Interviews with Arizonans Podcast

#2 - Angela Gonzales Behind the Scenes Business Journalism - Phoenix Arizona [Senior Writer @ Phoenix Business Journal]

• Todd S Hall • Episode 2

Share episode

Angela is a senior writer at the Phoenix Business Journal. She is the primary journalist covering all things residential real estate, healthcare, education and biotech.  As you can imagine she stays very busy. Angela gives us a behind the scenes look into what it takes to publish a great article that is relevant to the Phoenix Business Journal audience.

34 years experience and she is still one of the most trusted journalists in the valley writing fact driven articles. I'm going to ask her how she continues to keep her journalistic integrity in a time where opinion and emotion drive the news cycle for so many media outlets.

And if you listen closely she's going to give you an insider tip on the process of having an article written about your business or industry.  

It's Time to Podcast!

Hey, what's up, everybody? Welcome back. This is episode two of interviews with Arizonans. Glad to
have you back. Today I have a really amazing guest person that I've been a huge fan of over the last
several years. She is a senior writer at a major publication here in the Phoenix Valley. So I'm gonna
introduce you to her in just a second. But before we do that, let me introduce you to Phoenix homes
and hotspots. That is my main marketing arm of my real estate company, Todd and CO brokered by
exp Realty. And the best way to think of Phoenix homes and hotspots is, it's really easy to go online
now and find homes that you likes. If you're home shopping, you have a lot of resources out there to
find homes. Of course, a lot of those resources, you have to be a little bit careful because if you put in
your information, you're going to get flooded with real estate agent calls. So, but it's easy to find homes.
So you can actually use my website, Phoenix homes and hotspots.com to search homes. So you don't
have to go through that grind of all those agents calling. But here's the thing, once you find a home
you're that you like that you're interested in. From there. What's difficult is to try to find out if you like the
community that that home sits in and some of the hotspots around it. So what is the actual lifestyle look
like in that area. So what we've done is we've created a YouTube channel called Phoenix homes and
hotspots, that is all videos that are vlogs and neighborhood tours of different neighborhoods around the
valley. We've done pros and cons, videos, cost of living videos, and just a lot of information to absorb.
So if you're looking for a home, make sure you check out Phoenix homes and hotspots go on
subscribe, it's youtube.com forward slash Phoenix homes and hotspots subscribe, and then when you
hit the little alarm or the bell, then you'll automatically get notified every time we create new content on
that channel. Speaking of YouTube, this interview will be on our YouTube channel as well. Right now
all you have to do is go into the search bar type in interviews with Arizonans. Once we have 100
subscribers, we're only on episode two, once we have 100 subscribers that will be youtube.com.
Forward slash interviews with Arizonans. And then last but not least, I want to give a big shout out to
security title, they've given us this huge boardroom today to this beautiful boardroom to shoot the video
side of this podcast. So with all of that, let me introduce you to my guest today. Angela Gonzales,
senior writer of The Phoenix Business Journal, welcome.
02:27
Thank you.
02:27

2
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Absolutely. Super excited to have you on I when I envisioned this project, like three years, it's been
almost three years, two and a half, three years, I was like I want I'm gonna do this podcast and I had
this vision and it's playing out. I mean, my guests are exactly what I envisioned. So long ago, it makes
me wonder why I waited so long. But you were literally on the top of the list. As I'm making my list. I'm
reading the Phoenix business journal like Oh, Angela Gonzalez, she's right. She's doing real estate.
Right? Real Estate, writing real estate articles, residential real estate. So anyway, welcome. Thank you
for taking the time to come and talk a little bit more. I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to behind the
scenes stuff. So you know that that commercial, that new commercial that they have the Progressive
Insurance, I think where it's like, teaching you not to be like your parents? Oh, yes, I'm the person that
needs to know, like all the behind the scenes. So I'd be the guy in the parking lot like, Okay, how many
parking spaces? Are there at 20 bucks a pop every weekend? What does that, you know? So one of
the things that I really want to get into is what is kind of some of the behind the scenes look like, right? I
mean, a lot of the people that are gonna listen to this podcast are business owners or their local
entrepreneurs and that type of thing. And so I think the behind the scenes is really interesting. But for
those that have never read the Phoenix business journal before, can you how would you describe the
actual content?
03:49
Okay, yes. So the Phoenix Business Journal, is a weekly business publication, we started out just a
weekly business publication, we'd come out in print every Friday, and we provide Intel to business
owners, business executives, so that they can make good informed decisions to help grow their
business. Over the years when the Internet became available. We have grown more online. So now we
are basically two publications and one where we publish stories daily, online. So we have our own, you
know, website where those stories go. And then we continue with the weekly print publication every
Friday.
04:33
So you have two sides of the content you have. So if you're so if I'm a subscriber, excuse me, I get the
print version. And then I get the digital version of, of The Phoenix Business Journal. Yes. Okay. So,
alright, so we'll talk a little bit more about that your How long have you been with the Phoenix Business
Journal?
04:51
Oh, lay for it. Okay. 34 years? Yeah, I just celebrated my 34th anniversary.
04:59
Last month and September Happy anniversary. 34 years. Oh,
05:03
is that insane? You?
05:04
Obviously you love

3
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
05:05
it? I do. I really do.
05:08
So what do you, how do you end up there? I mean, what, 34 years ago, you made this decision to go to
the Phoenix Business Journal. You've been there ever since. But how do you actually what's your
story? What's your backstory? How do you end up there?
05:20
Yeah. So I was born and raised in Colorado, graduated from Colorado State University, technical
journalism. And I, my mom had moved out here. So I followed her out. And basically was just starting to
job I've had no connections, no networking, just nothing just coming out here cold. And the Business
Journal had a research position open, it was basically editorial research assistant, I mean, it was just
bottom of the barrel, beginning entry level position, you couldn't get more entry level than that. And it
was a cool position. Because what I did, this was back in 87, right, I would drive all over the valley,
looking for records. So I would go to the business licenses, offices in all of the different cities, pick those
up, bring them type in the information. Let's see bankruptcy court records, just so many different real
estate transactions. Anything that was in that still in our record section today, I would go drive and pick
it up, and then type it in 12 pages. And, and I stayed doing that position until a beat opened up. And I
was the editor said you can cover healthcare or you can cover marketing and media. So I decided to
pick healthcare. And I've been writing about healthcare ever since and then had added beats over the
years, including residential real estate in 2018.
06:52
That's really interesting. So 34 years ago, and I kind of related to real estate, right? I've been in real
estate for 22 years. And I think about how different real estate is from 1999 to 2021. It's so different.
You know, I mean, in terms of how you searched for how the consumer search for homes, how we
went out and found our business. Yeah, true. And so for you. How, what is that? Like? I mean, for 34
years ago, now, what is the process of all that information gathering you were doing 34 years ago, I
would imagine you can do a lot more and a lot less time and maybe even produce more based on you
know, how technology has changed.
07:33
For sure everything's now at your fingertips. And so you don't have to go drive anywhere to go pick up
that. That data, you just type it in. And the Maricopa County's assessor's office has everything, all those
real estate transactions are right there online. I mean, it's just great. makes it so much easier.
07:49
Absolutely. So do you should you? So going back to how you got into started at the Phoenix Business
Journal? Do you have a journalism degree?
07:57
Yes. It's the technical journalism is the actual official name of the degree.

4
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
08:05
Okay. And so you're a senior writer, what does that what does that mean, as a senior right, obvious 34
years? Of course, you couldn't be a junior writer at 34 years, right, probably somewhere else. But what
is it? What does a day in the life look like? I mean, what is kind of some of the behind the scenes of
what you would do as a senior writer?
08:21
Okay. Well, essentially start in the morning, we have our 10 o'clock, mandatory editorial staff meeting.
And basically what we're doing is we are coming to the table, to tell our editors, here's what we plan to
write today. Here are the stories that I'm working on today. And here's what you can expect for me to
turn in today so that we can get that that published online as fast as possible. And so once so then we
just start working on those, we get those interviews set up, we gather, you know, background data, get
other people's voices, that third party perspective, try to get some numbers in the story. And you turn
that in editors, edit it, and then we publish it online right away. And so all of that is just breaking news.
As fast as we can type as fast as we can get that news out there to you.
09:11
Yeah. So going from getting a story well, so let me ask you this. How do you actually get a story? Do
you go out and put kind of put your feelers out there and try to like kind of prod like, hey, who has a
story for me or now at this point? Do most of your stories of people just call you up and say, Hey,
Angela, I have a story, a great story for you.
09:32
Mostly calling me and telling me they have a great story. It's almost like I can't even keep up with that.
There is so much news going on out there. There's so many deals happening right now. It's hard to
keep up so I really don't have much time to get out there and try to find news on my own because it's
just coming like a tsunami at me, whether they're texting me in the middle of the night or posting it or,
you know, just messaging me on Facebook or emailing me or calling me. brokers that have deals that
are coming or deals that just closed. I mean so much going on, I just can't keep up with it.
10:14
So you were telling me earlier your favorite word, what is your favorite word when, when you're getting
a story,
10:20
my favorite word is exclusive. So. So basically what that means is a broker who is who a deal came,
came through or is about to come through as an escrow and is about to close sometime next week,
they will offer me the story first, and so I will work on it ahead of time. And then when the deal closes,
then it publishes. And so what what, what we want to do is we want to provide that information to our
readers, we don't want to give them information that was already in another newspaper, because they
already saw what value is that. And so to be the one to be able to write about that first, and give you
that information. First, that I feel that makes me more valuable to our readers.
11:03

5
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
So for you is part of because those relationships are so important as part of what you do actually going
out and building those relationships with brokers, people in the health care, whatever, you know, all the
things that you write about is that part of what you do is just cultivating relationships. Yes,
11:16
for me, right? Relationships are the most important thing. They there's nothing that tops building a good
relationship where of trust. And trust is really important, too. Because if they're offering me an
exclusive, and don't write about it until the deal closes, I'm going to honor that. Because for one, they're
never going to come back to me again if I write about it. Right. Right. But you know, you have this give
and take going on as you as you moved, you know, move forward on these projects. Yeah.
11:45
So the so an exclusive comes in, give us a little bit more detail in the behind the scenes, right? So when
exclusive comes as broker colleges have this amazing, you know, story, and you love the story. So
where does it go from there? How do you get how do you take the story from and kind of a little bit
more behind the scenes, right? In terms of the process? How do you take it from a phone call to
publication?
12:10
Okay, so basically, I like the idea. Yes, let's move forward. And so we'll, we'll set up an interview. And
we'll we'll get an interview with the person who, you know, maybe the broker that actually negotiated
that transaction, start gathering the data, talk to other parties, like a third party perspective, to get you
know, that bigger, bigger picture version of what's going on in the industry, get some numbers, if they
have data, I like to get a lot of data from RL Brown. They provide a lot of great, just that big picture stuff.
They're amazing. As well as Zonda, they've become a really great source for me, as well. Yeah. So it
used to be Belfie, your real estate consulting, they used to provide that and then they merged. And so
now it's Zonda. So in working with them a lot, as well.
13:01
So the story comes to you, how often does a great story, just get left out? Where it's like this, you're
thinking you have this amazing story here. And you take it to you have a meeting, right? So yeah. So
you take the meeting, and they're like, You know what, this is just a huge story week, and this story
doesn't make the cut. Yeah,
13:22
that does happen. I mean, what if I think something is really cool, and the editors don't feel like it's, you
know, good enough, if it's not impacting our readers that, you know, it's not a very good business story,
where it's impacting our readers are making an impact on how they can make good decisions. It'll, it'll
just die right there. When you go pitch that at the editors meeting, they'll say, you know, let's just focus
on this instead. And you might try to revive it, you might, you know, come back and say, you know,
what, what, if I took it from this angle? Or what if we end you, sometimes you do need to think through
that process? And oh, that's cool. And look at another way to present the information. And you might
you might be able to save it,

6
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
14:03
so. So how do you how do you save it, you chase them down in the hallway? Or do you just now
obviously, you have to put some thought into how to like, come back with this story, right? You have to
wait till the next so editor's meetings, or every morning, every morning
14:15
at 10 o'clock. No, you don't have to wait. A lot of times, you can just you as you're talking to the people
who you're working on the story with you, you might try to get some more information to make it more,
you know, just more valuable to your readers. And so you're having that conversation with you know,
maybe the broker and and it's like, oh, yeah, I should have thought of that good idea. So then you just
reach back out to the editor and say, hey, what if I did it this way? And they're like, huh, good idea.
Maybe let's do it that let's do it that way. And
14:43
so a story that misses the actual because we talked earlier, there's there's two you know, you have
your paper and you have the actual digital version. So a story may miss the paper but still makes the
digital version right because I mean, imagine digital version, you can pretty much put unlimited content
on
14:59
Yes. Definitely. So everything starts out digital first. So everything goes digital. So that we get that
breaking news out to you right now. So to make those good decisions, so that happens. And then,
toward the end of the week, what we start doing is we start picking our best stories, the ones that are
most impactful for our readers. And then we put that in our print edition. And each of the reporters, we
each have our own reporter page, where our industry news is on that page. So mine will be mine can
be anything it can be. It can be a compilation of whatever happened that week in terms of real estate,
or it might be, you know, new dorms being built, or it might be a new senior housing. So mine can be
pretty eclectic for what it might look like, most of the time. It's all residential real estate, you know, I
mean, because there's so much happening in that area. There's and not everything will make it on that
page. Because you've been writing so much all week, only a few of them get to get make that cut.
15:59
Yeah, I mean, it's interesting, because you talked about how you used to have to gather information 34
years ago, today, well, 34 years ago, the other thing is there was only a paper version, right? You didn't
have a digital version. So now since you can do more, I would imagine. It's just it just expands how
much content you can actually create. Yeah, because you've shortened the process along the way, too.
Yeah. So not only we shorten the process, you've created a digital version that allows for literally
unlimited. I mean, if you wanted to unlimited content.
16:31
Yeah. You know, it's so funny, you said that, because when we first so we are first a print publication
for all those years, right. And we had our way of doing things we would, you know, go to print on
Wednesday, and we'd come out on Well, the paper would be done mailed out on Thursday, and to your
mailbox on on Friday. And then we kind of start the whole process over again. So we were working on

7
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
this one product all week long. Now, it's like working for two publications, where you're not only you
know, working on that alongside of your daily news, when it first when we first started doing that, that
was overwhelming. It was like, Oh, my gosh, I'm doing two
17:12
publications at one time your pay is doubled. Right? Wrong. I hope you're I hope your editor I hope
everybody over at the Phoenix business journal is listening right now. Well, we get you in trouble. So
17:25
it was hard at first because we were you know, you're doing that you have those deadlines for print.
And this this machine that you had to keep feeding this wild beast and keep throwing stories in there for
the online daily content. But now, after doing it, you know, after doing it for a while, you kind of get a
groove down and you just just go with it.
17:47
So I think of you as a local celebrity, because I've been reading articles for years. Is that true? I mean,
you're telling me like so. So you've been telling me you've been doing other podcasts, you are invited to
real estate panels. So I mean, you're kind of I mean, people do look at you as a bit of an maybe not as
okay, you're not saying you're not admitting to celebrity, but I mean, people do kind of look at you as
like kind of a local expert, right? Me you're getting you're getting all these breaking stories, you're on
top of the real estate market, like very few people are so people do look at you as an expert in that
industry.
18:19
That's scary. I mean, I guess so. But when you start saying expert, I'm like, I've only been doing this a
few years. I don't want to I don't consider myself an expert. But what I do consider myself is a good
information gatherer. So all the experts out there, I'm just trying to give our readers what they're saying.
That's, that's the best I can do.
18:39
Yeah, well, I think other people probably view it a little different only because I mean, you wouldn't get
it, you know, you wouldn't go on to podcasts. And, and this isn't a real estate, even though I'm a real
estate agent, right? It's not a real estate podcast. But I mean, you bet on real estate, podcasts and
panels and stuff. So obviously, people hold you in high regard. So
18:55
that's cool. You.
18:58
So what are the topics? We've talked about real estate? Do we mention? So what do you want to just
mention all the topics that you actually write on right now? Okay,
19:10

8
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
so I started off with healthcare back in the 80s. And I've been writing about that ever since. And I love it.
I mean, when you talk about healthcare, it's got to be the business of healthcare. So it's hospitals, how
they're operating financially. are they losing money? Are they making money? Are they expanding? Are
they growing? Are they closing hospitals? Are they merging? Are they acquiring? So just basically the
business of healthcare and the same goes for doctors like their practices, how they're able to, you
know, grow and expand and, you know, do what they need to do and contracting with insurance
companies and all the business of that. And I know some people's eyes start you no rolling to the back
of their head and it might sound a little too, too detailed and too technical. So over the years, I've had to
learn to write stories where you have to remember Every day that you're writing for your reader, and not
all of them care about healthcare, not all of them care about bioscience they, you have to try to make it
so that they, they want to read that. And it's providing value for them. I mean, I guess you can't be a
jack of all trades for all, but you're trying to impact as many people as you can. So healthcare is one.
And then I mentioned biotech back in. I don't know, was it 1015 years ago, when we really made a
concerted effort to build our bioscience hub here. That was when t jen, the Translational Genomics
Research Institute decided to come here, Dr. Jeffrey Trent, he was at the NIH, this amazing scientist.
And he went to Arcadia high school here. So he came back home. And he decided to start TGN this
research organization that, you know, does genomics and molecular profiling all this amazing stuff. And
so that was the beginning of us trying to build a bioscience hub and so Okay, starting to attract
businesses in that area and vendors. And so over those years, we've been really building building up
that industry as well, and workforce and STEM jobs and you know, just really high tech positions,
21:15
I have a confession to make. I do not read the biotech section, that's okay, you totally lose me like bio,
and I'm out your eyes roll to the back of your head. So the back of my head, I have a really bad
flashback. So being in school biology, class, and chemistry and all of those things. And like I'm out on
bio, I'm out.
21:35
I'm with you. Because in high school, I wasn't that great at science either. So it was kind of scary for me
to, to write about this stuff that is very technical and scientific. And so every time I would interview a
researcher, I would have to Okay, dumb it down for me a little bit more and dumb it down a little bit
more. How would you explain this to your grandma? So, yeah,
21:57
here in the valley, I mean, we have for people that are interested in that we have some amazing people
making amazing breakthroughs in technology. And I mean, it's, it's pretty impressive what, you know,
some of the people behind the scenes here in the state of Arizona also, right, we do
22:13
have so many smart people, these, we have medical doctors who are PhDs, and they're researching,
and they're coming up with these amazing discoveries and saving lives. And all of that is happening
here. And more of it continues to happen here as we build our bioscience hub. So it's really cool.
22:30

9
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
And then going back to health care. One of the things that you said is really interesting is everything
kind of I mean, you're always trying to tie the story back to business, right? Because your Business
Journal, so everything is always we're always trying to tie it into the business community the best we
can. And so I think that it's not just the business, maybe of the hospital, but I would imagine that some
of your stories are like, I mean, you know, in the last two years, there's not really much to write about in
the healthcare industry, right. So so I mean, some of it is like, I mean, business owners are impacted by
some of the healthcare stuff, especially as it pertains to things like COVID, right, and terms of business
shutdowns and stuff like that. So I think it's interesting when you say that, you know, you're always
trying to find that angle of you are the business journalist, you're always looking for a way to tie,
biotech, healthcare and everything that you write about back into the business community. Yes,
23:19
definitely. Because we want to provide that Intel, that intelligence for them so that they can make really
good decisions. Yeah. So as far as if we're talking about COVID, and we're looking at your business
operations, what does that mean, for me as a business owner, especially if you're a small mom and
pop business? What am I supposed to do? What rules am I supposed to follow? I mean, it's hard
enough for a small business owner just to do your business, you know, yeah. But to have to worry
about all these rules and OSHA and all these, you know, all these regulations and things like that. Were
we try to help them make it easier for them to understand that so they can make good decisions. Okay.
24:01
So healthcare, bio, whatever. Healthcare and then what, what else?
24:09
What else? Education is another beat that we added over the years, as well. And that looks more like
workforce development. So when I'm talking to the colleges, universities, we're looking at how are they
preparing the workforce for tomorrow? What are they doing to make sure that the our employers have
the qualified workforce that they need? Because one of the biggest complaints of employers these days
is that they can't find enough qualified workers. And so what are we doing to educate those workers to
give our employers what they need?
24:44
Okay. When I think of education, and it's kind of the same thing, right. I mean, the last couple years has
just been so crazy, between you know, healthcare and education, and then and then you could actually,
you know, there's inroads in terms of how healthcare and education work together or where would
school shut down? Yeah, COVID I mean, so you can intertwine all of these things really on so many
different levels. But when I think of education, I think of, I always think from a real estate business
owner standpoint, but also a real estate standpoint, right of, you know, better education. So we've had,
you know, teacher strikes, read for ad, invest in add, yeah, we've had school shutdowns and all of
these things. And I actually have real estate clients that move here because their kids can actually
there's a little bit more freedom, right? I mean, they're coming from California, Oregon, Washington,
and they say, you know, hey, we're coming out here, I actually have a real estate. I shouldn't even say
this. It's crazy. I had a real estate client tell me, like six or seven months ago, he's like, you know, Todd,
I'm coming to Arizona to give my kids a better life. I'm like, where are you coming from California. It's

10
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
like to hear that it's just wild. Right. And that's, so when I think of education, I think of things like that.
And in terms of Hey, okay, we're now investing more in education. Hopefully, we're getting more out of
that, because we also need our education system to improve and so is that
26:03
yeah, definitely. Yeah. And too, we have our charter system. So, you know, these charter schools that
have been growing over the years, and just, you know, they've had a lot of a lot of failures, as you
know, they're basically small mom and pop operators, many of them started out that way, oh, we're
going to provide a school and we're going to do it better than the public schools. And that was their,
their whole goal, you can get public funding for it. So and so that was the goal, but a lot of them failed
along the way, embezzling just, you know, all those were fun stories. Right. But, but there have been
some amazing charter schools that too, like, I wish I would have set my kids, they're kind of charters,
yes. You know, the, the amazing things that they teach them. And so and then you they're making top,
you know, they, they're, their kids are getting the best grades, and they're, they're winning all these
awards, and they're just doing amazing things. So it's kind of cool to see our charter schools really
stepping up to that,
27:03
yeah, as much as a father of four and six year old. I mean, really on top of that, and we spend a lot of
time on our YouTube videos, right on Phoenix homes, hotspots, talking about the fact that we are a
school choice state and that, hey, if you're not happy with the school, that that's a sign of the
neighborhood you move into, you can move your kids through, you know, through a process and
everything else. And then the fact that we do have some good charter schools, not all of them, you
know, like you said, some of fail, but we do have some really good charter schools, and we have a
great public school system. So the fact that they're school choice, and there are options, does make
Arizona kind of cool, desirable spot for people moving here that have families and that type of thing.
Yeah, definitely. And then real estate and so real estate, what are some? What are some examples of
stories that that might, that are going to make the editor cut, right? When you when you go to that
room? You're like, oh, this is a slam dunk? What are what are some good, you know, what's example
really good real estate story that you might write?
27:59
Okay, so some of the ones that get the most traction from our readers are those big masterplan
communities that are being developed. I just wrote about a couple of them recently, where, you know,
they have 2000 acres. And here's what they're planning to do. Here's the type of homes they're going to
develop here. Here's the amenities. One of them, I got to tie in health care, health care, because they
want to have a medical campus as part of their their masterplan community because it's so far, you
know, so far out there that there's health care, nothing really near to what they help the nearest
hospitals like 11 miles away, so they would need some kind of health care component there for their
residents.
28:42

11
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Okay. So 34 years, do you have a story that stands out as like your favorite story, or something that just
like, off the wall, or I don't know, like, just something that just for whatever reason, it just stands out? In
your mind?
28:56
I did. This was way back in 94. So I was driving home and I saw this homeless family on the side of the
road. And, you know, I think, I don't know, I just remember it was the whole family that dad, the mom, a
bunch of kids. And so I stopped and I said, I don't really have any cash with me, but I can go get some
groceries for you if you want. So I went and got groceries for them. And then so I started talking to them
and the dad was saying how he gave blood for money. You know, I think it was like plasma or
something like that. And so I went back I was telling my editor about it the next day at work and he's
like, that's a good story. And it's not really something the Business Journal writes right. Yeah. And so I
you know, drove back the same way the family was still there. So I started talking to them some more
anyway, wrote this story about this family struggling in it's not really a Business Journal kind of story,
but we wrote it anyway. Amazing editor, John Jones Ollie, he was just teaching he could just make any
copy sing. He which is really amazing. And so he wrote this story. And he would not believe how many
readers called in and wanted to help that family. It was like, I never even expected that to happen.
People were giving pots and pans. And, you know, they wanted to give 1000s of dollars to just to help
this family get on their feet. That was the coolest thing ever happened.
30:21
That is cool. So we've talked about all the industries and obviously, look, some some of the things that
you write about, especially in recent years, right? When we talk about health care, or when we talk
about education, you start to get in some pretty polarizing conversations, right. And so the question is,
how do you keep one of the things that I know about you from reading your stories, is that in a world
now, where everybody's opinion seemed to matter in journalism, as opposed to just facts, right, we're
starting to we're starting to publish feelings over facts over backs, right? Where and which, by the way,
is fine, as long as it's, you know, as long as you label it as such? Yes, right. This is an opinion article,
right? Not. But But what's happening now is we're starting to see people's opinions, right? They call
themselves journalists, and we're
31:18
crazy, tries me and say, you'll see on TV, I'm like, Are you a journalist? What, exactly what are you
because you're acting like a journalist, but you're not talking like a journalist? What are you doing,
giving your opinion, that's not your job as a journalist, as a journalist, our job is to be objective, and fair,
just objective and fair, all the time, you have two sides of the story. And so you present both sides of
the story. And you don't interject your opinion, ever.
31:46
So how do you keep in a world that doesn't? I mean, the majority of what you see out there, that's not
what it is? No, right? How do you? And and I can't, you know, I read your articles more than anybody
else's. So I'm assuming that the whole business journal, maybe maybe it's just kind of Yeah, you guys
do business? Right? You keep? So how do you keep that journalistic integrity when you're writing your
pieces?

12
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
32:11
You have to? I mean, you have to stay balanced and fair, objective, balanced fair, that's just, that's just
who I am. I have to be that, you know, it's so funny, I have to tell you something. So when I was writing
about medical marijuana way back when, in 2010, when we passed the Medical Marijuana Act allowing
us to have medical marijuana in Arizona. And so I was writing about that, and I have my own opinion on
marijuana. And so when I'm writing, and I would interview the dispensaries and the businesses that are
operating this, I got accused of being completely opposite of how I feel. I mean, there's, you know what
I mean, that I was like, wow, in my effort to be objective and fair, I went overboard, they actually thought
I was on the other side. That was weird.
33:03
Interesting. That's interesting. So in that, so in that situation, I mean, you were literally like trying to
keep your opinion out of it. So so much that people thought your opinion was the complete opposite.
33:14
Yeah, I was trying to give the other side so much space that I probably maybe gave them more space
than maybe it wasn't as objective and fair as I was thinking it was gonna be. That's
33:26
crazy. Do you do you feel pressure? I mean, are there times where a reader because I mean, people
can reach out to you, right? I mean, your information is definitely people can reach out to you. So do
you ever get? Do you ever get an angry reader that that's sad that didn't spin a story, or you didn't put
your what? Well, so actually, well, let's, let's start with where you are going? And then let's go back to
my question. So tell me about an angry reader. Oh, my gosh,
33:57
people, they will reach out to you if you had a typo in a story and tell you how stupid you are. I mean,
come on, guys. It's a typo. We can fix it. It's not that big of a deal. I mean, it is a big deal, but not to call
you stupid. And just Where did you get your training and just, they just get so mean and angry. So
people who have so much easy access to us, and don't really take a breath and think about it before
they just fire off this email. You're like, oh,
34:25
well, can you just blame the typos on the editor anyway? Yeah. Good idea. The editors.
34:35
So people get upset about that. So has anybody because again, I think people I think people kind of
want to hear what they want to hear today. Right? I mean, it's that I hate to use the word because it's so
overplayed right now, but that echo chamber, right? People kind of want to hear what they want to hear.
Yeah. Do you ever get somebody that just angry that you didn't spin a story a certain way or?
34:53

13
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Yeah, yeah, I get that too. But, I mean, after all these years of getting hate mail. And I don't get a lot.
But when it comes, it's kind of stings. And you just think about it for a lot for a long time that day. But
you got to get a thick skin and you just have to just let it go. Yeah.
35:12
So what we learned here? So how? One of the things I think, for business owners that you know, I say
this half jokingly, but but in all in all honesty, you guys are always looking for stories, right? So, yes, for
me. Yes. I think when you were talking about like the exclusive right, if you're out there and you have a
story, you're a business owner, and you have a great story, then contacts the Phoenix Business
Journal, right? I mean, because at the end of the day, you never know what, you know what you guys
are looking for what, you know what content might make it, but there are a lot of business owners that
that have great stories that that could use that additional media. So I think that I thought that was really
interesting.
35:55
Yeah, definitely. We'd love to hear from everybody.
35:57
So Phoenix Business Journal, we talked earlier, there's a print version, there's a digital version.
Typically, if you subscribe, you get I believe, you just get I mean, I, I've always subscribed, I've gotten
both the print and the digital by yeah, by the way, my wife no longer allows me to have the print copy.
Because I am. I'm a newspaper hoarder. And so I like to actually stack the papers up and refer back to
them like encyclopedias from the 1980s. And yeah, it doesn't work very well. So every once in a while,
I'll find a little tiny stack that I stashed somewhere in the garbage can I'll pull them back out, and I'll hide
them somewhere else. Oh, that's funny. So I have to, so I now have to go through hoarding therapy.
Have the print version. That's okay. But the cool thing Yeah, go
36:43
ahead. Yeah. So as long as you recycle them, that's okay. Right. But it's, it's all available digitally. So
you can just go online, and you can see exactly as it was, and you don't have to worry about starting
fires, I don't have to start.
36:55
So and then the other cool thing about the digital version is you can actually just save your favorite
articles. So instead of trying to refer back to like, Oh, which one was that in? That's nice. You can save
them too. So yeah, that's cool. And then you get the the bucket list. Yes. At
37:11
the end of the year, we have the we have Dale Brown is our did our Bucket List Editor and he's
compiling all of that information all year long. And we put it in a nice book for you.
37:22

14
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Awesome. Okay, cool. Let's wrap up with talking about I always like to promote kind of some local
things. So do you have a restaurant like a local, locally owned restaurant that you're that you and your
husband or your, that your family likes to go to?
37:39
Actually, I don't sorry, let's just cut that one out. No. Oh, no. Favorite local restaurant? Really? I mean,
I'm always I'm always home cooking. You know? I don't really we don't really know. Sorry. Yeah. All
37:54
right. Good enough. How about just like a local charity or anything that you this that you're passionate
about that you that you want people to know about?
38:04
Yes, I just came onto the board of Helios Renaissance. It's a local group of professional singers who
are performing around the valley. And so I'm trying to help them out. I actually am trying to help
fundraise for them. So if you would like to give money to a nice, nonprofit group that is performing
Renaissance music, so that early music polyphony and really good early music? That's a good, good
group to
38:33
help out. And then what is the money go to if for that? Yeah,
38:36
what they're trying to do is, for one, they're trying to get a CD together. So they're their goal is to win a
Grammy. So in it as part of that step, they need to have a CD that they can actually send, you know, to,
to submit. And so they're in the process of making a CD, but that's gonna cost like, I don't know, I think
$10,000 or something like that. So they're, they're still trying to raise money for that. But basically, that's
the biggest fundraiser right now is to try to get that CD done. Cool. I'm trying to help them.
39:11
Right on right on. Angela Gonzalez, thank you so much for joining me. I think, like I said, you know, the
majority of the people that listen to this are business owners. And I think that there's a lot of people that
that probably don't realize the Phoenix business journal has, you know, so much valuable content. So
appreciate some of the behind the scenes look, and thank you for everybody for tuning in. See you next
time. Awesome. Thank you.