“We tend to reach consumers over 40 plus or 50 plus, who grew up with magazines, loved the experience of magazines; who miss magazines. They’ll tell you stories of what their favorite magazines were and how they’ve changed.”

“I believe that there are consumers who want to guarantee that this magazine comes to them. That when they go, when the weather turns and the leaves fall and they move to their second home in Florida or California or Palm Springs or back to Boston or back to the city, they want it in their mailbox. And that consumer is absolutely going to pay for it and go to their mailbox.”

The B, a magazine of the Berkshires, is a regional title that is both very well connected to the Massachusetts area and is a new launch. Michelle Thorpe Petricca is the publisher of the magazine and brings immense talent and experience to this position. Michelle has been a fixture at Condé Nast in the past and carries a lot of deeply held beliefs about magazines, especially print ones.

The B celebrates life in the Berkshires and beyond, but also provides entertainment and knowledge about the area for people moving there or visiting. It’s a stylish title with a host of possibilities. Mr. Magazine™ suggests that you find your copy today. 

So please enjoy the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Michelle Thorpe Petricca, Publisher Of The B Magazine.

But first the sound-bites:

On how it feels to work on a smaller-sized publication than she’s used to: I love a launch. And I was part of Condé Nast with the launch of Lucky magazine, from the very beginning. And it has the same energy and the same excitement. Obviously, not the depths of floors of departments and support, however it’s energizing and thrilling for me to be part of that.

On one of her Condé Nast colleagues’ starting his own media company and magazine: I worked with Alan Katz’s wife for years at Self Magazine. I think Alan and Cheryl are just two very talented people. And I think what it shows is that there are stories to be told in this region, and there’s a lot of enthusiasm and passion for this region. And the fact that both are doing very well speaks to this untapped market in many ways. There’s a real hunger to be closer to the community.

On why she thinks people like herself still believe in magazines and in print: There’s absolutely a desire for certain segments of a population to enjoy the print experience. And I would say that that segment of the population in our community is not going to be Gen. Z though they are enjoying it. We tend to reach consumers over 40 plus or 50 plus, who grew up with magazines, loved the experience of magazines; who miss magazines. They’ll tell you stories of what their favorite magazines were and how they’ve changed.

On whether only print can link the past with the future in the present: You definitely found one of the most powerful platforms that we have at The B, and that literally is the archives of the Eagle which are situated in the basement here of the Clock Tower Building in Pittsfield. And if you came to the Berkshires and I brought you down there, your mind would be blown by the files and the archives of the history of Norman Rockwell, of Tanglewood and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

On whether the magazine was an easy launch: My husband was from the Berkshires. His family has been here for 100 years. His grandfather moved here from Italy, slept in a tent, built a wonderful business that’s going strong. And I didn’t think that this opportunity was possible, to be able to tap this passion I have for print. And I feel so fortunate that the Eagle recognized and held a high value to print and that they invested in me.

Michelle Petricca, right, with editor in chief Amy Conway.

On any challenges or roadblocks they had to overcome: So what have we overcome? I would say that introducing a new print product, you really had to pass a lot of litmus tests here because I think they’ve seen other publications in the area before and they weren’t always done by magazine people. They may have been done by newspaper people ensuring that you were going to deliver what you promised.

On whether the magazine is moving from controlled circulation to subscription: That is in the works. I believe that there are consumers who want to guarantee that this magazine comes to them. That when they go, when the weather turns and the leaves fall and they move to their second home in Florida or California or Palm Springs or back to Boston or back to the city, they want it in their mailbox. And that consumer is absolutely going to pay for it and go to their mailbox.

On the wantedness factor that print inspires: Yes, exactly. I was spending some time in Barnes & Noble in Pittsfield the other day. Magazines seem to still be alive by the number of publications and special interest titles and the ones that are still available to consumers.

On anything she’d like to add: As far as the B, people want a connection to the community, so much so that even on the grounds where we live there’s a massive reckoning going on with the Native American tribes that lived here. Many of the cultural institutions, like Jacob’s Pillow, which is one of the oldest historic dance sites in the country and Beckett Hits in Beckett. Massachusetts; at the bottom of every single of their email signatures, they say we are on the lands of the Munsee Native Tribes, so there’s a whole connection. The good and the painful in our community. That’s why there’s still so many untold stories here.

On what keeps her up at night: From a professional level, it would be to make sure that we got it right. That it was factually correct. We have a responsibility to do it right. And so oftentimes I circulate stories to the editors here, to other people in our community. To have them look through it to make sure it’s right, because the last thing I ever want to do is have any stain that reflects any print  journalist that is here. So getting it right is important. That keeps me awake at night. 

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Michelle Thorpe Petricca, publisher The B Magazine.

Samir Husni: Congratulations on The B Magazine.

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: Thank you, I appreciate that.

Samir Husni: How does it feel? Moving from magazines like Lucky and Allure with hundreds of thousands in circulation to launch a small-sized publication, a beautiful publication, but one that elevates like fifteen thousand in circulation?

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: I love a launch. And I was part of Condé Nast with the launch of Lucky magazine, from the very beginning. And it has the same energy and the same excitement. Obviously, not the depths of floors of departments and support, however it’s energizing and thrilling for me to be part of that. 

And then I was also part of US Weekly when it turned from a monthly to a weekly magazine. So I was prepared for the unexpected because the unexpected always happens with a launch. But I would say that being a part of the Berkshire Eagle, which is one of the longest continuously run newspapers in the country, it started in 1892, they have the same commitment to facts and credibility and to getting it right. Much like Condé Nast always wanted to do and does and still does. 

Samir Husni:  Your previous colleague, Alan Katz, also started The Mountains magazine. Now there’s two or three graduates from Condé Nast who started and launched magazines outside.

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: That’s right. In fact, I worked with Alan Katz’s wife for years at Self Magazine. I think Alan and Cheryl are just two very talented people. And I think what it shows is that there are stories to be told in this region, and there’s a lot of enthusiasm and passion for this region. And the fact that both are doing very well speaks to this untapped market in many ways. There’s a real hunger to be closer to the community. 

Alan, his focus is seven counties, so it’s broader. He’s got Sullivan County, Catskills, seven counties. I’m focused on three counties, Berkshire County, Columbia County and Litchfield County. So there is a point of difference there. And there’s a point of difference with our voices. But that being said, I think it’s fabulous. I really do. Allen and his team are doing a great job.

Samir Husni: Michelle, it’s so rare to see small, regional magazines bringing in top publishers,  top editors, national folks, like in your case. Like Amy Conway, who’s been the editor of Health Magazine, and Martha Stewart Wedding. Why do you think people like you and Amy still believe in this business, in print and in bringing a magazine into the world?

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: That’s a great question. There’s absolutely a desire for certain segments of a population to enjoy the print experience. And I would say that that segment of the population in our community is not going to be Gen. Z though they are enjoying it. We tend to reach consumers over 40 plus or 50 plus, who grew up with magazines, loved the experience of magazines; who miss magazines. They’ll tell you stories of what their favorite magazines were 

and how they’ve changed. And maybe they’re not happy about some changes. So there was certainly a desire to bring magazines back into their life.

More importantly, they want the things that magazines are, well-written and visually appealing. And it’s interesting, when I worked at a lore and worked for Linda Wells, she would often talk about how a magazine would bring you to this magical place, and Allure would share possible 

visions of a different self, of all the possibilities that were out there for you. And how you want to present yourself to the world. 

And so that aspiration and that inspiration is found in print, in these glossy, four color magazines. And when you come to a community, particularly like the Berkshires, you’re seeking pleasure. You’re seeking entertainment. You’re seeking visual experience of the outdoors, art, culture, theater. And so they’re pleasure-seekers and magazines bring a lot of pleasure. They’re very proud of where they live or where they have second homes, or where they’re visiting. And they have it in their homes. That is the greatest compliment. When someone says to me. I have 

guests coming up this weekend, and I made sure the B was in the guest room for them because they want to know more about where they’re visiting. And so print brings you closer to the experience. I think that that’s why it’s resonating with consumers today. 

The other part of my experience was spending time at a company called Modern Luxury, which published 84 magazines in 22 markets. And so I worked at Modern Luxury while I lived here in the Berkshires and I commuted back and forth. I got to see just how personal it was for these city titles to these particular communities. 

I remember it was Aaron Lauder at Estee Lauder who wanted us to plan an event in Dallas,  Neiman Marcus for a launch of one of her fragrances. And I heard from her team that these were the dates available in Dallas. So I call up Neiman’s and said this is when we’re going to have the 

luncheon and they said, whoa, we can’t do it that date. And I’m like, it’s Aaron Lauder, of course you can do it that day. And they explained, oh, no, that’s the Texas/OU football game day. And all the jets fly in from Oklahoma. And there are big Gala’s and parties all around his event. 

So, I was able to bring that information back from the Dallas team of our local boots on the ground, and of Neiman Marcus local and go back to Estee lauder and say, well, here’s why that date doesn’t work. 

So, understanding the ebbs and flows of a local community are really important and it makes you have a better event or better print project product. Or helps you connect brands and advertisers to that community in a more relevant and more powerful way.

Samir Husni: That art of storytelling is so obvious since you are also reaching to the archives of the newspaper from 1789 on and using some of those pictures. Do you think only print can link the past with the future during the present?

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: What a great question. You definitely found one of the most powerful platforms that we have at The B, and that literally is the archives of the Eagle which are situated in the basement here of the Clock Tower Building in Pittsfield. And if you came to the Berkshires and I brought you down there, your mind would be blown by the files and the archives of the history of Norman Rockwell, of Tanglewood and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

You’re transported when you walk downstairs and you go into these files of pictures that you’re holding that the Eagle owns. And so I don’t have any obstacles of publishing them. And knowing that there are people here that I can turn to… in fact, they have two Pulitzer Prize winning journalists on their editorial advisory board here. And being able to get it right, which is so important here at the Eagle is to tap those archives to connect the past of our community to the present. 

And so when we take a topic, the summer issue right now is at press, and the theme is music. And music plays an outsized role here in the Berkshires, as you can imagine with the home of Boston Symphony Orchestra all summer long. But it goes back even further than that. 

And our goal is, when this magazine comes out, that local mavens who have lived here for generations, to the tourists who happen to be staying at the Red Lion Inn, to a second homeowner from Williams College who loves the Berkshires, is to surprise them and to educate them, to help bring them closer to this community. 

So we literally went into the fields of a place called The Music Inn, which is in Stockbridge, and was part of an old gilded-age estate called Wheatley. The Music Inn was a home in the 1960s  of something called the Lenox School of Jazz, where black musicians would teach white musicians who came over from Tanglewood at night. And that school then turned in the ‘70s into something called The Music Inn where Bruce Springsteen played, the Allman Brothers,  BB King, and we literally went for the music issue and spent time in a place called the Potting Shed, which is a home to this woman now who has a plaque to all the musicians that played on those grounds. 

And so being able to walk those fields and give the history and bring the photographers, such as the talented Ben Garver, who is photographer for the Berkshire Eagle really helps bring the music experience to life. And then it also happened that really well known journalists like Tony Gervino, who was the editor in chief of Billboard Magazine and is currently the editor in chief of Jack Dorsey’s title, Streaming Music, happens to have a home in the Berkshires, and he’s like, I’d love to write an article for The B. And so when you live in a community where you can 

tap this talent, it helps make it an even stronger editorial product.

Samir Husni: You sound like you’re on Cloud Nine. Tell me, has the magazine launch been a walk in a rose garden for you?

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: It was really hard for me to leave Condé Nast in 2013. I mean, Allure was on fire. It was just so successful. And I loved the team. And I loved working with Agnes Chapski and Linda Wells and the whole Condé Nast family.  

I moved for love. My husband was from the Berkshires. His family has been here for 100 years. His grandfather moved here from Italy, slept in a tent, built a wonderful business that’s going strong. And I didn’t think that this opportunity was possible, to be able to tap this passion I have for print. And I feel so fortunate that the Eagle recognized and held a high value to print and that they invested in me. 

And then, of course, Amy Conway, our editor in chief, whose voice… it’s what she’s been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. And you can tell she was Martha Stewart’s right 

arm for 20 years. And Amy knows how to tell a story. She really does. And she has been a complete joy and delight to work with, and I mean it. We speak the same language, and we were 

able to tap a local designer here, Julie Hammil, who creates a lot of visuals for a lot of the cultural economy institutions here such as Berkshire Botanical Gardens, or the Berkshire School. And so we were able to really go local here. And that meant a lot. Yes, I am on Cloud Nine. (Laughs)

Samir Husni: Any challenges or roadblocks that you have had to overcome?

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: So what have we overcome? I would say that introducing a new print product, you really had to pass a lot of litmus tests here because I think they’ve seen other publications in the area before and they weren’t always done by magazine people. They may have been done by newspaper people ensuring that you were going to deliver what you promised. 

So it happened fast. I literally was at an event with Hans Morris, who was one of the saviors of the Berkshire Eagle with a few other individuals who saved this incredible historic newspaper brand. And I was at an event with him, I guess maybe September or October. And we started talking. He used to be president of Visa and now is at NYCA Partners in New York and he knew my experience in magazines. He said let’s do it and I asked, seriously? And he said yes. 

So going from October to launching a magazine in basically April was fast without having hired an editor, without even having a name or an editorial calendar, the specs and the press. It was definitely a lot of sleepless nights. But it was so personal. And that would be an obstacle because 

I didn’t want to walk into my local grocery store and say hi to my butcher or the florist and for 

them to say it didn’t really work. I really wanted to make them proud and I would say that was an obstacle. Having to deliver, I would say that was a challenge. 

And then advertising, people literally writing checks from their own bank accounts, ensuring that you are going to deliver on what you’re promising. And ensuring trust in you. It is helpful that they knew who I was and they knew my husband. And they knew the Berkshire Eagle. That could be considered an obstacle. But my goodness, we doubled the number of advertisers and revenue in the summer issue. 

But let’s be clear. This is not necessarily a done success. We have three more issues to go with 

different editorial themes. We’re experimenting with a wedding issue. And so some of these things are unproven. But I do believe that we have the perfect alchemy at the moment and that things look positive, but it’s not done. You know that path, there could still be plenty of obstacles, especially as we try to figure out a formula for subscriptions versus controlled circulation. Figuring and navigating that I’m sure will be an interesting endeavor. 

Samir Husni: Are you moving from controlled circulation to subscription?

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: That is in the works. I believe that there are consumers who want to guarantee that this magazine comes to them. That when they go, when the weather turns and the leaves fall and they move to their second home in Florida or California or Palm Springs or back to Boston or back to the city, they want it in their mailbox. And that consumer is absolutely going to pay for it and go to their mailbox. 

But I also believe that we could do a hybrid model that has some control distribution in places like Canyon Ranch or fine museums or restaurants. And that we can also still sell it in some places because there isn’t going to be an unlimited number of copies floating around. People are going to see it and they’re going to want it. And if they can’t find it, they’re not going to be happy about it. There’s a wantedness to this and there’s a scarcity model to this, so I do believe that a hybrid model will work. 

Samir Husni: I think that wantedness is an important word you mentioned because. Again that’s what continues to differentiate print from the rest of the media that’s out there.

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: Yes, exactly. I was spending some time in Barnes & Noble in Pittsfield the other day. Magazines seem to still be alive by the number of publications and special interest titles and the ones that are still available to consumers. 

I just think that this is personal to people here. And so when it’s personal and you’re writing about their community, they’re not seeing this online. They’re not reading about this really anywhere else. That it means something different and there’s a different value to it. Especially when you’re supporting their causes that are their passion points. We live in a community that wants to give back, that wants to help out, that supports the arts. That is incredibly inclusive. And our intention is always to profile those saints and eccentrics that really romp our beloved County. And people want to support that and want to be part of that. 

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

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: I guess the question is, if you lived here, Samir, or you were a second homeowner, would you subscribe to the B? 

Samir Husni: (Laughs) Of course I would. My wife always asks me, why are you still getting magazines after we donated all our magazines to the University of Missouri where they are establishing the Samir Husni magazine collection in the library?

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: That’s incredible.

Samir Husni: 188,300 magazines. It took two 18-wheelers. 

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: Do you have photos or a video of that happening? 

Samir Husni: Yes. Actually they are doing a video on the whole transfer of the magazines from my storage units to the Library of Missouri.

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: Will it be on your blog?

Samir Husni: Once they send it to me, I will definitely put it on the blog.

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: Thank you! That’s magical. I can’t wait to see that. As far as the B, people want a connection to the community, so much so that even on the grounds where we live there’s a massive reckoning going on with the Native American tribes that lived here. Many of the cultural institutions, like Jacob’s Pillow, which is one of the oldest historic dance sites in the country and Beckett Hits in Beckett. Massachusetts; at the bottom of every single of their email 

signatures, they say we are on the lands of the Munsee Native Tribes, so there’s a whole connection. The good and the painful in our community. That’s why there’s still so many untold stories here. 

Samir Husni: As long as you continue telling stories, you will continue to thrive and succeed.

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: I hope so. 

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

Michelle Thorpe Petricca: From a professional level, it would be to make sure that we got it right. That it was factually correct. We have a responsibility to do it right. And so oftentimes I circulate stories to the editors here, to other people in our community. To have them look through it to make sure it’s right, because the last thing I ever want to do is have any stain that reflects any print  journalist that is here. So getting it right is important. That keeps me awake at night.

Even when we lay out the magazine, not being sensitive to advertisers as to where they are placed. Maybe that goes back to my Condé Nast days where, and this is probably not an appropriate story, but I was at Self magazine and we were laying out the magazine and we had a Revlon ad and the Revlon ad said, it’s a good hair day, and it was opposite of a Wonder Bra 

ad that said, who cares if it’s a bad hair day. (Laughs) 

And that was probably 1996 and it still haunts me to this day. You have to make sure that you’re sensitive to if I am this architect or this shop  and I’m opposite this editorial, how does that impact me. And that keeps me up at night on a professional level, because I think about it. It’s their business and they care so much about this ad. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a one six or full page, this means so much to them into their budget into their marketing plans that I really 

want to be sensitive to where that message lands.

Samir Husni: Thank you. 

Check out the second issue of The B here.