Josh Dunn is the Founder and CEO of Premier Media Group, a full media company with print, digital, social, and live event marketing. Since its inception in 2001, Premier Media Group has grown to include several publications, including 425 Magazine, 425 Business, South Sound Magazine, South Sound Business, and Northwest Travel & Life. Josh has been recognized for his volunteer work, including being named Community Volunteer of the Year by the Master Builders Association of Pierce County. He also founded TEDxTacoma and has been involved in various nonprofit initiatives.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:
- [3:32] Josh Dunn shares how trading sports cards sparked his entrepreneurial journey
- [7:42] Josh reflects on how legacy and philanthropy inspired his media mission
- [11:51] Overcoming startup challenges and building a print magazine from scratch
- [13:38] Why Josh acquired a struggling travel magazine during the peak of COVID-19
- [17:11] How culture and leadership retained key talent post-acquisition
- [20:33] Thoughts on collaborating with new media platforms for content distribution
- [24:29] Where Josh draws the line on AI use in content creation
- [28:52] Why owning your digital assets is crucial in today’s shifting media landscape
In this episode…
The future of local journalism often seems bleak in a world dominated by digital media and shrinking attention spans. But what does it take to not only keep a regional media company alive, but make it thrive? How can a small publication evolve in a landscape ruled by AI, social media, and global platforms?
Josh Dunn, an entrepreneur with nearly 25 years of experience in regional media, answers this question with vision and heart. Josh shares how he built Premier Media Group into a thriving organization by focusing on community-centered content, intentional acquisitions, and non-polarizing storytelling. Despite obstacles like 9/11 and COVID-19, his optimism and strategic acquisitions have enabled his company to expand into business and travel publications. His approach involves offering human-generated, non-polarizing content and forming partnerships with larger media outlets to enhance distribution.
Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as John Corcoran interviews Josh Dunn, Founder and CEO of Premier Media Group, about thriving as a regional media entrepreneur. Josh discusses scaling through strategic acquisitions, the impact of strong company culture, and his take on AI in journalism. He also shares insights on events, social media partnerships, and mentoring freelance journalists in today’s changing media landscape.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Quotable Moments:
- “You have to sell the vision before you have a product — just a mockup and a good story.”
- “Philanthropy and legacy aren’t about money; they’re about how you serve your community.”
- “AI can make human content superhuman — but it can’t replace authentic storytelling.”
- “The key is to own your distribution — your site, your newsletter, your media — then build from there.”
- “I’m passionate about being a breath of fresh air in today’s media — non-polarizing and deeply human.”
Action Steps:
- Build resilience during economic downturns: Josh Dunn’s story shows how strategic optimism and fast decision-making can turn crisis into opportunities. Businesses that prepare for volatility are more likely to survive and grow.
- Invest in human-generated content: Premier Media Group’s commitment to writers and editors builds authenticity and trust in an AI-saturated media space. This fosters deeper audience engagement and lasting brand value.
- Retain top talent through culture: Maintaining loyalty during transitions, like acquisitions, starts with respect and clear communication. A strong internal culture boosts retention and fuels growth.
- Diversify content distribution channels: Relying solely on social platforms is risky; Josh emphasizes owning newsletters, websites, and print. This ensures long-term audience control and revenue stability.
- Seize strategic opportunities in downturns: Acquiring a travel magazine during COVID-19 led to growth as the market rebounded. Smart risk-taking can result in high-value gains when others are pulling back.
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Episode Transcript
John Corcoran: 00:00
All right. Today we’re talking about how to grow a regional media platform, especially in today’s dispersed digital media landscape. My guest today is Josh Dunn, and I’ll tell you more about him in a second. So stay tuned.
Intro: 00:14
Welcome to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where we feature top entrepreneurs, business leaders, and thought leaders and ask them how they built key relationships to get where they are today. Now let’s get started with the show.
John Corcoran: 00:31
Welcome, everyone. John Corcoran here I am, the host of the show. And you know, every week we get some fascinating CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs. We’ve had all kinds of companies here. We’ve had Netflix and Grubhub, Redfin, Gusto, Kinko’s.
Go check out the archives because there’s lots of great episodes there. And before we get into this interview, this episode is brought to you by Rise25. We help businesses to give to and connect to their dream relationships and partnerships. How do we do that? We do that by helping you to run your podcast and content marketing.
We’re an easy button for a company to launch and run a podcast. We do this strategy, accountability and full execution. In fact, we invented what some are calling the Wix of B2B podcasting. It’s our platform Podcast Co-Pilot. And, you know, I know from looking at your background, Josh, that you just like I know the value of relationships and building relationships with the right people.
And that is something that I’ve done throughout my career and I love doing, bringing, meeting someone new like you here today who I don’t know, your backstory, highlighting you and hearing your story. And so we’re excited to bring you to the show here today. And for anyone who wants to learn more about our company, Rise25, you can go to Rise25.com or email us at [email protected] to find out about Podcast Co-Pilot. All right. I’m excited to be here today.
This is someone I was told about for a while. And I like to say that I am a local media brat. You’ve heard of Army brats, Air Force brats? I’m a local media brat because my dad was a journalist when I was growing up, and I also went to journalism camp in high school, which is just as nerdy as it sounds, editor of my high school newspaper, and so have always been a fan of journalism and the role that it plays. Unfortunately, I think in the last few years some people have been very derogatory towards the role of journalism, and I have a very different opinion on that.
And I also think it’s fascinating in this landscape when over the last 20 years there have been so many small local media companies, newspapers, that sort of thing, magazines that have gone out of business to see one that is actually surviving and thriving. So that’s fascinating. So Josh, here is the Founder and CEO of Premier Media Group, which he started on September 11th, 2001, and he’s been leading the company for 25 years now, 20 almost 25 years. He’s got a number of different publications, including for 25 for 25 business, South Sound and South Sound business magazines. And these are publications that we’re going to be talking about that highlight local businesses and community achievements and he’s a long time entrepreneur.
Really excited about entrepreneurship. Josh, such a pleasure to have you here today. And let’s start with you. Like I got into entrepreneurship through the lens of trading sports cars, cards, baseball cards, basketball cards. Was this, you know, for me it was like late 80s, like kind of early 90s.
Then I got into high school and I got a little bit out of it, but that was really the heyday. And I still have some of my garage and they’re like, I thought they were going to be my retirement plan and they’re like, worth less than they were 25 years ago. It’s a bummer.
Josh Dunn: 03:32
Yeah. Interesting. Well, first, John, thanks for the treat today. And yes, sports cards are interesting. I’m with you.
It was in the mid 80s, early 90s. And I look back. I still have my cards as well. And I’m always looking for the rare card that maybe I forgot that I owned. Certainly a Griffey Junior. Yeah, it’s always a fun treat.
But then you realize in the early 90s, even late 80s, the mass production of sports cards flooded the market. And even today, I think you can buy cases of these cards that are so cheap and of very little value anymore.
John Corcoran: 04:06
Yeah, it’s a bummer. It’s a bummer. They just flooded the market, became super popular. But you also did other entrepreneurial ventures. So you mowed lawns, leaves, shoveled snow.
Talk about what you were like as a kid.
Josh Dunn: 04:19
Yeah. I think anything to earn a dollar. Before I was able to drive anywhere, I was always looking for ways to get a return on my investment, whether it’s trading cards or, you know, certainly lawn mowing was a big aspect to that raking leaves, doing yard work wherever I could, pulling weeds, trimming bushes, just the chance to get a return on my time at any time of the day. It’s a Saturday or Sunday afternoon evening. I could see quickly early on that that was a sweet treat for me to learn about working for other people and working for myself in the same manner.
John Corcoran: 04:52
And you were influenced a bit by your grandfather, who’s still around in his 90s, and He was an entrepreneur. He had his own companies.
Josh Dunn: 05:00
Yeah, just growing up, being around grandpa. It was a situation where he was living differently than I was and clearly was making an impact in our community, serving our community. And you can see early on that there was some influence there, not just a financial influence, but certainly a community impact.
John Corcoran: 05:18
What do you mean by he was living differently?
Josh Dunn: 05:21
When you look at the people that hang around with you or when you’re having a Christmas get together, or when friends are in town, or when you go to the house, they live differently, drive differently, and are involved in community aspects much differently than I was exposed to in my family. So you knew right then and there there was something of impact and influence happening.
John Corcoran: 05:44
Like he had more people in his community, more affluent. Okay. But also like a bigger social network. Is that what you mean? Yeah.
Okay.
Josh Dunn: 05:52
Yeah. Socially and making an impact, we would go to a museum and there would be a plaque there in honor of his name. And you start seeing some of these bricks being laid somewhere. That there was an impact there. And that takes resources to do that.
John Corcoran: 06:11
Yeah, yeah.
Josh Dunn: 06:12
Certainly the friendship group and the colleagues were impactful to our region.
John Corcoran: 06:16
It’s amazing the impact that has. My grandfather John the first, because I’m John the third, didn’t have a lot of financial resources, but he had risen to lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. And I remember once I went with him, he worked at the Pentagon. Even after he retired, he was like a civilian working at the Pentagon. And we drove to the Pentagon.
Once he was taking me there for some reason, and we’d go through this guard gate and the guards, the guy is there, and he looks down at the car and he snaps to attention, and he salutes as the car drives by. And I’d never seen something like that before. And I was like, oh my God, wow, that guy just saluted my grandfather because there was some, I don’t know, there was a badge or something or a parking pass that indicated it, and it had such an impact on me to see that sort of thing. Yeah. See, like the way that others treat, you know, someone in your family?
Josh Dunn: 07:04
Yep. Yeah. It’s interesting because even as a young kid, you pick up on that. There’s a difference. There’s something respectful, honorable.
And in your grandfather did something of significance. He served our country and elevated to a very strong level of leadership in our country. And he was honored for that. And you were able to see that live in action. So yeah, some of the same things on the business side.
John Corcoran: 07:25
Yeah. I’m wondering, am I reading into it too much to say that some of the stuff that you do, being integrated as a media publication in, in your communities is kind of a reflection of those lessons that you learned from your grandfather?
Josh Dunn: 07:42
Yeah, for sure. It’s definitely a high impact. He’s been on my advisory board since the day I started. He’s more of a CFO type of mindset. That is not my gift.
Mine is more on the marketing business development partnership side. But both of us serving in our community, he was beginning to be on the tail end of his impact and kind of pulled away from business and retired, so to speak. I was in the beginning stages of developing our media company and our community impact. But yeah, just to see philanthropy at work, generational legacy, philanthropy, giving back. And I’m passionate about it as well.
Like you, I love to serve. I love to give, I want to make a difference in our community, not just for my own family, but to the family members and friends and those that come and visit our community. How can I have a great impact and tell amazing stories? And I guess, you know, our mission is to be a breath of fresh air. Anything.
When you engage our company, everything we do, my expectation is there’s something different, special. It’s a breath of fresh air and it’s a non polarizing media engagement.
John Corcoran: 08:50
So you started your company and this is what it says on your bio September 11th 2001. One. How did that timing work out?
Josh Dunn: 08:58
Yeah. Crazy timing. It’s. I had been working for some other publishers kind of learning the skills of the trade. I worked for some chambers of commerce, learned about membership and sales and advertising and maps and kind of community impact and just getting ready to build a business plan.
And so our first magazine I wanted to start was a wedding and event magazine in our region and put together a business plan. And I went to go. I had bought the Starbucks when I was 17 years old for 400 bucks, and I ended up using that, which was worth about 30 grand at the time. I used that to borrow against to start the company. I get a logo, I get a I put together the business.
John Corcoran: 09:40
Wait. Hold on. Let me instead of you have like stock. You had $30,000 worth of stock in Starbucks, but you didn’t sell it. You borrowed against it to start the company.
Yeah, that’s an interesting one. I mean, I would like, you know, you were you were, what, 21, 22 years old years old or something of that sort? Yeah. What gave you that idea?
Josh Dunn: 09:58
Well, I wanted to keep the stock, and I still have the stock today. And it’s definitely worth, you know, worth over six figures. So it’s been a good investment. But yeah, I mean, it’s something that my grandfather isn’t. Even my dad had told me just to, you know, buy some stock for your future.
And so I had 400 bucks in my savings. And here we are. You know, 6 or 7 years later, after 17 years old, looking to start a company, I didn’t have any cash necessarily. And that was what I used to borrow against. And you can guess where I borrowed it from.
John Corcoran: 10:26
Yeah. Yeah. Right. The one asset you had. So?
So was it a wedding and events business? That was the idea. Yeah, but. But so you have this idea. But then nine over 11 happens, which, of course, killed the wedding market for a while.
Josh Dunn: 10:41
Yeah. But what’s interesting, I think, I mean, I’m, I’m raised a little different. I’m very optimistic. And so I saw, I saw this as an opportunity that no matter the season of life, dad is going to take care of his baby girl for a wedding. And yeah, the market was challenged with nine over 11.
But you still need a wedding. You’re still going to get married. And so you still need the resources, the vendors, the storytelling, the photos, the videos. And so I just use that. I think, John, I knocked on 600 businesses, just knocked on their doors trying to pitch this idea and ended up having about 60 to 70 folks that said, yeah, Josh, I like your idea.
There’s nothing here at the time and let’s do it. And so that was the seed. You know, I hustled. I’m not afraid to hustle and knock on doors.
John Corcoran: 11:28
And, you know, creating a new media publication. It’s like starting a marketplace in the sense that there’s different sides to it. If you don’t have any readers or viewers or users, then no advertisers are going to show up. So how did you start first? And then you have to create the content, of course.
So there’s so many different things you have to do. So what did you focus on first?
Josh Dunn: 11:51
Yeah I mean first is You have to sell the vision and craft the vision. And yes, there was no proven product yet. All I had was a mockup. A cover. A vision.
A media kit. A story to tell. And I think I’m pretty accomplished at, you know, telling good stories and backing it up. And yeah, it was. You create sales, you create promises, you create assurance, and you have to go back it up.
And we did back it up and built that brand up with a wedding show and events, and ended up selling it in 2006 to a brand. And I think, John, what’s ironic is that just two weeks ago, I had coffee with the second owner of that brand. South sound Wedding and Event. It’s still in existence and it’s been sold over twice.
John Corcoran: 12:45
Oh, wow. That’s cool. That’s cool. Shows some lasting legacy there. Yeah.
It’s stuck. And so now you are more focused on business and real estate, correct?
Josh Dunn: 12:57
Yeah. I think I’m just looking for different markets that are a little bit more opportunistic beyond a hyper local area looking for a more regional type focus. So we’re in the business magazine space. We’re in a city regional space. Four years ago.
Right. Three years ago, right in the middle of Covid, we went and bought a travel magazine that had been around since the 80s. So yeah, we’re just looking for different markets to position ourselves to make an impact.