TOPS News is the membership magazine for TOPS Club Inc.  TOPS stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly. Its motto for the last 75 years since its inception is Real People. Real Weight Loss. 

In 2025, and for the first time, the TOPS News magazine started accepting advertising on the pages of the magazine. Through an agreement with the James G. Elliott Company, Inc., the magazine opened its pages to advertising in a move that is seen to add more help to their members.

I reached out to TOPS News president Rick Danforth, editor and publisher Barry Gantenbein, and senior designer Dave Zylstra to chat about the organization and its magazine.  It was sort of a roundtable about TOPS News, the magazine’s mission, and the reason they are now accepting advertising in the magazine.

Before the interview, I should note that in a recent study the magazine found out that over 90% of the members see it as the number one benefit of membership. A quarter of the membership responded, unaided, to the study in the first two days. A response rarely heard about in the magazine industry.

So without any further delay, please enjoy this round table conversation with the team at TOPS News and what is in store for the years to come.

But first the soundbites:

On TOPS News mission: “I view TOPS News as our best vehicle to keep in constant contact with our members to share success stories and give them updated information on a healthy lifestyle.” Rick Danforth.

On why they are accepting advertising: “Because things are getting more costly and it was a way of generating some revenue.” RD

On why did you add the publisher title to the editor’s title: “One of the reasons that I became publisher was just to prevent any snags in meeting our deadlines.” Barry Gantenbein

On how is TOPS News different than the rest of weight loss magazines: “I think the one thing that really separates TOPS News is the group support, from the chapter level and also from the magazine.” BG

On how to approach the design of the magazine: “Our members are basically our core demographic, trying to think and trying to tap into their minds what they want to see.” Dave Zylstra

On the hope and goal for the design of TOPS News: “Hopefully inspire them to want to keep flipping the pages and keep reading it.”

On any challenges facing him: “There’s always challenges… But no serious challenges that we couldn’t fix.” RD

On content creation : “There’s a large element of TOPS News is the member contributions. So that does definitely affect the scope of things, and the way we approach things.” BG

On the magazine being an experience: “There has to be a reason to engage with the magazine, and that’s what I’m trying to accomplish with every issue is to engage our members as fully as possible.” BG

On what he is expected to accomplish this year: “A year from now, what I would be telling you is that it would help with our revenue stream so we can provide more services to our members.” RD

And now for the lightly edited conversation with the team at TOPS News:

Samir Husni: Rick, can you give me the elevator pitch of TOPS News? TOPS News, not TOPS as the organization, the magazine.

Rick Danforth: I view TOPS News as our best vehicle to keep in constant contact with our members to share success stories and give them updated information on a healthy lifestyle.

Samir Husni: And why did you decide after 75 years to start taking advertising?

Rick Danforth: Well, that is because things are getting more costly and it was a way of generating some revenue.

Also, too, there was a misconception by past administrations that that wasn’t allowed by a non-profit. So it took a while to convince people that this is a legitimate concern and plus Jim (Elliott) was very instrumental in helping us with that process.

Samir Husni: Why do you think members should be interested in advertising as much as they are interested in editorial?

Rick Danforth: I think it’s another way for us to show them other information without just putting it out there in an editorial format or story to prompt them that it might catch their fancy and do a little research on their own.

Samir Husni: Barry, as an editor and publisher, you wear two hats. First, let me ask you the personal question. Which of the two hats do you prefer, editor or publisher?

Barry Gantenbein: Oh, well, that’s hard to say.  I like being the publisher because then I have the final say in things. And one of the reasons that I became publisher was just to prevent any snags in meeting our deadlines.

When I had worked with publishers previously who had more than one job and did more than just be the publisher of the publication, sometimes there would be other priorities other than the magazine and I wanted to get rid of that sticking point. So that’s why I became the publisher. I like being the publisher for that reason.

But as far as the work and what I do mostly, I’m an editor and I have been doing that for a long time and I enjoy that type of work.

Samir Husni: So being the editor, let’s put the editor’s hat on. What’s the mission statement of TOPS News?

Barry Gantenbein: The one sentence is to provide our members with information and inspiration to make healthy choices.

I want to provide a variety of stories for our members. When you open up the TOC, there’s seven different headings. Those are the types of stories that we publish.

So our goal, we build a magazine on a frame and I use those seven sections to create those types of stories.

So if we have at least two in each section, then I know that we’re going to have a balanced offering for our members.

Samir Husni: Weight loss has been a topic for ages. There are so many commercial magazines and there are so many commercial drugs nowadays to help you lose weight. Where do you think you can navigate the magazine to balance between everything that’s taking place with weight loss these days?

Barry Gantenbein: I think that’s a good question. And that goes back to the start of TOPS.

We’ve always had a medical component as part of TOPS since the beginning. Our founder, Esther Manz, always wanted that component.  When she started the magazine with her friends, they were all doing the same stuff and they were losing weight, and she wasn’t. So she was wondering, why is that? Why am I not losing weight? So she wanted to get a doctor involved in this so that she could better understand why they were losing weight and she wasn’t losing weight.

We don’t really take any stance on things like the different types of injectables now that are out there. We feel that if you are considering something like that, see your healthcare professional and get their advice on that.

We’re open to the shots, but that’s part of the overall health plan. And I think the one thing that really separates TOPS News is the group support, from the chapter level and also from the magazine. We try to always provide a community for our members so that they can be themselves, make healthy choices. We just really want our members to become the best version of themselves.

Samir Husni: Your last issue that I saw, the November-December, was all about bringing balance to your life. Does this balance now include the shots?

Barry Gantenbein: If it’s helpful to that particular member, because one thing that I have learned is that weight loss is a very individual thing, that what works for somebody may not work for somebody else. So that’s why we like to have a different variety of options available for people.

Samir Husni: And Dave, let me ask you about how do you take all these, I mean what Rick said, what Barry said, how do you design a publication for members as opposed to the general audience out there, or is there no difference?

Dave Zylstra: No, that’s a great question. I do definitely take into account our members. Our members are basically our core demographic, trying to think and trying to tap into their minds what they want to see.

So I actually, when I started, I sat down with my folks who are kind of a little older than our core demographic, but I sat down with them to see what magazines they’re reading, what they’re looking at, and what they want to see, and use that and glean some of that info to try to put that into the layout of the magazine. Also, using past issues, seeing what we’ve been doing, trying to update a little bit a more current design aesthetic. But really just hopefully trying to tap into what our demographic wants to see in the magazine, and hopefully inspire them to want to keep flipping the pages and keep reading it.

Samir Husni: Rick, hearing what Dave said about listening to the members, and you just did a survey which had a big, huge response from the members. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Rick Danforth: I was not surprised at the response as much as Jim was, because our members are very, very engaged, and I know that because every time I would meet members out at various events, the first thing they would say is, thank you for TOPS News. And I say, that’s okay. I tell them about the staff, and how Barry and Dave put it together.

I just stay out of their way. I provide content, and I get out of their way. But they say, this is the best issue ever, and I’m thinking, yeah, you’re right. I don’t know how they’re going to top this, and each time they keep on topping the previous one. So that tells me our members are engaged on what Barry and Dave are doing.  As far as Barry making decisions on what goes in the issue, and how Dave portrays it so that it’s appealing to their eyes and catches them, and they can have that, bring that magazine to a meeting to help their discussions.

Samir Husni: So has it been a walk in a rose garden?  Any challenges, or it is just a walk in the rose garden?

Rick Danforth: Nothing’s perfect. There’s always challenges, for example, our Canadian members saying, how come there weren’t enough Canadian stories in this particular issue? But there’s that balance that we try to provide all the way across. Another challenge if it’s a special theme issue that we might not have a Canadian angle into it. Others probably want more than six issues a year, but that’s our program right now.

But no serious challenges that we couldn’t fix.

Samir Husni: Barry, if you look at the images, the cover,  I know it’s a reflection of the members, but is it in any way, shape, or form a hindrance? For example, like entering a national magazine awards, or competing with the magazines that are out there that put a different image on their cover?

Barry Gantenbein:  When Dave talked about listening to our members, we rely on them for a lot of story ideas, and also for photos.

A large element of TOPS News is the member contributions. So that does definitely affect the scope of things, and the way we approach things. As far as the covers, we again talked about balance, and we try to have a balance.

We want to have balance between basically food, which is a huge part of the magazine, obviously, and then member photos. So we try to balance that, and balance where people are from. Like Rick had mentioned, our Canadian members, we always try to have at least one Canadian member featured in every story.

And then as one way to let our Canadian friends know that they are in the magazine, we started putting a red maple leaf in the TOC next to the Canadian stories. So when people say, hey there’s no Canadian stories, we’re like, there’s three in there. I can tell you that right now just by looking at those little maple leaves that are there.

So I think balance is a good way to describe what we’re trying to accomplish, and our approach to the magazine. It’s a balancing act. And do you consider TOPS News as a pioneer in the reader-generated content? Oh, I don’t know.

Like Dave said, my main goal is to provide information and make it entertaining. It has to be interesting. Dave and I both came from newspapers, and that overriding approach to newspapers was — no boring stories. There has to be a reason to engage with the magazine, and that’s what I’m trying to accomplish with every issue is to engage our members as fully as possible.

Samir Husni: And Dave, do you think this is easier or harder? I mean, having to deal with submitted photography, having to deal with submitted articles and…

Dave Zylstra:  It’s harder. It’s been a challenge because not everyone understands high resolution. Not everyone understands what makes a good photo.  And then, so just like accepting photos, sometimes it is a stab to the heart a little bit, like, couldn’t you have not taken that photo with all the stuff in the background.

So, but it is what it is, you know. We don’t have the budget nor the resources to go out and have professionals take every photo we need. So we are at the mercy of our members.

So it does.  Definitely it is a challenge sometimes working with what we are sent. It’s a challenge I fully accept. At first I was like, oh man, what am I going to do with this? Because coming from, like Barry said, newspaper backgrounds, we’re using nice professional photos.

So coming here, at first, it was definitely a challenge. I mean, it still is a challenge. But I can only use what I have. I try to make them look good.

Barry Gantenbein:  And also Dave serves as our staff photographer. Dave is an excellent photographer. We have members come in for, workouts in the magazine. We’ll have members come in to do the workouts. And Dave will be the photographer for the workouts.

Dave also is a photographer for the food shoots, for the recipes. So, when we have our transformations issue, where we honor the members who lost the most weight, we will hire professional photographers to take their portraits. So it’s a mixture of submitted stuff and professional photographs.

Samir Husni: So, Rick, Barry and Dave came from a journalism background and newspaper. You came from a microbiology background. How do you fit in the organization, you’re the president of this company, but what led you to be part of this organization?

Rick Danforth: Well, first, I was a member. Well, this week, I’ll be a member 23 years. And as I got into the organization and saw the benefits of it, it really helped me a lot. I lost 30% of my weight and I maintained about a 15% loss because it’s a struggle and it’s a disease. So when I left the world of microbiology, a lot of my friends were surprised.

And I said, why would you be surprised? I’ve been fighting various diseases for other folks. Obesity is disease. Now I got a chance to help a lot more people to battle this dreaded disease.So it was a natural fit for me. And I was involved in town politics and other things and trainings for the laboratory works. So it was a natural fit.I love getting on the stage and talking about TOPS to our members and non-members.

Samir Husni: So if you and I are having this conversation a year from now, what would you tell me that TOPS News with the new advertising acceptance have accomplished in this 2025?

Rick Danforth: A year from now, what I would be telling you is that it would help with our revenue stream so we can provide more services to our members. And that’s the main goal.

Samir Husni: The question that I have to ask always is, is there anything I failed to ask that you would like to ask ?

Barry Gantenbein:  I’m thinking I’m used to doing the interviews, not being interviewed. So this is kind of an unusual spot for me. So that you didn’t ask.

I guess what I would say about the magazine, and that we’ve tried to do, is to make it a little more informal and make it more personal. That’s one thing that our members talk about. They said, since it’s become more personal and we use their first names, it’s Paula. It’s not Mrs. Livingston or Livingston. It’s Paula. And just be, I think that helps to forge a sense of community by making it more informal and more.

And one of the things that I like to explore more themes in the magazine. One of the main themes to me is after a while people figure out what works for them, but then why don’t we do what we know is good for us? We, after a while you figure out what sort of diet and what sort of exercise program you enjoy or works for you, but then sometimes people just don’t do it. Why is that? That’s something that we continually explore.

And I think that’s what makes it interesting because that’s an individual thing.

Samir Husni: So my typical last two questions are more on the personal side. If I come to visit you one evening unannounced, what do I catch you doing? Watching TV, reading a book, cooking, having a glass of wine?

Rick Danforth: You’ll catch me at my desk working. And I’ve been told I’m doing that too much. They just want me to slow down a little bit. I eat with my wife.

Barry Gantenbein:  I’m really lucky to have a wife who’s an excellent cook. So if you showed up in the evening, you’d probably be served pretty nice meals. I like to read and I would probably be reading later in the evening.

Samir Husni: And on paper or tablet?

Barry Gantenbein:  Both. I do, I use a tablet, but there some books that I just like hard copy. If it’s got a lot of pictures, I like hard copy. If it is a novel, I can definitely read it on a tablet.

Samir Husni: Dave?

Dave Zylstra: That’s a great question. I have a lot of interests. I’m doing a lot of things, but on the average night, I’m usually cooking for my family.

I have two teenage daughters and I kind of am the house chef. So, with two teenage daughters, I feel like their childhood is fleeting and our family is fleeting.  I’m trying, my wife and I are making a very concerted effort to spend as much time with them as we can right now.

So spending time in the kitchen with food and dinner. And then I do a lot of painting, so there’s a good chance I’ll be doing some painting after dinner. Maybe watching a movie with my wife. Pretty domesticated at the moment.

Samir Husni: My final typical question is, Rick, what keeps you up at night these days?

Rick Danforth: Wow. I worry a lot. So I’m always trying to figure out different scenarios where if this problem hits, I got this thing. So it’s just making sure that everybody has what they need to do their job.

And you know, the expression is lonely at the top. I got support, but it does still keep me up at night.

Barry Gantenbein:  I would say just trying to figure out how to get things done. We have limited staff, so I rely on a lot of freelancers and friends of friends to do things for us. I’m always trying to figure out how we can get a story written or who can write a story for us or I joke that every single person that I know eventually ends up working for the magazine in some aspect, and that’s actually pretty true. We just signed a guy who’s a science writer, and he’s a former coworker of mine from newspaper days.

We signed a therapist to write for us, and she’s a friend of my wife. We’ve got an illustrator who went to high school with my daughter. These are the freelancers, and we’ve got just people that are friends of past staffers that believe in TOPS and work for us.

I’m always trying to figure out. I’m like a talent scout trying to figure out who can write and who can illustrate and who can help us out in any way and is willing to do it for little money. So that’s what keeps me up at night.

Samir Husni: What keeps you up at night, Barry, is TOPS.

Dave Zylstra: I love that.  It’s always on Barry’s mind. This might sound bad, TOPS doesn’t keep me up at night.  So that’s my answer is two teenage daughters.

You know, we recently, my older daughter is a junior in high school, so we recently started talking about college and basically financing college. It’s usually some type of money type of concerns, which I think is pretty standard, and very specifically like money for college. My younger daughter is talking about going to parochial school, so she did get some scholarship money for that, but also, so usually it’s some type of money.

And  I should just say, my folks are getting up in age and their health isn’t the greatest.

Samir Husni:  Thank you all for this conversation.