Photo by Terry Allen

I had worked at a consulting firm where Reader’s Digest was my client, so I got to learn a lot about the business and the people prior to joining the first time.

Thankfully, I was not there during either of the company’s two bankruptcies. I left in 2007 and returned in 2014—in large part to drive the turnaround. I knew the brands were still very strong in the mind of the consumer and, with the right team, that we could rebuild the company.

I was very clear in the interview process that the name of the company had to change. If your name is Reader’s Digest, you’re always in a defensive posture to say, “Well, we’re not just Reader’s Digest.”

I met with about 100 people and asked them what the company was good at, what needed to change, and why they stayed. Because what makes somebody stay through two bankruptcies? There’s something to learn from that.

One of my first hires was someone to lead the digital transformation. Without exaggeration, we actually rebuilt every single technical system in this company.

The other part was rebuilding our customer database. That was particularly heartbreaking, because Reader’s Digest was one of the first companies to have a database in the United States. It was the crown jewel. We can now say we have a best-in-class tech stack and tech team.

The magazine’s current readership is 13,091,000. It is the third-largest monthly, paid magazine in the United States—and we’re going to turn 100 in February. Our web properties reach 41.4 million unique visitors monthly and 18 million social fans and followers.

There are some things that actually have to be done sequentially. For people like me and many other leaders, when you want to move quickly, sometimes you just can’t. You have to fix the fundamentals and build upon them. That’s something I learned along this journey.

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