Plum Magazine:
Building a National Publication
from a Single Insight
Role: Founder & Publisher — Concept, Business Development, Editorial Direction, Design Vision, Advertising, Operations
The situation
In the early 2000s, something was happening that the publishing industry hadn't caught up to yet. Women were having children later — educated, urban, professionally established women in their 30s and 40s who were becoming mothers for the first time. The magazines serving them were built for 20-somethings. The gap was obvious once you saw it. Yet, nobody had built anything for it.
“Rebekah is unstoppable when on a mission and proof is the birth of Plum. Her incredible drive to overcome obstacles is what makes her remarkable.”
Approach
I spent two years building before a single issue went to print.
The first year was the foundation — developing the business plan and securing a partnership with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which gave Plum immediate credibility in the health space and set it apart from every other lifestyle title on the market. The second year was spent selling advertising, building relationships with Fortune 500 brands before there was a product to show them.
Plum launched in 2004 as a national semi-annual magazine — 200+ pages of editorial and advertising, part glossy lifestyle title, part pregnancy health handbook for women 35 and older. We distributed 500,000 copies a year.
I ran the business end to end. I hired an Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor and worked closely with the EIC on editorial direction. On the design side I provided the creative vision, collaborating closely with our graphic designer and later partnering with the legendary publication design studio of Milton Glaser and Walter Bernard — whose work had shaped some of the most iconic magazines in American publishing history.
The advertising roster included Volvo, Bayer, Guardian Life, and other Fortune 500 brands who recognized that Plum's audience — affluent, educated, older mothers — was exactly who they needed to reach.
“Rebekah had a clear vision for the magazine, which is always key for getting a good design. ”
The outcome
Plum ran for nine issues over five years, generating $1.5 million in annual advertising revenue at its peak. It was covered in the New York Times, Time, US News & World Report, and Crain's New York Business — recognized as a first-of-its-kind editorial product meeting a genuine unmet need. It won communications awards and earned a loyal readership among exactly the audience it was built for.
Plum closed in 2009 as the financial crisis reshaped the magazine industry. But what it proved was more durable than the publication itself: that a single insight, rigorously pursued, can become a national brand.