“No matter if it’s 9/11 or if it’s a global pandemic, people care about their happiness and their families. They want to find ways to be healthier; they want to find ways to simplify their lives; they want to see the world, whether they’re able to travel at that moment or if they want to travel vicariously through others, and so the nature of magazines is to transport our readers. To make our readers’ lives a little better warms my heart. We’re not curing brain cancer, but we do improve people’s lives. It shows by how excited they are when the magazine arrives in their mailboxes.”
That statement from Real Simple’s editor-in-chief Liz Vaccariello is part of her recent interview with “Mr. Magazine” Samir Husni.
As Husni reminds us, nothing has been “real simple” the past couple of months … and that’s why Real Simple has been so welcome in those mailboxes.
As Vaccariello reminds us, “at the end of the day, life is about our families, our homes, the spaces around us, feeling at peace and finding a way to discover happiness. It’s about making a good dinner for the family; it’s about loving my dog more than I ever have before. Those are ‘REAL SIMPLE’ things. At the same time, this is a very complicated time because uncertainty is complicated.”
The magazine was produced with the team working from home, and Vaccariello was actually surprised by how connected she’s felt with her team, holding online meetings daily instead of once a week. One challenge she’s faced?
“When I’m working on a print product, I’m working with paper, so I often want to see a layout on paper. Right now, we don’t have that luxury,” she notes.
What we all do have is the reassuring presence of Real Simple and other treasured titles, showing up in our mailboxes to reconnect us and offer us a way to truly relax and engage.
“It’s been heartwarming for me to look around at the publishing industry, not just REAL SIMPLE and not just Meredith, but all of our colleagues,” Vaccariello continues. “When you make a magazine, it’s important to look around and realize how much of what we do is relevant in the best of times, and also during the worst of times. No matter if it’s 9/11 or if it’s a global pandemic, people care about their happiness and their families.”
For this and so many other reasons, I’m so grateful for our role here in printing so many titles for our clients. It’s an honor to serve an industry that does so much to connect us all.