California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

    HUB101 Center Debuts Student-Led Magazine

    When you think of what constitutes a great college experience one thing that comes to mind is following your passion and California Lutheran University senior Molly Strawn is doing just that.

    Strawn is editor in chief for Pivot Magazine, which published its first issue in September of this year. Pivot Magazine is a publication by HUB101, a space that provides mentorship for entrepreneurs. Strawnโ€™s involvement in Pivot Magazine was an essential part of the magazineโ€™s creation.

    This was ultimately Strawnโ€™s project, said Greg Monterrosa, the Center for Entrepreneurship community relations manager.

    Strawn had been working at HUB101 for content creation. Monterrosa approached Strawn earlier this year in March, and asked her if she was interested in creating a magazine for HUB101.

    โ€œShe had a passion for putting content together, and had a vision for something, so I let her run with it,โ€ Monterrosa said.

    After receiving Monterrosaโ€™s offer, she had two options. She could either continue working on The Echo as news editor, or she could accept Monterrosaโ€™s offer.

    โ€œPivot would allow me to be a journalist and an editor, as well as founding something. So it was a collaboration of journalism meets entrepreneurship in one,โ€ Strawn said. โ€œI determined that that was going to be the best course of action.โ€

    Strawn decided to contact the best graphic designer she could find and that led her to Joey Kishlock, Pivot Magazineโ€™s executive design editor.

    โ€œI am really just kind of behind the scenes of creating everything that the magazine is. I get to decide layout, typeface, colors,โ€ Kishlock said.

    A key part of the designing process is laying out ideas on paper before transferring them onto a digital platform, said Kishlock.

    โ€œThe first issue is always the hardest because you have to determine what are your fonts, what are your headlines, what is your template looking like,โ€ Strawn said. โ€œI ended up starting to call him [Kishlock] my magician because I would just say things into air and it would just come up.โ€

    Kishlock spent hours upon hours on the computer everyday using programs such as InDesign and Illustrator to design Pivot Magazine.

    โ€œI conquered this entire magazine. This is now a published thing,โ€ Kishlock said. โ€œI put all my heart and soul and sometimes tears and blood, into making this magazine.โ€

    Throughout the process of creating Pivot Magazine, the team faced some challenges.

    โ€œIt was a challenge because we had never done this before,โ€ Monterrosa said. โ€œWe learned as we went.โ€

    At times it was difficult to satisfy everyoneโ€™s vision for the magazine.

    โ€œYou had two very passionate people who at times disagreed about what they wanted this publication to look like,โ€ Strawn said.

    Strawn hopes to expand the team and is currently seeking writers, photographers and design contributors.

    โ€œIt took months of preparation and piecing everything together so that feeling of knowing that you can take something from idea to something physical and tangible that you can hold, to me, was the most rewarding part of our experience,โ€ Monterrosa said.

    Unlike working on a project alone for class, it was rewarding being able to communicate and work with other people on this project, Kishlock said.

    Pivot Magazine will have a big focus on students doing entrepreneurship, Strawn said. Student work will be highlighted.

    โ€œEntrepreneurs are all about following their passions, no matter what it is. So I hope that this magazine inspires people and lets them know the opportunities they have at HUB101, [and] shows them that anybody who has a spirit for adventure can be an entrepreneur,โ€ Strawn said.

    Copies of Pivot Magazine are available at HUB101 in Westlake Village and on campus at Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Ahmanson Science Center, Soiland Humanities Center, Swenson Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences and Spies-Bornemann Center for Education and Technology.

    Citlali Erazo
    Reporter