Who is Steve Mozena?

Fearless Steve Mozena is advocacy and action in motion. He is an entrepreneur, technology innovator, publisher, print and radio journalist, community activist, and creative, out-of-the-box problem-solver.

Mozena is a man who is not intimidated by large, unresponsive bureaucracies or by those who wield power and privilege but have forgotten who they are supposed to represent. He works passionately, tirelessly and ingeniously for the causes he believes in.

As founder, CEO, and publisher of ETEXT.net Electronic Textbook Publishing, an online academic publishing firm, Steve Mozena pioneered the electronic college textbook field. ETEXT.net was founded in 1994, as Mozena's e-vision for education propelled him to take advantage of the Web before it was hip. See www.etext.net ETEXT.net provides a service for college professors and students. Professors receive higher royalties, and students pay less for their custom etext than for conventional hardcover or paperback textbooks.

Mozena is a journalist by education. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Oregon, and has much practical experience as a news reporter.

Early in his career, while working as a sports intern at KPTV-12 in Portland, Oregon, he came up with a creative idea that captured the public imagination. Building on the Portland Trailblazers' Blazermania and victory of the Western Conference in the late 1980s, Steve created the hot-selling "Blazer Tails," a three-colored streamer that people could tie onto their car antennas to show their support for the Blazers. He made eight thousand dollars from the Blazer Tails in one week!

Also in the late 1980s, Steve Mozena was a morning radio personality, giving drive-time broadcasts on Phoenix, Arizona's FM 100 KLZI radio station. He also created the persona of "Dr." Steve Mozena. He would don lab coat and scrubs for public appearances, and mix music and humor as he poked mild fun at himself as "Dr. Steve." This routine was based on an earlier stint of Steve's in which he owned and sold medical and surgical supplies to doctors' offices, hospitals, and nursing homes.

Steve Mozena is also a perpetual investigative reporter; his observations about the city, the media, and other items of importance to the citizens of Los Angeles and around the country have been widely published in cities such as Portland, Ore.; Seattle, Wash.; Phoenix, Ariz., and even New York. His latest undertaking is to promote fiscal responsibility in government. See his Post the Finances Web site at www.postthefinances.com

Mozena also has a long track record as a community activist. When he lived in Venice, Calif. he surprised everyone by persuading the Los Angeles City Council to embark on a long-overdue tree-trimming project. Local residents had been trying unsuccessfully for more than ten years to get this accomplished and turned to Steve for help. He asked the Council for funds to beautify Venice Beach and Boardwalk, joking that he represented the "Merchants of Venice" because he had a petition with more than 200 signatures of residents and merchants along the World renowned Venice Beach Boardwalk. The Council took the Shakespearean hint, and Venice Beach was no longer treated like the city dump. With the necessary funds, Steve arranged for 600 trees to be trimmed. See the archives of the Los Angeles Times for more information about his success. See www.latimes.com

Following this success, Steve Mozena approached the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission, requesting grass seed for his community. The Commission said there was no money in the budget, but Steve offered to pay for the seed if the city promised to plant and take care of the seedlings. They agreed to this, but the city did not live up to its end of the bargain. So, Mr. Mozena, after having exhausted all measures to reclaim his money, as a final resort sued the city in small claims court and won. The Los Angeles Times' reporter, Bob Poole, wrote an article about the incident. See www.latimes.com archive for the story.

But this disappointment was not the end of Steve's beautification efforts. He enlisted the homeless to remove graffiti, had the city post new recreational road signs, remove debris, set up volleyball nets, repair potholes and sidewalks, fix fencing around storm drains, fix lampposts, and paint swing sets.

As a problem solver and out-of-the-box ideas generator, Steve came to the rescue of the City when it said it did not have enough money to tear down an old dilapidated building on Venice Beach. Mozena suggested a land swap with the Native Americans, granting them the right to build a casino on the site.

The State of Oregon had made a similar land swap with the Native Americans of Oregon. It was a typical piece of artful Mozena persuasion. The city managed to find the money to tear down the building and create a park on the site. The homeless have often had cause to be grateful for Steve Mozena's assistance. He has volunteered in homeless shelters, befriending these men and women of misfortune, even taking them to music concerts and sporting events. He helped a homeless man record a song on a CD, and as a result of his efforts Universal Music Group is ready to sign this new talent once he gets national exposure or is played on major radio stations. Maybe Simon, Randy or Paula will give the homeless man a shot on "American Idol."

In his spare time, Steve Mozena was a singer and actor. He sang in choir at both St. Monica's Catholic Church in Santa Monica, Calif. as well as St. Mark's Catholic Church in Venice, Calif. He has been a member of SAG and AFTRA actors' unions for more than 10 years. In order to achieve this dream, Mr. Mozena advertised himself on bus benches located near major Hollywood Studios. Shortly thereafter, a major motion picture was released about . . . an actor who advertises himself on a bus bench and goes from "Hollywood's Least Known to Hollywood's Most Wanted." The movie, "Jimmy Hollywood," was released by Paramount Pictures. It stars Joe Pesci and Christian Slater, and is directed by Barry Levinson. Art imitating Life! Rent it on Video or DVD.

Along with his twin sister Kathleen, Steve Mozena is the youngest of eight children born to European immigrant parents. Steve's parents are proud of all their children, who include four doctors.

His father, now deceased, was born in Italy. He owned a medical equipment and supply company in Portland and Seattle. His mother, born in Ireland, founded the first bed and breakfast in Portland and sold it after 13 years. She named it "Portland's White House" because that's what it looked like. It remains in operation, under different ownership, today. After her husband passed away.

Steve's mom re-married, to a man 18 years her junior. After 20 years, they are still happily married. You Go, Mom. Steve met his wife, Lucille (Pedrita) Mozena, at Ralph's Grocery store in Venice, Calif. He claims he found her in the beauty section. They have a baby daughter. Recently, their daughter was baptized into the Catholic Church. Steve hopes his daughter grows up in a world that is fit for her to live in, and he is determined to do his best to ensure that such a dream comes true.

The Mozena family resides in Carson, California

Since moving to Carson, California, in 2002, Mozena has continued to be active in community life. He ran for public office in Carson in March, 2004, and actively worked to bring new businesses to Carson.

In 2005, Steve had some health problems, from which he fortunately has now recovered. His wife has also suffered two miscarriages.

Despite these setbacks, Steve continues to pursue his dreams. In late 2005, Steve went to a local recording studio and made a CD, "Daddy's Christmas Songs," featuring himself singing some of his favorite Christmas carols. He included 3 1/2 year old Arista singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Steve persuaded the famed music mogul Clive Davis to personally listen to "Daddy's Christmas Songs."

Given his love of cooking—he once won second place in a cooking contest—Steve submitted his application to the Food Network's show "Next Food Network Star" and Bravo's "Top Chef" and recently almost made it to the finals on Chef Gordon Ramsay's "Masterchef" with his Southwestern Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe.

In the meantime, Steve's letters on matters of national interest have been appearing in more and more newspapers. On January 1, 2006, one of his letters was published by the Chicago Sun-Times, and was followed 15 days later by another letter in USA Today.

Adding to these successes, Steve's wife Lucille became a U.S. citizen on May 5, 2006!

One of Steve's most recent ventures is the promotion of "Karaoke Christmas on the Radio," which he envisions as a way for everyone to become singing stars on their local radio stations at Christmas. He created a "Karaoke Christmas on the Radio" CD and contacted numerous radio group CEOs to promote the idea. He also marketed the CD, and two major retailers have asked him to contact them in early 2007.

“It ain't over till it’s over,” as Yogi Berra put it, and Steve’s life certainly isn't over yet. He has loads more energy, enthusiasm, and creativity to share with everyone in the coming years. With Steve, you just never know what to expect next!

In 2007 Mozena concentrated his efforts on developing his small businesses. In April of that year, he and his wife became owners of a strip mall in Long Beach, California, consisting of four retail units and two apartments. Soon after this purchase Mozena founded Mozena Medical and Surgical Supplies and Equipment, a retail and wholesale store in Long Beach, which also does business online. Mozena Medical was founded as a tribute to Steve Mozena’s dad, who owned a medical supplies company for many years and gave Steve his first start in the industry. Mozena also founded Mozena Copy Center and Mozena Minute Market (a convenience store) in the same location.

The recession of 2008 and 2009 presented a huge challenge to small businesses across the nation, and Mozena’s companies were no exception. However, Mozena Publishing in particular continued to do well, producing custom texts for a wide range of clients. In 2009, Mozena began fully utilizing social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter to promote his political ideas. In 2010, Steve ran as a write-in candidate for California governor.

In 2010, due to the continuing poor economy, Steve was forced to make many hard and difficult cutbacks in his business and well as in his personal life. These included selling his wife's Lexus and his own gold-trimmed Cadillac, and currently their house is offered for short-sale. Everyone, including politicians and government workers, needs to sacrifice in these hard economic times, and Mozena is leading by example. Like so many thousands of Americans, Steve and his family are down but not out.