a ticket that's called Angels of Comedy, and we have 10 comics coming, and we're doing chili, we're doing cornbread, and we're doing comedy.

I'm assuming this is probably not the first time you've given back to the community. So is that a part of your platform with the magazine is servitude? Because that's a big part of what I believe in, is that to whom much is given, much is expected and required. That's a big thing for me is to give back. So what else have you guys done? And why is giving back to the community so important? Yeah, I mean, obviously it's so important, especially with all the charities that are in town.

So, you know, Orange County, we have Orange Coast Magazine, and there's so many great charity events from CASA to JDRF. We cover them in our magazine. You know, we also do fundraisers for all these different charities as well. The LA Magazine Food Event is one of our biggest events of the year. We always have a charity component. So you purchase a ticket, proceeds go back to charity. So we're constantly.

Also working with, like, right now, we work with different, like, charities where they may have a photographer who's like a, maybe it's like someone who, you know, was abused. They want to be a photographer. So we'll sometimes utilize them. Hey, come to one of our events, take some shots. I love that. Giving people a chance.

Just, yeah, I love that. I absolutely love that. So let's switch gears for a second. Let's talk a little bit about the magazine. Your magazine, now, if somebody never read your magazine before, what does it focus on? Yeah. Is there like something specific?

And what's the demographic? So Los Angeles Magazine, we're 65 years, years. So we're like a staple in L.A. We started on Rodeo Drive, a guy named Jeff Miller was the original publisher. And back then it was about, you know, luxury and shopping and restaurants. So we really still do, to this day, talk about shopping, dining, the best place is the hike. But we also added a component of news, you know, like who's running for mayor, what's happening with the climate with city council.

We talk about, you know, a good crime story in L.A. magazine, which is kind of interesting. Well, what's that? Now you have to say what it is. Well, we've done a lot of different crime stories. So one in particular that I will mention, there was a woman, it's a little negative, but there was a woman who ran over two boys in the valley and took off. She was drunk. So, you know, we did a story on that where it was sort of like, you know, what's happening there?

The Menendez brothers. I was just going to ask that. I was done things on the Menendez brothers, you know, very L.A. focused stories of people that are in L.A. that may have done bad things. We're always on the forefront. It works really well with digital. So our digital numbers are always up when we're doing, you know, I think there's another story that came out today about a gentleman who dropped off two women.

He drug them at a party, dropped them off at two hospitals. One at one hospital, one and the other, and he's being sentenced today. So that's an online story that we're doing. Oh, my God. So we're constantly like, and we get a lot of views, and there's a lot of interest that way. We also do a segment on the news, too. We did a segment with Fox 11 every week on what to do for the weekend. So we're kind of the experts on like the best places to go and see whether it's free, a free event or a paid event.

So we want to be something for everybody. Yeah, you really, you're like a one-stop shop. So what's the demographic? So the demographic, you know, we're aspirational too, but we have 85,000 copies of LA Magazine a month. Where do you find them? We have, well, we have subscribers. We have people who pay money and we think there is a lot of value in that. When you pay to subscribe to a magazine, you're going to read it.

So about half of that goes to different homes across L.A. from 25 to 80 years old, I'll say. We also have a big hotel distribution, but this is really the best part. In December, we had Billy Elish on our cover, and that opened the doors to a Barnes & Noble national distribution. So we're in Barnes & Noble across the country. So now, LA Magazine, we kind of towed ourselves

of like the Vanity Fair of the West. You could get LA Magazine in Miami, in Orlando, in New York, and Chicago. So we're kind of like a national, have a national kind of footprint from being a regional magazine. So from an advertiser point of view and always say to an advertiser, your message is being seen in Chicago and, you know, Virginia and all these other cities. I love that. I mean, kudos to you. That's pretty, I mean, that's a huge athlete. So you're not just like a local, like the Orlando Sentinel, for instance, but literally all over.

I mean, that's, that's huge. Yeah, that's great. And I'm sure you get to meet a lot of cool people. So let's talk about, come on. Let's talk about the celebrity. Let's dish. What's the, so like, who is, I would say, who would be like the most influential person that you've met? And why?

Well, influential, maybe this isn't like a celebrity, but maybe like a politician. Like Karen Bass, right, met her a couple times. And she's the mayor of L.A. Or Rick Caruso, those are very influential, powerful people, Gavin Newsome, you know, people like that. But celebrity-wise, I mean, we always do a lot of fun stuff with celebrities. Last year we had our L.A. woman at luncheon, we had Chris Jenner,

who was so interesting and, you know, building that empire with her family, you know, years ago with reality TV and her husband being, you know, one of the OJ attorneys, you know, so that was kind of an interesting person. Right now we're doing our 2025 LA when we have Paris Hilton who we're shooting tomorrow, and she is done. I mean, here's a woman who lost her home, and the next day she was out collecting clothing for people in Altadina. I love that.

So she does so much. So for us, those are the inspirational people to meet. But, you know, and also, like, one of my favorite celebrities was Laura Dern. She's, like, super nice. And part of how it works is, like, the celebrity will do some sort of experiential event with us, whether it's a dinner or a cocktail party. We just had Sebastian Stan, John David Washington, and Coleman Domingo. Coleman and Sebastian nominated for Oscars.

We did a big men's event with them in Beverly Hills at the Mayborn, and they came, they were everyone wanted to meet them, and then we have sponsors come, so liquor sponsors, automotive sponsors. And that's kind of how our business works, too. So we have our advertising sales in print and digital, and then we also have sponsorship sales for events. That's a great, so sorry, that's where I wanted to go about. So you have sponsors, so that's really how the magazine, that's another part of how it thrives, is through sponsorship. Are you looking for specific sponsors or it can be anybody that really wants to? I mean, obviously, you know, we find a place for everything. We do the beauty awards, which is something I brought to LA Magazine when I came.

We have different beauty products. We do a big event. We do experiences with the beauty products. So, you know, they might pay money to be a part of the beauty event. We bring influencers to that event. So that's like a fun event where you can actually get a lot of people seeing your products firsthand. We cover it online on LAMag.com. We covered in print. So that's something that is a big revenue-generating event for us, our food event as well with liquor sponsors and automotive. Or we may be asked to be a part of an event where I might say, okay, we'd love to be a part

of like the LA Food and Wine event happening in May. Can we bring a sponsor in? Or can we do sort of a rev-share? So sometimes it's even easier when it's not really our tent pole event, but somebody else's where they're like doing all the work, but we get to come in and kind of be a part of it. So it sounds like, I mean, your job,

and obviously it appears, because I know when you were walking in here, you were telling me that you were booking cars and you were doing this. I mean, that doesn't seem like that's part of your job title, but it does seem like you are fully immersed in what you're doing. I mean, my job, I mean, honestly, it was funny because we're doing a luncheon out in Palm Springs for modernism. And I brought my client out there who were doing the event with. And she, like, spent the day with me in the car and couldn't believe, like, the conversations that she was hearing because she's like, I thought, you know.

Like, I just like to get involved. And you're probably the same way, Mara. Like, we're East Coasters. We want to get it done. I'm all in the mix. Right. Like, I just want to get things done right away. I can't wait.

And maybe it's like the AD, whatever it is, ADD in me, but I just like to get it done. Yeah, it's compulsive. So I'm kind of involved in a lot of the stuff that we do. And, you know, it's important because you also want, you know, to make sure we're falling within a budget. Right. I want to make sure that, you know, the revenue makes sense for what we're doing. And if your name is on it, you want to make sure that the event comes to fruition the way that you see it. You're not going to put something together half ass.

You're not going to do that. Right. Right. So being involved like this, right. There's a lot of components. And I know for me, I'm also a parent. I have three kids. I told you only about one, but I have three.

I have a 17-year-old daughter. I have a 14-year-old son. And I have, I say, the baby, he's seven years old. And I don't know if you travel a lot, but I'm assuming that you probably do travel, right? Whether it's throughout California or whatever, I'm literally on a plane every eight to ten days. And it's oftentimes a struggle because I say I'm a full-time mom, but, you know, I'm on a plane. So how do you do the work-life balancing, or is that not even a real thing for you? I mean, it's hard, I think, in our world today, especially with these phones that we have.

I kind of tell my dad this all the time. I'm like, God, I wish, like, how did you do it in, like, 1979? Right. Like, you went to an office from 9 to 5. You came home. You had your briefcase, but the day was over. That was it. You know what I mean?

Like, that was it. There weren't, like, maybe we do some paperwork. But, like, for us, we're, like, on our, so I feel like it never ends, you know? And it was funny. I took a trip to Dubai, of all places over the holidays, with my son. My wife got the flu, so she couldn't come. But I actually felt like, wow, this is like seven days of, I literally don't have to do anything like work-wise because kind of there's really

nothing going on during the holidays, but I'm in Dubai where the time difference is like insane. It's like 12 hours. So like while I was like going out at night, everybody was just waking up in L.A., you know? So it was so intentional you were there with your son. Yeah. And that was great too. one son and he's like my life. Does he think you're cool or not really?

I mean, I, he does not think I'm cool. I think I'm cool, but he's like, embarrassed to my social media, you know, that whole stuff.

Do you have rules? I can't post him on social media, you know, stuff like that. Do you have rules? I have rules. Yeah, we have rules too.

What are your rule? I have like specific rules that my daughter has, my son too now is on the rule bus. I'm not allowed to show up to the school with one of our cars, not allowed to do that. I have to be fully covered,

head to toe when her friends come. I actually should be a mute because I'm not allowed to talk to them either. Yeah, I have specific rules. Well, I took my son out. So I went to pack him up. He's a freshman in Boston. And I packed him up last year. And I said, let me take out, let's go out to dinner with some of your friends.

And there are many rules. You can't talk about this. You can't talk about that. Don't bring up the girl. Exactly. It's just the way it is. They don't think we're cool. But like, I remember when I was a teenager, I was like embarrassed to my parents.

But like, we're so cool. I think we're cool, apparently the same thing. I mean, my parents were always cool too, but I was a little embarrassed to my parents. I don't think they were that. My mom's cool now. My mom is super cool now. Right, right. But then she was not cool.

I'm cool. I am super cool. At least I think so. You are cool. I think you're freaking cool. I mean, just your shoes alone are cool. Look these shoes. I love the shoes.

They're so cool. But I think, you know, more than that, it just shows like the human side of you and balancing such a thriving business, being a parent. What else is there to life? You know, besides being a person. and it just goes so beyond that. But more importantly, your business, you know, what are you trying to do with your business? Where are you trying to take this?

Are you going in different directions? Yeah, I remember always trying to grow, you know, so we kind of see what works. And the beauty is there's like new eyes because I came to LA Magazine two years ago. I had 23 years at Modern Luxury. And I came because we had new ownership from LA Magazine. Mark Garagos, who's the famous criminal defense attorney and Ben Maisalus, purchased LA Magazine from Our Media. Right.

And they brought me on board. So it's kind of fun, too, because it's kind of like an open canvas of like what works, what doesn't work. So, like, for example, we brought in, we had Giata de Laurentis on our best new restaurants issue last January, and we created a pop-up dinner with her. She doesn't have any restaurants in L.A. She doesn't want any restaurants in L.A. She's going to be bothered with, you know, she's in Vegas and Phoenix.

So that was really successful to do this really cool community dinner, which also was one of the reasons why we're doing the comic night at Engine. 28 because we know people will come. Yeah. And people want connections, people want experiences, whether it's a big event or a small event. So now not only that, you're using it for networking to connect other people, which is really Yeah, yeah. And exactly.

And we started doing these profiles. Like I'm working on something called Women of Impact. So it's part of our LA Woman issue in March where women invest in the magazine. Instead of like buying an ad, it's sort of a marketing page where it's sort of a marketing page where they're treated like, you know, it's an editorial, we do a photo shoot, we do hair, we do makeup, they're invited to the event, and they're around the right spear of influence, because that's one of the reasons why we are connectors in our community. We want our advertisers and anybody who invests in us to get something out of it. So that's kind of how our business model has worked. And also in

today's world with social media, everybody has a brand. So a woman may have paid, you know, money to be in the magazine, but also she puts on our social media, puts it her, Nobody knows. She paid, you know, nobody knows. Right, right, right, of course. Oh, you were featured in LA Magazine or Orange Coast. Like, you know. So it's kind of a new way of how media is working. And honestly, you know, Marr, it's interesting because there's not many of us left, you know, like, a lot of national magazines have closed and a lot of newspapers.

I mean, my newspaper growing up in New Jersey, the Star Ledger is like gone, you know? God, I've done so crazy and you still have such a huge following. I mean, do you see print going away for your magazine? I mean, I don't, I honestly. I feel like it's like albums have come back, like record albums or record players. I feel like there's always going to be a need for a print publication that's done right. You know, obviously I see LA Magazine and, you know, Holmes and Hollywood Hills. And, you know, so we're always kind of like a coffee table kind of vibey book.

Our creative director, Aude Garron and our editor, Jasmine, do such a great job with the content and making sure that we're relevant. We've great, we have a great photographer, Irvin Rivera. He's actually our in-house. he shoots all of our covers. He did our pride covers last year. He's doing Paris. Like, he's just outstanding. Out of all the different editorials you've done, the different covers, what would be your

favorite or most memorable experience? With a cover? With anything. Anything you've done in print. Okay. It could be as broad as you want. I just leave it open to you. You know, I love this.

Let me think because I'm going to say, you know, L.A., we're kind of like seen as like a foodie kind of magazine. because people always come to us, like, where's the best places to eat? So I always feel like our food covers are really kind of strong and fun. We just did our best new restaurants issue with a great chef in West Hollywood. So those covers are always exciting because then we get to do a really cool experience that they're like one of their restaurants and bringing people together. So that's definitely something momentous.

But I will, to bring up pride, I know in today's world, it's kind of like, you know, there's a lot going on. I think like pride and Hispanic heritage in those months are really important. So last year we had, oh God, I can't remember his name from American Idol. Adam Lampert. Oh, that's cool. We had Michaela J. Rodriguez, and we had Hannah Einbinder from Hacks on our covers. And the year before, we had Trixie Mattel.

We had a couple other big cover, George Decay from Star Trek, and we do these panels with pride. We had Derek Warburton, who we all love, gurus. He was on our panel as well. So I think bringing people together where it might be something that most, Most people might say, oh, I don't know you guys did that, but I want to be a part of it, you know. So that's something that's really meaningful for what we do. I love that. How many people work in your organization?

So in L.A., we probably have about 15 between editorial and sales. Orange County, you have about eight. In Pasadena, we have three. So we're a tiny but mighty crew, but we get a lot done. Yeah, you do. What would you say that sticks out about your culture versus other people's culture? You know, I feel like, you know, when I came on board as the publisher, you kind of have to lead by example. So, like, I immediately went out, knocked on doors, brought in business, because the last thing you want is for someone new to come in who's sort of giving your marching orders, not that I'm that kind of person, but you want to show, what are you made of?

Like, why should you be my leader? I want to see what you could do. So I remember when I came on board, I, like, brought in all this business. And everyone's like, oh, that's what I do, you know? No, it's so true because, you know, there's a saying they say if you're leading a group of people and nobody's following you, you're just taking a walk. Right. And that's important that you have to be able to lead from the front. And that just kind of shows.

So can I ask, is this too personal to ask, like what kind of revenue your magazine brings in? So we do, I mean, we do pretty well. I mean, we do like what we always hit our budgets, I will say. You know, like this year it's been a little tough with the fires. You know, I think there's a lot going on. Election year is always a little bit tough. you know, just to say the least, but we're getting there. We always kind of, we find ways to make sure we're hitting our numbers.

I love that. Whatever it takes, right? Whatever it takes, you know? Yeah, and I really, what I really admire about you is that you truly are a multifaceted leader, building an organization, and I feel like you constantly want to evolve, right? You constantly want, and I feel like you're open to ideas, no ego when it comes to which way, am I right about that? I have a funny story to tell you about, we're talking about photo shoots.

So a couple of years. ago we had Edgar Ramirez. I don't if you know who that is. He's an actor. Anyway, he was on our cover, and we needed to get a car service for him. I said, you know what? I'm going to pick up Edgar. So I called my friends at Ogarah Coach, and I said, hey, I have to pick up this up-and-coming actor named Edgar Ramirez for this dinner we're doing. They gave me a Bentley. I went to Edgar's house, and he couldn't believe that, like, I'm the one who picked the guy up, but I felt like it's a really good time for me because they get to know him and spend time. And, you know, and spend time, with them.

And so I think like you got to do things a little bit that are like off the cuff like that. I agree with you. And I think that's what sets aside people like us from other people because we'll go that extra mile just to make that connection because you want to obviously when you're meeting people, you want to harvest relationships. And if you really like somebody, you want to keep the relationship going. And so many times I feel like in our society now, we pass these off to VA's, you know, assistants instead of taking the time ourselves.

and that is such a big part. Like, that's why I love that for right now. Your print is not going away. Well, so many people want to get that human touch away. And it's so important to keep that there, that you, yourself, this is your magazine, and you lead from the front, and you're showing your people that being human is still there. It's relatable. But what was, I mean, just from that connection, did anything evolve from there?

Yeah, he's like, one of my good friends. You know what I mean? He's super cool. I see him at events and he's fun. And I'm sure he would do anything that. He would show up for you anytime you have. Yeah. That's so important. And even like, you know, Cynthia Revo, he did something. She's a doll. I mean, like, people who like seven years ago, they were sort of up and coming, but now she's like a huge star, still, like, comments on my social media about, like, my son in college. You know what I mean? So it's kind of nice to see that connection, too. You really are so interesting. Like, really, I mean, and not only are you interesting, but you're successful. But it's not like a, it's a very humble success. And you did it from through building relationships and literally from the bottom to the top.

By doing what you do best, it's meeting people and making relationships. And a lot of the key things that you pointed out, number one, you give back to your community. That's so important, right? You still stick with what you believe in and keeping print alive, which I think is super important too. Because honestly, for someone like me, you're right. I hate looking at the phone. I don't like it. I like having something in hand.

And I do like having something on my coffee table that somebody can grab and read. Love it. And then more importantly, like the best part of what you do and how you do it is you're just so humble doing. I love that. I love how real and authentic. It has to be. Just be real. Authentic. People can smell bullshit. I don't know everything. You know, I always count on people to kind of, people laugh at me sometimes because I didn't know this. I didn't know that. I'm like, that's who I am. You know what I mean?

We're getting older. Yeah, we were getting older. You know? I know. But it's okay. It's okay because now you know what they say. Forties and 50s is like the new 20 and 30s. That's what they say. Wait, could you guess my age? I think you're in your 40s. Oh, thank you. I'm going to be 55 this year. You look really good. And you told me you're a box. Bodybuilding? Well, so when I turned 40, like 15 years ago. Like five.

Right. The gym that I go to down when I was living in Newport, they were doing this contest called Stark Naked, where they trained people like bodybuilders. But you weren't naked. I wasn't naked. Well, anyway, ish. And I won that year. So it's a really great, but it really taught me, A, what to eat.

And most of it is diet. You know, I would only go to the gym like three days a week. 80%. Because you're not in every day. It was the steps and it was really the diet, but really do it. And, you know, I've done it a few times after the pandemic. I did a shoot with men's health, men's fitness, which was kind of fun. And now this year is my 55, and they do another contest with Stark, but I'm involved again this year.

And it just keeps me going. Yeah, I really love it. Like, when you love going to the gym, you know? That's a big part of, that is a non-negotiable in my life. I go the gym every morning at 5 a.m. Are you in the 5 a.m. club like Marky Mark. Yes, I am. Marky Mark.

You know, they say about successful sales. I think he's a 3 a.m. club, though. He is still really good looking. But you know what? We had him on our cover. I love him. Yeah, he's really cool. I know him from Marky Mark and the funky bunch.

Yeah, me too. When he was a rapper, that's when I, that's how I always see Marky Mark. But it's so essential. And you really do have the key ingredients of what success looks like. Thank you. It's my body and soul for sure. I would 100% if anyone ask me, that's a number one key ingredient, right? It's authenticity, intentionality.

That's really, and then giving back and staying humble. I would say those and you encompass all of that. You are a bilf. And a bilf is a boss I'd like to. Yes, I'm a belf. You're a bilf. I love it. Or you can be a dilf.

Oh. I'll take that too. Yeah, whatever you want. That works. And one last question. If anybody wants to get a hold of you or the magazine, where would they find you? I mean, you could go to Instagram, I know, at Christopher Gia. Okay.

Or go to L.A.Mag.com, obviously, to get, you know, information about what we do. But probably Instagram is easy because I do answer everybody. Believe it or not. You do? I do too. I just do. I do. I do my DMs.

People slide in and I... Did the slide in DM? Yeah. It's easier. You slide in? And then if it makes sense, you're like, here's my email, right? So that works.

Omar, thank you so much. I mean, you're a gem and I love that you're doing this and kind of creating these really cool experiences. We're bringing people together and having a conversation. Yes. I think it's great.

Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. A true Biltf in himself. Thank you for coming on today.

It was so much fun. Appreciate you.