by Blake Herzog
Its mid-altitude setting in the Central Highlands blesses it with a mild four-season climate that’s the envy of its neighbors to the south and north. Its unrivaled natural beauty combines forests, grassland, granite cliffs and lakes with mountains on the horizon, creating a playground for outdoor enthusiasts.
Its reverence for history and preservation sets it apart from so much of our fast-growing region, beckoning with glimpses of a more challenging yet simpler life.
Above all, it’s the vibrant, open-hearted people who create its inimitable charm, and what attracted ROX Media as it was looking for markets into which it could expand. In 2017 we launched Prescott LIVING, and we’re here to tell you our story and thank you for letting us share your world with you, seven years and 50 issues later.
Prescott LIVING Springs to Life 2013
In 2013, Elaine Earle took leadership of ROX Media, a 2-year-old company based in Pinal County with two printed magazines, Golden Corridor LIVING magazine and Casa Grande Smart Shopper. Working with her “partner in crime” Bea Lueck, she began looking for markets into which the company could expand.
They decided to cast a wide net with their small staff, launching ad-heavy Smart Shopper magazines into five additional markets: Prescott’s Quad Cities, Sierra Vista, Flagstaff, plus Fairfield and Vacaville in Northern California.
“Don’t know why we did that, but we thought, ‘well, this’ll work,’ but it didn’t,” Elaine said. “So, we ended up looking at the different markets and the market that shined above everything else was Prescott.”
It wasn’t just a matter of demographics, though its population, location and business base all fell into a sweet spot for ROX. It was the community.
“I really think the Prescott community was a really tight niche where people knew each other, and there was a set number of leaders, and the city officials were really involved with everything,” Elaine said. “All the organizations seemed like they were in sync with each other, that they just worked well. And that’s not the case in every community where you have the Chamber and the City, and in Prescott you have the rodeo and you have all the communities.”
2016
With support from key local leaders, ROX Media began to expand, launching the Quad City Shopper in 2013 and the City of Prescott’s Visitor Guide beginning with the 2016 edition. Elaine contracted with Ray Newton, a Northern Arizona University professor emeritus living in Prescott, to write the text for the guide. He became Prescott’s biggest advocate with ROX, pushing for the launch of Prescott LIVING, a community news and lifestyle magazine which is similar to Golden Corridor LIVING.
2017
ROX went on to purchase its building downtown at 130 N. Granite St., opening in April 2017. Prescott LIVING magazine launched in July, filled with articles and photos from Ray and columns from a squadron of “Community Voices,” residents from all walks of life. Its tagline was: “The Voice of the Community.” And it was a hit.
2019
Elaine relocated part-time to Prescott to pilot the fast-growing magazine, shifting it from a quarterly to bimonthly publishing schedule within six months. By the beginning of 2019 Elaine started looking for a marketing director to take over leadership of the publications. Laurie Fisher, looking to relocate to the area from Orange County, California with 25 years of experience in the marketing and sales industry, spotted the opportunity.
Laurie drove to Prescott to have lunch with Elaine and immediately saw the possibilities in Prescott LIVING and ROX Media as the foundation for expansion in Northern Arizona, especially within the upscale sector: “I saw all that potential growth available, and thankfully Elaine gave me that freedom to do that, and trusted enough in me to make all those changes, and let me have free rein to develop them.”
Becoming the ‘Voice of the Community’
Prescott LIVING publisher Elaine Earle likens her reception in Prescott to “a big warm hug,” and since then ROX Media has been working to return the favor by producing a magazine that’s of, by and for the people of Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Dewey-Humboldt.
Most of the core elements of Prescott LIVING have been here from the beginning: the Prescott Pioneer community news section, the longform Q&A interview with a community leader, three sections dedicated to different aspects of life — then dubbed Biz, Fun and You, now called Community, Recreation and You. We also had the Out and About photo pages and our Women in Business special section debuted in the following issue.
But what cemented the magazine in place were the community contributions. Freelance writers, public officials, educators, business owners, representatives of nonprofits and arts organizations, health professionals and animal advocates are just some examples of people who have pitched in to help us deliver a well-rounded portrait of Greater Prescott.
“‘The Voice of the Community’ slogan really took off here, where people really liked seeing their contribution in print,” Elaine says. “They felt like they had a voice in the community. There really wasn’t anything else in that space that was a community lifestyle magazine that covered all the bases, everything from retail, education, government, every aspect.”
Today, we bring you news in every issue from the mayors of our four municipalities and columns from the local Chambers of Commerce, Yavapai Humane Society, local Parks and Rec departments, plus landscaping advice from the “Mountain Gardener” Ken Lain and poetry from Tod Christensen.
Our annual Women in Business and Leadership and Men of Vision special sections highlight the achievements of people who bring their energy to serve and inspire the community. We give our readers chances to participate in our annual Best of Yavapai poll and the Photo Contest, which never fails to amaze us with the quality of the images we receive.
We have added more lifestyle features with tips and inspiration for your home and garden, beauty and style, health and wellness, arts and culture, outdoor adventure and pet care.
ROX Media has always been quick to support our community. We support and are a sponsor of numerous events, including:
- The World’s Oldest Rodeo®, for which we publish the souvenir program
- Courthouse Lighting (as part of The Friends of Jersey Lilly Saloon)
- Primary sponsor of all Prescott Western Heritage Center presentations and events
- Arizona’s Christmas City
- Dancing for the Stars
- Festival of Trees
- Pure Imagination Festival
- Whiskey Row Marathon
- The Big Sting Country Music Festival
We’ve also dedicated the back wall of our property to be part of the Granite Creek Trail Mural and sponsor the Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary.
Prescott LIVING is available for free on racks throughout Greater Prescott, including at Fry’s, Safeway and Sprouts grocery stores and many Downtown Prescott racks, as well as in front of the ROX Media office at 130 N. Granite St. All of its content is also available at www.prescottlivingmag.com, and by subscription.
Contact us any time at editor@roxco.com with any comments or story ideas.
ROX Media Expands in Northern Arizona
2019
Prescott LIVING continued to grow in size and circulation under the leadership of Executive Publisher Elaine Earle and Associate Publisher Laurie Fisher (director of sales and marketing until 2021) with page counts rising from 100 to near 200 and free distribution on racks throughout Greater Prescott.
They began to grow their team so they could expand further into Greater Prescott and Northern Arizona.
First came the evolution of the Quad City Smart Shopper into Prescott NOW, a full-color monthly event calendar for all of Greater Prescott that debuted in October 2019.
The magazine is now a trusted
source for information on virtually any type of public event in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Dewey-Humboldt — classes, concerts, club meetings, plays, movies, outdoor activities, you name it.
2020
Elaine and Laurie’s shared interest in health and wellness led to the launch of Prescott Healthy Living magazine in September 2020, chock-full of advice on self-care, nutrition and recipes, exercise, disease prevention and screening, mental health and more aspects of health. Local health professionals and enthusiasts are key contributors.
“We’re runners and we’re active, and we just thought there should be something here for that market for health and wellness and people that want that specifically. So we went for that niche market,” Laurie says.
Next, Elaine and Laurie turned to an opportunity they saw in the Prescott market that could be parlayed further into the region.
“We saw with the growth of Prescott and the Quad City area, there was definitely a market for the luxury type of publication, with all the neighborhoods we have here in that luxury market,” Laurie says. “And also our contractors and high-end builders and all the things that are available in this community, there was a huge market for the luxury clientele.”
2021
There was another September launch in 2021 for Northern AZ Luxury Living, dedicated to covering the latest trends and dependable classics of high-end design, travel, fashion, shopping, wellness, wealth management and everything else that informs the luxury experience. Its distribution includes locations in Sedona and Flagstaff to reach the affluent, and those with big dreams, in those mountain destinations as well.
2023
As our Greater Prescott community grows we saw an emerging market in potential new residents and recent arrivals to the area seeking a free, comprehensive guide to local ins and outs from schools to housing to recreation, our annual Welcome and Relocation Guides for Prescott, Prescott Valley and Chino Valley arrived in 2023.
ROX Media’s diverse suite of publications serves a broad swath of Northern Arizona readers with articles and columns they can enjoy and use in all aspects of their lives in one of the most scenic areas of the American West, in a professionally produced package that’s hard to put down.
“What’s made this successful is the team that we have in place,” Laurie says. “Everyone that works for us is the top of their game as far as how to publish these magazines. So, what’s made it so successful is the look and the feel of these publications that people like, and they can’t believe that they’re free.”
