On any given day, Bryan Welch can be found spending his early morning hours tending to his cattle on his farm near Lawrence, Kan., his lunchtime polishing an essay for Utne Reader at his Topeka office, and his evening at a Hollywood cocktail reception for the launch of a green media initiative.
Welch and his family raise cattle, sheep, goats and chickens on their 50-acre farm. All their animals range freely, and the grazing animals are strictly grass-fed. Welch grew up in New Mexico where, starting at age 9, he cared for a neighbor’s dairy goats and other livestock.
When he’s not farming, Welch runs Ogden Publications, a diversified media, consulting and affinity marketing company. His company has grown rapidly over the past few years and now publishes 10 magazines for people interested in self-sufficiency, sustainability, rural lifestyles and farm collectibles. Titles include MOTHER EARTH NEWS, Utne Reader, Natural Home and The Herb Companion. Its websites, including the groundbreaking carbon-offset shopping site EarthMoment, are growing exponentially and currently attract more than 3.5 million unique visitors each month. Ogden also publishes books and markets insurance and financial services to its subscribers, and provides companies of all sizes with strategic consulting services on marketing to the green-focused consumer. About a third of its gross revenue comes from these ancillary marketing programs.
Before starting Ogden Publications in 1996, Welch spent 19 years as a reporter, photographer, editor and publisher of newspapers in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Washington and Connecticut. He holds a master’s degree from Harvard University, where he studied media policy and media management at the Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School.
Welch is currently a member of the boards of directors for the Magazine Publishers of America and the Down Home Ranch Foundation. He is chairman of the Independent Magazine Advisory Group within the Magazine Publishers of America.
