By DANIELA DELLO JOIO and BRITTNAY STARKS
CNJ216
Posted on Dec. 6, 2007

Alan Randolph, president of Ocean Drive magazine, wanted to be an airline pilot when he was a young man growing up in Oklahoma. He didn’t imagine that a B.A. in business administration and a love for entertainment and fashion would land him the job of his dreams.

“Jerry [Powers, publisher and founder of Ocean Drive] called me one day and said, ‘I have an incredible opportunity I want to talk to you about. Let’s get together and grow this business,” said Randolph of his move to the magazine 16 months ago.

Except for impeccable manners and a slight trace of a Southern accent, there is nothing small-town about the former private banker, who now controls one of the largest luxury media groups in the United States.

The young executive said that he was in no way looking for a new job. He was content with his position at Mellon Bank prior to joining the Ocean Drive team.

“My first thought was, this is totally crazy, but then I went to his [Powers’] house the next day, and we talked it over for two hours,” Randolph said.

After a two-week vacation to Europe, he returned to the United States and resigned from his job of eight years.

He moved to Miami Beach in the early 1990s as a young entrepreneur. At that time, Italian fashion legend Gianni Versace had just purchased a home on Ocean Drive, and renowned models like Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss were “running around town,” Randolph said.

“Banking was always supposed to be a stepping stone to something I really wanted to do, and the next thing I know I had this incredible career in the financial services world,” he said.

He developed a number of prominent connections in the fashion and music industries when he first started out. Focusing on the “up-and-coming” and the “young entrepreneurs like myself” was important, said Randolph, who was Ocean Drive’s banker before he became the president.

“It’s really about lifestyle and luxury,” he said about the magazine. “We are a coffee table publication. People actually keep [the magazines] and collect them.”

Richard Santelises, senior account executive at Ocean Drive, credits Randolph for much of Ocean Drive’s success. “He helped keep this ship afloat [when he was our banker]. And now that he’s here, he still does just that,” Santelises said.

Randolph said that his business background will always be there with him. “I wake up at six in the morning and watch CNBC. I turn on the TV, drink the coffee, start looking at the websites and what’s happening in the market. I like all that. That’s all interesting to me.”

Santelises describes his boss as much more than a businessperson.  “What you don’t know about Alan is that Alan is a lot of fun. There’s the business Alan who’s here and he’s buttoned-up, and then you see Alan out at night just having a blast and a lot of fun. So there are two sides to Alan. He’s a multi-dimensional person, which makes him, for me, a very real human being.”

The magazine was founded in 1992 and features fashion-photography as well as news from every “happening” social event in the world-- from South Beach to London—attracting an affluent and style-conscious audience and advertisers. 

In the past few years, the Ocean Drive Media Group has launched sister publications in The Hamptons, Aspen, and Los Angeles. 

Randolph believes that Ocean Drive has the right formula to continue its success.

“With the market that we’re in, we are somewhat recession-proof because of the kinds of brands we advertise,” Randolph said.  “We’re in metropolitan, cosmopolitan areas.  The interesting question is—can you take it outside the U.S.? Can you go to Toronto, London, or Paris? And I think the answer is yes.”