Baby has just arrived, and most mothers crave sleep, a hot bath and a dinner that doesn’t resemble the end of a cafeteria food fight. “Cookie,” the newest entrant to the parenting magazine realm, aims to help women regain their former stylish selves.
This high-end magazine from Conde Nast sells for $3.50. Pilar Guzman, the magazine’s 35-year-old editor, talks about her most recent offspring.
Q: How is “Cookie” different from other “parenting” magazines out there?
A: The parenting category, as we all know, is well-populated by magazines that provide the abc’s of child rearing. As a lifestyle magazine for parents, Cookie’s goal is to address physical, emotional development and social behavioral concerns, as well as integrate inspiring, original ideas for travel, home, apparel and gear as they pertain to families.
Q: The magazine is heavy on product ideas, including $143 for girls’ jeans, $110 for boys’ pajamas, and $484 for mom’s white cashmere coat. Who is your target market?
A: Our reader is a busy and discerning parent who is interested first and foremost in her family’s wellbeing. She is also interested in maintaining a sense of style in all areas of her life. We believe that being a good parent and maintaining your sense of style are not mutually exclusive. While we are among the only parenting magazines that cover more upscale products, we include a range of prices from mass retailers, as well. We believe this mix of price points reflects the way our reader shops in all areas of her life.
Q: When you hired writers and editors, how did you explain to them what you wanted to achieve?
A: We assume that our reader is a conscientious nurturing parent, that she is well-informed, that she wants only the best information, resources, and safest products for her family. We also think she wants to do things a little bit differently. Whether she works or stays at home, the Cookie reader is parentally agnostic: a modern, thinking person who weighs a bunch of influences when making any decision for her family.
She is creative in her approach to all areas of her life. Just like she doesn’t dress herself or her child in any one particular brand or style of clothing, she doesn’t affiliate exclusively with any one particular school of child-rearing (Dr. Sears vs. Dr. Spock; family bed vs. the Ferber sleep-training method). Knowing that she is harder on herself than any parenting manual could ever be, we are interested in giving moms permission to consider themselves – their tastes, their interests, their wanderlust, their relationships – in the parenting equation. We encourage her to maintain her sense of style, adventure, and curiosity, and believe that this will, in the end, make for raising healthy happy kids. Happy parents, happy kids.
Q: Have your experiences been translated into the magazine?
A: I have a 2-year-old son named Henry. As you can imagine, so many ideas in the magazine come directly from the writers’ and editors’ lives with children. As far as the overall tone and approach that this magazine takes, the inspiration came early on when I was pregnant. As soon as I knew I was having a baby, I ran to the bookstore and newsstand and picked up everything I could get my hands on. As I started poring over the recommended reading, I found myself feeling terrified by the words. Whereas the gathering and digesting of information in any other area has always had a calming effect, parenting was one arena where I found that it didn’t.
I realized that I wasn’t alone, that so many new mothers or mothers-to-be had a similar reaction to the literature that was out there. The consensus among many of my friends and colleagues was that the information in and of itself was good, but the presentation seemed not to resonate with our lives, and, worse, it seemed to prey on our native fears rather than serving to allay them.
Q: What are your favorite features in the magazine?
A: Nearly impossible to choose. If I didn’t love them all, they wouldn’t have made it into the magazine. I think the first birthday party is a signature story for us. It shows mom how to celebrate her child’s first birthday, as well as her re-entry into the adult world, with a no-cook, order-it-all-online spread. The idea is to give her the tools to elevate her entertaining style, as well as make it really easy. The story is as beautiful as it is packed with very usable and attainable service.
Q: What single piece of advice would you give to new mothers out there?
A: As hard as is (for moms especially), don’t forget yourself. Taking care of yourself, whatever that means to you, will in the end make you a better parent and role model to your children.
