Hello Kalani, to start off tell us more about Kalani and what she does?
hi! thank you so much for having me, i’m super excited for this interview.
Kalani, above all, is a creative. whether that be in writing, entrepreneurship, or leadership: she has always been just as ambitious as she has been creative. she’s previously worked on her own small cosmetics business, a covid-19 mask fundraiser for the black lives matter movement, and many other creative endeavors. currently, she works as the editor-in-chief of Fourall magazine.
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Now tell us about four all magazine? when did you start it and what lead you on to getting where where you are right now?
Fourall magazine is undoubtedly one of the best ideas i’ve ever come up with! it’s a virtual magazine and platform for anyone who is apart of gen-z who identifies as a creative, an artist, an activist, or a student. i started working on it earlier this year and was finally able to sprout the idea this summer. i think what really inspired me was the influx of youth publications that started popping up when the pandemic hit, and since then the zine and youth magazine community has been some of the kindest and supportive people i’ve ever worked with.
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As a young creator do you find hardships because of your age, and is it difficult spreading your message as a teenager?
definitely! i think a lot of times i think of these grandiose ideas like holding a conference or a giveaway or taking on a bunch of projects at one time. but i fail to forget that at any given time i’ve got hours worth of homework, or siblings to take care off, or work to do with my school-based extracurriculars. my point is: outside of all of the creative projects and dreams i take on, i still have a normal life outside of all of this, and yeah! sometimes it just gets hard to balance that, but in the past few months of running fourall i’ve definitely gotten better at making time for the things that are important to me.
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Where do you see Fourall mag in five years?
to be honest with you, i have no idea! in 5 years i see Fourall being produced in both print and on digital platforms. i see our audience growing bigger and bigger by the day. but most importantly, i see the amount of creatives (+ artists + activists + students) that we’re able to impact through our content larger than ever.
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What was the initial plan for the magazine and have you accomplished all of the goals you had planned in the beginning?
my initial plan for the magazine was to just be something for my friends to enjoy! i honestly had no ideas as to where it would end up or if anyone would read or if it would last in mind. but as our instagram started to grow, i think i started to gain more hope in the magazine as we amassed supporters!
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Can you tell us more about the work that goes into the magazine? do you have a team that helps you or do you prefer to work alone?
man… when i first started the magazine i really thought running it would be a piece of cake. i started it up during the summer, so initially it really was easy: i had no school, very few extracurriculars, pretty much nothing to worry about. but no, i’m a senior in high school finishing out the college applications process, and it has been rough. my weeks usually start out with me trying my best to support other zines and student publications on instagram and stay as active in the community as possible. i try to post on the @fourallmag account daily, and occasionally we do some fun story polls on our instagram story. every once in a while i’ll work on a larger instagram project like our recurring “artist spotlight” series or an interview like this one. as important as our social media is, above all we’re a magazine, so a lot of time and effort goes into every issue. for the first 2 issues, i was doing everything on my own: from page design to interviews to writing. but as we expanded, i set up what’s now known as the “Fourall internship program”. our interns have been absolutely instrumental in keeping the magazine afloat! lastly, since we’re moving into a new year, i recently tripled our executive team to try and take some of the pressure off of myself and reallocate some of the important behind-the-scenes duties. i’m so excited to begin working with our new assistant editor, Zoe Scott, and our new outreach director, Violeta Salazar!
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How has the magazine changed your perspective on life so far? and are there any specific moments you’d like to share with us?
so far, Fourall has definitely taught me a lot! i’ve learned the value in community, artistry, and creativity. i’ve been able to meet and work with so many talented people from all over the world, and they’ve inspired me to constantly work hard and come up with new, innovative ideas. one of my favorite moments since i started Fourall has been the day i released our very first issue. the amount of support i received from members of the zine and youth publication community was so overwhelming, and definitely was the deciding
factor in whether or not i was going to continue working on Fourall. without them, i wouldn’t be doing this interview today.
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Finally, how do you prefer to interact with your viewers, do you feel like your social media platform can be a safe space for everyone to share their opinions and views or do you have certain rules and guidelines?
let me say this: i love social media. i’ve been using it since it’s rise back in the late 2000s/early 2010s, and throughout the years it’s been a great means of communication. my favorite platform is instagram, and though i don’t always love the newest updates (i.e. why is there a “shop” feature now?), i love the array of content you can produce and share with people across the world. it has definitely slowed us to create that safe space for anyone apart of Gen-z on our account, and i see it staying as our main platform for as long as Fourall exists.