GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii Woman magazine's staff includes, from left, marketing specialist Jonelle Garcia, Managing Editor Billie Takaki, office manager Samantha Park and Publisher Kristine Ellis-Fujimoto.

Local women’s
magazine to debut

Focus groups and market
studies helped Hawaii Woman
pick its target demographic

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By Erika Engle
eengle@starbulletin.com

A new magazine for women -- and the men who love them -- hits the newsstands and mailboxes in selected zip codes this month.

Hawaii Woman, a 48-page glossy publication is aimed at local women from 35 to 64 years old based on conversations businesswoman Kristine Ellis-Fujimoto had with friends, family and focus groups.

Oh, and market studies she commissioned by SMS Research.

They defined her key readers, their interests and what they're looking for in a magazine, Ellis-Fujimoto said.

Some of those things will include profiles of Hawaii women and as many as 14 columns on various topics from fitness to fashion to finance.

"Every woman here in Hawaii has a story to tell," she said, "They want something where they can come together via a forum of this type to share and inspire one another."

The venture was financed by personal savings, "so it's a small business, not a big publishing house," she said, although "we hope to become a big publishing house. That's what we aspire to be."

Her background ranges from a self-development school to "landscaping to children to retail to management consulting," including the business preceding the magazine, Ellis Management Consultants.

Ellis-Fujimoto and her husband, Paul Fujimoto, are principals in Ellis Publishing Group LLC, the magazine's parent company. She will serve as publisher and advertising executive for the magazine. "I'm the catch-all," she said.

The magazine's advisory board includes individuals from various areas of expertise as well as family members. "That's kind of my backbone," Ellis-Fujimoto said.

It was during an interview of former Miss Hawaii Billie Takaki that she found the magazine's managing editor.

Ellis-Fujimoto asked Takaki about being the inaugural edition's cover story and as the two spoke Takaki expressed an interest in doing something for the magazine.

The "something" grew into the managing editor's title.

Those working on the staff so far do not have backgrounds in journalism.

"Our feeling is that women have so many stories to share and tell and to do it through maybe not so much a reporter or journalism style, maybe a little bit more from a regular person to another regular person," Ellis-Fujimoto said.

There are freelance writers and contributors from various fields, such as home design and financial planning, "so that's kind of how we had envisioned it to be, it was more on a person-to-person (basis)," she said.

Takaki has a bachelor's degree in English and her long-term goal is to become a teacher. She sees the magazine role as a way to gain more experience that will contribute to her future as a teacher.

"I was really honored that she even thought about me," said Takaki, who seized the opportunity. "(The cover story) was my chance to really talk about what I did as Miss Hawaii and what I continue to do," which is mentoring, her pageant-platform issue.

"I hope that people show interest in this (magazine), that they're just as excited as we are and that they give us a shot."

The magazine will sell for $3.75 at stores and some hotels.

Its initial run of 50,000 copies also will be distributed to "target zip codes" to pique reader interest, but Ellis-Fujimoto said complimentary copies of the first issue can be requested through the Web site at HawaiiWomanMagazine.com.