After nearly eight months with Livingly Media, the parent company of three-year-old Lonny magazine, the two founders, editor in chief Michelle Adams and lead photographer Patrick Cline, will be stepping down at the end of March to work on other projects.
Adams will introduce readers to her replacement, executive editor Irene Edwards, in her next editor's letter video, and will be working with her through the transition. Edwards came to Lonny this week from Travel + Leisure where she was special projects editor. She has also served as executive editor at both Sunset and 7x7.
Michelle Adams, Irene Edwards
Adams will announce her next move at the end of the month, while Cline is working on a new application called UPLO. "Michelle and Patrick are entrepreneurs at heart and we knew that at the acquisition," said Tony Mamone, co-founder and CEO of Livingly Media. "That's why this is so friendly a transition."
Lonny was aquired by Livingly last July, and has since grown its readership from 250,000 to over 1,000,000 visits per month, making the comScore top 20 in the shelter category list—passing Remodelista and Design Sponge. Lonny's tablet app is ranked #15 in the 'Home & Garden' category of iTunes' Newsstand with a 4+ star rating and is among the top ranked independent titles in the category.
“It’s amazing to see how Lonny has thrived since joining Livingly,” said Adams. “I’m tremendously proud of having created a brand that resonates so deeply with our readers, and am excited to see it develop and grow under leadership that cares about the brand as much as I do.”
“I’ve been a huge fan of Lonny since its first issue and have always admired its mission to showcase inspiring, attainable design ideas in a cutting-edge digital format,” said Edwards. “I can’t wait for readers to see the innovative features we’re working on now that will take Lonny to the next level.”
Edwards is already in recruiting mode, hiring fulltime and contract staff and ramping up content for the website, where the bulk of the growth has been.
“Our strategy with the Lonny acquisition was to use Livingly’s tech platform to distribute Lonny’s incredible content to a much larger audience, and it’s working,” said Mamone. “I’d like to personally thank Michelle Adams for her vision and commitment to creating the Lonny brand. I’m also grateful to Michelle for leading the search for our new and amazing executive editor, Irene Edwards. We look forward to continued growth under Irene’s leadership.”
Livingly Media, which also owns Stylebistro and Zimbio, has raised $14 million since it launched six years ago from venture partners including Menlo Ventures, Draper Richards and Great Oaks Capital.
