We were lucky to catch up with Shelby Hartman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shelby, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I came up with the idea for DoubleBlind while meditating. It wasn’t a strategic decision, because I was looking at the psychedelic landscape and thinking it was good timing to start a media company covering psychedelics. The thought “I want to start a magazine on psychedelics” just beamed through me. That was the beginning and the end of the idea, and it was only later, when it began picking up traction, that we had to figure out how to make it a viable business. I think that’s often how inspiration works—the muse strikes, but then you have to figure out the specifics and execution.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am the co-founder of DoubleBlind (www.doubleblindmag.com), a print magazine and media company covering psychedelics. We come out in print twice per year and also publish on our website. Prior to starting DoubleBlind, I was a journalist for about ten years, covering cannabis, psychedelics, and beyond. I was always passionate about storytelling and journalism, but I saw from working in a variety of newsrooms how volatile the media industry is. I wanted to start my own magazine not only because I was passionate about journalism, but I was passionate about finding sustainable ways to fund deep storytelling.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When I was 19 years old, as an intern at CBS News, my boss and longtime correspondent Dan Raviv told me to not go into journalism unless I really wanted to. My response? “I really want to.” It hasn’t been easy. My first job in a major newsroom had me working the graveyard shift, from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. on weekends. We weren’t given proper meal breaks or paid vacation, even though we were working close to 40 hours per week. I left that job to try freelancing in print, but the rates were dismal and I’d spend hours pitching stories that never got published. Eventually, I went to graduate school in journalism. After that, I worked as an intern, making minimum wage again, in the hopes of being hired, only for that newsroom to let go of 25% of their staff as my internship was ending. I then worked at a start-up that went out of business after nine months. And finally, worked at another start-up that also pivoted away from real journalism and made big layoffs. Eventually, I started DoubleBlind, because I wanted to do things differently.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
The initial funding from DoubleBlind came from my parents who, literally, begged me to take $20k to print our first issue. I only agreed after my grandmother called and convinced me. I moved back home to launch DoubleBlind, at 29 years old, and my mom was sending the magazines for our garage. When we really needed support, we did a friends and family round, which included some impact-oriented angels, and raised around $300k to pay people who had been supporting in exchange for equity and the promise of a dream. I like to be transparent about this, because I know that I’m incredibly blessed to have a supportive family and I couldn’t have done it without them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://doubleblindmag.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doubleblindmag/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doubleblindmag/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/doubleblindmag
- Twitter: https://x.com/doubleblindmag
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DoubleBlind
Image Credits
Kaya Blaze