Wendy Goodman has worked with the best of the best. “Carrie Donovan, Anna Wintour, Nancy Novogrod, Dominique Browning, Adam Moss, Caroline Miller—all the people that have been my bosses, so to speak, are also, in very strong ways, mentors,” she tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast. “I never could have done any of this without the help and the hand of all of them. People cannot work in a vacuum. They need to have a community that they really feel part of.”

Goodman got her start in the publishing world as an assistant to Wintour at Harper’s Bazaar, eventually becoming a fashion editor for New York magazine. She ended up leaving the fashion world behind and diving headfirst into design with two stints at House & Garden before returning to New York in 1997, where she has been ever since, now serving as design director for the magazine and Curbed. “Timing is so important in one’s career,” she says. “I was scared of many of the opportunities I was given, but I knew I had to say yes, and challenge myself and overcome the fear of failing.”

Her signature as an editor is to look beyond homes that are simply beautiful, and to publish unique projects by professionals and amateurs alike. In her work, she leaves judgment at the door and leads with a curious mind. Sometimes that leads to snarky comment sections. “If I [feature] an apartment that shows people have money, I get blasted,” says Goodman. “If I show an apartment where it’s more modest, you can also get blasted. In fashion, when I used to show expensive clothes, I’d say, ‘Look, you go to a museum, you see a Picasso, you learn about artists and about the range of the work. It doesn’t mean you can own a Picasso.’ I think it’s the same in interiors. It’s not about you living there. It’s about how this person loves to live like that. At the end of the day, taste and design are very subjective.”

Crucial insight: Over her decades-long career, Goodman has seen many shifts in technology, especially in recent years. “I grew up where things were not changing that rapidly,” she says. “When a fax machine came into the office—that was a big deal. It wasn’t that a fax machine came in on Monday, and then Tuesday, there was some kind of weird robot in the office. You had time to adjust, and now you have no time to adjust. It’s like, ‘Oh, just learn this now.’ My brain isn’t trained like that. The way that we have to turn on a dime is unnerving for everyone, but it’s something that we have to get used to.”

Key quote: “People are always interested in home. It is the only place they can control in their life; they can put what they want in it. They may not have the money to do exactly what they want, but it is their own little nest. [That] place that is yours, for your family, for your dogs, for your animals. It never goes away—the interest in that, and the obsession that people have.”

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

The Thursday Show

Host Dennis Scully and BOH executive editor Fred Nicolaus discuss the biggest news in the design world, including a high-profile hire, Williams-Sonoma’s AI ad deal, and why the uber-affluent are spending big on home security. Later, Havenly CEO Lee Mayer joins the show to talk about her acquisition of design platform The Expert.

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