Did you always know that you wanted to work at a magazine?
I went to Williams College fully intending to go to law school. But when it came time to apply, I realized that’s not what I wanted to do. So after I graduated, I moved to New York and got a job in finance because I figured I should learn about business…
I quickly learned that I didn’t like it. I felt that the only time I excelled at all was when I had to research companies and write summaries about them. At the same time, I began reading a lot more and developing a sense of what I liked. I became a magazine junkie. When my finance job offered me the chance to move to Chicago, I jumped at it. I was happy to leave New York. I applied to Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and got in. It was an amazing two-year program. In one of my classes, we had to create a magazine. I knew from then on that this is what I wanted to do.
Where did you go from there?
I dreamed of working at Men’s Journal or Sports Illustrated, so when I finished school, I swallowed hard and moved back to New York to try to break into magazines. It was so difficult. I didn’t know any editors and I didn’t know how to pitch stories. I did a little freelancing for Men’s Journal and other magazines. Eventually, I accepted a full-time job at a trade publisher. I came to the same fork as a lot of young editors: You can work at a big magazine, a title that your whole family has heard of, as an intern or an editorial assistant, or you can work for a trade publisher and do a lot of writing and editing, and, in a year’s time, get a ton of experience. But after I’d been in New York for two years, and I still didn’t have my dream job, I decided to move home to Michigan around the holidays to reevaluate my plans. It was a total bummer. But then the executive editor of Men’s Journal called me and said, “This job is open. You’re hired.” It was like when you hear about people who swear off dating, and then the next week they meet their spouse-to-be.
Had you maintained a relationship with that editor before he offered you the job?
Definitely. Networking is huge. Oddly enough, I’d had an interview at Rolling Stone with Tish Hamilton, who is now executive editor here at Runner’s World. She said she didn’t have a job for me, but that she thought I’d be a perfect fit for another magazine at Wenner Media, Men’s Journal. You never know how the people you meet can help you. Tish is a perfect example: She was interviewing me 15 years ago, and then she was the first person I hired at Runner’s World.
What advice do you have for recent graduates?
Demonstrate how well you know the magazines you’re applying to. If the story ideas you have are dead on, it makes a big difference. Once you have your first job, you just have to work really, really hard—and I know that sounds obvious, but it’s true. One of the things I had to do as a junior editor was write the [table of] contents page. One time, I missed a mistake. My editor called me in after and was great about it. He said that mistakes happen, but the goal is to try to be perfect. The key is, don’t assume there’s not a mistake. Make it your job to find something that’s wrong and make it better.
