Mr. Magazine

“I think in Mexico it would be very difficult to exist without a print edition for a magazine, mainly because much of Latin America is still a very tactile society. Credibility really depends on being able to show something, so being taken seriously by advertisers, by media partners, by writers, does require a print version.” Kenneth Isom Barnes

 Accepting an invitation to experience Mexico with a friend who lives there is not the most typical of ways to start two magazines in another country; in fact, some might call it atypical. And in some cases, complete craziness. But to those passionate dreamers and risk takers we all know as entrepreneurs, it’s just another day inside their heads.

Kenneth Barnes is one young man whose motto of “make life beautiful wherever you are” would probably be one of the biggest catalysts that caused him to stay in Mexico after that initial visit and launch two gorgeous food magazines. And living with regrets should he not have followed his heart would probably be the other propeller that carried him straight into his seeming destiny.

I spoke with Kenneth recently and we talked about his early life and then his eventual magazine life. He’s a man who has known responsibility, having cared for his grandmother until her death when both of his parents died within weeks of each other. And he’s a man who believes in taking chances and then working hard to make the most of any opportunities that might come his way.

With Food Mexico and Me and Food Acapulco, he’s achieved what some might call two impossibilities, having seen quite a bit of success with the two magazines in just a little over three years. Just goes to show that with hard work and a passionate spirit about what you’re doing, a person can capture their dreams and run with them. Or in Kenneth’s case; stay put with them and build them into a Mexican brand.

I hope that you enjoy this inspirational story of a man who believes you can make your life beautiful and successful no matter your environment, even if you’re carving your niche in unfamiliar surroundings. And now the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Kenneth Barnes, Executive Editor, Food Mexico and Me and Food Acapulco.

But first the sound-bites:

On why he’s thinks the environment in Mexico is much more open to new magazines and ideas than the United States: I think that magazines are still important in Mexico and print media is also very important here. The United States has a lot more digital media than Mexico. But the Mexican media tends to be more flexible in that there are more opportunities to enter and even though there are some very large companies that are in the magazine business, smaller players do have a place to enter into the business.

 

On what gave him the idea to go to Mexico and launch his magazines: It’s sort of a complex story. I was in my 20s and both of my parents died 13 days apart and I became the sole caregiver for my grandmother. A few years later she died and a friend of mine who was Mexican and was going back to Mexico to spend time with his family suggested that I come with him and visit Mexico. So, when I went to Mexico, I eventually got my Visa and a job. And after a few years in late 2012, I was thinking that maybe I should choose a new city to live in. I lived in Acapulco, which is a very challenging city right now, and it came to me that if I don’t make where I am beautiful, I can go all over the world and I’ll have the same troubles after six months or a year. So, I decided one way that I could do that was to do something constructive. And that’s when I came up with the idea of Food Acapulco, merging the idea of the international culinary assets, local culinary assets, and some interviews, in a print format. And it was picked up by Wal-Mart within the local region and it sold extraordinarily well.

 

On his next magazine launch, Food Mexico and Me in both English and Spanish: Yes, it was launched in English and Spanish. We got the contract to test market our magazine in Manhattan, so that’s why we did an English version of it as well.

 

On the positive and negative things he’s learned from his Mexican experience launching magazines: On the positive side I’ve learned that in Mexico people will at least listen to you, they will at least hear you out, which is something that you don’t really have in the United States. Try to get a deal with CBS or Comcast and it would be nearly impossible, where in Mexico, whether it’s a large advertiser or a distributor or retailers; you can be heard. As far as the negatives, I think that the negatives in Mexico are very similar to other countries in that print is a challenging market because there is so many other media formats, in particular the Internet.

 

On whether he thinks he could exist without the print component of his brand: I think in Mexico it would be very difficult to exist without a print edition for a magazine, mainly because much of Latin America is still a very tactile society. Credibility really depends on being able to show something, so being taken seriously by advertisers, by media partners, by writers, does require a print version.

 

On whether he’s had any backlash from the Mexican audience since he’s a United States citizen basically telling them how to cook and eat their own food: No, absolutely no backlash. In fact, there has only been a very welcoming environment. You have to remember that a lot of Mexican media already is dominated by foreign corporations. For example, Mexicans love Hollywood movies.

 

On the magazines’ future: The future for the magazine is that I want to increase the frequency as well as increase the way that we reach out to consumers. The Mexican media market is becoming more fractured over time, so we’re using our magazines as a way to build our initial brand and our initial business.

 

On any upcoming plans for the brand: We’re consistently talking to partners about helping us to launch new magazines, to sponsor new advertising in our magazines, to do promotional projects outside of the traditional print realm.

 

On anything else that he’d like to add: Mexico is a very aspirational market. Many people are really seeking to improve themselves and improve themselves many times by the items that they consume. That means that you have to advertise in the market to a Mexican consumer in a slightly different way than you would to an American, German or a Japanese consumer, which are countries where people have traditionally for generations more wealth.

 

On what someone would find him doing if they showed up unexpectedly one evening at his home: Usually what I do is a lot of research about Mexican society and culture. Though not so much as what has been told, but the subtext. That helps me a lot in trying to craft messages for our magazine and in finding new opportunities which maybe larger companies in Mexico that print magazines aren’t looking at.

 

On what motivates him to get out of bed in the morning: What drives me is that Mexico is an open market where there are many large companies that dominate the industry, but very few startups. So, because of that it gives you an open field to reach out to all types of sources that may have never been reached out to before. Having that chance of being more or less an explorer, I find interesting.

 

On whether he has any plans to return to the United States: I would definitely consider coming back to the States in the future, but for the foreseeable future I’m going to be focusing on the Mexican media, whether it’s print or other media formats. But I have a lot of love for the United States and I have a lot of interest in American media as well; I’ll just see how things work out.

 

On what keeps him up at night: What keeps me up at night is just the idea or worry that I might miss an opportunity on any given day and then how am I going to make an opportunity for tomorrow?

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Kenneth Barnes, Executive Editor, Food Acapulco & Food Mexico and Me.

Samir Husni: You have experience in the U.S. with media, but you’ve said that the environment in the United States was less flexible and open for new magazines or magazine ideas than in Mexico. Why do you think that it’s easier to publish in Mexico than here in the States?

Kenneth Barnes: I think that magazines are still important in Mexico and print media is also very important here. The United States has a lot more digital media than Mexico.

But the Mexican media tends to be more flexible in that there are more opportunities to enter and even though there are some very large companies that are in the magazine business, smaller players do have a place to enter into the business.

Now, granted, it depends on the genre. Are you a celebrity magazine; a history magazine; a food magazine, and so on, but we’ve found in the food space it’s been very open and welcoming. And I know from my friends and colleagues that starting magazines in the U.S. can be quite challenging.

Samir Husni: Where are you originally from?

Kenneth Barnes: I grew up for most of my life in North Carolina, but lived a few other places as well. I also went to Duke University there as well.

Samir Husni: What gave you the idea to go to Mexico and launch your magazines?

Kenneth Barnes: It’s sort of a complex story. I was in my 20s and both of my parents died 13 days apart and I became the sole caregiver for my grandmother. A few years later she died and a friend of mine who was Mexican and was going back to Mexico to spend time with his family suggested that I come with him and visit Mexico.

And eventually when I told my other friends and family about that; I thought they would tell me that I was being crazy for even considering it, but everyone encouraged me to go. So, when I went to Mexico, I eventually got my Visa and a job.

And after a few years in late 2012, I was thinking that maybe I should choose a new city to live in. I lived in Acapulco, which is a very challenging city right now, and it came to me that if I don’t make where I am beautiful, I can go all over the world and I’ll have the same troubles after six months or a year.

So, I decided one way that I could do that was to do something constructive. And that’s when I came up with the idea of Food Acapulco, merging the idea of the international culinary assets, local culinary assets, and some interviews, in a print format. And it was picked up by Wal-Mart within the local region and it sold extraordinarily well.

After that, we were able to, with our second issue; place it in Sanborns, which is where the dominant retail companies sell books and magazines in Mexico. And then this past December we made a deal with Televisa, which owns the largest magazine distributors here in Mexico, and they’ve been great to work with.

It’s been a progression in my experience, and I sort of fell into the magazine projects more so than starting out with a particular plan to move to Mexico and make a magazine. It was more of a personal journey of being constructive and productive wherever I was in the world.

Samir Husni: After Food Acapulco, you launched Food Mexico and Me, both in Spanish and English.

Kenneth Barnes: Yes, it was launched in English and Spanish. We got the contract to test market our magazine in Manhattan, so that’s why we did an English version of it as well.

Samir Husni: And are you still doing Food Acapulco or just Food Mexico and Me?

Kenneth Barnes: We’re primarily doing Food Mexico and Me, but we do have a new issue of Food Acapulco coming out later this year.

Samir Husni: You’ve been doing this for over three years now; how would you evaluate your experience? Would you encourage more people to come from the States to Mexico to launch a magazine? What lessons have you learned, both positive and negative?

Kenneth Barnes: On the positive side I’ve learned that in Mexico people will at least listen to you, they will at least hear you out, which is something that you don’t really have in the United States. Try to get a deal with CBS or Comcast and it would be nearly impossible, where in Mexico, whether it’s a large advertiser or a distributor or retailers; you can be heard. And that doesn’t always mean there’s a positive conclusion, but what it does mean is that you have a chance to at least have an audience, which may lead to something.

I think that’s the biggest positive that I find in the Mexican market, as well as a general sense of people being flexible to new ideas. So, there is no road block to people saying we’ve been doing this for 50 years; we’re not going to change, which sometimes happens in other countries.

As far as the negatives, I think that the negatives in Mexico are very similar to other countries in that print is a challenging market because there is so many other media formats, in particular the Internet. I think there’s also a tendency in the Mexican market to be more television-dominant than print-dominant, so that also becomes a challenge as well.

Samir Husni: When you look at the print magazines and when you look at Food Mexico and Me, and Food Acapulco, what’s unique about the print edition and do you think that you could exist without the print component?

Kenneth Barnes: I think in Mexico it would be very difficult to exist without a print edition for a magazine, mainly because much of Latin America is still a very tactile society. Credibility really depends on being able to show something, so being taken seriously by advertisers, by media partners, by writers, does require a print version.

I think what also makes our print version unique is that there are ways that we can exhibit content to a Mexican audience that’s unique to print and that doesn’t always translate well into the digital format. The Mexican audience can be quite sophisticated, those people who buy magazines, so you can really go on a much more in depth level than the typical “30 Ways to Lose Weight in 30 Days” type thing.

 Samir Husni: Have you had any backlash from your Mexican audience, considering it’s a United States citizen telling them how to cook and eat their own food?

Kenneth Barnes: No, absolutely no backlash. In fact, there has only been a very welcoming environment. You have to remember that a lot of Mexican media already is dominated by foreign corporations. For example, Mexicans love Hollywood movies.

In my particular case, we do a lot of international food, as well as Mexican food, and I think what has helped me was my first year in Acapulco I lived with a Mexican family. So, I was able to deeply understand the psyche of Mexicans and what they find acceptable and unacceptable. And in general, Mexicans are warm and pleasant people and they’re open to new ideas and new concepts. This isn’t a society where people will just shun something because it’s different.

Samir Husni: Where are you living now, Mexico City?

Kenneth Barnes: Yes, in Mexico City.

Samir Husni: What’s the future for you? Are you going to increase the frequency of those magazines; are you making a living from those magazines; or do you still feel as though you’re a tourist there?

Kenneth Barnes: I think in Mexico you always feel like a tourist at times. The future for the magazine is that I want to increase the frequency as well as increase the way that we reach out to consumers. The Mexican media market is becoming more fractured over time, so we’re using our magazines as a way to build our initial brand and our initial business.

And then go forward into areas of increasing our social media outreach, our audience outreach, our online outreach, as well as branching out into new mediums, such as television, films, radio; just the many ways that we can reach a larger segment of the Mexican population that don’t always have the time to read a magazine.

As far as income, the magazine has generated income, but definitely not enough that I would say that I have “arrived.” It’s an ongoing process, but we have a lot of positive things coming up in the future, which I’m optimistic about.

Samir Husni: Such as?

Kenneth Barnes: We’re consistently talking to partners about helping us to launch new magazines, to sponsor new advertising in our magazines, to do promotional projects outside of the traditional print realm.

We also have plans to eventually do something in video here in Mexico, relating to recipes, food culture, things of that nature. But that’s really been my direction. I’ve received enough positive feedback, both from a financial and market standpoint, it has led me to continue the process for three years and to be optimistic for the future.

Samir Husni: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Kenneth Barnes: There are two things that I’d like to say. First, that Mexico is a very aspirational market. Many people are really seeking to improve themselves and improve themselves many times by the items that they consume. That means that you have to advertise in the market to a Mexican consumer in a slightly different way than you would to an American, German or a Japanese consumer, which are countries where people have traditionally for generations more wealth.

The second thing that I would say is that the Mexican consumer’s mind isn’t always transparent, it can be opaque, so what people may say they want and what they actually want can be different. So it’s important to have really good people on the ground to help you navigate the marketplace. In my case, I have a really great team of people who help me, both Mexicans and internationals here in the country. And that helps us not only do market research, but to get all of the paperwork required to get our magazines done, find great partners, advertisers and distributors. Those are the two things that I’d like to add.

Samir Husni: If I showed up unexpectedly one evening at your home, what would I find you doing; reading a magazine, reading on your iPad, watching television, or something else?

Kenneth Barnes: Usually what I do is a lot of research about Mexican society and culture. Though not so much as what has been told, but the subtext. That helps me a lot in trying to craft messages for our magazine and in finding new opportunities which maybe larger companies in Mexico that print magazines aren’t looking at. That’s what I spend a lot of my time doing.

Samir Husni: What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

Kenneth Barnes: What drives me is that Mexico is an open market where there are many large companies that dominate the industry, but very few startups. So, because of that it gives you an open field to reach out to all types of sources that may have never been reached out to before. Having that chance of being more or less an explorer, I find interesting.

Samir Husni: Any plan to come back to the United States or Mexico is home now?

Kenneth Barnes: I would definitely consider coming back to the States in the future, but for the foreseeable future I’m going to be focusing on the Mexican media, whether it’s print or other media formats. But I have a lot of love for the United States and I have a lot of interest in American media as well; I’ll just see how things work out.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Kenneth Barnes: In life, like my original point that I made earlier; you have to make life beautiful wherever you live. I don’t want to miss out on opportunities. I think that so many times in life we miss great opportunities to improve ourselves or the ones around us. And I don’t want to be that person who says I should have, I could have.

I started a magazine in Mexico, which may have been a kind of strange thing to do for someone who just came to the country to stay for a few months and then gets a job and starts a magazine, but I’m glad that I did it, instead of waiting and wondering my whole life if I should have.

And now that I’ve tried to make my life more beautiful where I am, I see that there are people who walk with you and help you along the way. So, it’s not as lonely or scary as you might think, if you’ll just start and make a five-year plan.

What keeps me up at night is just the idea or worry that I might miss an opportunity on any given day and then how am I going to make an opportunity for tomorrow?

 Samir Husni: Thank you.

“When I saw my own kids and how they engage with magazines and books; they love print. They love going to the library; they love touching and they’re very tactile. Kids will read a magazine in the back of a car; they love the brightness of it and they love getting mail. Kids today love getting something in the mailbox that is for them. That’s such an enjoyable experience. It’s not an experience you can have by downloading something on a phone or looking at a tablet or other Smart devices.” Janine Boldrin (on why she chose print for the magazine)

“And they (kids) tell us. They love how bright it is and they love the feel of it. We think a lot about the feel of our magazine. When they touch it, they love the quality of the pages. And that’s what kids like and engage with. So, we’ve found that a print experience is perfect for what we’re trying to do.” Janine Boldrin

Military Kids’ Life magazine is the only print title for kids of U.S. service members of all branches that gives voice to the experiences these children have from their parents serving our country. Launched in April 2015 it incorporates military kids as reporters, allowing them the opportunity to tell their stories in their own way and connecting them with a host of people who provide a backdrop of different topics in which they can showcase their talents.

Janine Boldrin is the creative director of the magazine and also a military spouse, her husband being active duty Army. Janine is a woman who knows the excitement and the angst of military life, and the joy of being a writer and a journalist. Her thrill is in the passion she has for her product and the kids who make her smile every day.

I spoke with Janine recently and we talked about the magazine and the diverse emotions military life brings to the families. But no matter the mixed emotions adults and children alike might feel when either being deployed or watching a parent leave for months on end, the magazine presents a positive and bright outlook on the service environment and offers essays, articles, fiction, fun activities and poems, all centered on the concept of finding the bright side of life as a military kid.

The tagline for the magazine is “Find Your Adventure,” so, I invite you to sit back, smile and enjoy the military adventure of a lifetime as you experience a Military Kids’ Life – the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Janine Boldrin, Creative Director, Military Kids’ Life Magazine.

But first the sound-bites:

On the reason behind the company name Chameleon Kids: Chameleon Kids is all about our military kids, the children of U.S. service members, all branches. The reason that we named it Chameleon Kids is because our military kids go into communities and while they have to blend with the communities they move into, they’re also very distinct. So, we chose the word chameleon because we felt it really represented what our military kids have to be like.

On whether she has found her own adventure in the pages of the magazine: It’s 110% my adventure. (Laughs) I love it. It’s amazing the emails that I receive from kids. I have three kids of my own and they’re really why I wanted to do this. I had not worked within the kid’s space with writing, so it was very unfamiliar to me. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to get, but when I get stories from kids, I am encouraged as an adult every single day.

On the “Hit the Road” section of the magazine: Our reporters are doing content for our print magazine, but they’re also developing some online content for us. For instance, we did a section in our most recent issue on the USO and we sent four military kid reporters out to visit some USOs across the United States. And they had designated times that they needed to go; they had representatives that they were meeting with to interview, and it really gave them a unique experience. They learned communication skills, how to tell a story, how to be responsible and it’s just a great opportunity for them.

On why she decided to launch a print magazine: When I saw my own kids and how they engage with magazines and books; they love print. They love going to the library; they love touching and they’re very tactile. Kids will read a magazine in the back of a car; they love the brightness of it and they love getting mail. Kids today love getting something in the mailbox that is for them. That’s such an enjoyable experience. It’s not an experience you can have by downloading something on a phone or looking at a tablet or other Smart devices.

On how she’s carrying it from the love and passion stage to a business model: That’s a very good point. You can have a passion for something, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that everybody else will have that same passion for your product. And we were worried about that at the beginning because we weren’t sure where this was going to go. But what we have found is that we’ve created something that people didn’t realize they needed, and in doing that we have found a home for our magazine in schools, libraries and in non-profits that serve military families.

On the biggest stumbling block she’s had to face: I think part of it was just not pushing hard enough in the beginning. I feel like we started out really slowly. And we focused on things that weren’t important. For instance, we really thought we needed to have an awesome website right from the get-go. So, we put way too much time and way too much energy in creating this website, instead of really focusing on getting the product out the door. That was one of our primary fails in the beginning.

On the most pleasant moment she’s had on this journey: It’s the kids, every single time. Their emails are just wonderful. I just love the kids’ feedback. They’re brutally honest. They will be the best critic on the face of the earth. They do not filter their comments like adults do. If they don’t like something, they’ll tell you they don’t like it. (Laughs) And if they love something, they’ll have a very genuine expression about it.

On anything else that she’d like to add: I just hope that we’re able to connect more with schools and libraries and that more know that we exist. Quite frequently older military kids will tell us that they really wish this magazine had been around when they were kids. It’s really just hoping that we can reach more people to let them know we exist.

On what motivates her to get out of bed in the morning: When I was a kid I wanted to be a journalist. I’ve wanted to be a writer since day one. I took a very long and winding path to get there, including getting master’s degree in manufacturing and working for IBM. One day I managed to get back to what was truly my original calling. And what gets me out of bed is providing encouragement and opportunities to kids who also feel that, so that they don’t go down a winding path, but they see a more direct way out to what they truly see as their passion and growing their passion, because I would have loved that.

On what keeps her up at night: You know, military life isn’t easy; it really isn’t. My husband is gone from us more than he’s been at home and when you have three kids it’s a huge balance in making sure that everyone’s emotional needs are being met, when you’re the only parent around and your spouse is in a job that puts them in harm’s way. We’re in a society that is very disconnected from that. They don’t understand the sacrifice, truly that is made by military families and the sacrifices that our kids make. And that keeps me up at night.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Janine Boldrin, Creative Director, Military Kids’ Life Magazine.

Samir Husni: Tell me the mission, the idea behind Military Kids’ Life and behind the company name, Chameleon Kids.

Janine Boldrin: Chameleon Kids is all about our military kids, the children of U.S. service members, all branches. The reason that we named it Chameleon Kids is because our military kids go into communities and while they have to blend with the communities they move into, they’re also very distinct. So, we chose the word chameleon because we felt it really represented what our military kids have to be like. They have to be a part of their community, but they’re also very vibrant and interesting. And that’s why we chose that name.

We also tried to avoid always using military terms with our kids because military kids are kids too and quite frequently you’ll see anything directed toward the military community using a word like operation kids, or operation this or that, or camouflage. So, we tried not to be too much military, because they really do just like to do fun things also.

The magazine was really born out of me being a writer for the past ten years within the military space. I had written a lot about military families, about veterans and service members, and I really found that there was a void when it came to our military kids. They didn’t have anything that represented their voices. As I started looking at it and researching, I realized that everything that I found out there really focused on the act of moving and most of the time the imagery was pretty sad. It would be a military kid crying or waving goodbye to a parent.

When I looked around at my peers, because we’re an army family, I saw kids that were just being kids and they really had an exciting life because many of them lived overseas, they moved a lot and had amazing experiences. I wanted to give them an opportunity to share that with each other, so that they could become encouraged about military life, rather than just hear this message all of the time that they were broken because their parents were being deployed and they would have too many challenges and have to struggle, and that moving was a bad thing. So, I wanted them to share their stories with each other.

And when they did that, I found that they had a great respect for each other. So, that’s really why we launched the magazine. We did a prototype and tried to figure out if it would work and if it was what they wanted and we found out that it was. We’ve had an exciting journey since.

Samir Husni: To borrow from your tagline “Find Your Adventure,” have you found your adventure; is this your adventure now?

Janine Boldrin: It’s 110% my adventure. (Laughs)

Samir Husni: (Laughs too).

Janine Boldrin: I love it. It’s amazing the emails that I receive from kids. I have three kids of my own and they’re really why I wanted to do this. I had not worked within the kid’s space with writing, so it was very unfamiliar to me. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to get, but when I get stories from kids, I am encouraged as an adult every single day.

Recently we started sending military kids out to do reporting in the field and it’s been so much fun. They go to concerts and museums; they meet with representatives of the museums and then they write a story for us. And they write to me just to say thank you. They thank me for giving them this experience and for trusting that they could do it. And it really is an adventure. It’s so much fun.

Samir Husni: And you’re talking about the “Hit the Road” section of the magazine; the road trips that the kids are making?

Janine Boldrin: Our reporters are doing content for our print magazine, but they’re also developing some online content for us. For instance, we did a section in our most recent issue on the USO and we sent four military kid reporters out to visit some USOs across the United States. And they had designated times that they needed to go; they had representatives that they were meeting with to interview, and it really gave them a unique experience. They learned communication skills, how to tell a story, how to be responsible and it’s just a great opportunity for them. So, that’s what we’re doing with our reporters; we’re trying to get them out, more than just doing things over the phone, so that they can write about their own experiences.

Samir Husni: We live in a digital age, there’s no question about it. And some people say that kids don’t read anymore; so why did you decide to launch a print magazine?

Janine Boldrin: That is an excellent question because we have been asked that since the beginning. We don’t get that question so much anymore, but when we launched the magazine everybody said we had to be out of our minds because kids would not engage with it if it’s not online content.

When I saw my own kids and how they engage with magazines and books; they love print. They love going to the library; they love touching and they’re very tactile. Kids will read a magazine in the back of a car; they love the brightness of it and they love getting mail. Kids today love getting something in the mailbox that is for them. That’s such an enjoyable experience. It’s not an experience you can have by downloading something on a phone or looking at a tablet or other Smart devices.

People get their mail every single day and when a magazine shows up with the child’s name on it, it’s exciting for that child. And then they can go up in a tree with it, they don’t have to worry about glare. They can sit on the playground with it, and that’s where we see our kids’ reading magazines.

And they tell us. They love how bright it is and they love the feel of it. We think a lot about the feel of our magazine. When they touch it, they love the quality of the pages. And that’s what kids like and engage with. So, we’ve found that a print experience is perfect for what we’re trying to do.

Samir Husni: I can hear the passion in your voice and the love you have for this project. How are you taking it from mere passion and love to a business model?

Janine Boldrin: Exactly. That’s a very good point. You can have a passion for something, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that everybody else will have that same passion for your product. And we were worried about that at the beginning because we weren’t sure where this was going to go. But what we have found is that we’ve created something that people didn’t realize they needed, and in doing that we have found a home for our magazine in schools, libraries and in non-profits that serve military families. We have a lot of military personnel stationed overseas that order individual subscriptions. We’re working with overseas schools that serve military kids to get our magazine into their schools.

What we’ve found is that it really serves as a springboard for conversation for military kids in group settings. We’ve also developed an educator’s guide that goes along with every issue so that teachers know how to use the magazine in their classrooms and in their small groups. It can help in starting conversations with military kids about their experiences.

Something that is secondary to our primary audience is that we’ve found that adults who interact with military kids are reading our magazine, because they want to learn what the military kid experience is so they can serve them better. We’re finding that teachers, parents; again, non-profits that serve military kids, they want to be reading it, so that they understand what our kids are experiencing. And that’s how we’ve grown our business.

It started with us thinking about individual subscribers, but now we’re getting subscriptions from schools. Our magazines are going to select USO centers and one of those is in airports where kids and parents will sit down in for periods of time between flights. And as you well know, airports are a place where people pick up magazines. We’ve found a lot of different homes that we didn’t expect to find and we’re finding more every day.

Samir Husni: You’ve launched the magazine and you’re now on issue #6; what has been the biggest stumbling block that you’ve faced during all of this and how did you overcome it?

Janine Boldrin: I think part of it was just not pushing hard enough in the beginning. I feel like we started out really slowly. And we focused on things that weren’t important. For instance, we really thought we needed to have an awesome website right from the get-go. So, we put way too much time and way too much energy in creating this website, instead of really focusing on getting the product out the door. That was one of our primary fails in the beginning.

I will say that we sped up after that play. Once we got past that and put our first prototype out, then I started realizing and my business partner Amy, who’s also another military spouse, also realized that it was really more about just getting the product out there and it didn’t need to be perfect. We’re perfectionists, her and I. But we realized the magazine didn’t need to be perfect in the beginning and now as we get it out and it’s getting where we want it to be, we see it as more of an evolution than perfect from the start.

Samir Husni: What was the most pleasant moment for you on this journey?

Janine Boldrin: It’s the kids, every single time. Their emails are just wonderful. I always keep a copy of the magazine in the backseat of my car because my kids will be doing something and I’d much rather have them reading the magazine than playing some electronic device. And I love to hear them comment about something they read.

I just love the kids’ feedback. They’re brutally honest. They will be the best critic on the face of the earth. They do not filter their comments like adults do. If they don’t like something, they’ll tell you they don’t like it. (Laughs) And if they love something, they’ll have a very genuine expression about it. So, I love hearing those comments from my kids in the backseat or one that has emailed me.

Recently I was at the pool with friends that I have known for quite some time. Their daughter had written something in school weeks ago and had said to her mom that they had to bring it to me. So, her mom had packed it into the pool bag and her daughter gave it to me at the pool and said, “Ms. Janine, can you please read my essay? I really want you to read this.” And it was all about her father’s deployment. I sat down and read it and it was just so genuine about her feelings as she was going through this experience. And I felt so trusted with her story and all of these kids’ stories. It takes a lot of trust to put your story out into the world.

So, it’s them, the kids. It’s them bringing me what they want to share with their peers and the world. And that’s what’s really exciting about it.

Samir Husni: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Janine Boldrin: I just hope that we’re able to connect more with schools and libraries and that more know that we exist. Quite frequently older military kids will tell us that they really wish this magazine had been around when they were kids. It’s really just hoping that we can reach more people to let them know we exist. And we’re always happy to send a complimentary copy because we find that once people see it and experience it, they understand it. And they get excited about it too.

And I’m also really excited about our reporters. We have about eight reporters in D.C. and we have a database of around 30 kid reporters across the United States. And we’re connecting them with opportunities to go out and experience things and write about them. Adults and organizations have responded great to that.

That’s what I hope to see in a year, that we’re in more schools and libraries for military kids and getting more experiences for our reporters.

Samir Husni: What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

Janine Boldrin: When I was a kid I wanted to be a journalist. I’ve wanted to be a writer since day one. I took a very long and winding path to get there, including getting master’s degree in manufacturing and working for IBM. One day I managed to get back to what was truly my original calling.

And what gets me out of bed is providing encouragement and opportunities to kids who also feel that, so that they don’t go down a winding path, but they see a more direct way out to what they truly see as their passion and growing their passion, because I would have loved that. I would have loved to have had that same support and someone telling me that I could do this. And that I could not only do it, but be successful. And then being shown that this is how I could do it.

That’s really what gets me out of bed is encouraging kids to, and maybe they’re not going to become journalists, but to develop their communication skills and have someone to tell them that they can do this. And that they’re stories are pretty cool.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Janine Boldrin: (Laughs) What keeps me up at night? Probably my own kids. (Laughs again)

You know, military life isn’t easy; it really isn’t. My husband is gone from us more than he’s been at home and when you have three kids it’s a huge balance in making sure that everyone’s emotional needs are being met, when you’re the only parent around and your spouse is in a job that puts them in harm’s way. We’re in a society that is very disconnected from that. They don’t understand the sacrifice, truly that is made by military families and the sacrifices that our kids make. And that keeps me up at night.

It worries me and that’s really why I have the magazine too, because I need something that reminds me of why we do this and the positivity and the bright side of life that we encourage as a military kid. Our parents read our magazine too and they frequently tell me that it also reminds them of the positive side of military life.

So, it’s my own kids, military life and the challenges that presents. And it’s another reason why I started the magazine.

Samir Husni: Thank you.

The cover of the first issue of Galerie magazine premiering this April.

“Magazines should play the role of something that is, even though it might be readily available in alternative formats, visually stimulating, so that it is more pleasing. It has to have a particular niche, whether it’s a food magazine or an art magazine or a design magazine, and it has to talk to people in a way that you just can’t really get digitally. It has to fulfill a need. Let’s face it; the medium we’re talking about is a totally visual medium. And that’s what print does best.” James Cohen

“With magazines it’s about the experience and even the younger people want that. It’s just a different kind of experience.” Lisa Cohen

“The few publishers who have had the courage to print new magazines, and of course Hearst is the shining example, because they’ve come up with three winners in the last four or five years, that shows if you have the courage of your convictions and if you have a niche and you can find the right audience and publish something that people want to read, then there should be a future here.” (On the future of the newsstands) James Cohen

James and Lisa Cohen
Photo by Matt Albiani

However, Galerie is not a typical design publication. Here the art might drive the decor as opposed to most shelter magazines where the design comes first – the philosophy is that art and design are equal. Their mission is for the magazine to become the platform for emerging and established artists and designers to showcase their work and ideas.

I spoke with James and Lisa recently and we talked about the magazine and their goals for its future. They are no strangers to magazines or the magazine business. They have been in the newsstand business for most of their lives and feel that niche print is key to today’s good health when it comes to the newsstand. Along with Editor-in-Chief, Suzy Slesin, design publishing veteran (NYT, H&G and O at Home), the Cohens hope to break new ground with a fresh approach and present information in accessible, innovative and creative ways.

The passion that Lisa Cohen feels for art, design and the magazine is fairly palpable as she talks about the strengths and uniqueness that is Galerie. And James is a staunch supporter and believes that Galerie will offer its readers a different look into the worlds of both art and design.

So, I hope that you enjoy this most “artful” conversation as Mr. Magazine™ talks with two people who have a great love and passion for art, design, newsstand and magazines, James and Lisa Cohen, Founders, Galerie Magazine.

But first, the soundbites:

On whether anyone has asked them if they’ve lost their minds because they’re starting a print magazine in this digital age (Lisa Cohen): (Laughs) No, it’s actually been just the opposite. It’s really refreshing in this industry; everyone seems to be having a great response. It shows a different niche and we feel it’s more of an enthusiast magazine and the type of publication that people will subscribe to. And it will grow into a website; we are working on that.

On whether they believe there’s still hope for the newsstands (James Cohen): As I said, print is morphing. I’m a proponent of the newsstand business and it’s changed radically, but there is still going to be a niche there and as long as people want to feel something that’s tactile; that’s graphically interesting, print is going to be around.

On the magazine being something more than ink on paper, but an actual experience for the reader (Lisa Cohen): There is such a huge interest all over the globe in the art world. And people really want to be a part of that and know more about it. As I have said before, there are magazines that are just about art; there are interior design home magazines that are just about that, and there are fashion magazines that are just about fashion and travel that covers travel, but this magazine brings it all together and shows how art influences all those different genres of design. So, I feel it’s a very full experience.

On the concept and what makes Galerie unique (James Cohen): What has to happen in a rapidly changing world is that magazines need to stay relevant in order to stay popular. And obviously, we’ve seen what happened with categories that either weren’t timely or weren’t relevant; the newsweeklies for instance. They were usurped, but this magazine doesn’t have an issue with a timeliness subject, but it does have a relevance to creating a demand for something.

On the low cover price of $7.95 (James Cohen): Well that was a consensus decision that we all thought was appropriate for the simple reason that to be successful on the newsstand on a very small niche level or on a mass level, what I learned 35 years ago was that price should not be an impediment to buying it. And we wanted to have, even within this niche, as wide an audience as possible, so of there was an interest and they picked up a copy, the last thing that we wanted was for the price to be an issue.

On what they thought about the finished product of the magazine (James Cohen): I saw the pages before they were bound and they looked very nice, but you know, it was nothing like when I actually saw the magazine. I was so thrilled to have the paper quality and the print quality come out the way it did, because we’re competing for people’s attention with a whole bunch of other titles sitting on a newsstand or on a rack in a book chain and the magazine really jumps out and that’s what you need.

On Lisa’s involvement with organizations and schools, such as the Hetrick-Martin Institute, and how she incorporates that passion into the magazine (Lisa Cohen): I became involved through some friends I have in the interior design world. And basically I was just born into it through putting together a big fundraiser for them in the Hamptons last summer. Before that they had asked me to come up and see the school, so I went up to visit and I was just so impressed by what this school was doing for these young, creative minds; kids that would have been otherwise on the streets and without opportunities in life and some of them maybe committing suicide and just facing total destruction. I thought by tying it into the magazine it would be an even more passionate project for me and even more gratifying.

On how the Cohens’ wraparound staircase wound up on the cover of the first issue of the magazine (Lisa Cohen): Well, it wasn’t my idea, let’s put it that way. I didn’t want to have anything of my property in the first issue. But when Suzanne saw what I did there, it was her first introduction in learning about who I am, how I think and what I’m about. And she felt that the message was so strong about me that she felt the opposite and that it should be in the magazine’s first issue to introduce me and to show part of my world. It was just very lucky that I met Suzanne because she’s been a fantastic editor to work with.

On the major challenge they will have to face (James Cohen): Getting out the message about this and expanding its reach throughout the industry and throughout the enthusiast world and the digital world, is going to be our challenge, to expand its reach and to make it even more attractive for advertisers to keep coming in.

On the role of magazines in today’s digital age (James Cohen): They should play the role of something that is, even though it might be readily available in alternative formats, visually stimulating, so that it is more pleasing. It has to have a particular niche, whether it’s a food magazine or an art magazine or a design magazine, and it has to talk to people in a way that you just can’t really get digitally.

On people’s return to print (James Cohen): You know the most significant drop in newsstand is coming from the mass celebrity books where they have the most readily available alternatives. And as that settles in those drops will mitigate. The last four months or so of the business, sales have dropped less and we’re not sure if this the start of a trend or not, but at a certain point we feel that the migration is going to cease because everyone, and you’re not talking about the print magazine versus the digital version of it, you’re talking about competing for people’s time.

On the newsstands’ future (Janes Cohen): The future of our newsstands is as I said; at some point in the future sales will stabilize at a certain level. And I think it was a combination of a lot of things that happened, whether it was the digital influx or the recession; the consolidation of wholesalers was another factor. All of these things contributed to the drop in sales. But the few publishers who have had the courage to print new magazines, and of course Hearst is the shining example, because they’ve come up with three winners in the last four or five years, that shows if you have the courage of your convictions and if you have a niche and you can find the right audience and publish something that people want to read, then there should be a future here.

On anything else they’d like to add (Lisa Cohen): I’m hoping that it will have a major digital component with e-commerce and be able to offer opportunities to emerging artists to sell their work, where they ordinarily wouldn’t have the opportunity to. And I’m very excited about that.

On what someone would find them doing if they showed up unannounced one evening at their home (Lisa Cohen): Definitely you would see a lot of magazines. (Laughs) In every room there are stacks. I love reading magazines. I still find it a very enjoyable experience.

On what someone would find them doing if they showed up unannounced one evening at their home (James Cohen): You would either find me on the phone with my business, or reading magazines, or yes, even watching The Donald. (Laughs)

On what keeps them up at night (James Cohen): We have four children, three of whom are young adults. And obviously, we think a lot about how they’re going to make their way in the world and be happy. So, those are our concerns.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with James and Lisa Cohen, Founders, Galerie Magazine.

Samir Husni: According to the prophets of doom and gloom; the newsstands are going down the drain and print is going down the drain with them. And having worked for most of your life with the newsstands since you’re in wholesaling, I’m sure you’ve heard all of this. And Lisa, I have to say that you’ve created one of the most beautiful magazines that I’ve seen in a long time, but with all of the negativity flowing from the naysayers’ mouths; has anyone asked you both yet if you’ve lost it, starting a print magazine in this digital age?

Lisa Cohen: (Laughs) No, it’s actually been just the opposite. It’s really refreshing in this industry; everyone seems to be having a great response. It shows a different niche and we feel it’s more of an enthusiast magazine and the type of publication that people will subscribe to. And it will grow into a website; we are working on that.

James Cohen: If I could take a stab at your question from the business side; it’s not that print is dying; print is changing. I think it’s radically changing and I believe the mass channels that have dominated the print category for as long as we can remember have declined the most. The niche categories, to the extent that they still represent something unique that people want, have fared better.

Even the bigger launches of the last few years, as few and far between as they have been, take Hearst’s products, for example; they’re niche products, whether it’s the Food Network or Dr. Oz The Good Life; those are specific niche categories that people like. This magazine is even more of a specialized category because Lisa is attempting to put together two related fields in a way that they’ve never been put together before in design. And as we just said, the mass design magazines are what they are; this is not one of those, this is more of the personalities behind the stories: the art directors, the artists and the designers. We’re trying to reach a very special audience. Not a huge audience, but a very special one that really loves this category and I don’t think anyone has done that before.

Samir Husni: James, as an ink on paper, wholesale distributor, do you feel that by launching this new title you’re putting your money where your mouth is, so to speak, that there’s still hope for the newsstands?

James Cohen: Sure. As I said, print is morphing. I’m a proponent of the newsstand business and it’s changed radically, but there is still going to be a niche there and as long as people want to feel something that’s tactile; that’s graphically interesting, print is going to be around.

Lisa Cohen: This kind of magazine that is so visual; you really can’t capture that on a mobile device.

Samir Husni: And Lisa you mentioned in your introductory letter that you are inviting people to experience this magazine and engage in that artistic living adventure. So, you’re not just viewing it as ink on paper, but rather that you’re creating something to actually be experienced. Can you expand a little on that?

Lisa Cohen: It’s like an evolution. I think it will grow and have branches and many leaves that will come out of this. I’m seeing now that it’s just starting, a lot of different avenues are opening up; I’m doing these art and design shows where I’m bringing the experience with me.

James Cohen: The category itself is a very growing category.

Lisa Cohen: That is true. There is such a huge interest all over the globe in the art world. And people really want to be a part of that and know more about it. As I have said before, there are magazines that are just about art; there are interior design home magazines that are just about that, and there are fashion magazines that are just about fashion and travel that covers travel, but this magazine brings it all together and shows how art influences all those different genres of design. So, I feel it’s a very full experience.

And it’s also an experience in the way that we break it down and bring out the artist and the entities that work on all the different design projects. And then there’s a discussion on each of them that we write about, and that talks about them, their careers and the creative process behind each project.

So, my goal is to bring that creative process out and break it down so that people can enjoy that and be motivated from one artistic eye to another.

Samir Husni: I noticed that you’re very first adjective in describing the magazine is curated. And you distinguish it by having it in the color red on the cover. Do you feel that you’re more of a curator of art with this new magazine, Galerie, rather than a creator or an editor?

Lisa Cohen: Yes, I do. That was my concept.

Samir Husni: Explain a little about that concept, if you would. The two of you literally grew up surrounded by magazines. People can come to my office and see me surrounded by magazines, but you grew your entire lives around them. Differentiate this concept for me, because a lot of people are going to look at it and say, if a major wholesaler is starting a magazine like Galerie, they must know something that we don’t. What’s that something that you know that some people on the outside does not know?

Lisa Cohen: I think it’s what Jim was talking about when he said the niche titles were doing well. They’re holding more ground. Right, Jim?

James Cohen: Yes, what has to happen in a rapidly changing world is that magazines need to stay relevant in order to stay popular. And obviously, we’ve seen what happened with categories that either weren’t timely or weren’t relevant; the newsweeklies for instance. They were usurped, but this magazine doesn’t have an issue with a timeliness subject, but it does have a relevance to creating a demand for something.

Lisa Cohen: And it’s growing art culture, really.

James Cohen: Yes, and that hasn’t been addressed. Mostly, traditional art magazines have been around a long time and they have a very staid approach to things and Galerie is going to be different.

Lisa Cohen: This is more about the experience and it’s more multifaceted.

James Cohen: And we know that the world has changed; we’re not putting a half a million copies out; it’s going to have its niche. It’s not even a mass supermarket book like most large newsstand titles are; there will be a niche. We’re going to airports; the top book chains in the country; and we’re going to the top independents that have the best demographics.

Lisa Cohen: And quite possibly the private airports.

James Cohen: Yes and we’re also obviously going to be sending copies to target our audience better, whether it’s private airports or to collectors; people in the trade. So, it will be a targeted and intelligent approach; not a crazy mass one.

Samir Husni: Jim, as a wholesaler, why this reasoning? I mean, you know more about this than probably anybody else in the industry. I expected to see a cover price of $15 or $20, so I was really stunned when I saw $7.95.

James Cohen: Right. Well that was a consensus decision that we all thought was appropriate for the simple reason that to be successful on the newsstand on a very small niche level or on a mass level, what I learned 35 years ago was that price should not be an impediment to buying it. And we wanted to have, even within this niche, as wide an audience as possible, so of there was an interest and they picked up a copy, the last thing that we wanted was for the price to be an issue. We wanted to reach out with as broad a net as we could. This magazine is not living or dying on newsstand revenues; it has its traditional base and that’s between ads, subscriptions and hopefully digital moving forward. It’ll have several different revenue sources that will make it work.

Samir Husni: Let me ask you a very biased question; when the first issue was completed and you took a look at it, what did you think? Did you look at Lisa and say, wow! Or did you ask, Lisa, what have we done? (Laughs)

James Cohen: I saw the pages before they were bound and they looked very nice, but you know, it was nothing like when I actually saw the magazine. I was so thrilled to have the paper quality and the print quality come out the way it did, because we’re competing for people’s attention with a whole bunch of other titles sitting on a newsstand or on a rack in a book chain and the magazine really jumps out and that’s what you need.

Samir Husni: And Lisa, the magazine is also a movement. You’re putting not only your passion for art into it, but also you’re helping with organizations and schools, such as your role with the Hetrick-Martin Institute and the Harvey Milk School. Explain this mixed interest of yours and how you’re channeling that into the magazine.

Lisa Cohen: I became involved through some friends I have in the interior design world. And basically I was just born into it through putting together a big fundraiser for them in the Hamptons last summer. Before that they had asked me to come up and see the school, so I went up to visit and I was just so impressed by what this school was doing for these young, creative minds; kids that would have been otherwise on the streets and without opportunities in life and some of them maybe committing suicide and just facing total destruction.

So, by doing for these kids; you have no idea, you create a life. And these are very sensitive, wonderful and creative minds and it’s a big part of the art world. And I feel that one leads to the other and protecting and giving these young people a chance is our future creative talent for tomorrow. And our world is a better place for it. It goes along with all of my basic instincts. And I thought by tying it into the magazine it would be an even more passionate project for me and even more gratifying. To be able to do something great and interesting for the readers and also to give back to the school and see that prosper.

James Cohen: And it was a great affiliation for all involved.

Lisa Cohen: It’s a great affiliation with the wonderful people who are involved in the organization. I have to say that I’m the first straight mother of four to become involved, or so they tell me. (Laughs) But I couldn’t be more passionate about helping these kids. In April, we’re doing an art house in conjunction with the launch of the magazine and we have five artists with installations in each room. And I designed two of their decorative arts around each artist.

One of the rooms we gave to the Harvey Milk High School and the kids all did what home means to them and how they relate to that. And if you walk in that room and you see these kids and their creativity, you’re just amazed at the power and energy of their work. And the wonderful feeling you get from knowing that in some small way, you’re giving back to them.

Samir Husni: Talking about art and creativity, I read in Suzanne Slesin’s letter, who you’ve tapped for editor in chief of the magazine, that she had the same feeling when she entered your home and saw the wraparound staircase that ended up on the cover of the magazine. So, tell me about the idea of the wraparound and how the art of your staircase ended up on the cover of the magazine?

Lisa Cohen: Well, it wasn’t my idea, let’s put it that way. I didn’t want to have anything of my property in the first issue. But when Suzanne saw what I did there, it was her first introduction in learning about who I am, how I think and what I’m about. And she felt that the message was so strong about me that she felt the opposite and that it should be in the magazine’s first issue to introduce me and to show part of my world.

It was just very lucky that I met Suzanne because she’s been a fantastic editor to work with. We think very much alike and I’m very happy that she, with so many years of experience in this industry, 17 years at The New York Times and all of the other magazines that she worked for, that she took me on. It was a great honor to me. It’s been a wonderful association. It’s like we’re both doing what we love. It’s a real lovefest.

Samir Husni: What has been your major stumbling block since you started this venture? Usually when people launch a new magazine or come and talk to me about launching one, they have two problems: advertising and circulation. In your case the circulation problem is solved, nobody has to go and beg the wholesaler to distribute the magazine; it’s a done deal. Right?

The mission statement.

Samir Husni: From a distributor’s point of view, what do you think the role of magazines is in today’s digital age? What role should they play?

James Cohen: They should play the role of something that is, even though it might be readily available in alternative formats, visually stimulating, so that it is more pleasing. It has to have a particular niche, whether it’s a food magazine or an art magazine or a design magazine, and it has to talk to people in a way that you just can’t really get digitally. It has to fulfill a need.

Lisa Cohen: And also working from print and just starting to work on digital, print is such a great springboard because usually now most projects don’t have a print component like we do. For the people who are working on it, they feel it’s a great springboard.

James Cohen: And we have the luxury of being able to use the print issue as a rollout piece, not the digital, and establish ourselves through it, because let’s face it, the medium we’re talking about is a totally visual medium. And that’s what print does best.

Samir Husni: What are your future plans? I know you’re publishing three times this year and then moving to four times and using print as your core product.

Lisa Cohen: Maybe we’re just traditional and old-fashioned, but using print seems like the right decision.

Samir Husni: The Columbia Journalism Review published an article last December that said “print is the new “new” media.”

Lisa Cohen: (Laughs) Right, exactly. You’re starting to hear that people are saying that magazines maybe became diluted waiting to see what was going to happen with television now. Every form of media has been challenged over the years. But it seems like even books are coming back stronger; at least, that’s what I’ve heard from major publishers.

James Cohen: Yes, and you know the most significant drop in newsstand is coming from the mass celebrity books where they have the most readily available alternatives. And as that settles in those drops will mitigate.

The last four months or so of the business, sales have dropped less and we’re not sure if this the start of a trend or not, but at a certain point we feel that the migration is going to cease because everyone, and you’re not talking about the print magazine versus the digital version of it, you’re talking about competing for people’s time. And at some point in the future, it’s going to get fully integrated and things will stabilize, it’s just a question of when.

Lisa Cohen: Yes, I agree. And when you think about what’s happening with television, people are just watching it when they want to watch it. It’s all changing, everything is changing.

Samir Husni: Jim, talking about change, in your opinion; what’s the future of our newsstands?

James Cohen: The future of our newsstands is as I said; at some point in the future sales will stabilize at a certain level. And I think it was a combination of a lot of things that happened, whether it was the digital influx or the recession; the consolidation of wholesalers was another factor. All of these things contributed to the drop in sales.

But the few publishers who have had the courage to print new magazines, and of course Hearst is the shining example, because they’ve come up with three winners in the last four or five years, that shows if you have the courage of your convictions and if you have a niche and you can find the right audience and publish something that people want to read, then there should be a future here.

Let’s face it, the mass books of half a century ago, the Saturday Evening Post, LIFE; they all kind of gave way in a certain manner to television. And the same thing has happened with the newsweeklies and the celebrity weeklies with digital. So, they’ll find their niche, it won’t be what it used to be, but as long as publishers can put products together that people want to read, it’ll be around. And you just can’t understate that; you just have to be a little more clever and creative these days. And I think that there’s always going to be a market for it. Ten years from now it may look entirely different, but it will always be here and hopefully stabilize over the next few years.

Samir Husni: Is there anything else either of you would like to add?

Lisa Cohen: I’m hoping that it will have a major digital component with e-commerce and be able to offer opportunities to emerging artists to sell their work, where they ordinarily wouldn’t have the opportunity to. And I’m very excited about that.

Samir Husni: So, you’re really on a mission? I can hear it in the tone of your voice; you’re a woman on a mission.

James Cohen: This is Lisa’s labor of love. She is very passionate about both art and design; she is an incredibly creative person, as you can see from her work. And this is the manifestation of it and it’s great.

Lisa Cohen: After bringing up a big family, this is everything I ever wanted and it’s all coming together and it’s like a dream for me. And I think when you do something that you love, it usually shows and the product will be successful.

Samir Husni: If I showed up unannounced at your home one evening, what would I find you both doing? Reading a magazine, a book, watching television, or something else?

Lisa Cohen: Definitely you would see a lot of magazines. (Laughs) In every room there are stacks. I love reading magazines. I still find it a very enjoyable experience.

James Cohen: I even read weeklies.

Lisa Cohen: And most of my friends say I’m your best customer; so they’re all still enjoying it too. It’s not the end of magazines; it will always have its niche. With magazines it’s about the experience and even the younger people want that. It’s just a different kind of experience.

James Cohen: You would either find me on the phone with my business, or reading magazines, or yes, even watching The Donald. (Laughs)

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you both up at night?

James Cohen: In a good way or a bad way? (Laughs) We’ve been very fortunate, so a lot of things that most people worry about, we’re lucky enough to not have to. We worry about our children and what kind of future they’re going to have. And what kind of world they’re going to be in.

Lisa Cohen: It’s our family. I think that’s what occupies most of our worries.

James Cohen: We have four children, three of whom are young adults. And obviously, we think a lot about how they’re going to make their way in the world and be happy. So, those are our concerns.

Samir Husni: Thank you.

“I’m heartened every time we attend an event that’s a dog-related event. People of all ages come up to me and tell me that when they get their (print) copy of the magazine they read it cover to cover. I know there’s a need for digital and we’re working on improving that experience every single day. I have to go back to time, the time and effort it takes to continually evolve digitally so that we stay connected to the readers. I understand that because we’re a quarterly publication a lot of things happen between quarters and if you don’t stay in front of your audience they’re going to forget you and go somewhere else to get the information.” Anna Cooke

With every stylish cover, The New Barker proves that it’s not just another dog magazine. From founder, editor and creative director Anna Cooke’s own love for The New Yorker magazine, she pays homage to her paragon with beautiful and uncanny covers that imitate the veteran publication’s own creativity. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and Anna is genuinely sincere when it comes to her love for The New Yorker and magazines in general.

In fact, her love for magazines and design is what led her down the path of creating one of her own for Florida dog-lovers. Her mission to stay true to good content and artful design has never wavered as the magazine celebrates 10 years in publishing.

I spoke with Anna recently about her love for magazines and her specific fondness for The New Yorker and we also chatted about her goals for The New Barker and the way that she and her husband have committed themselves to the mission of bringing Florida dog-lovers the best regional content that’s both compelling and entertaining. The covers of each issue bring a style and charm to the magazine that sets the tone for the entire experience very definitively. It’s a unique concept and a refreshing read, much like the lady producing the magazine, proving that entrepreneurship can certainly pay off with hard work and dedication.

We talked about Anna’s love for animals and the fact that she donates the artful covers to local shelters to be auctioned at their fundraisers at least twice a year. We also hit upon her desire to expand The New Barker to more states. It was a delightful and inspiring conversation that I know you’ll love reading. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Anna Cooke, Founder, Editor and Creative Director, The New Barker magazine.

But first, the sound-bites:

On the background of The New Barker: My husband and I have an advertising and design studio and we’ve been running it around 30 years or so. About 11 years ago we had a client who had a dog boutique and we developed an ad campaign and put a media plan together for her. The client ran it for a while and then said that she couldn’t afford it. One of the things that we selected for the media plan was lifestyle magazines, they had a great reach and demographic, but they reached across the demographics. It wasn’t a magazine specifically targeted to dogs, so we were getting demographics, but not as targeted as we wanted. So, we realized that maybe there was a need for a lifestyle magazine that was much more targeted to the lifestyle of dog owners.

On the biggest stumbling block she’s had to face: With a stumbling block, I keep going back to time; the lack of enough time to get everything done that we want to get done. We don’t have a lack of content or stories. We certainly don’t have a lack in advertisers and advertising potential, we always just run out of time in producing the next issue to go after those advertisers and to go after those stories. So, it’s time management.

On the thinking behind the creative design of the magazine and its resemblance to The New Yorker with its covers: Well, I’m a fan of The New Yorker and I’m a huge fan of magazines. I love to look at the design, the page layout, and the typesetting and rich content like is in The New Yorker. You pick up a magazine like The New Yorker and you’re not going to just thumb through it; you’re going to become involved with it and spend time with it. We did trademark the name, The New Barker; we do have a national trademark and we actually paid homage to The New Yorker and we included that in the paperwork for our trademark.

On whether she ever heard from The New Yorker: No, but about seven years ago I received a phone call from a woman in New York and she wanted to purchase a subscription, but she thought that it was The New Yorker’s version of a dog magazine in New York. (Laughs) And then when I pointed out to her that it was a Florida lifestyle magazine, which is OK because our stories will resonate with everyone, but at the time I wanted her to understand that it was based in Florida, and she looked at the masthead then and realized that it wasn’t The New Yorker.

On whether she believes there’s a need for print in this digital age: Yes, I’m heartened every time we attend an event that’s a dog-related event. People of all ages come up to me and tell me that when they get their copy of the magazine they read it cover to cover. I know there’s a need for digital and we’re working on improving that experience every single day.

On whether she has any time left over for her ad agency or she’s now a full-time magazine maker: I would say that 95% of my time is devoted to the magazine and then through time management we are able to work with clients that have stayed with us over the years. I’m not actively seeking new business for the ad agency side because what’s running the business is the advertising side of the magazine. Again, it’s a balance and a desire to want to stay connected to our clients with the ad agency business.

On whether she works with the artists who illustrate the covers or leaves the decisions to them when it comes to style and type of dog featured: We work with the artists; in the last few issues we have donated the cover as a live auction item to animal shelters in Florida for their fundraising events. What that does is give somebody an opportunity to bid on the cover. We select the artist and what I do is provide half a dozen, five or six different artists and styles, and they pick the style, then we do a photo shoot, and then the artist, in their own particular style, will paint the portrait for the person who had the highest bid for that particular cover.

On whether she has any plans to expand the magazine nationally: I would like to expand it. We have expansion plans, but not necessarily to make it a national publication, instead, taking it into another state and doing another publication for The New Barker, for example, Pennsylvania’s top dog. That kind of thing, because I believe the success of the magazine is its regionalism.

On what differentiates the magazine from other dog-specific publications: First of all, I think the cover is very unique. It stands out from other magazines. I think the cover immediately sets the tone, in terms of the tongue-in-cheek humor. You look at that and you smile. You have to pick it up and flip through it.

On anything she’d like to add about The New Barker: I think when people put magazines out they’re so beautiful and people don’t realize the extent of the work that goes on behind the scenes. It is the most fulfilling and all-consuming work that we have ever done. We’ve been in the ad business, as I said, for 30-something years and we’re accustomed to deadlines and the gut-wrenching, from start to finish, to get it done. It’s a difficult process. It’s like a Jackson Browne song where he travels the country with his band. And his roadies put the stage together; they’re the first ones to arrive and the last ones to leave. Then they have to do it all over again the next night and you just have to be constantly up and on-the-go. That’s the essence of what we do: constantly up and on-the-go.

On what motivates her to get out of bed in the morning: I have to say the dogs do. (Laughs) The needs of our dogs are a priority. They get up and they have to go out; they have to drink water; they have to eat, and then I have my coffee and it’s off to work. I enjoy coming to work. I enjoy the prospect of what the new day has to offer.

On what someone would find her doing if they showed up one evening unexpectedly at her home: Cooking. It’s funny, in the throes of production, when we’re nearing the deadline and we’ve got to go to press, I suddenly find myself cooking. I’ll go to the grocery store, buy the ingredients for a recipe I haven’t tried. And it’s not something that I consciously do. I just realized when I looked back on those last couple of years that I was doing this; looking for another creative outlet that was completely different from print production.

On what keeps her up at night: The deadlines. We’ve been doing this for 10 years and I still worry about the deadlines. Are we going to make it? We’re so committed to our advertisers; you want to get the publication out there because the advertisers are counting on it.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Anna Cooke, Editor and Creative Director, The New Barker.

Samir Husni: Give me some background about The New Barker. It feels and looks like The New Yorker, but it’s all about dogs.

Anna Cooke: Correct. (Laughs) My husband and I have an advertising and design studio and we’ve been running it around 30 years or so. About 11 years ago we had a client who had a dog boutique and we developed an ad campaign and put a media plan together for her. The client ran it for a while and then said that she couldn’t afford it. One of the things that we selected for the media plan was lifestyle magazines, they had a great reach and demographic, but they reached across the demographics. It wasn’t a magazine specifically targeted to dogs, so we were getting demographics, but not as targeted as we wanted.

So, we realized that maybe there was a need for a lifestyle magazine that was much more targeted to the lifestyle of dog owners. And we did some research; we actually did some focus groups, invited professionals in the industry; we invited consumers, potential subscribers to the magazine and all things pointed to a need for that type of magazine. We felt we would get advertising support and we would have readership, so we started developing the first issue.

I went out and sold advertising myself with just a kind of a mom-and-pop media kit and I would receive checks and I wouldn’t deposit them. I would just post them on my bulletin board next to my desk. (Laughs) I thought that if the magazine didn’t come together, I could just tear up the checks or hand them back to people. I guess to be truthful I didn’t have a strong belief in myself and in what we were doing.

Then about two weeks before going to press, my husband and partner said, “I think it’s time to deposit those checks. We have enough money to pay for the printing and the mail, with a few bucks left over.”

The first issue came out in 2006 and the response was overwhelming. My husband came into my office and said this thing is bigger than we thought it would be. Then we headed into the production of the second issue and we just haven’t had time to look back since.

Samir Husni: As you approach your 10th anniversary, what has been the biggest stumbling block that you’ve had to face and how did you overcome it?

Anna Cooke: With a stumbling block, I keep going back to time; the lack of enough time to get everything done that we want to get done. We don’t have a lack of content or stories. We certainly don’t have a lack in advertisers and advertising potential, we always just run out of time in producing the next issue to go after those advertisers and to go after those stories. So, it’s time management.

I’ve gotten to a point where we’re now able to, and actually this happened several years ago, we’re able to forecast stories for two, three or four issues down the road. As I said, we’ve never had a problem with content, but now it’s prioritizing them. OK, we’re working on this story; this story is immediate, we’ll put it in the upcoming issue; these stories we’ll use for the summer issue or that will be a great story for the winter issue.

Samir Husni: I have to ask this question. When I saw the magazine I had to take a double-look. Is this The New Yorker or is this The New Barker? As the creative person, what was the thinking behind creating “the art of dog” and looks like “the art of The New Yorker?”

Anna Cooke: (Laughs) Well, I’m a fan of The New Yorker and I’m a huge fan of magazines. I love to look at the design, the page layout, and the typesetting and rich content like is in The New Yorker. You pick up a magazine like The New Yorker and you’re not going to just thumb through it; you’re going to become involved with it and spend time with it.

And the idea of The New Barker, the name; it just came to me like one of those epiphanies. One evening a light bulb went off and with that came the idea that every cover would be a piece of art, an original work of art in support of local artists based on the Florida market. So, we’re supporting the art world as well as focusing on the art of dog and the stories of dogs.

We did trademark the name, The New Barker; we do have a national trademark and we actually paid homage to The New Yorker and we included that in the paperwork for our trademark.

Samir Husni: And did you ever hear from The New Yorker?

Anna Cooke: No, but about seven years ago I received a phone call from a woman in New York and she wanted to purchase a subscription, but she thought that it was The New Yorker’s version of a dog magazine in New York. (Laughs) And then when I pointed out to her that it was a Florida lifestyle magazine, which is OK because our stories will resonate with everyone, but at the time I wanted her to understand that it was based in Florida, and she looked at the masthead then and realized that it wasn’t The New Yorker.

I’ve had people who recognize, especially people who love The New Yorker, who recognize the humor.

Samir Husni: As you developed this magazine over the last 10 years, how do you think the marketplace has changed? You started publishing just slightly before the dawn of digital devices and Smartphones and iPads. How did the digital world impact your print magazine, and do you think you still need a print magazine to show the art of dog?

Anna Cooke: Yes, I’m heartened every time we attend an event that’s a dog-related event. People of all ages come up to me and tell me that when they get their (print) copy of the magazine they read it cover to cover. I know there’s a need for digital and we’re working on improving that experience every single day. I have to go back to time, the time and effort it takes to continually evolve digitally so that we stay connected to the readers. I understand that because we’re a quarterly publication a lot of things happen between quarters and if you don’t stay in front of your audience they’re going to forget you and go somewhere else to get the information.

When we first came up it was easier to stay connected to them. It was new, so people were looking forward to it. But 10 years later there’s so much information everywhere, all over these electronic devices; all over these applications and many of them are dog specific so people have so many more ways to stay connected. I believe in the power of print that connects passively with people, but I also understand the power of digital.

Samir Husni: I see from the magazine that you’re not only the editor, creative director and a photographer, but you also actually write quite a bit of the content. Do you have any time left to give to your other creative business, the ad agency, or are you now a full-time magazine maker?

Anna Cooke: I would say that 95% of my time is devoted to the magazine and then through time management we are able to work with clients that have stayed with us over the years. I’m not actively seeking new business for the ad agency side because what’s running the business is the advertising side of the magazine. Again, it’s a balance and a desire to want to stay connected to our clients with the ad agency business. So, we try and plan the production schedules and we treat The New Barker as a client, a client that takes up 95% of our time. (Laughs)

Samir Husni: I am fascinated with the covers, with that old stylish feel; each cover you can tear off and frame. And I noticed that all of the covers are based on real dogs; inside the magazine you put a picture of the real dog. Do you work with the artists on the ideas of what type of dog is going to be on this cover or that cover, or it is completely the artist’s own freedom and decision?

Anna Cooke: We work with the artists; in the last few issues we have donated the cover as a live auction item to animal shelters in Florida for their fundraising events. What that does is give somebody an opportunity to bid on the cover. We select the artist and what I do is provide half a dozen, five or six different artists and styles, and they pick the style, then we do a photo shoot, and then the artist, in their own particular style, will paint the portrait for the person who had the highest bid for that particular cover.

We’re actually working on a cover right now, someone bid $12,000, and the money was donated to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.

Samir Husni: So the artist will take those people’s dog and paint it for the cover?

Anna Cooke: Correct. And that happens probably once or twice a year, then the other times we’ll work with an artist and utilize something within that artist’s portfolio, something that just resonates with me personally. What I’m looking for is something that hasn’t been published. We have a treasure trove of artists’ portfolios. I get emails probably once or twice a week from Florida artists wanting to know how they can have their artwork on the cover of the magazine.

Samir Husni: Are Florida dogs so special that they deserve their own magazine or do you have plans to expand the magazine nationally?

Anna Cooke: I would like to expand it. We have expansion plans, but not necessarily to make it a national publication, instead, taking it into another state and doing another publication for The New Barker, for example, Pennsylvania’s top dog. That kind of thing, because I believe the success of the magazine is its regionalism. People enjoy flipping through it and seeing places that they have visited or are going to visit, or restaurants that they’re aware of, or their own dog in the magazine.

Samir Husni: If you were to meet someone on the street and they asked you what you did professionally and you said I’m the editor and creative director of The New Barker, how would you define the magazine to them? What differentiates it from the rest of the dog magazines, both locally and nationally?

Anna Cooke: First of all, I think the cover is very unique. It stands out from other magazines. I think the cover immediately sets the tone, in terms of the tongue-in-cheek humor. You look at that and you smile. You have to pick it up and flip through it.

In terms of the content, I feel we spend a lot of time researching the stories and developing the stories. Not as long as The New Yorker articles are, but I try, and I hope that we’re accomplishing this; to have a beginning, middle and an end to the story, where the reader is satisfied. They’ve been satiated after they’ve read the article. Our society today is such a grab-and-go; we get a news article or a piece and we read the headline and we read the subhead. We scan it for whatever reason; we don’t have time to really read it. But a magazine like The New Barker resonates to the reader to slow down and curl up with a good magazine.

Samir Husni: Is there anything else you’d like to add about The New Barker?

Anna Cooke: I think when people put magazines out they’re so beautiful and people don’t realize the extent of the work that goes on behind the scenes. It is the most fulfilling and all-consuming work that we have ever done. We’ve been in the ad business, as I said, for 30-something years and we’re accustomed to deadlines and the gut-wrenching, from start to finish, to get it done. It’s a difficult process.

It’s like a Jackson Browne song where he travels the country with his band. And his roadies put the stage together; they’re the first ones to arrive and the last ones to leave. Then they have to do it all over again the next night and you just have to be constantly up and on-the-go. That’s the essence of what we do: constantly up and on-the-go. We’re a lifestyle magazine about dogs, so we have to be happy and positive to make sure that the message we’re conveying is a happy and positive one.

Samir Husni: What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

Anna Cooke: I have to say the dogs do. (Laughs) The needs of our dogs are a priority. They get up and they have to go out; they have to drink water; they have to eat, and then I have my coffee and it’s off to work. I enjoy coming to work. I enjoy the prospect of what the new day has to offer. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done the night before, in terms of OK, here’s what I’m going to do tomorrow. You get up and you get in front of the computer and you look at your calendar and everything just changes. (Laughs again)

Samir Husni: If I showed up unexpectedly at your home one evening, what would I find you doing; reading a magazine, reading on your iPad, watching television, or what?

Anna Cooke: Cooking. It’s funny, in the throes of production, when we’re nearing the deadline and we’ve got to go to press, I suddenly find myself cooking. I’ll go to the grocery store, buy the ingredients for a recipe I haven’t tried. And it’s not something that I consciously do. I just realized when I looked back on those last couple of years that I was doing this; looking for another creative outlet that was completely different from print production. So, I’ll cook and serve up a nice meal for us, a glass of wine. While I’m waiting on dinner to get ready, I love the Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair and of course, The New Yorker. I have subscriptions to all of those. I love their content and the way they present it.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Anna Cooke: The deadlines. We’ve been doing this for 10 years and I still worry about the deadlines. Are we going to make it? We’re so committed to our advertisers; you want to get the publication out there because the advertisers are counting on it. So, that keeps me up at night.

Samir Husni: Thank you.

“When I was working on my thesis, I did quite a few interviews with other publishers and editors to find out, basically, what drove their businesses and why they chose print as opposed to digital, and most of them said don’t do print. Print is very expensive; it’s evolving and it’ll probably phase out. I found that that is not the case because there’s a lot of novelty in digital and people like to read their e-books and things, but after a while I think people realize that they want paper in their hands; they like to be able to highlight and make notes in the margins; you can’t really do that on an e-book. I mean you can to a certain degree, but it’s not as easy to refer to your notes when you need them in an instant.” Monique Reidy

“You can lose things when you’ve stored them online. I don’t care what kind of cloud system you’re using; I’ve had instances where very important notes just evaporated. And you just can’t refer to them anymore, so paper is very important.” Monique Reidy

Creating something from your heart, from the passion that overflows from deep in your soul and spills out onto the printed page that your own vision generates is something that few people realize, that culmination of their dreams. But Monique Reidy is fortunate enough to be one of those “few” people. One of those select visionaries who didn’t let human doubt and financial fear deter her from launching her own magazine, Southern California Life. And she has never been more proud or consumed in her life.

Southern California Life Magazine is more than a regional magazine, as Monique explained to me during a recent conversation I had with her about the magazine. SCL spotlights and highlights the entire southern region of the Golden state, while singling out specific entertainment and travel spots that are “must-see” attractions and activities that are “must-do” adventures. She strives to keep the content authentic and compelling and believes strongly in the principals of good journalism, while offering readers a chance to celebrate the very best of Southern California life.

It’s a beautiful magazine with an addictive personality much like its charming founder, publisher and editor-in-chief. Monique and I enjoyed an inspirational conversation that was open and totally sincere about her love of the printed word and her deep-seated passion for magazines. We also talked about those doubts and fears that she pushed away as she started down this dream woven path of creating a print magazine that some thought showed a misplaced trust in her own vision.

It was a delightful and motivational discussion that I share with you in the hope that you never abandon your dream, no matter how impossible it may seem. And now the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Monique Reidy, Founder, Publisher & Editor-In-Chief, Southern California Life Magazine.

But first, the sound-bites:

On why she decided to launch Southern California Life: I’ve been a magazine person my entire life. Academically, that was my focus. And I’ve helped people launch magazines before and helped some friends with their startups and I’ve been in publishing for about 30 years now. About three years ago I thought, I’ve helped other people do their magazines basically just because they were friends and I worked like a dog doing so, I might as well do my own. I have a master’s degree in the subject and it’s been my passion for a long time.

On whether any of her colleagues called her crazy for launching a print magazine in this digital age: Yes, that is absolutely true. In fact, when I was working on my thesis, I did quite a few interviews with other publishers and editors to find out, basically, what drove their businesses and why they chose print as opposed to digital, and most of them said don’t do print. Print is very expensive; it’s evolving and it’ll probably phase out. I found that that is not the case because there’s a lot of novelty in digital and people like to read their e-books and things, but after a while I think people realize that they want paper in their hands; they like to be able to highlight and make notes in the margins; you can’t really do that on an e-book. I mean you can to a certain degree, but it’s not as easy to refer to your notes when you need them in an instant.

On whether it’s all been smooth sailing or there have been some choppy seas since she started the magazine: Oh no, there were choppy seas, for sure. Startups are not for the faint of heart. There’s a lot of work that has to be done on the front end and if that’s not in place before you launch your first issue, you might as well forget it. We conducted focus groups to determine how people like to read magazines; what they like to read; what they don’t like to read. We put a very strong advisory board together, people who are Ph.D.’s, professors from universities, people who have marketing companies, people who will tell us the truth; we didn’t want someone to say that our magazine was so pretty. We wanted someone who would say, as was the case, I wouldn’t put a single client in your magazine until you change this or that. So, it helped us to really hone in on being an excellent product as opposed to just a pretty magazine.

On what advice she would give someone who wants to start a magazine: I would say first of all, is it a passion or is it just an idea to generate money? I know that a lot of magazines exist because their main interests are to generate advertising so they can make money, but they have absolutely no journalism experience whatsoever. And that’s reflective in the content. So, my first question to them would be: do you have a passion for magazines; are you educated in, for example, AP style, advertising and just all of the components that make a good print magazine.

On the many hats she wears at the magazine: publisher, founder, editor-in-chief, and which is her favorite role: The ads are my least favorite part, which is why there is an ad team in place and an ad director. I’m not a salesperson by nature, but I love the creative aspect and that’s the nice thing about being an editor; you get to compose assignments and work with the photographer and the art director. There’s a lot of creativity there.

On anything that she’d like to add: I’ve had so much schooling on magazines and journalism; AP Style and how to write and how to compose and all of that, but no one teaches you how to launch a magazine. Well, you do, because that’s what you do. But typically that’s one area that’s weak in our academic culture and I don’t know why. I know a lot of great journalism professors who are teaching students writing styles, composition and interview styles, but I think a great education in launching a magazine, if someone actually wants to do that, would be valuable.

On if she had the chance to rewind the clock she would do anything differently: Yes, I might have gotten some investors. This whole thing is self-funded and I’m fortunate enough to have a wonderful husband who has been incredibly supportive. But here’s one reason that I didn’t pursue investors, and that is the one thing that I go back and forth with, but I always come back to this. When you have investors they’re going to tell you how to run your magazine.

On what motivates her to get out of bed in the morning: Surprisingly, it’s not my work, it’s my family. I have three great daughters and a couple of incredibly wonderful grandkids. And my husband is incredibly supportive and I have great friends. You just can’t wake up in a bad mood. There is so much happening in the world that can be quite depressing and you just have to make a list of what you have to live for. I have this gratitude journal, I know it sounds dorky, but every morning I write down what I’m grateful for and every night I put down what amazing things happened that day and how could I have made that day better.

On what keeps her up at night: My work. (Laughs) My husband is a physician and he has to be at the hospital by 6:30 a.m., so he goes to bed early, but I never get to the bottom of my list. I could stay up 24/7 and still not be caught up. And again, when it’s a brand new startup you don’t have a big staff, so you wear many hats and there’s a lot that must be done. It’s a very deadline-driven business, as you know.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Monique Reidy, Founder, Publisher & Editor-In-Chief, Southern California Life Magazine.

Samir Husni: Why did you decide to launch Southern California Life magazine and what led you to that decision?

Monique Reidy: I’ve always been a paper magazine person; print magazines. Even from the time I was a young child I collected magazines, all the teenaged magazines, and as an adult I subscribed to 31 magazines up until recently and it’s just something that I’ve always had a passion for. I love magazines more so than books.

I studied communication/journalism in college, both on the undergrad and graduate programs. And even as a returning student in the master’s program, I went to the director of the program and said that I was an older student and knew exactly what I wanted to do. I asked was it possible to devise a program where I could learn more about magazines, do research in magazines and avoid some of the basic classes and fortunately Pepperdine University allowed me to create a program where I could focus on magazines specifically.

I’ve been a magazine person my entire life. Academically, that was my focus. And I’ve helped people launch magazines before and helped some friends with their startups and I’ve been in publishing for about 30 years now. About three years ago I thought, I’ve helped other people do their magazines basically just because they were friends and I worked like a dog doing so, I might as well do my own. I have a master’s degree in the subject and it’s been my passion for a long time.

So, I went ahead and launched the business. It was quite scary, but I did have some friends who were very supportive and some people that I hired who were bright and had experience in publishing and that’s key. But I tell you, if you don’t have the passion for it, you might as well forget it, because there are going to be challenges and moments of sheer terror and if you don’t have that passion that drives you forward, you’re going to give up.

Two things sort of propelled me into this business; first was my passion for Southern California and the second was my passion for magazines. And there are a ton of regionals in our area; the market is basically saturated with regional magazines. We have Malibu Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine; there’s Westlake Magazine, but there wasn’t a magazine that basically covered the entire territory of Southern California. And we felt that visitors to this area liked to visit the entire territory of Southern California, not just Malibu or Beverly Hills; not just Los Angeles, they come and they want to go to San Diego, Rodeo Drive; they like to drive up the coast, so we wanted to offer something for those people who wanted to learn more about the community and wanted to take it in as an entire region, as opposed to these segregated little areas. So, that was the thinking behind the concept.

Samir Husni: Why did you choose print? I’m sure a lot of your colleagues asked you were you out of your mind to start a print magazine in this digital age that we live in.

Monique Reidy: Yes, that is absolutely true. In fact, when I was working on my thesis, I did quite a few interviews with other publishers and editors to find out, basically, what drove their businesses and why they chose print as opposed to digital, and most of them said don’t do print. Print is very expensive; it’s evolving and it’ll probably phase out. I found that that is not the case because there’s a lot of novelty in digital and people like to read their e-books and things, but after a while I think people realize that they want paper in their hands; they like to be able to highlight and make notes in the margins; you can’t really do that on an e-book. I mean you can to a certain degree, but it’s not as easy to refer to your notes when you need them in an instant.

Also, you can lose things when you’ve stored them online. I don’t care what kind of cloud system you’re using; I’ve had instances where very important notes just evaporated. And you just can’t refer to them anymore, so paper is very important. And even in terms of digital calendars, things drop off of the calendars on occasion. It’s not typical, but it does happen. And we’ve found that even with that, people are returning to their paper calendars and schedules and planners. All of that is what made us decide that print is probably more reliable.

One of the editors that I had interviewed with Robb Report had said that he did his research when he was launching a different magazine and realized that it cost $47 million to actually launch a magazine product, which made him decide to go digital and that particular business phased out. Well, that made us think quite long and hard about our decision to launch a print product. But it wasn’t $47 million when all was said and done; we just picked a regional magazine as opposed to a national magazine. So, you basically count the cost on the frontend and do your research correctly. We had focus groups who said that they preferred paper magazines to digital magazines and print was more engaging. God help a person who goes to a hair salon and can’t find a magazine to read or someone who is waiting in a doctor’s office who can’t find a magazine.

So, I think that people love magazines and that was what made us decide to move forward with a print product as opposed to just digital. Now we have a website, but it’s entirely different content than our magazine. Nowadays you have to have a digital product because people ask: what is your website and it’s a whole do-or-die business when it comes to digital platforms. I think if you love a paper magazine and you want print, that’s what you should go for.

Samir Husni: Have you had to cross some choppy seas since you started, or has it all been smooth sailing?

Monique Reidy: Oh no, there were choppy seas, for sure. Startups are not for the faint of heart. There’s a lot of work that has to be done on the frontend and if that’s not in place before you launch your first issue, you might as well forget it. We conducted focus groups to determine how people like to read magazines; what they like to read; what they don’t like to read. We put a very strong advisory board together, people who are Ph.D.’s, professors from universities, people who have marketing companies, people who will tell us the truth; we didn’t want someone to say that our magazine was so pretty. We wanted someone who would say, as was the case, I wouldn’t put a single client in your magazine until you change this or that. So, it helped us to really hone in on being an excellent product as opposed to just a pretty magazine.

And we wanted to deliver content that was appropriate and that’s hard to do. It’s a lot of mornings where you wake up and go, oh my goodness; I’m not going to make it through this day because there’s just so much to do.

And the funding is terrifying. It is quite expensive to manage a magazine; it’s expensive to print; it’s expensive to mail; it’s expensive to market. And as a startup, you’re not going to get advertisers right away because nobody is going to sink money into a magazine they’ve never heard of. So, there is quite a bit of challenges, but if you count the costs on the frontend, you’re ready for the challenge.

Samir Husni: I am a student and I’m putting myself in your shoes when you were a student and I come to you and say: Monique, I have an idea for a magazine. What do you tell them? Run away; forget about it? What advice would you give that person?

Monique Reidy: I would say first of all, is it a passion or is it just an idea to generate money? I know that a lot of magazines exist because their main interests are to generate advertising so they can make money, but they have absolutely no journalism experience whatsoever. And that’s reflective in the content. So, my first question to them would be: do you have a passion for magazines; are you educated in, for example, AP style, advertising and just all of the components that make a good print magazine. Is this something that you’re going to be committed to, because it’s a lot of work and a lot of time and effort?

And most importantly, do your research. I would never deter someone from launching a magazine as long as they do it correctly. I think that there’s an awful lot of research that has to be done to determine what the competition is; what the climate is, just many factors. I think one of the more important things is to look at the competition. Who are you going to be racing against? And what’s going to make your product better than theirs and why would someone want to devote their time and money and services to your print magazine as opposed to someone else’s?
If you believe that your answers will rate higher on all of those questions, then I think you should definitely move forward.

One of the really significant things that happened in one of our focus groups was one woman said, you know, I’m tired of buying men’s magazines to learn what the men know. I’d like for a woman’s magazine to be able to teach me something besides getting a flat stomach and shiny hair, which if you read the cover lines on many of the women’s magazines it’s all about improving your physique and things like that. She said I want to learn how to travel smart; I want to learn to invest; do all of the things that a guy is taught in his magazine.

So, I think that maybe conducting focus groups or doing some sort of research in determining what your readership is looking for; what their needs are is very important. And where they’ll spend money to get what you’re offering.

Samir Husni: You wear many hats with the magazine. You’re the publisher, founder and editor-in-chief. Which one of those personalities do you enjoy the most? Selling the ads, writing your editorial, coming up with the ideas; what’s your favorite part?

Monique Reidy: The ads are my least favorite part, which is why there is an ad team in place and an ad director. I’m not a salesperson by nature, but I love the creative aspect and that’s the nice thing about being an editor; you get to compose assignments and work with the photographer and the art director. There’s a lot of creativity there.

But magazines are a mental business and also an emotional business. There are a lot of aspects to putting together a magazine as opposed to, for example, having an accounting firm that’s entirely intellectual. I prefer the creative part, the more linear sort of work, rather than the sales and the money and all of that. That’s not my strongpoint. You hire the best people in those categories and you trust them to make that part happen for you. So, my favorite part is the editorial and the creative angles.

Samir Husni: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Monique Reidy: I’ve had so much schooling on magazines and journalism; AP Style and how to write and how to compose and all of that, but no one teaches you how to launch a magazine. Well, you do, because that’s what you do. But typically that’s one area that’s weak in our academic culture and I don’t know why. I know a lot of great journalism professors who are teaching students writing styles, composition and interview styles, but I think a great education in launching a magazine, if someone actually wants to do that, would be valuable. And I’m not really sure that is widely available. And perhaps that’s why so many fail, is that they don’t really do their homework on the frontend.

Samir Husni: Were you stunned and surprised when you launched Southern California Life and it did not cost you $47 million?

Monique Reidy: No, but we’re getting there. (Laughs)

Samir Husni: (Laughs too).

Monique Reidy: You know I was surprised completely, because you get into a business because of the passion, but then when you make your passion a business, the business becomes the most challenging part because most creatives want to do their magazine for the love of it, and then they discover about 10 minutes into it; I’ve got the IRS thing, and don’t forget your taxes and so there’s a lot of that part, which is necessary, that you don’t really think about.

Had I considered all of the things that I think are huge challenges and obstacles, I don’t know that I would have moved forward, but I did move forward because of my love for the entire system. I love the production and I love the result. And that’s what really opened it up for me. There are quite a number of days where you just realize that there were many angles about it all that you never considered.

But again, as I said in the beginning, if you have the passion for it, that’s what propels you forward, because there are certainly an awful lot of details that might cause you to rethink it. Just being undeterred, committed and devoted, and having a team alongside that have the same vision is important.

Samir Husni: If you had the chance to rewind the clock, would you do anything differently?

Monique Reidy: Yes, I might have gotten some investors. This whole thing is self-funded and I’m fortunate enough to have a wonderful husband who has been incredibly supportive.

But here’s one reason that I didn’t pursue investors, and that is the one thing that I go back and forth with, but I always come back to this. When you have investors they’re going to tell you how to run your magazine. They’re going to say, oh, you know, we’d like more stories about our friend being a finance guy or whatever topic they want. And we’ve had a very clear vision from the beginning. If you’re going to have people telling you to sway your content this way or that, you can basically veer off of your vision quickly. We’re pure journalists; we love the craft and we want to do it right.

We even struggle with native advertising and we feel like if we’re ever hiding some sort of paid editorial, it’s not right and it’s deceiving. But if we ever do such a thing, and we have found that most of our advertisers do prefer editorial, we will list it as sponsored content.

Samir Husni: What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

Monique Reidy: Surprisingly, it’s not my work, it’s my family. I have three great daughters and a couple of incredibly wonderful grandkids. And my husband is incredibly supportive and I have great friends. You just can’t wake up in a bad mood. There is so much happening in the world that can be quite depressing and you just have to make a list of what you have to live for. I have this gratitude journal, I know it sounds dorky, but every morning I write down what I’m grateful for and every night I put down what amazing things happened that day and how could I have made that day better.

So, it’s a lot of self-reflection, but it’s what drives me out of bed. As I said before, there have been days where I’ve put my feet down on the floor and thought, oh my goodness, this day is going to be a challenge, but you can’t look at the negatives because those will always keep you in bed. You have to pop out of bed remembering how blessed you are.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Monique Reidy: My work. (Laughs) My husband is a physician and he has to be at the hospital by 6:30 a.m., so he goes to bed early, but I never get to the bottom of my list. I could stay up 24/7 and still not be caught up. And again, when it’s a brand new startup you don’t have a big staff, so you wear many hats and there’s a lot that must be done. It’s a very deadline-driven business, as you know. So, that keeps me up at night. I stay up until I feel like I can’t work any longer.

Samir Husni: Thank you.

“I’ve answered the question is print dead for so many years now; it’s just become ludicrous. Print is not dead; it’s not going to die. People love magazines; they love the tactile nature of them, just like I do and I always have. It’s like books, picking up a book and having it in your hand. And I think that will survive, even through millennials and whatever generations follow.” Tom Hymes

The cannabis industry and the publications that cover it, from growing to marketing, are finding their niche on the nation’s newsstands. No longer just B to B trade publications, some of them are moving into the book stores and retailer shops where controversy and compliance go hand-in-hand. MG magazine is one such B to B that could now be described more accurately as a B to C publication with its debut in Barnes & Noble this January.

Tom Hymes is the editor-in-chief of MG and is no stranger to controversy himself. Before he jumped onboard the cannabis express, for many, many years Tom was a driving team member of Adult Video News (AVN) and knows a thing or two about topics of interest that are prone to cause dissention among the ranks.

I spoke with Tom recently about his new endeavor at MG and about his long affiliation with AVN, and how he seemed to thrive in polemic environments, of which he happily agreed with. It was a most entertaining and informative discussion and brought the public’s interest and the magazine industry’s pursuit of the cannabis movement many miles forward.

With Tom’s experience and proclivity for activism in controversial matters and his true concern for human rights across all topics, he would appear to be the man for the job when it comes to leading MG into its proper spot in the marketplace.

So, I hope you enjoy the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Tom Hymes, Editor-In-Chief, MG magazine.

But first the sound-bites:

On that moment of conception for the magazine and the driving factors behind its creation: In point of fact, I was brought into this project by my former employer, a man by the name of Darren Roberts, who is the publisher and the CEO of CANN Media Group, and previously was the CEO of AVN, which is Adult Video News. He approached me and said he was going to start an integrated media company with a focus on the cannabis industry, which was something that I had been looking at for a couple of years and was thinking about maybe starting for my own magazine. The original conception of what this company was going to be, specifically the publication; was very interesting to me.

On whether there’s a difference when it comes to editing for online versus editing for print and are they the same audience or entirely different: Increasingly, you’re servicing the same people. I feel that I have an advantage in that I’ve thought about this a lot over the years. I’m an older person. I was raised reading books; I was a full-on adult before there was ever an Internet and I was around at the advent of it and I took to it right away. But I’m equally comfortable in both spheres and very able to write long articles. But for many years now I’ve been working in a digital environment and in the same way that I’m bicoastal, I’m steeped in both digital and print. I appreciate both.

On whether working on controversial magazines is what makes him tick and click: Yes, in fact, it does. It does turn me on. I’m an activist type anyway; in between my editorial duties, I was the communications director for the Free Speech Coalition, which is the Trade Association for the adult entertainment industry and I loved that job because I have a true activist bent. And I was on their board of directors, but after a while, unfortunately it interfered with my writing, because I couldn’t write about anything that was happening in those meetings and I’m a writer and a journalist first. It all depends, because the activist part of me believes in our constitution and I don’t believe in running away from things and if it’s something I really believe in, I’ll stand and fight within the parameters of the law. That’s just me. And maybe it’s a similar sort of bent in proclivity that leads me to be interested in these types of industries.

On what keeps him up at night: What keeps me up at night is probably what keeps any other editor up. Even though I don’t panic, being constantly at deadline makes me wary or perhaps it’s the unknown.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Tom Hymes, Editor-In-Chief, MG magazine.

Samir Husni: We’re seeing this entire new genre of magazines aimed at cannabis growers and they’re beautifully done, but they’re not what you think of when it comes to a B to B magazine. And you’re also now moving into the B to C area by having the magazine at Barnes & Noble and other locations. So tell me about that moment of conception and the driving factors behind the creation of the magazine.

Tom Hymes: In point of fact, I was brought into this project by my former employer, a man by the name of Darren Roberts, who is the publisher and the CEO of CANN Media Group, and previously served as the CEO of AVN for 17 years, which is Adult Video News. He and his partner Paul Fishbein ran the company and all of its associated properties for several years. Paul founded the company in the 1980s and remained a part of the business until it was sold in 2010.

My wife and I are theatre people and one of the actresses in my theatre company was also working at AVN and she offered me a job writing and that’s how I made my way into the adult entertainment sphere, which I really knew nothing about. And I wound up writing and then becoming the editor-in-chief of a magazine called AVN Online, which covered the adult online industry and I was absolutely fascinated, so I did that for many years.

While AVN was a huge company and due to some unforeseen circumstances both Paul and Darren ended up selling AVN in 2010. Paul went on to forming Plausible Films and Darren took a break from publishing for a few years and then one day last April he called me and wanted to have lunch to talk about this new project he was beginning.

I started at AVN as a writer in 1999 and then I left and worked for the trade association and I also worked for a competitor and then I went back to AVN in 2009, where I was writing just really online, doing daily news from 2009 to 2015. For six years I was writing some features for the magazine, but the staff at that time was really minimal, so I was really covering the entire adult online industry for them. I was writing lots of stories, they were just flowing through me, but I wasn’t very happy.

So, he approached me and said he was going to start a similar type of enterprise, beginning with a print publication, for the cannabis industry, which was something that I had been looking at for a couple of years. I jumped at the opportunity.

For the original conception of what this publication was; the idea was brought to me. And it’s a tried and true business model. And really the B to C component, in Darren’s mind, is very, very minor. And even though I had argued for many years that even AVN magazine was a consumer magazine masquerading as a business magazine, in the sense that there were very few Bona fide business articles in it, there was a lot of content that was geared for the consumer, like with Hollywood Reporter and other so-called trades, and was read by and almost written for people who are interested in entertainment. And the adult entertainment industry is an entertainment industry just like the other Hollywood across the hill.
And also most of the traffic that went to AVN.com was consumer traffic. That was my take on it. But the business model is purely B to B. It is written for, in this case, mainly medical marijuana dispensaries around the country and then also we’ve expanded that to hydroponic shops and other professionals in the industry. It’s a traditional controlled requested circulation publication. Having overseen controlled circ products before we took all precautions to insure that the right people were receiving MG.

However, that model depends on a mature marketplace. And if there’s anything that’s not mature yet, it is the cannabis marketplace. The relationship between vendors and retailers is still extremely wild, wild west. Much of it is still gray market, some of it is in black market and obviously there are many obstacles to that. One is the fact that it’s still a Schedule I draw and if there is anything that touches the plant, you can’t sell or market across state lines. You often cannot advertise; you can’t do banking, even your professional services are problematic; people are still going to jail, so it’s a big problem.

So, the establishment of those really solid vendor and retailer relationships on a level that supports a very sophisticated B to B magazine is happening as we speak in stops and starts. We recognize that this is an emerging market and that the business model needs to be changes constantly along the way.
Now, Barnes & Noble came to us; they approached us and wanted to carry the magazine, which is, to my understanding, extremely rare, if not unheard of. And even though I was not in on those conversations, my assumption is that they did that because other similar interest publications were selling. This is a lifestyle business and MG needs to serve many needs.

We’re a business magazine and all of our articles need to be tied back to business, but there are elements in it that are very consumer-friendly. And Rob (Rob Hill) and I are very well aware of that. I’m more of a B to B guy; I come out of that world. Rob Hill, the executive editor, as you know, is a B to C guy. I’ve helped him with his conversion to B to B and he’s taken to it very well. We’ve found that balance and we’re really comfortable with it.

Barnes & Noble is only the beginning of our newsstand roll-out and you can expect to see us taper up as the market continues to grow.

Samir Husni: Tom, you’ve had both experiences. You’ve worked online and in print; is there a difference as an editor in the actual job of editing something online versus editing something in print? And are you serving the same readers or are you dealing with two different audiences when it comes to online and print?

Tom Hymes: Increasingly, you’re servicing the same people. I feel that I have an advantage in that I’ve thought about this a lot over the years. I’m an older person. I was raised reading books; I was a full-on adult before there was ever an Internet and I was around at the advent of it and I took to it right away.

But I’m equally comfortable in both spheres and very able to write long articles. I’m a New Yorker-type-magazine guy; Rob and I talk about this all of the time. We cannot conceive of writing a feature article that’s really less than 3,000 words. And our word count has been cut down below that now, which is like cutting off limbs for us. But for many years now I’ve been working in a digital environment and in the same way that I’m bicoastal, I’m steeped in both digital and print. I appreciate both.

And as far as editing something, in the same way that I don’t ever write down to an audience or a reader; I don’t edit for anything really but length. Now online I don’t even think about it. If I’m editing something and it’s going online; it’s simply for clarity. There’s a proper length it should be and I’m in to editing; if it’s not necessary I cut it out. I’m not married to anything, so I’m constantly going back to things online and revising them so they’re what I think of as perfect.

I want everything to be a little gem, so for me it’s like chasing a story or idea and shaving it until it’s perfect. And that could go in any direction, depending on the day. And I’ve become facile over the years, especially writing at AVN, at posting five or six stories every day and now when I go back and remember; I remember looking at them and seeing original material and government reports, Wall Street reports, legal documents and I’d read them all really quickly, turning them around fast. The world of digital media demands that type of speed and you have to be really fast. Likewise, I’m able, like Rob, to sit down and craft a very long piece and have it flow that way.

Handling a 100-page magazine is far different that was I was doing at AVN, at one point AVN was over 400 pages monthly and AVN Online averaged 250 pages and just had a wealth of content in them every month, when I sit down and interview someone I really take my time with them and then I go and transcribe it and often I’ll have 10,000 words and then I sit and relive it and I carve that into a story. And the question is always; what do I leave out? And I’m always leaving gold on the floor.

At AVN I would take all of those long interviews and put them online. The people who were interested in reading all of the other wonderful stuff that didn’t make it into the publication would go online and read that. And those got a lot of traffic and were greatly appreciated and to me it’s the best of both worlds.

I’ve answered the question is print dead for so many years now; it’s just become ludicrous. Print is not dead; it’s not going to die. People love magazines; they love the tactile nature of them, just like I do and I always have. It’s like books, picking up a book and having it in your hand. And I think that will survive, even through millennials and whatever generations follow.

But digital media is so absolutely necessary; it’s an absolute requirement now. For every aspect of this project that we’re doing, there isn’t a person who doesn’t come to us and ask where the article is online. Or can they get the photos online. People need that immediacy and I agree with it. Also, I’m a breaking news guy. I want to cover this industry, so if I get something, I want to break it right away. You can’t do that in a magazine. A magazine is about taking issues and topics and finding larger stories and rendering them with care, but it’s not for breaking stories.

So, I love it all and I think that there’s a place for all of it and I believe that print and online are two masters that serve similar but different needs and work together in harmony. I absolutely believe that and I think both of them are wonderful. A lot of the online stuff will never go away, but I’m not just a fast food person. I do think that people get tired of fast food and they crave sustenance. And sustenance can be found online too.

That’s the irony of all of this, that often you’re going to find more sustenance online, because you can put more of everything online, longer pieces. And you can go off on digressions and longer sidebars and more pieces of information. This is what I appreciate about The New York Times’ digital environment. It’s so rich. I think they set a standard by whatever they’re covering, they expand it and it becomes almost like an encyclopedia of current life.

We are closely following our roll-out strategy and I very much look forward to launching our digital products later this year. This industry is rich with stories and people and just everything. It’s absolutely astonishing. And every day I’m learning new things.

And with the cannabis industry, everything is happening so quickly and the stakes are so high, and then add into that the people and the passions, and not just in one particular state, it’s throughout the country. It’s really a goldmine for journalists.

Samir Husni: As a journalist, and based on your work at AVN and at MG, do you thrive on working on controversial issues; controversial magazines? On the hand, you’ve been worked in the adult video industry and now it’s the marijuana industry; is that what makes you tick and click?

Tom Hymes: Yes, in fact, it does. It does turn me on. I’m an activist type anyway; in between my editorial duties, I was the communications director for the Free Speech Coalition, which is the Trade Association for the adult entertainment industry and I loved that job because I have a true activist bent. And I was on their board of directors, but after a while, unfortunately it interfered with my writing, because I couldn’t write about anything that was happening in those meetings and I’m a writer and a journalist first.

It all depends, because the activist part of me believes in our constitution and I don’t believe in running away from things and if it’s something I really believe in, I’ll stand and fight within the parameters of the law. That’s just me.

And maybe it’s a similar sort of bent in proclivity that leads me to be interested in these types of industries. Obviously, I’ve thought about that a lot too. I’m very comfortable about it. I go perhaps where others fear to tread and take on issues that I think are extremely important. And I have to say when it comes to adult entertainment; yes, there’s just the porn business, but there’s also civil rights issues.

And there are clearly very important, not just civil rights issues, but human issues that run throughout the cannabis industry. It’s not just stoners and people getting high. The issues are extremely serious and go to the core of a lot of what’s going on in this country and has for many years.

And I’m drawn to those and I want to do things that are really important. Of course, there are many other issues out there that I could deal with editorially or I could involve myself with an institution or an organization. But it’s true, there is something about these industries that are more controversial and also highly regulated, where the law comes into play and people are going to jail. It’s very serious stuff. But very few people are going to jail for obscenity prosecutions anymore, they used to. I was very involved with all the legal and political stuff then and it still really speaks to me. All the lawyers know me, just as they will in this industry as well.

I could have become a lawyer myself, but I didn’t want to be a lawyer; I don’t want to be constrained by that. Someone has to get in there and write about the issues in an unbiased way. And sort of a side thing is these are trade magazines, they aren’t really consumer magazines.

The other thing that’s really difficult is to keep your nose clean, because there’s always someone who wants to buy you. There are very few real journalists that are writing the real truthful stories. People used to say that I was the last journalist in adult entertainment. And I would laugh because I’m gone. There is no one at AVN that’s writing the types of stories that I did.

And there were constraints from above about places that I could go and certain stories would get killed, and I was always fighting against that because the fact of the matter is that the mainstream is often unable to really write about industries with a real deep understanding of what’s going on. They’re kind of on the outside looking in. And it’s really up to trade publications to help their industries by writing about the stories that need to be told. And that’s extremely difficult to do sometimes, because there are just a myriad number of forces that are working against you doing that. Sometimes it’s just economics, but often they’re very political.

I’ve never really had a mentor and I didn’t go to journalism school, I just sort of took this on and made my way through it over the years. But I would find myself coming to forks in the road and places where my professional and personal integrity was at stake. Did I go this way or that way? And these things were real; I was confronted by those types of decisions all of the time.

Those things are going to happen, and are happening, in this industry as well. And one thing that I know about myself is that no one could buy me and no one ever will now. But all of these challenges, which are sometimes purely editorial, but sometimes they go for morality and ethics, they’re all of interest to me. And they’re all extremely exciting to me. And they happen in these particular industries. And I think I’m drawn to it. It’s very exciting and challenging and I’m not sure why that is when it comes to me. Nevertheless, it’s true.

Cannabis is a highly regulated industry and it’s full of individuals who are not your typical type of business people. Sometimes they don’t want to be told what to do; they’re not Wall Street types, though there are more of those coming in. In fact, that is where a lot of the tension in this industry resides, there are a lot more mainstream types of people who are now coming into this industry and there are fisher points between them and the old guard.

Adult entertainment was not anything that I was a real consumer of, there was really no reason for me to have stayed there for 15 years. But it was the issues and the subject matter and the people that was an endless source of really interesting possibilities for stories. Just tons and tons of interesting and important, I believed, stories that were impacting, not just the people in the industry, but regular people as well.

And that’s true here as well and will increasingly be so.

Samir Husni: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Tom Hymes: There’s a certain satisfaction of seeing all of the hard work we do come together in this magazine, and the fact that it resonates with people; I’m not sure how to describe that feeling. It’s not financial; it’s a level of satisfaction that goes beyond any of that.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Tom Hymes: What keeps me up at night is probably what keeps any other editor up. Even though I don’t panic, being constantly at deadline makes me wary or perhaps it’s the unknown.

I’ll get up at 3:00 a.m. because there will be a train of thought in my brain; maybe something was left unresolved or some work still needs to be done. Maybe I forgot to send an email; it’s just never-ending.
Another thing that keeps me up is doing justice to the people and the things that I’m writing about. And that’s what really drives me. My responsibility is not only to provide value to our readers, but also to do justice to the subjects that we write about and to tell their stories as fully as we can. And it’s powerful.

Samir Husni: Thank you.