Old Port Adventuring #155

Kevin Thomas:

We can speak very specifically to a group of 30 to 60,000 people and get it right. This publication out of the three has a wider demographic than any of our publications. We're really speaking to people from 25 to 70 years old.

Jen DeRose:

There's so much to do in a weekend and it can sometimes be overwhelming when you're new to a place and this gives you that introduction to the people and the places and a little bit of a taste of everything that there is to do in a city.

Zack Anchors:

We wanted to find some kind of way to combine our passions and really do something to work in the community that was really active and it all just kind of came together with the right timing to make this happen.

Erin Quigley:

When people have experiences on Casco Bay, then they make better decisions that help conserve it in the future and they take better care of it. So it's non tangible in some ways, but in other ways it seems like one of the most tangible, important things.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast Show Number 155, Old Port Adventuring, airing for the first time on Sunday, August 31, 2014. It has been said that publishing is dead, but we at the Maine Media Collective know that publishing is merely transitioning and that we have the opportunity to make a good thing even better than before. As Wellness Editor, it has been my privilege to share the good news about health with Maine Magazine readers since January. In June we launched a new magazine called Oldport, which focuses on the goings on around the Portland Peninsula. Today we speak with Jen DeRose, editor of Oldport and Kevin Thomas, publisher of Oldport Maine Magazine and Maine Home and Design, to get a behind the scenes look at this exciting addition to Maine Publishing. We also speak with Zach Ankers and Erin Quigley of Portland Paddle, who are featured in the September issue of Old Port Magazine. Thank you for joining us. Most doctors do not have the opportunity to work in the publishing field, and I do. I'm very fortunate with the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast to work closely with the Maine Media Collective and with the editors and publishers and staff of Maine Magazine, Maine Home Design, and now Old Port Magazine. Today we have with us two individuals who are very familiar with their newest publication, which is Oldport Magazine. This is Kevin Thomas, the publisher at Maine Media Collective, which includes Maine Magazine, Maine Home Design, and now oldport. And Jen DeRose is the managing editor of Oldport Magazine, as well as the editor at large at Maine Home and Design. Old Port magazine launched in June of this year, and it covers everything you need to know about living, working, and playing in Port Portland. Thanks so much for coming in and talking to me today.

Kevin Thomas:

Happy to be here.

Jen DeRose:

Thank you for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So this is really an interesting time to be in publishing. I want to talk about this first a little bit because there are many people who have said publishing is dead. You know, print magazines don't work. Not only have you launched Maine Home Design, I guess seven years ago now, and Maine Magazine five years ago now, correct me at any point, Kevin, but Oldport, you brought this on the scene, and it's been really well received.

Kevin Thomas:

It certainly has been the common misperception that print publishing is dead, but we have found quite the opposite if we continue to focus on quality editorial, quality photography, writing, and pay attention to what our readers want. There is a significant demand for print

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

publications, and you came into the publishing field in a little bit of a roundabout way. You've had a variety of different businesses that you've made quite successful, but you decided you needed a publication to help you with the last business that you were in.

Kevin Thomas:

A lot of people don't know that story, but actually, in 2003, I started a residential construction business in Ketamunkport and could not find a vehicle to properly market that business. So that led me to mainehoma Design as a vehicle, frankly, for me and my friends in the industry to market themselves.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Jen, you have a lot of background in publishing yourself. You. You actually moved to Maine specifically to be part of this new publication. What were you doing before?

Jen DeRose:

Previously, I was at Hearst Digital, where I was the digital director for Elle Decor, House Beautiful, and Miranda magazines. And back to your earlier question. This was just such an amazing opportunity to help launch a magazine. People aren't creating new magazines that frequently, so to have an opportunity to help people, part of a team where you're Putting something together for the very first time is such an incredible work opportunity.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also moved to an entirely different state in order to make this happen and you chose Maine. Why Maine?

Jen DeRose:

My husband is from here originally and we would come up and visit him and just fell in love with the city. We ended up getting married here. There were so many independent restaurants. Portland is just a plethora of things to do and people to meet and so I was just so excited. We felt like it gave us access to the ocean and the mountains and there's just not that many places in the world that you get all of those things right in one place.

Kevin Thomas:

We've been blessed having Jen aboard with her publishing background, but especially with her love of Maine and this, this freshness of spirit. She came here wide eyed and curious and that's really helped inform Oldport as we launched it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Kevin, you are from Maine originally. You're from Presque Isle, which is kind of a distance from Old Port and from Portland. You left the state and you came back and you really found again a love for the state that you were born in.

Kevin Thomas:

That's true. I think that my experience, my background have really helped inform our efforts here at 75 Market street with Maine Magazine, Maine Home and Design in Old Port. I grew up in Aroostook county in Presque Isle. I spent the first 18, 19 years of my life there, spent a lot of time in Bangor and Brewer, Maine, then a brief time in Portland before I left for Massachusetts. And I was involved with a much different career in Massachusetts for 15 years and really couldn't wait to get back to the state. I was attempting to get back to the state of Maine six months after I took my job in Massachusetts. And from a career standpoint, I just couldn't make that work. And so when I was finally able to do that in 2003, I was thrilled to be back in the state and now really happy to be able to cover Maine from a new perspective, both growing up here, but also through the lens of somebody who's been away and couldn't wait to get back.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Jen, you're the managing editor of Old Porn magazine, but you are the editor at large for Maine Home Design. And from what I understand, this requires some scouting, some getting to know the lay of the land and really looking for resources that maybe people don't necessarily have time to find on their own.

Jen DeRose:

Yes. So as we develop this position, I've been working on Style Room with Maine Home and Design, which is a great way for me to interact with different businesses. And also to introduce readers to new products. And then currently we're working on Lookbook, which is a roundup of some of the best projects that Maine Home + Design has ever published. And going forward, I'll certainly be helping to scout new projects and working with designers closely.

Kevin Thomas:

The scouting aspect of what we do here at 75 Market street is critical to our vision. A lot of our competitors tend to rely very aggressively on pitches from PR firms or outside sources. We prefer to send people out on the road and have their own experiences, whether it be through Jen DeRose's experiences on the road, finding shelter stories for MaineHome and Design, or our 48 Hours staff for Maine magazine. I think that's made a significant difference for our publications. So when Jen came aboard, we wanted to very purposely makes sure she was out traveling Maine and understanding the various characters and geography of the state.

Jen DeRose:

My background has been with Shelter publications, along with Elle Decor and House Beautiful. I started off my career at Interior design magazine as a market editor, and interior design is just a passion of mine. I love decorating. I love design. And so I'm really excited to help get more involved in that here.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And when you say shelter magazines, you mean magazines that are about homes and home building, right?

Jen DeRose:

Exactly.

Kevin Thomas:

Shelter is the industry term for any magazine focused on home design, builders, architects.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We're going to talk about Old Port, but I wanted to back up and mention that you've just released the second edition of 48 Hours MAME. The 48 Hours Guide. The one last year was very successful. The one this year is equally beautiful and I'm sure will be successful. What is it about 48 hours that you think gives people enough of a taste of Maine? And I know, Jen, you worked on this project yourself.

Jen DeRose:

Yeah. The 48 hours, I think, is something that's really special that this magazine does. I think there's so much to do in a weekend, and it can sometimes be overwhelming when you're new to a place. And this gives you that introduction to the people and the places and a little bit of a taste of everything that there is to do in a city. And it's really like. I wouldn't say it's the best of the best. You know, we're not pulling everything, but it does give you a lot of a sampling of what you can do.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And that's very similar to Old Port magazine. You're trying to give people. You're not saying you have to do A, B, C, D. You're saying these are the people of Portland. This is what we're doing. I mean, you've had everything from yoga to kayaking. I know you're going to have a bowling story coming up. You've talked to the people who are building hotels. Why Portland? Why did you think that Portland needed to have its own magazine?

Kevin Thomas:

We were convinced, watching the marketplace that Portland was very underrepresented within the publishing business, but also within our own publications. Maine Home Design and Maine Magazine could not spend the amount of time on the Portland area that it deserved. We are making efforts to cover the entirety of the state, from the county to the coast.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Oldport magazine is a little different from Maine Magazine. It feels a little, I don't know, faster paced somehow. It's very stylish. You have models who have gone to various parts of Portland and they're wearing very stylish clothes. And. And sometimes people don't think of Maine as being as up to date as what Old Port shows, but we really are. I mean, we've become a very kind of metropolitan state in some aspects.

Jen DeRose:

Yeah, I agree. I mean, just every morning when I'm walking to work, I can't believe all the fashionable women that I see on this city. It's, you know, I'm like, oh, I like her sunglasses or her shoes. And there's so much going on here, just, you know, just on the street level. And Oport definitely tries to capture a little bit of that movement that's going on here that, you know, Portland is growing, and we're excited to be there along with it.

Kevin Thomas:

I think our experience in Maine obviously drives the content in the three publications. And what we have found is that our experience has been different than the stereotype that Maine has. We love that we have lighthouses and lobsters, but it does not completely represent our experience. So the stylish aspect that you referred to or the fine restaurant choices or the new craft cocktail bars are all part of the experience that we have in between the times when we are traveling to Katahdin and Acadia and doing all the fun things that the state is primarily known for.

Jen DeRose:

And I think, too, we have a couple of new columns. One is finds and one is the style column that you were talking about. And it's a roundup of the fashion and the products that are available right here at all the stores in Portland. It's amazing what the resources are that are local.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, tell me about some of the other things that Old Port covers.

Jen DeRose:

So we have several new columns that really focus on the people of the city. There's a love letters column where we introduce it's generally three people. The last story was three couples that live and work in Portland and you know who they are and what they're doing here. Like I said, there's the Finds and Style column and that's really a little bit more of the shopping experience. And all of the local independent stores we have Dish and Drink, which are a roundup of some of the signature dishes and signature cocktails that you can find. So there's really just it's all about Portland and everything that there is to do in the city.

Kevin Thomas:

We've really made an effort to pull in some characters that make up Portland. People like Andrew Vogue from Hunt and Alpine, David Troon from David's Restaurant, John Coleman from Via. These are the people, the characters that we run into weekly within our Portland Peninsula experience and we wanted to share that with our readers.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It also seems that you are representing really quite a broad age range. You're dealing with some of the younger entrepreneurs and some of the long term fixtures in the Portland scene.

Kevin Thomas:

That's absolutely right. This publication out of the three has a larger wide range, wider demographic than any of our publications. We're really speaking to people from 25 to 70 years old

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

here on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast. We've long recognized the link between health and wealth. Here to speak more on the topic is Tom shepherd of Shepherd Financial.

Zack Anchors:

Sometimes I meet with married or partnered

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

clients and when we get to talking

Kevin Thomas:

about their financial lives, a cultural divide

Zack Anchors:

bubbles to the surface. One person feels one way about their

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

money and the the other seems to

Kevin Thomas:

be on their own financial island with a set of beliefs and rules that have created unnecessary borders and boundaries.

Zack Anchors:

It's not an uncommon thing and when

Kevin Thomas:

I hit those situations, I do my best to help both people understand that neither is 100% right or wrong, that they simply have to take a step back and look at their own financial life in a new light. It is also true in politics and economics. What we need to do is see money as a living thing that can be used to grow our lives together without disagreement or so called border issues. It's a great feeling for me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's like I'm helping people negotiate peace treaties with their money.

Zack Anchors:

Be in touch if you want to know more. Tom at Shepherd Financial Maine will help you evolve with your money.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I want to talk a little bit about food because it's been very interesting for me as someone who has been all around the state to see that even though Portland is known as a foodie town, it's almost as if we have little other foodie townlets that are around. You know, up in the Camden mid coast area area, we have the Kennebunk area and even, you know, I'm thinking in the Mill Hill restaurant in Bethel. So does it seem to you that there's an infectiousness almost to this sense that we want to have the best food that the world has to offer?

Kevin Thomas:

I think Sam Hayward at 4th street really started a trend with his early adoption of the farm to table movement. And I think that people like Sam and others have really created a food destination here. And I think you're right. I think that that has, no pun intended, fed upon itself. And it attracted other restaurateurs and chefs to the area and to Maine in general.

Jen DeRose:

And I would say too, having gone to the Kennebunk Port Festival in June, it was just amazing the amount of restaurants and incredibly talented chefs that were involved with that. And then as well as, you know, national press from Vogue and Bon Appetit, I had a really amazing dinner with the Old Port Sea Grill at someone's house. And just the talent that's coming out of both the city and throughout the state is definitely impressive.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you're also trying to make the city more accessible. You don't have to go to a fancy restaurant, you don't have to buy a fancy dress. You can also go for run, you can also go for a walk. You're actually putting maps into your issues and you're really just saying, here's some things you could do. Choose whatever makes sense to you, which is really something that you've done with Maine magazine, Maine home design from the very beginning. It's an aspirational thing that you have to offer for people. You're not saying this is the right way. You're saying here are some ways that we found that we think are fun and interesting and appealing.

Kevin Thomas:

Absolutely. I think if Susan Krasani was here, who is our editor in chief and partner with the publications, she would say we curate the main experience based upon our personalities and our own experience. So we certainly aren't presenting this as the best of the experiences. We're saying this is our experience, and you might want to share in that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you're also employing people at 75 Market street and the word employing is really interesting to me because as part of this team, it doesn't even feel as much an employer employee relationship as it does feel like a team. It feels like a group of individuals who really want to talk about Maine and why we feel passionate about it. That you're just as likely to find somebody climbing a rock wall or hiking Katahdin or going to Greenville as you are in your stilettos, walking down, I don't know, Commercial street or towards 4th street. That people in Maine are many things. And in fact, the same person can be interested in hiking, biking, kayaking, canoeing, and also dressing fashionably on a Saturday night.

Kevin Thomas:

It was really fascinating for us to introduce the 48 Hours concept to our staff. And we opened up that opportunity to all of our staff to participate in that. They could select a weekend in a town and go by themselves or with a spouse or significant other. And what we learned from that experience was more about their personality. And to your point, people were hiking, kayaking, dancing, going out to find restaurants. And I think that has been the brilliance of the 48 Hours piece in general, that we are offering a glimpse into what our staffers prefer to do, whether it be an art director or an editor or a salesperson.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We started this conversation by talking about the possibility that publishing was dead. And what's interesting to me, and we said, of course publishing isn't dead. We know that that's not true. What's interesting to me, Kevin, is that prior to this, you worked in the building industry and you were part of Thomas and Lord, which still exists as a construction company in the Kenney Bumport area. But you also had experience in the food service industry. It seems to me that what you're saying and coming in here and doing this is just, you know, this is a need that we see. This is something we want to do. We don't have to do things the way that they've been done before. You know, if there's something that we want to do, we can find a way to do it. And that's what I'm understanding. That Maine Home design, Maine Magazine. That's sort of an interesting approach. You're not saying, I'm coming from the publishing world, I'm going to do it like they do it you're saying, I see something I want to create.

Kevin Thomas:

Unfortunately, a lot of industries get caught in a trap of adhering to old traditional practices or their legacy systems. And I think that is what has happened to the publishing world. Prior to five or ten years ago. I think with new technologies, we were able to buy, for example, software off a shelf and an imac from the Apple Store. We aren't using film photography any longer. We're using digital photography. We really made the process more efficient, and we were able, therefore, to talk to a more specific niche. We didn't have to. To be everything to everyone. The old publishing model, you really needed to be everything to everyone. You needed to have a circulation of 200,000, 250,000. In the new publishing model, we don't need that. We can speak very specifically to a group of 30 to 60,000 people and get it right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And at the same time, Jen, from the publishing industry, we can bring forward the lessons that really make sense to us. We can use some of the things that worked very well as we're working on magazines like Old Port or as we're continuing to improve magazines like Maine Magazine.

Jen DeRose:

Yeah, I mean, I think the whole industry is evolving, and there's definitely a sense of innovation here, which is smart. And having been in digital the last few years, you know, I think there's a lot of lessons there, too, as the whole industry reinvents itself.

Kevin Thomas:

To be clear, we don't consider ourselves simply a print publisher. We consider ourselves a publisher, and that includes print, radio, online, whether it be website, social media. We have a significant social media presence, particularly with Facebook. I think we have over 75,000 fans on Maine Magazine. We reach a quarter of a million people a week through our posts. So we are communicating with our audience in whatever way they want to receive that information. And that has made us more more relevant.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you've also made a significant commitment to the next generation. You brought in quite a number of interns this summer to work with your publications, both on the print side, but also the digital, and to really just get a sense that this new and interesting business is something that is going to be made better by young minds who are coming from a very different standpoint, educationally and digitally than the minds now in the workplace.

Kevin Thomas:

It's been a fascinating experience. This year we've brought in over eight interns. That's probably twice as many as we brought in in the past. And it's been fun to watch them. They're high school students and college students. Fun to watch them interact with our regular staff as well as each other, and they do bring a new energy into the office space.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I encourage people to pick up the latest Old Port magazine, which is the September issue, also to go back and look at the June issue. And of course all of this is available online. We've been speaking with Kevin Thomas, publisher with Maine Media Collective, which includes Maine Magazine, Maine Home Design, and now Old Port magazine, and Jen derose, the managing editor of Old Port magazine, as well as the editor at large at Maine Home Design. And what website should we direct people tour? It's ownportmag.com and also Maine Magazine themainmag.com Very good. Well, I appreciate your coming in and talking to us today. I know you're very busy getting all these new publications out into the world. You're doing a great job and it's been really fun to be a part of your team as well. So thank you.

Jen DeRose:

Thanks again.

Kevin Thomas:

Thank you, Lisa

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As a physician and small business owner, I rely on Marcy Booth from Booth, Maine to help me with my own business and to help me live my own life fully. Here are a few thoughts from Marcy

Jen DeRose:

when asked, most of my clients say the same thing about what keeps them up at night. Money making. Certain cash flow is there to meet day to day operational needs. Oh my gosh, is payroll going to be able to make it? When we dig deeper, we understand that those sleepless nights are symptoms of of poor planning and forecasting. And more often than not, the reasons for not doing it are a lack of time and a lack of resources. So here's a suggestion. Instead of living in fear of the numbers and losing sleep over them, make peace with them by paying closer attention to the financials and creating positive cash flow. I'm Marcie Booth. Let's talk about the changes you need. Boothmain.com

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

When we think about canoeing and kayaking in Maine, we often associate it with our lakes and our rivers and being a little bit more inland. But today we're speaking with two individuals who are bringing kayaking and canoeing right to the Portland waterfront. And we're so glad to have them. This is Zach Ankers and Erin Quigley, who together run Portland Paddle. Zach Ankers is a Maine native who lives on Munjoy Hill he spent 14 years as a guide leading countless kayaking and canoeing trips off the coast of Maine and in Mexico, British Columbia, Ontario, and Alaska. He is licensed as a Master Maine Guide and is certified as an instructor by both the American Canoe association and Paddle Canada. He is a wilderness first responder and he has received certifications in wilderness water safety and swift water rescue. Outside of his work as a kayaking guide and instructor, Zach is a journalist, writer and teacher. Thanks for coming in today.

Zack Anchors:

Thanks for having me, Lisa.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We also have with us Erin Quigley, who grew up exploring New Hampshire's waterways by canoe and kayak. Backpacking trips in the White Mountains inspired her lifelong love of the outdoors. Erin has a Master's in Science and Natural Resources and has spent many years working for environmental conservation and outdoor recreation nonprofits including the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and the Main Island Trail association, two New England long distance water trails. She is certified wilderness first responder, registered Maine guide, and American Canoe association certified kayaking instructor. Thank you for being here.

Erin Quigley:

You're welcome. Thank you, Lisa.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have both of you impressive qualifications to do the work that you do with Portland Paddle, but you also have impressive qualifications academically. This is when I had a conversation with you in writing the Old Port magazine article that people who are listening to can read in September. This is what I was most struck by is that you have quite a varied academic background between the two of you. Zach, tell me about your background.

Zack Anchors:

Sure.

Erin Quigley:

Well,

Zack Anchors:

for the last several years, I've been teaching at community colleges before we started this business, so. So I got a master's degree in literature out in Vancouver and I taught literature and writing at community colleges down in New Jersey and then here at SMCC in South Portland. And now I'm doing a PhD program in history in American History at University of New Hampshire. So I'm in the middle of that right now.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Erin, you went in a slightly different direction. You went more of the environmental studies masters in science kind of direction. Tell me about your background.

Erin Quigley:

My academic background is really varied. Actually. Back when I was an undergraduate, I studied sociology and anthropology, and I thought I was going to be an archaeologist at some point actually. But then I got a job working for the Forest Service and I realized that the outdoors was more where I wanted to focus. So, yeah, I have a master's from UVM in natural resource management, and I made it halfway through a PhD program up at the University of Maine Orino called the Sustainability Solutions Initiative, which is all about interdisciplinary solutions to environmental problems. But somewhere in there, I decided the Academic track wasn't really for me. And that's part of, part of the genesis of Portland Paddle, so.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, tell me about that. Portland Paddle is a little bit more than a year old. You're based off of the East End, and this came about through conversations that you had as roommates on Vesper street, on Munjoy Hill.

Zack Anchors:

You know, part of it is that we thought that somebody needed to be doing this because the Easton beach and just Portland in general is just such a great spot for to launch a sea kayaking trip. And there's really not a lot of access to the waterfront and there's not a lot of access to kayaks. And you know, a lot of people in Portland don't have storage for a kayak or a paddle board and they just don't have a way to get it down to the water, even if they do have storage for it. So we just thought that somebody needed to be doing this. And it's just, you know, we were living right there and we wanted to do something. We wanted to find some kind of way to kind of combine our passions and really do something to kind of work in the community that was really active.

Kevin Thomas:

And

Zack Anchors:

it all just kind of came together with the right timing to make this happen.

Erin Quigley:

The work we do when we're not doing Portland Paddle is much more non tangible, you know, writing and outreach and things that aren't necessarily a solid or a physical kind of. Physical kind of work. And so we had a lot of discussions about like, if we could have a real thing to give to the community, like a tangible thing, what would it be? And that's kind of having a, having a business seemed like a really good way to do that. A business that was needed and relevant.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And boats, boats are pretty tangible. I mean, there's something that you can actually do something with in a very immediate way.

Erin Quigley:

And we're really dedicated to the idea that when people have experiences on Casco Bay, then they make better decisions that help conserve it in the future and they take better care of it. So that is a pretty. It's non tangible in some ways, but in other ways it seems like one of the most tangible important things.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So I know that you have kayaks and you have paddle boards and those are available to rent and in the short term and in the longer term. But you also do instruction and you also do guided tours. Talk to me a little bit about that.

Zack Anchors:

Sure, yeah. So the instruction, the lessons that we offer, becoming a bigger and bigger part of what we do. And really you started off Talking about how kayaking in Maine often takes place in lakes and rivers. And it's kind of a different thing out here on the Casco Bay and on the Maine's coastal waters, because it's just. There's a lot more hazards out there, a lot more things to think about in terms of the currents and boat traffic and the very cold water and exposed coast. And so we really want people to have skills and knowledge before they go out there in preparation. And so we're pretty selective about who we rent kayaks to and kind of where we let them go. And so we really want to encourage everybody to actually take one of our lessons and develop some skills. And so then they can come back and sort of rent on their own once they've developed some skills and more familiar with the environment, and then they can go out and explore. And we really hope that, ideally, what happens, and this is actually happening with a lot of our clients, is they come to us and take a. A beginner lesson, and then they come back for an intermediate lesson, and then they kind of take a few lessons, and then finally they come back and start renting on their own. And so it's sort of. It works out from us, kind of from a business perspective of having repeat customers, but it also just works out because we get to see them develop, and they get to really gain a lot from it and go out paddling and feel really confident.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And, Erin, I know that tours are an important part of what you do. Fort Gorgeous is very popular because it's quite close by, but it's a surprising destination. Most people don't have the chance. Even having lived in the Portland area all my life, I've never gone out there and actually been on the grounds there.

Erin Quigley:

Yeah, it's surprising and really gratifying when people who. You know, we've had people come down who have lived on Munjoy Hill their entire lives, and they looked at the fort out there that entire time, and they've never set foot on it before. And one of our tours is the way that they finally get out there and they get to explore it on their own. And so Fort Gorges is definitely our most popular tour destination. There's lots of other great tour destinations as well. Getting out into the islands, places to land and explore a little bit, lots of places to see wildlife like sea seals and ospreys. And the tours are definitely sort of the simplest way for people to come experience what we have to offer. You know, we have a whole staff of experienced registered Maine guides that are really knowledgeable about the history and the ecology of the area. And so you can really learn a lot about the bay by being on one of our tours. So it's a great option. Also, I think that tourists definitely graduate gravitate towards the tours most. But also locals are starting to realize that it's a really great way to learn more about where they are, which is great.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also have longer tours that take you out to places like Cow island, where I understand there are some yurts that can be, I guess, inhabited for a short period of time.

Erin Quigley:

Yep, that's a thing where a thing that's new this year that we're really excited about. A partnership with Ripple Effect, which is the nonprofit that owns that island and does summer programs and school programs for kids, and they do really great work. And so we've had a variety of kinds of partnerships with them, and now we're trying to use these resources that they have to help people get out and spend the night on an island, which is a really cool thing. The yurts are really cool, so you don't have to pack your tent. And some of the other stuff you'd have to check, jam into your kayak. Otherwise, it's a really accessible way for people to try a kayak overnight.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I understand also that Jewel island is in the rotation.

Zack Anchors:

Yeah, Jewel Island's a little further out, but it's another really amazing destination that, you know, a lot of people who live in Portland, even people who've lived here all their lives, have never been there before. And it's just. It's amazing because you go out there and you feel like you're on a really just wild coast, far from any city. We like to go to the southern side of the island, where there's this really nice beach with a campsite on it with cliffs just kind of facing the open ocean. So we'll be doing at least two trips out there this year, overnight trips. Another organization we work with and rely on is the Maine Island Trail Association. And they just have all these great islands throughout the coast of Maine that they provide access to, and. And that's a really great resource because there's just so many beautiful islands to explore by sea. Kayak and Maine.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's been important to both of you and all of your staff, really, to keep these islands in good shape. So you've done some cleanup days with the main island trail association just to make sure that these natural resources are maintained?

Erin Quigley:

Yep, we've done twice now on our opening day of our first season and opening day of our second season, we've participated, participated in the main Island Trail Association Casco Bay cleanup, primarily by heading out to Fort Gorges, actually, because we get a lot from Fort Gorges, so we want to make sure we help keep it clean and help maintain it as much as we can. So those have been really fun and really successful partnership opportunities, and we hope to keep that going in the future. And we work with, or have worked with several organizations in that capacity, where maybe they even just want kayaks to help people get out to a cleanup that's happening somewhere or an event on an island. For instance, we're working with Maine Coast Heritage Trust later on in the summer to help them do a guided paddle to Lane's island, one of their new acquisitions. So we really enjoy helping out with those kinds of things.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Both of you grew up on the water. Zach, you grew up on the Penobscot River, I believe. And, Erin, you grew up right near the White Mountains and some rivers and

Erin Quigley:

streams and on Great Bay in New Hampshire.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, Great Bay in New Hampshire. And you were very young when this whole process started. Does it feel as if you could have lived your lives any other way?

Zack Anchors:

It's hard to imagine, for sure, yeah. Because, I mean, I've just spent so much time in the water my whole life. I mean, as a kid, just swimming in the river every day, and then got into kayaking when I was 11 years old and just pretty much been a part of my life ever since. And, you know, that's really what's probably kept me coming back to Maine. And the reason why I live here now is just because the ocean and the lakes and the rivers and all the outdoors here, it's difficult to find that anywhere else that I'd want to live.

Erin Quigley:

Yeah, I'm not sure I could live anywhere else at this point. Portland, especially, strikes such a great balance between being a vibrant city where there's lots of interesting things going on and lots of ways to get involved, but also having the ocean and the mountains and the rivers and the whole thing so accessible at the same time. And there are probably very few other places like this. And so I enjoy the fact that all of these things are here, and I'm only really an hour from where I grew up along the coast. And it's just a really fulfilling place to be.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

One of your partnerships has been with local musicians, and I remember Zach telling a story about being in a tandem kayak and wrapping up a guitar to sit in the front of the kayak so that you could bring it out and have the musician play out on an island. That sounds pretty fun.

Zack Anchors:

Yeah. So we have a concert series at Fort Gorges that we call Acoustic Paddle, and we paddle out with a local musician and have a little concert in the Fort, which, you know, the Fort is just a really incredible setting for live music because there's just wonderful acoustics and it's just really beautiful and it's always really quiet inside. And so we'll be doing that again this year. We just started planning. We got. Local musician Joe Walsh is going to be one of the artists featured this summer, but we're hoping to do at least a couple of those again.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We've talked about the fact that each of you have a very different but strong academic background. And Aaron, you've done work towards a PhD. You're not doing it right now. A little bit on a hiatus, I suppose. Zach, you are currently pursuing a PhD in American history. How do you balance all of these things? I mean, Erin, how have you balanced this previously? And, Zach, how are you balancing it all now?

Erin Quigley:

Well, the seasonal nature of Portland Paddle actually is a lifesaver in terms of giving us more of an ability to pursue these different things that are really important to us. I think there's still plenty to do for Portland Paddle in the winter, and it's. It's always a juggling act that is more challenging than we expect it to be, but it really lends this nice variety where in the summer, we're just out every day on the ocean doing things, doing physical work. And then by the time you get to the winter season, it feels like a blessing to be able to sit on the computer for a day, you know, so it's. It creates that balance. By the end of the winter, you're tired of it and you just can't wait to get outside again. So the rhythm of it actually seems to work out, I think.

Zack Anchors:

Yeah. And it's difficult to juggle so many things, but I think for me, like a lot of Mainers, it just kind of comes naturally to juggle lots of different gigs at once. And, I mean, I think it works out really well with this particular mix that we've got, because we spend part of our time kind of writing behind a computer indoors. And after a while, you get pretty tired of that. And so then we get to go sit in a kayak on the water, be outdoors. And, you know, part of the work is solitude by ourselves. And then part of it is just really working with people out in the community. So it really actually provides a balance that. You know, if I was just a full time academic or a full time writer, I wouldn't, I wouldn't get.

Erin Quigley:

And I feel like in Portland especially this seems to happen a lot where everyone you meet has so many things that they want to do and so many ways they want to be contributing or different opportunities they want to pursue that. Very few people we know are doing just one thing. It seems like lots of people are finding ways to balance all of these different interests and passions in a really cool way.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Access for you both is very important. And not just access to kayaks and packages, paddle boards on the east end, but also financial access. What you're trying to do is create a very affordable way for people to explore the coast here. And with your new Portland paddle of the Prasumskit, your new business in Westbrook, you really are trying to make it easy.

Zack Anchors:

Yeah, definitely. We just opened this location in Westbrook in the Prasumpscott and and yeah, the rentals there are much less expensive and so it just kind of opens up paddling to people who might not be able to afford to rent a sea kayak or who might not have the skills to go out on Casco Bay. Because yeah, I mean, we don't want to be offering services that are just not accessible to a large portion of Maine's population because they're too expensive. So we try to make opportunities to, you know, have discounts or have special deals or just have more affordable rentals out in the Prasamscot so that, so that everybody can get out in the water.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also Offer, I believe, what you've called a Munjoy Hill discount. And also punch cards that you could, you know, there are 10 punches, 10 rentals for a certain amount of money on a punch card.

Erin Quigley:

Yeah, the punch cards are a great thing that we actually really would love people to take even more advantage of than they already have. We have 10 kayak rentals on a card, 10 paddleboard rentals on a card, or a combo of both. And then so the idea is that, you know, if you wanted to go out after work 10 times over the course of the summer or something like that, you could just walk down. And our staff then keeps a record of who you are and what your boat preference is. And so that hopefully the punch card holders can really feel like a part of our community and come out really regularly.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also, on a pretty regular basis, get. Get people from out of state. So you could just as easily have individuals who are coming in from New Jersey to travel out to as part of your acoustic paddle and listen to some tunes on Fort Gorgeous.

Zack Anchors:

Yeah, probably almost the majority of our customers are visitors, are tourists, which is really great because we just. We meet people from all over the world and, you know, it just makes our job really interesting. And that's pretty typical for other companies like ours to have lots of tourists. But we've really tried to focus on drawing in local people too. And so we kind of have a nice mix and we want to kind of feel like we're really an authentic Portland company that's a neighborhood resource. So it's nice to have a little bit of both visitors and local people.

Erin Quigley:

And we found the outreach to each group is very different. Tourists are often looking for a snazzy website where it's easy to make reservations and that kind of thing, whereas locals seem to be looking for a lot more just word of mouth, awareness, and other connections in the community. So it definitely takes some different strategies to reach out to both groups.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Opening this business yourself must have. Have provided quite an education for you. I know Erin, you've worked with various nonprofits, and Zach, you have a background doing business journalism. So each of you have your own very unique take on businesses. But to do something yourself as entrepreneurs, that must have taken some courage and some flexibility and wherewithal, I guess.

Erin Quigley:

It's definitely new. It was a new thing for both of us, and the learning curve was really steep. But we have a lot of great resources in the community, like we worked with the Small Business Development center, some resources for that, and tried to take advantage of entrepreneurism. In Portland. The startup community in Portland is really big right now, and it's growing. And we definitely took advantage of a lot of the resources that are springing up around that, which we appreciated very much. And it was also nice to be able to start out small and locally focused. And we grew incredibly fast. But our first idea for what we were going to do was just that it was going to be us with maybe one person helping us out sometimes. And it became apparent really quickly that we were going to have to take it up a notch, I guess, and. But so we have been able to scale up, starting from small to bigger and bigger. So it provides a good platform for learning from.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have 10 people working with you now. Is that right in your company?

Erin Quigley:

Yep.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So in the course of a year, that's pretty fast growth.

Erin Quigley:

It is, it is. And we are really excited about the community of staff and guys that we've created as well. They're all just really interesting people that have diverse backgrounds and lives, and they're all just really good people. And we feel thankful and lucky that we've managed to find them because we can do it without what they do. They work really hard. And so we are. That's another thing. That's one of our favorite parts of this business is seeing our staff all work well together and be a part of this thing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I believe that both of you had mentioned that it was your father's that originally brought you out. I know, Zach. I definitely remember you said when you were 11, your dad brought you out. I could be wrong about this, Erin. I don't know if it was your dad or your mom or someone else.

Erin Quigley:

No, it was my dad actually canoeing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you were also around the same age, 11 or so, probably younger.

Erin Quigley:

It was very recreational. I mean, we just bust out the canoe and float down the Lamprey river near where I lived in New Hampshire. But it was a big part of his life, so.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So in looking at what you're doing now, how do they feel about this big adventure that you're taking?

Zack Anchors:

Well, my dad actually works for us. He teaches paddle boarding and kayaking for us because he's also been a kayak guide for many years. He kind of got into it after I did, but as a guide. But he's been a great resource for us because he's always happy to help out. And so every weekend he teaches our paddle boarding lessons.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And has your dad come down to help out too, Aaron?

Erin Quigley:

My dad is not so excited about getting in a sea kayak. He's a pretty Big guy, and he likes his canoes and his open craft. So I'm still working on him as far as getting him out on the ocean. He's a forester by trade, and so he gravitates towards the lakes and the rivers and being out in the woods. So that's his thing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Do you have any regrets about coming back to Maine, Zach? I know that, and looking on the Portland Paddle website, you've been all over the place. You've been to Baja, Mexico, and you've been to Alaska, and you're an adventurer, you're a man of the world. And I assume that there's probably a similar thing that you've done here, and it just isn't quite as readily apparent on your website, I guess. But you're here, you're both here, and you've chosen very much to live here.

Zack Anchors:

Yeah, and it seems like I meet a lot of people who have had a similar experience to me where they grew up in Maine, maybe a small town in Maine like me, and they go out and kind of see the world and live in big cities and live in different regions, and they realize that Maine is pretty great. It's hard to beat. It's hard to beat Maine. And so, you know, that's really what happened to me, is I just. I lived in a lot of great, beautiful places, exciting places. But it's just for me especially Portland just really has the right mix of kind of urban and rural and access to outdoors and just great people and just really high quality of life, and it's affordable. So this is really where I want to be.

Erin Quigley:

And I guess I had a very similar. Similar experience. I did live lots of other places for very short periods of time when I was younger and when I moved to Portland, which is about four years ago now, maybe a little bit more than that, I had a really distinct feeling of, oh, I fit in here. I felt like I found a place in the city more quickly than in other places I lived. And I think that was actually sort of a revelation for me in my personal life around, maybe it's time not to bounce around so much. And maybe here is where I would like to be for a while. And so it was the start of this. This train of thought towards how can I give back to this community that made me feel welcome from the beginning.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm sure the people who are listening, whether they are from away or whether they're from Maine, are going to be interested in exploring the coast with you, kayaking or paddle boarding. So how do people find out about Portland Paddle.

Erin Quigley:

Well, they can Visit our website portlandpaddle.net you can always get us a call 207-370-9730. And we have our staff down there at the beach that are really happy to talk about all our different offerings and places to paddle. And you might get one of us on the line as well. It depends on what day it is. Or you could just stop by. I mean, plenty of people take their dogs down to the East End beach or go running or walking down there and we have our storage containers and our boat rack and some signs and we're pretty easy to see, hopefully. And just stop by. And we'd love to chat with you about what we do.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We've been speaking with Zach Ankers and Erin Quigley who run Portland Paddle. So I appreciate the work that you're doing to introduce people to the coast of Maine and give them the chance to do kayaking and paddle boarding and go out beyond the Portland waters. And I appreciate your coming in and talking to me today.

Zack Anchors:

It was really good to be here.

Erin Quigley:

Yeah, thanks for the opportunity.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have been listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast show number 155, Old Port Adventuring. Our guests have included Kevin Thomas, Jen DeRose, Zach Ankers and Erin Quigley. Read our Portland Paddle article featuring Zach and Aaron in the September issue of Old Port Magazine. For more information on our guests and extended interviews, visit doctor. Org. The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is downloadable for free on itunes. For a preview of each week's show, sign up for our E. Newsletter and like our Dr. Lisa Facebook page, follow me on Twitter as Dr. Lisa and see my daily running photos as bountiful one on Instagram. We'd love to hear from you, so please let us know what you think of the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast. We welcome your suggestions for future shows. Also, let our sponsors know that you have heard about them here. We are privileged that they enable us to bring the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour to you each week. This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. I hope that you've enjoyed our Old Port Adventuring show. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. May you have a bountiful life.

Zack Anchors:

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Jen DeRose:

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