Kevin Benoit...
I started Parlé when I was 17 years old in my first year of college. The only real print media experience I had was from starting my own high school newspaper and the summer after h.s. graduation I interned with a startup magazine basically helping him get contacts and try to get the publication off the ground. That magazine never launched.

I was in school for legal studies and never intended for a career in media, but while at John Jay I was getting a financial aid refund check every month I was in school. It was a good look, but I was spending the money without a care. After I’d spent the first few checks I stopped myself and told myself that I need to invest it in something that would impact my future once I was out of college. I was sitting in English class one day in early April 2004 and it all came together in that hour. I came up with the name, the concept, the slogan (not your average) and all I had to do was figure out how much it would cost.

By May 4, 2004 my first issue was out on the streets. A lot of the contacts I had found while I was interning for that other publication turned out to be the contacts for most of the features early on, and a lot of those same people are still in touch with me. Even though I had the refund check I had to have my girlfriend at the time, put the cost of the issue on her credit card. I think I gave her a couple hundred but she paid for a majority of it.

When I first started I had no idea what I was doing. I used to cut and paste my articles onto a sheet of paper because I didn’t know what photoshop was or how to graphic design. I didn’t have a camera or photographer so the companies had to provide everything. It was just a really big learning process for me. I’m still learning. I believe that you shouldn’t think too long or hard about things though, if you want to do it, just do it!!! Make mistakes, learn from them but keep doing. I know people who were talking about starting something around the same time I started Parlé…and their still talking. All that talking is for losers!

I just turned 24 on January, 2nd 2011, and I've been doing the mag almost 7 years. Not quite where I wanted to after 5+ years, but its here, and I’m not stopping until I am where I want to be, and even then…can’t stop, wont stop.