Rising to the top
ENVISION Magazine, 2005

With a degree in journalism and English from UW-Whitewater, William (Bill) Hogue ’71, left for New York City with $150 in his pocket, one suit, and a job as a fi le clerk at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

Before heading to the big apple, Hogue accomplished his UW-Whitewater education in two phases. After completing his sophomore year, Hogue was drafted into the Army in 1968. He trained to be a radio operator and was sent to Germany for two years working on a Teletype machine and then on to Vietnam for an eight-month stint. Discharged, in January of 1970, Hogue returned to UW-Whitewater where he fi nished his education.

Hogue put his take-home pay from the Plaza, $68 a week, towards a $135 per month basement apartment that was a bus-and-subway ride away in Queens. “While working at the Plaza, I answered about a million help wanted ads and saw as many people as were willing to see me,” Hogue reminisces. “This was during a pretty severe recession. I wondered if I would ever get a job or would have to return to Illinois with my tail between my legs, a real fool who thought he could make it in New York.”

Just when Hogue was ready to head home, he got his fi rst break. He was hired to work for Modern Floor Coverings trade journal as an assistant editor and production manager. “It was really two eight-hour-a-day jobs rolled into one. To say that I was working long hours does border on the understatement,” Hogue said.

After working full time for four years and having a stake in seven different magazines, Hogue took time off to write the great American novel. “I moved to Cape Cod, wrote everyday, got a dog, ran along the beach and ended up a year later having written ‘the awful American novel,’” said Hogue.

Eventually, Hogue went back to work fulltime in magazine publishing. Before taking his current position at Time4 Media (a division of Time Inc.,) Hogue worked his way up through a series of jobs that included: Glamour magazine, Gruner + Jahr publications, the Magazine Publishers of America and U.S. News & World Report.

Hogue joined Time4 Media in the spring of 2004 as marketing director of three magazines, including Yachting. “Without a doubt, one of the hardest things is getting started,” said Hogue, who no doubt today has more than $150, one suit, and a job at the Plaza. – Jon Minnick