One cold, Winter afternoon, I (Anthony Crosby) was wrapping up a meeting at a local restaurant when I looked over and noticed a small magazine rack. On the stand were some issues of the latest print of “Everything Elko” magazine. I had some time to kill, so I flipped through its pages. It was filled with local events, articles written by locals, and all sorts of great material to read. As I prepared to put the magazine back on its stand, I noticed the cover; it was a picture of Mrs. Marin Wendell, the founder of the publication. Granted, it could have been the three cups of coffee I just had throughout the meeting I had just finished, but something hit me! Who better to talk to about their story as an Elko resident, than someone who celebrates and highlights life as an Elko resident? Marin and I just had to sit down to talk!
On top of being a magazine publisher, Marin is married to her husband Todd of Ruby Mountain Chiropractic and homeschools her three children, Kellon (11), Emerson (9), and Saylor (7). “My husband and I are actually both chiropractors, and we moved to Elko maybe 14/15 years ago to help out another chiropractic couple that owned Ruby Mountian Chiropractic at the time. However, we were in transition between other practices. We had one in Boulder Colorado, but we sold it to head to the East coast to open up another practice. However, the other couple was here, and they needed some help with research studies and covering their practice a little bit, so they had us come in to help out; we ended up loving it! We stayed and bought a house in Spring Creek. The other couple ended up going through a divorce, so, after all the craziness, we decided we needed to bow out and let them do what they needed to do. We headed up to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and opened a practice up there. We had our babies and thought about opening another practice in Fargo, North Dakota. We were kind of all over the place, but the owners of the practice down here told us they were retiring and moving and asked us if we wanted the practice in Elko! It was perfect! So, we literally picked up and moved back here seven years ago this March(2018).”
“When we got back (I still had three little kids), Todd suggested that I help him market the practice. I started reaching out to all the different ways we could advertise; there wasn’t a lot. There wasn’t much free marketing. When we lived in Sioux Falls, my friend had a magazine up there, I had helped her with it before, and I thought we should have a magazine like that down here because it would be such a good way for a community to communicate. So, I started going around talking to people about starting a magazine. There are so many cool people in our community (especially business owners), and it would be a great way for us all to talk to each other! Nobody wanted to do it. I started praying about it, and one morning got up one morning and had the name “Everything Elko.” Finally, my husband told me I needed to do it! So, I said ok, maybe I will! I got a babysitter on Tuesdays and Thursdays, went out made cold calls and sat down with business owners. I basically had to go “sell it” without people being able to see it, and ever since then, it’s been awesome!”
I’m glad the Wendells’ journey resulted in them being apart of our community! However, what’s coming up next for Marin and the publication? “I love the magazine. I love being involved, and it’s doing great, but with the way technology works, everything is online, so this Spring we’re actually launching the “Everything Elko” app! It’s a free, downloadable app with live calendar events, a map of all the Elko Boot locations, interviews, food, and education information, and more. We’re just starting to sell it so hopefully around March or April we can start having the masses download it and use it! Sometimes, our businesses have such a small voice in our town; I want that interface between them and the customers to be so much smaller. My goal is to get a billboard, so when people (hunters, travelers) get off the freeway, they can download it and see what’s going on. If someone has an event happening, he or she could get the info to me, and we’d put it on the app. Through push notifications, we could get it out there rather than having to go to Facebook for everything! I’m super excited about that!”
That’s great! I know personally, I can’t wait to download the app! Now, as I mentioned in my intro of this feature, I was excited to talk with Marin because, very similar to the vision of Anthony Around Town, her business focuses on our community and the amazing people who call it home. Therefore, I was anxious to hear her heart, specifically for this town. “I love Elko. Elko to me is perfect. My family loves the outdoors. So, when it’s nice weather, we’re out hunting, hiking, fishing etc. I love love the “small” of our town and the security that comes with that. Elko’s not ridiculously small; we have great amenities. We have everything you really need; it’s here. The community is tight and safe, and I love it. I love the people. Everybody is just open-minded. It’s just a super cool “cultured fun” community. We have just enough to stay here, be here, raise our children, have a business and have the beauty of Nevada. From the super-educated mining engineer to some amazing artists, Elko people are just so diverse and so cool. It’s easy to get involved, and if you get involved, the community loves you. I would never leave here. This is our home, our forever home.”
Marin, did you read my diary? You’re speaking my language! Elko is great! All right, do you have last thoughts before we close out our time together? “I feel like the community is important. I think communication in our community is important; it helps open up doors and opportunities especially for families. The main purpose of the app and magazine is bridging groups and people.”
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See you around, Elko!
The Wendells are such a great asset to our community Marin and Todd are so involved in the community and so giving and generous to all they commit themselves to An amazing family and Elko is so blessed to have them