Jef White.

By Erika Usui

Jef White ('88) revved his passion for cars by shifting gears from the newspaper industry to the world of automotive trade magazines.

White is editor of Restyling Magazine, a monthly trade magazine for the auto, truck and SUV accessory and customization market, and Auto Reconditioning, a new bimonthly publication for the auto repair industry.

Before that, White said he worked as editor of AutoGraphics Magazine, a trade magazine for custom painters and vehicle-graphics professionals. He also was editor of another start-up publication for professional hot-rod, tuner and race shops, Performance Business. All those magazines are published by National Business Media Inc., based in Broomfield.

"It's fun to be a part of an industry that's so popular right now," he said. "All those cable TV shows like 'Pimp My Ride' and 'Overhaulin' ' have really brought this into the mainstream."

An issue White said he frequently faces in his line of work is pressure to support advertisers and clients with editorial tie-ins. He said the staff at NBM understands the importance of maintaining editorial integrity, though, and also recognizes that protecting the line between advertising and editorial content benefits not only the readers but also the publication because it gains credibility.

"The auto industry receives a lot of criticism from all over, usually in very generalized terms, but the people in the automotive aftermarket are professional, talented and truly passionate about what they do," White said. "Not everyone can say that about their chosen career, and it makes me, as a voice in the industry, want to do everything I can to support them and provide the information they need to do their jobs better."

After graduating, White said he was a reporter and editor for various suburban Denver newspapers, including weeklies in Evergreen, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Arvada, his hometown.

He lives in Westminster with his wife, Susan, and their two sons, Jesse, 6, and Seth, 2. When he's not heading up a project for NBM, he said he serves as a soccer coach for his two boys, driving to practice in a 2003 Chevy TrailBlazer with some aftermarket products on it.

"Not too sexy, I know," he said, "but you need it with two small-but-active boys. I'm at that practical time of my life right now."  JWhite@nbm.com