Get to Know Your Reporter: Elena Epstein, Co-Owner & Creative Director of L.A. Parent Magazine

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“Get to Know Your Reporter” is a series of interviews we’re having with reporters & journalists covering topics that are both timely and relevant to our audiences. Our aim is to advocate for and highlight the issues that affect the children and families we serve, and one way is by providing information directly from experts in the field.

Elena Epstein is the co-owner and creative director of L.A. Parent Magazine and she shares with us how her cultural background and passion for journalism have shaped the trajectory of her career to becoming the co-owner of L.A. Parent Magazine & laparent.com.

Let’s start off by hearing about your background and your journey into journalism.

I was born in Tehran, Iran but when I was nine, which was also about the time the Iranian Revolution started, I immigrated to Los Angeles with my family. I have childhood memories of being an immigrant child and facing some challenges associated with acclimating to a different culture—including when I was an ESL (English as a Second Language) student, but I also had the responsibility of translating for my parents. I am so grateful we settled in Los Angeles, though, because it is such a diverse city.

Growing up in the Mid City neighborhood, I attended Fairfax High School, which is where I discovered my love for journalism. I started writing for the Colonial Gazette, our school newspaper, and though I was a quiet child who worried a lot about her accent, I found my new love. I overcame that feeling of self-consciousness through capturing other people’s stories. Having a reporter’s notebook in-hand gave me the confidence to approach people with questions which has carried over into my career.

After high school, I enrolled in California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where I studied journalism. I met my husband while working for the college newspaper, The Daily Sundial, and upon graduation, we transitioned from journalism into the publishing side, and I furthered my education to obtain a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Pepperdine University and began consulting for nonprofits, including Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

During this time, we were raising two daughters and that’s when I became an avid reader of L.A. Parent Magazine. When our daughters were in high school, we heard that the business was for sale and we jumped at the opportunity. After all, my husband and I had dreamed of working together and we both had the desire to one day own our own business. We took a leap of faith, bought L.A. Parent Magazine and now we like to call it our third child.

L.A. Parent Magazine has a large and loyal following among young parents in Southern California. What is your motivation behind it and why do you create and curate the content you do?

For me, being a mother is the most important and challenging yet rewarding thing I have ever done. At the hospital, when the doctor first hands you your newborn child and tells you you’re ready to go home—that moment can be so daunting, especially for a first-time parent.

As a parent, you need support. Many people don’t have the benefit of having family members nearby, so I see L.A. Parent like a trusted friend or a next-door neighbor who is a little older and wiser and has been through this before. Someone who can reassure you by saying, “You know what? We get it. This is exhausting and it’s okay. No one has all the right answers, but you can do this.”

That is how I see every story we produce—that every article we publish should be a resource for parents and ultimately, we want to make parents’ lives easier so they can focus on more important things, including creating a joyful environment to connect with their families.

What is the main message that you would like to convey through your work?

Spend time together as a family. One-on-one time without electronic devices. We are lucky to live in a city with such incredible resources and free events on any given day. You can go to museums, parks, beaches or hiking trails together as a family unit. These are the moments that will create lifelong memories and that is what connects your kids to you, your culture and your family.

L.A. Parent has a huge online calendar of events and we recommend and feature many free things to do in the city. I think our message really boils down to that—spend time with your loved ones because that’s what makes life richer.

 

See below for the Calendar of Events on L.A. Parent featuring fun & free events for families.

Event Calendar | L.A. Parent | Los Angeles, CA

Elena Epstein with L.A. Parent’s Editor-in-Chief Cassandra Lane and Digital Editor Nina Harada at the Getty Museum.

2024 Gala Honoree: Tim Disney

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Thank you, Tim, for making time to meet with us. We are so grateful for you and all you do to champion the rights of the children and families we serve and look forward to having our community get to know you better.

Could you please start off by sharing about your illustrative career as a creative, filmmaker and also as a philanthropist? Please tell us about yourself.

I’ve been lucky enough to have a varied career or a variety of different careers – some in creative fields and I’ve been able to go devote a fair amount of time and attention to nonprofit work which has been extremely gratifying. Through that, I’ve met some truly incredible people like the folks here at Children’s Institute and that’s a part of my life that I’ve devoted more energy to as the years have gone by.

As for my involvement in philanthropy – well, I’d say I have an ambivalent relationship with the philanthropy idea. It’s something that’s, deeply part of our social structures in this country. I wish it wasn’t the case. I wish that we structured our government and society to take care of these core needs, families and children, rather than relying on the private sector to give or not give to support them but that’s not the way it’s structured right now.

So, I feel like, I am hesitant to use the word obligation, but it does feel imperative that folks who have the means support organizations such as Children’s Institute because otherwise these children and families would go without the help they need. At the same time, I think I have to keep in my mind, and we should all keep in our minds that it doesn’t have to be like this, and we ought to work for a more sustainable solution to these problems while also doing what needs to be done in the moment.

There’s something problematic about the implied hierarchy of donor and patron and the recipients of that and I don’t feel comfortable with that. I would call myself an enthusiastic and simultaneously, a reluctant philanthropist in that sense.

You’ve talked about kindness as a way out of a dark place. Could you expand on that and share what it means for you to be that source of light or kindness in dark places?

The ultimate human characteristic is others-directedness that exists along with the urge to look out for ourselves. We’re all battling in this middle ground – between both instincts that we all have. I find that, especially as the years have gone by, I try to be of service to other people and that my life is better when I serve others. It’s a counterintuitive idea that if I follow that principle, my life gets better but of course, that’s not my first instinct.

When I wake up in the morning, my first thought is, “how do I get what I need today?” That’s my first thought and probably everybody else’s first thought. Especially when things are challenging or scary, that’s the place that we go and so those are the moments where I really have to make an intentional, mental shift and be others-directed.

Now, for a more lighthearted question. Could you tell us about yourself and your contributions to California Institute of the Arts and SCI-Arc?

California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) was created by Walt Disney – it came from an idea that he had towards the end of his life to create a college, that brought all the arts together in one place. This didn’t really exist at the time and he died before he was able to realize that dream. My grandfather who really was not an arts guy but because of his loyalty to his brother, Walt, he followed through on that idea to create CalArts in the early 70s. There’s a family connection to it – my father served on the board for many years and when I was about 30 years old, he said, I’m tired of doing this so why don’t you do it and that’s how I first got connected to it.

I was always aware of CalArts and I was an art history major myself, so I felt a strong connection. But it wasn’t until that moment that I became directly connected to it. I served on the board for 29 years and that was one of my most enriching experiences. I also served on the board of another college called the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) which reflects my connections to education and college.

Could you highlight a certain involvement you’ve had in education that you’re proud of?

I’d say that it would involve making it possible for folks without a lot of money to attend school. Art school is maybe the most expensive form of education. You can’t have large thousand student lectures – art requires small classrooms consisting of a highly qualified mentor teacher or artist and that classroom format is very expensive to deliver.

Additionally, art school requires all sorts of specialized equipment. As we field applications, we go based on portfolios rather than grades and scores as grades and scores are strongly correlated with socioeconomic status. By looking at portfolios or assessing people’s talent, you can kind of get away from the socioeconomic correlations that most colleges are looking for.

We think that we identify the kids as the most talented who also represent the general demographics. It’s evidence to me that when at birth, in the delivery room, when God is handing out gifts, he’s doing that equally. That, and all of the stuff that happens between then and the 11th grade where the kids are applying for college – that’s where the differentiation takes place for lack of opportunity, proper nutrition, resources, etc.

That’s why I’m very interested in Children’s Institute because they’re addressing those needs from the earliest phases where the pathways get set for kids and families and at the same time, the time when most help is needed. By the time students are in 11th grade and applying to college, lots of things happen. On one end, there are extraordinary kids who managed to do extremely well despite challenging circumstances early on but those are the exceptions.

If you can get involved in a family’s lives very early on, like what Children’s Institute is doing, you can set kids up for success – to reach their full, natural potential. I think it’s a tragedy in this country that we’re essentially squandering 60% of the human capital of the country by under-investing in very basic things including housing, education, health care and other basic needs.

Children’s Institute is a large organization for its type, but it serves a tiny fraction of the overall need. It’s very important that Children’s Institute succeeds because it sets a model that other people and organizations can follow.

What connects you to Children’s Institute and what is your message of encouragement you’d like to share with other donors?

Children’s Institute’s model appeals to me because it addresses the entire family system and the community, more broadly. It’s wonderful if organizations operate programs for children and address children’s needs because those are essential, but I don’t think that’s going to be successful unless you are also supporting families and communities at the same time. Unless you’re helping the whole family succeed, it’s not going to work or at least as well as it should.

I’m proud to be associated with Children’s Institute and the work they’re doing. I’m flattered and honored that I am an honoree. I would encourage other folks who have the means to support nonprofits such as Children’s Institute to support this organization. If you care about the health of society, in general, and you care about economic development, public safety, public health, and related issues, this is really where it all starts.

It starts with families, homes, children and education. All of the other things that we’re trying to address, including housing issues, are symptoms of what happens with families and children in the home. I believe in the model that Children’s Institute is using because they are addressing those issues in a holistic way and sticking with people and giving them the broad range of services that they need so that they can go out there and succeed.

And I think this kind of work has a multiplier effect. Families that are on the lower end of the economic spectrum that are able to launch their kids into life successfully – those kids go on and they have kids and they bring these values and these skill sets into their family’s lives, and it grows from there.

Please support Children’s Institute! For tickets and information about our upcoming “Cape & Gown” Gala, please check out this page: 6th Annual Cape & Gown Gala

Deskside Chat with the Board: Supriya Batra

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We recently welcomed Supriya Batra, a Partner at Bel Air Investment Advisors, as a member of our board of trustees. Please read below to learn more about Supriya and what motivated her to join Children’s Institute.

Welcome aboard, Supriya! We are so excited to have you join our board of trustees.  Could you please start by sharing more about yourself? 

I am a child of an immigrant father who moved from India to the United States with only $20 in his pocket, seeking a better life for himself through education. Growing up, he instilled in me the values of responsibility, frugality and the importance of education. He worked tirelessly, commuting by bus to ARCO in downtown Los Angeles. I remember my siblings and I would eagerly wait at the bus stop to welcome him home each day, witnessing firsthand his dedication and work ethic.

He followed traditional Indian customs, including an arranged marriage to my mother who immigrated with my father. In Indian culture, women are not raised to work, but rather, to become mothers. Despite the cultural norms that often limit women to domestic roles, my family was different. My father had three sisters, all professionals – including two doctors and one entrepreneur. This environment broadened my perspective on what women could achieve beyond motherhood. My father encouraged me with a friendly, supportive approach, urging me to pursue my ambitions, and unlike many of my family friends, I was raised with the belief and notion that I could – and should – aspire to a fulfilling career.

My father’s entrepreneurial spirit eventually led him to leave ARCO to start his own company. Watching him navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship and the tough road of not having a steady income and working well into the middle of the night, taught me invaluable lessons about hard work and perseverance. Fast forward to today, I’m a financial advisor, and similar to my father, I co-founded a successful business with another female leader, starting from nothing to building it into what it is today. My father’s positive role-modeling played a crucial role in my career.

What makes you excited to be a part of our Board of Trustees? Is there anything specific about our North Star that speaks to you? 

Reflecting on my childhood, I recognize the immense support I received from my immediate and extended family and community. I realize that this is in stark contrast with the experiences of children facing extreme poverty, who often lack the resources, time and love that are critical for their development. This disparity deeply resonates with me and is the reason why I am a part of the board.

Children’s Institute’s North Star emphasizes the importance of self-empowerment and the pillars necessary for it: educational success, emotional wellbeing, economic mobility plus love and resources necessary for lifelong health. I believe these elements are fundamental to surviving and thriving in today’s world, and they align with my own values and experiences. This is what draws me to Children’s Institute and excites me about contributing to its mission.

What is one piece of advice you’ve received that has helped you – that you’d like to share with the children we serve?

Never give up on yourself. Always advocate for yourself, even when others don’t believe in you. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.

What type of legacy of success would you like to leave behind?

I aspire to leave a legacy of authenticity behind. Everyone thrives when they are true to themselves, rather than pretending to be someone they’re not. Authenticity is not only less exhausting but also more positively received by others. I hope to be remembered as someone who was genuine and who did what I said I would.

Do you have any fun facts about yourself you’d like to share?

My biggest hobby is fitness! I enjoy all types of personal fitness classes and have tried nearly every one of them. Recently, I started weight training class through the encouragement of my friend. Just a year ago, I began lifting almost nothing but now I can bench press my body weight!