“What does Luxe mean for you?” That’s the question Jill Cohen asked on her listening tour for the shelter magazine where she took over as editor in chief last year. The former design book agent traveled to all the regions that Luxe covers to meet with her local editorial staff, advertising partners and designers and get a sense of their needs and interests. “Part of the DNA of Luxe is that we are across the country in a very immersive way. Unlike other magazines, we see and publish an enormous amount of material that’s not just East [and] West Coast,” she tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast. “I felt like I needed to get to know all of these regions and the vibe, the economy, the superstars and the rising stars.”

A year into her position, the former publishing consultant has made her mark, preserving the ethos of Luxe—a designer-first approach with national scale and regional depth—while breaking some of the magazine’s unspoken rules along the way. She asked her team if they had to publish images of the primary bedroom or the kitchen for every project. “The more I thought about it, the more I thought, ‘If it’s not the best work of the designer, who says we have to show that?’” she says. “The more I give myself permission to play with what I thought was the best of the best, the better the stories are getting.”

Elsewhere in the episode, Cohen shares her thoughts on what is and isn’t working in design media, why she revamped the magazine’s cover page, and the impact she hopes to make on the industry.

Crucial insight: Cohen is aware of the challenge of delivering for two audiences—consumers and the trade—who don’t always want the same thing. But, by diving into the granular details of the projects they feature (down to the faucets), she says Luxe can both inspire and educate. “How many interior designers have said, ‘Oh, I’m self-taught’? Where are they learning? They’re learning from the inspiration of pictures, listing product, reading stories of how a house came together. … They’re learning from the materials we put out,” she says. “[Design] books are great, but it takes two years to do a book. Magazines are like, ‘How are people living right now?’ And I think that’s what’s so fantastic about magazines.”

Key quote: “We’re not a fantasy book, and I think that is a really important role to have for the whole design community and for the readers. Fantasy is fun, but it’s not that practical. I want people to feel like they never want to miss an issue because they’re really getting something out of it.”

This episode is sponsored by Ernesta and Ethan Allen. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The Thursday Show

BOH executive editor Fred Nicolaus and host Dennis Scully discuss the biggest news in the industry, including an update on the Burke Decor drama, bankruptcy for The Container Store, and a flurry of M&A deals kicking off the new year. Later, Jonathan Adler joins the show to discuss his company’s recent acquisition by Consortium Brand Partners.

This episode is sponsored by Kohler and Loloi. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.