Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Shertzer.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My husband Luke and I are both graphic designers by trade; we actually met in college in art school. We moved from Louisiana to Dallas in 2000 to pursue careers. Luke started a graphic design company in Dallas that he stills owns. I worked at a few different jobs as a designer, illustrator, art director. In 2012, I was working in the corporate world as a Senior Art Director for a fashion retailer, and I was burnt out, like really, really burnt out. I just walked into my cubicle one day and, out of the blue, thought to myself, “I’m done.” Which actually surprised both me and my husband because I’m a big-time pre-planner. I don’t do anything unless it’s well thought out.
I took a few months to just breathe, but I quickly got bored. I’m not very good at relaxing. So I tried to figure out what made me happy, and that was photography. I had been taking photos since I was a little kid, and I studied photography a little bit in college, but I decided to learn more. I studied, read books, took online courses, and then really swallowed my pride and asked to intern for a magazine in Dallas. I totally sucked in the beginning. But I tried to shoot every day and make these little challenges for myself to get better. I really enjoyed shooting for the magazine and meeting different people at every shoot. I thought, why can’t I do this in Plano?
All the while, my husband Luke and I had said to ourselves for years, “Man, we should start a magazine here in Plano.” We didn’t feel like there were any media for us in Plano that fit our lifestyle. When we moved to Plano in 2004, it was very, shall we say, Applebee’s. But around 2013, it was getting much cooler. We didn’t have to drive to Dallas anymore to go out. We had places like Whiskey Cake and 1418 Coffeehouse.
I wanted to know where the artsy people were in town, the ethnic eateries, the mom-and-pop shops, the hidden gems, but I couldn’t find it in print or online. There was nothing online about Plano at the time… just nothing. Moving from Dallas, we wanted something for Plano like Guidelive is for Dallas. We wanted to be able to look at our phones on a Friday night and see what there was going on in Plano. We couldn’t find what we wanted, so we created it.
Because we have been working in the creative field since 2000, we had made a lot of super talented friends in Dallas and Plano: writers, editors, creative directors, photographers, etc. And Luke has a longtime client in the magazine business who gave us all the practical financial advice. So in the beginning, when we had absolutely no idea what we were doing, we relied on the help of our friends to get the magazine going. We did all the design work and website work ourselves; I was writing the stories (very poorly, I admit) and shooting all the pics.
I asked my designer friends to critique our work from the beginning so we didn’t look like fools! I asked my writer friends to write some of the stories for free, and they did, and I will always love them for that. Pretty soon, people started taking us seriously. I think because our product looked good. After running Plano Magazine online for about a year, we made the jump to print in November 2015. It was a little scary, but we figured it was now or never. We knew we had to try or we’d always regret it.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We work a lot just like every other business owner does, but I think creative people have it extra hard. I feel like I know why Van Gogh cut off his ear – creating things, especially art, can make you crazy. I’m a type A personality, so nothing is ever good enough to me. I pick my work apart constantly.
Learning the ins and outs of the magazine business, and how to sell your product, has been interesting. We would never have made it without the help of our mentors who have been in this business for a long time.
Another thing that’s been tough for me is being somewhat in the public eye. Sometimes people make hurtful comments on social media or even in emails or phone calls because I believe they see the magazine as a product instead of an actual human being. I have learned the hard way to try not to take it personally. I always try to do what I think is right and ethical, and if you don’t like it, then I guess that’s too bad.
Please tell us about Plano Magazine.
I like to believe that Plano Magazine puts visuals on as high a pedestal as the stories. What I mean is that plenty of free, local magazines have decent stories but boring design and average photography. It’s obvious that many of them pay someone to run out and take pics with a camera phone. We knew from the beginning that if we were going to invest in the paper to print a magazine, we wanted it to be like a coffee table book.
People have been saying for years that print is dead or dying, but I do believe that my generation will purchase and display things that they see as art objects. That’s why from the beginning our covers have had no type, used bright colors and haven’t featured typical magazine cover photography, like someone’s face. We want them to be intriguing, like little art pieces. I love when I see all our covers in a row, I always say they look like Skittles.
I am most proud of the creative team we have assembled to create the magazine. It blows me away that we are so lucky to work with such talented people. When we first started delivering the magazine to homes in Plano and dropping them off at local businesses, we slowly started getting calls and emails from writers and photographers who wanted to work with us because they liked our product, liked that it was so different for this area. I really can’t believe how talented some of them are, and they’re the reason our magazine has been successful.
I’m also proud of the Art & Wine Walks we helped start in Downtown Plano. It was just a small idea we had to bring more foot traffic to downtown while at the same time getting our name out there, and with the help of a few brilliant people in Downtown Plano, it has really grown into something much larger and cooler than I ever dreamed of. I have always loved history and old buildings, and the fact that we can support small business owners and local artists while showing off our city’s historic district is just the coolest thing to me.
Another thing I’m incredibly proud of is the fact that we get to tell the stories of seemingly average Plano residents who are really doing amazing things and changing our city. I remember that when our first issue came out, someone told me that they felt like I had a made a magazine for them, not the hoity-toity crowd, but for everyday people. That made me feel so good. It’s great to be wealthy and powerful and well-connected, but there are also people out there quietly doing great things in Plano.
Contact Info:
- Website: planomagazine.com
- Email: editor@planomagazine.com
Photo by Todd Rice
Photo by Emilee Prado at Old Community Well
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