Magazine Taking Off for Oby Morgan '05
Monthly business lifestyle publication grabs a foothold in western North Carolina
By and large, advertising revenue and circulation for print media have seen better days. Many magazines in 2017 fight the stigma that they are passé. Oby Morgan '05 and Capital at Play are an outlier, in a good way. Morgan started the monthly business lifestyle publication six years ago, as the country was still emerging from a recession. Morgan said that Capital at Play, which he runs out of his office in Asheville's Biltmore Village, is growing in profitability each year. The Christ School graduate recently sat down to talk about his role as publisher.
Question: Tell me about Capital at Play. How did it get started?
Answer: It was definitely a labor of love at first, launching a print business when we did with no investors. The notion was that if I failed, I'd still be broke and just out of college. I put together a prototype and found some writers. (Former Christ School Communications Director) Linda Cluxton was a big help in getting it off the ground. We cover 18 counties in western North Carolina with the belief that capitalism is the most free economic model there is, and we want to champion people in the private sector who practice it.
Question: Lots of magazines and newspapers are under financial pressure at the moment, what about yours?
Answer: Our revenue grows each year. The price we're able to get (from advertisers) per page grows year after year. We continue to move forward. We are the only business publication in the area. We feel pretty good about it. The magazine really manages itself. I enjoy the content side of it, and I've got a couple other irons in the fire. We've got a (yet to be announced) venture that we are launching in November. I like to stay busy.
Question: How do you look back on your time at Christ School?
Answer: I could not have come to a better place. Paul (Krieger) had just gotten here. I could see the value here back then. The same spirit is still here, but the value proposition is much stronger. This is the most formative place. I learned more about myself as a person and from an educational perspective than any school I've ever attended. The only time I learned more about myself is when I started my own business. Christ School prepared me for that. As a student here, you are learning to sink or swim in a controlled environment.
