Birth of a Maven

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On a deadline, Kelley lopes around the office, distractedly running his hands over his close-cropped black hair, fussing over touchy computer programs, and answering the ever-ringing telephone. "I probably have a slight case of ADD," he says, sheepishly, wiping his hands on his baggy khakis. But he's actually remarkably focused, especially for a young man busy juggling the details of a fledgling publishing business.

Mavin is, to a large degree, a one-man band. Kelley is founder, editor-in-chief, publisher, public relations executive, staff writer, and, for the first two issues, chief production designer. His sister, Joanna, a fashion designer based in Brooklyn, New York, directs the magazine's creative side, organizing fashion shoots, recruiting models, and, for the upcoming issue, coaxing a graphic designer friend to help develop a more professional look. There's also Kelley's college friend RisÎ Nelson, who serves as Mavin's long-distance assistant editor, and Mariko Kawabori, Mavin's on-site intern and associate editor.

The magazine is nearly all Kelley thinks about these days. In fact, he says, he has "no social life. I never see anybody except for my grandma and my mom." Kawabori comes into the office three days a week to help out with mailings, answer the phone, and respond to subscriber inquiries. The two have an easy, joking relationship, sharing their multiracial heritage (Kawabori, adopted at birth by a Japanese American family, is half Japanese, half Filipino), their love of music, and their tongue-in-cheek fascination with biracial pop star Mariah Carey.

"For mixed folk, Mariah's a big bonding point," Kelley says, eyebrows raised but voice serious, and Kawabori nods her agreement, laughing. "Mariah and Tiger [Woods] identified themselves as multiracial way before that was accepted by society. They paved the way for us. . . . When my sister and I drove out to Wesleyan, we listened to Mariah all the way. She's singing our song."

Well, maybe. But it seems that Kelley's humming his own tune just fine. He's done so many interviews about the magazine that he's got his message down pat--he can tell the same stories over and over without sounding rehearsed. He's a man on a mission, and he speaks with the conviction of a person who's seen the future and knows that he--and other young people like him--will play a key role in it.

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