In a fit town like Austin, it's no wonder a magazine focused on fitness would be a hit.
"We live in a city where people are pretty health-oriented," Austin Fit Magazine Editor-in-Chief Alex Earle said. "I think there's that natural affinity to the magazine."
Austin Fit tackles health and fitness topics that benefit everyone including senior citizens, teenagers, women, men and even dogs.
"In March we are going to do another fittest dog feature," Austin Fit Vice President of Sales and Marketing Alex Earle said.
Behind the production are Lou, Drex, and Alex Earl. This father and son team, with lots of help from mom, took over the magazine in 2004.
"We took a lot of risk," father and Austin Fit Publisher and CEO Alex Earle said. "We didn't know for sure if it would work."
They also weren't sure if they could work together.
"There is a lot of teamwork involved, but at the same time that brotherly competition gets in the way," Alex said.
A little competition hasn't seemed to be a problem for this fit family. Over the years, the Earle team has tripled the size of their staff, improved their content, updated their Web site and increased their fan base, distributing nearly 21,000 copies of their magazine a month.
"Our pick up rate is between 98 and 97 percent, meaning that, out of 100 magazines, only two of them don't get picked up," Lou said.
They're not stopping there, either. The team is combining Austin Fit with Austin Runner, which they also own and operate, to increase their page count by 20 and turn their magazine into one that is perfectly bound with a square edge.
"Our October issue is a big milestone for us," Drex said.
There may be many more milestones down the line, too.
"My strategy is to continue to grow the content and the page count, continue to increase the distribution and get in more and more locations," Lou said.
It's all in an effort to spread a message that this family team says will never get old.
"You know fitness is not a fad. It's not going away and it's never not cool to be fit," Alex said. "In my opinion we are in the perfect business."
For more information, visit AustinFitMagazine.com.
