Page 25 - 914INC - Q1 2016

our only large brand,” she says. “This is a much more respectful way to talk about all of our brands.”
But orchestrating that change, and the others to come, required a deft touch from Kintzer. “Many of the em- ployees here had been through a lot,” recalls Liz Vaccariello, Reader’s Digest editor-in-chief and chief content officer.
Fortunately, Kintzer—who dreamed of being either a psychologist or diplo- mat while growing up—wasn’t lacking in the people skills to pull it off.
“One of the first things Bonnie did when she came was meet with the top 100 people at the company,” says Vaccariello. “She had half-hour, one-on-one conversations with 100 employees in New York, White Plains, and Milwaukee.” The fact that Kintzer had worked at the company previously was key. “She knew our brand. She trusted our content. She understood a lot about our business and our customers,” Vaccariello says, “but she wanted to get to know the people who were running things to- day. She spent a lot of time connecting with people on a personal level.” The employees, she adds, “appreciate being heard, and she understands that.”
The 54-year-old Kintzer has steered this transformation of Trusted Me- dia Brands while also going through big personal changes. Seven months ago, the Stamford resident remarried, to architect Eric Baker. “We met on eHarmony, which everyone loves,” she says.
Each brought children from pre- vious marriages. Kintzer’s daughter Stephanie, 26, works in San Francis- co for a nonprofit that helps people re-enter the workforce, and Danielle, 24, also lives in Stamford, working in sales for a recruiting firm. “I’m super-close with my daughters,” Kintzer says. “They are a very big part of my life.”
Baker also has two children, Adam and Anna, and has contrib- uted two rescue dogs to the family, Ammo and Sammi, who now live alongside Kintzer’s pug, Zoe.
“Life is wonderful,” says Kintzer, the daughter of a salesman father and secretary mother from Brooklyn. “I’m very grateful.”
Though Kintzer is a long-time Stamford resident, today she spends much of her time at her White Plains office and can often be found trying
out new restaurants in Port Chester. To unwind, she takes Vinyasa yoga classes and participates in a book club. She has also been very active in the Stamford chapter of Friendship Circle International, a Jewish charity that promotes inclusion of children with special needs by matching them with teenage volunteers. “It’s a brilliant idea, to sensitize teenagers to the needs of special-needs children,” says Kintzer, whose daughters have both volunteered with the group.
Kintzer’s sensitivity to others has
introduced Taste of Home Online Cooking School in October 2014. This past April, it launched The Family Handyman DIY University.
Connecting Through Events
Another big push has been hold- ing live events to connect readers to the company’s publications. Trusted Media Brands has held more than 200 Taste of Home Cooking School classes across the US, Kintzer says. At the same time, in a partnership with The Moth, Reader’s Digest has been holding
“I’m not afraid to be the drill sergeant when it’s needed. People know I’m very passionate but I have very high expectations. I expect a lot out
of myself, and my people.”
been important at Trusted Media Brands, where she has had to quickly decipher exactly how to grab readers’ attention from the many digital dis- tractions vying for it.
“Our competition is everything a consumer can spend time with on their phone,” Kintzer explains. “We have to understand this mobile envi- ronment is here to stay, is very pow- erful and will continue to grow.”
To do that, she has spearheaded new Trusted Media Brands initia- tives like subscriptions to online classes, which have created a new source of revenue for the company. EnrichU, the firm’s education arm,
live storytelling events in 19 cities. The Moth Radio Hour, which airs on 460 radio stations, has built a nationwide following for its story slams. (Kintzer hopes both of these events will come to our area in 2016. “I’d love to do a Moth event and a Taste of Home cook- ing event here in Westchester. That’s on my to-do list,” she says.)
The company also introduced an advertising program new to the US this past fall. The Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand survey of more than 4,500 Americans awarded winners in 40 product categories from hair color to pet food with the “Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brand” title.
—Bonnie Kintzer, CEO, Trusted Media Brands
Q1 2016 www.westchestermagazine.com 23