Episode #53 - Ellen Carpenter, Editor in Chief, Hemispheres

Hanna (2:00)
Hi, Ellen, welcome to the show! So nice to see you!

Ellen (2:10)
Thank you so much for having me.

Hanna (2:17)
It's a very special episode because I used to work for United Airlines for almost six years in their marketing department. So having you on board today is very special, so thanks for being on our show. So let's start at the beginning of your journalism journey. Did you always dream of becoming a writer when you were growing up?

Ellen (2:30)
Yeah, I think I kind of did. I grew up in a small town in West Kentucky. And I had a really supportive Mom who, when I said I wanted to have a school paper, she was like, “Okay, I'll help you guys start a school paper.”

And I started doing that in middle school and I think in the middle school paper in 8th grade, I wrote that I wanted to be a theater critic and live in New York City and write for the New York Times. And then in college I studied journalism. I went to Northwestern, which has a great undergrad journalism program. 

In my junior year I interned at New York Magazine and it was one of those dream internships where it was everything I always wanted to do and I got to meet amazing people and learn and see a lot of theater and eat at amazing restaurants and go out every night. And so then when I graduated, they hired me back as a fact checker and that's kind of how I started my career in New York.

Michael (3:44)
So what would you say you like most about writing?

Ellen (3:47)
I think for me, it's storytelling. I love being entertained. I love stories. I love people's stories, whether it's about food or it's a hotel, or it's an actor. To me, it's always about the person behind it and how they made this moment, you know? And so that's what really, really inspires me.

Hanna (4:08)
So you’ve been Editor-in-Chief at Hemispheres for almost five years. What does it take to be Editor-in-Chief. 

Ellen (4:11)
Well, I mean, I think what makes these things, you have to be obviously good at your job. You have to be a good writer to be a good editor. Um, you have to really be able to manage different personalities really well. 

I think, especially like working in a job like this, because obviously I'm making a magazine for readers, but I'm also making it for a client. So I have to keep them happy too. And so, yeah, managing everyone's expectations, being able to please a lot of people, but also push them in the right direction. Uh, you need a lot of confidence and you also need to know when you're wrong and really kind of surround yourself with people who are going to push you and make you think differently, but also, you know, encourage you too.

Michael (4:55)
What would you say your day-to-day looks like? You know what, what's a typical day in the life, if there is one?

Ellen (5:00)
Yeah, I don't know if there is, I mean, everyday obviously involves writing and editing for sure. But some days are spent more, responding to pitches and responding to emails. Other days are spent really diving into like an edit of a 3000 word feature. 

Going over every single line, getting it perfect. Some days I'm out meeting people on appointments, and talking with writers and talking with publicists and going out to eat and doing all that fun stuff. And some days I'm traveling, you know, so it really is great because it is a job that's filled with variety. You're never just sitting in front of your desk.

Hanna (5:41)
Yeah, just like our job, you know, writing and talking and meeting and traveling and we are lucky people. So, tell us about Hemispheres and what should our listeners know about it? And then we'll see if you can walk us through the various section of the magazine.

Ellen (5:54)
For sure. So Hemispheres is the United Airlines magazine, it's published monthly. We're actually the only American airline magazine left, which is crazy. It's very sad. And I feel like a lot of them will come back because to me there's no better way to reach your audience than through an airline magazine, it’s a totally captive audience. And you know, we're in front of more than 12 million people every single month. That’s on every single United flight all over the world, like no one has that kind of audience. That's pretty amazing. So for us, like obviously travel is where it's at, travel and culture. I think that the hardest thing about Hemispheres, and the best thing, is that it has to appeal to everybody.

And so that can be challenging, but it also is great because you can cover everything. For us, obviously, we cover where United flies and United flies all over the world, but there are certain places they don't fly like Eastern Europe, for instance, or Morocco. So the main thing I think when people are pitching, you always try to remind them, like, look at the route map, see where we actually go to that.

So the magazine is broken down into sections. The first section, the front of book is called the Navigator section, and that's really focused on what's new. And for us, some people obviously are traveling every single week, every single day. And so we really focus on new there because you don't want to talk about something that's been around for a long time because the traveler may have already seen it. They want to be surprised, you know. People are curious to what's new and that can inspire you to go discover other things that are there. And we can talk about those places within that story. 

But the front of book really does focus on new new restaurants and hotels, new experiences, new adventures, new stores, new, you know, graphic designers and interior designers and, uh, all kinds of stuff. And then we have our mid-book section called Diversions, and that really is the finger focus on culture. And that can be anything. Actors and actresses and musicians to business leaders and big thinkers and sports stars and athletics in general, and also design. And I have more of a culture and celebrity background, so I love that stuff like up and coming actors. And I love covering music whenever I can. So that is a place where we talk about those kinds of things. And often they do still relate to travel. 

So we, for instance, like for one of the pages we have is called The Scene and it looks at a film and where it's set and we take one moment and show where it was actually filmed.

And like that kind of thing I love because, obviously culture inspires travel and that’s a fun way to cover it. 

Um, our feature section obviously is always led by our cover story, Three Perfect Days. But so we have that and then we always have what we call a read feature, which usually is a personal trave story. And those to me are my absolute favorite things. We have one in this April issue, for instance, by Sarah Maslin Nir, a New York times Pulitzer Prize winning writer. She wrote about riding Icelandic horses and she, and a whole group of friends who ride horses here in New York, decided to fly together and do this amazing adventure for a week in Iceland with these horses which have a different shape and other horses, and they're smaller, they're like pony size almost. 

And she wrote about that experience. So having loved riding horses, all her life and in getting to try something new on a horse that feels totally different when you're riding it and getting to see Iceland in a way that you wouldn't normally, because you're riding on horseback, you're not just in a car. So like that kind of story to me is so rewarding. It's like those kind of stories I love because it's only that one person can tell that story. It's not like, oh, here's my guide to Sicily. No, it’s like have Laura Itzkowitz write about her honeymoon there and traveling.

Hanna (9:52)
Oh, that was lovely. I loved reading the story and not to mention, we love Laura.

Ellen (10:00)
And like, but that's the kind of story that we want to tell is where only Laura could tell that story, you know, but anybody could just be like here are 10 new places to go in Sicily, but having her really capture that little moment makes it so much more special. Um, and then we also have packaged features which are more servicey, but they are still fun and you can have fun with them. 

Like we do every year, our best new hotels package, which we just finished. And that's so much fun to put together to really sit there and pour over all the best hotels in the world. And like now I'm working on a family travel package about American adventures you can have with your family. Um, and so those kinds of packages are fun. They're servicey so they help people figure out where they want to go. So you kind of get the best of everything.

Hanna (10:44)
As you mentioned, many in-flight publications have sadly folded. So what accounts for hemispheres resilience?

Ellen (10:53)
Yeah, I think the main thing is that we were really smart and we pitched to the airline mailing home Hemispheres to United Frequent Flyers when the pandemic started. And they were like, that's a great idea. And it was like a lot to pull off cause we had to get permissions for getting mailing addresses and whatnot for everyone. But we did it. And so starting in August, 2020, we started mailing at home to United MileagePlus, Platinum or higher. And it was a huge success. Readers really liked it. 

We had like people writing us letters and thanking us because they knew exactly who they were reading. United loved it because they were still able to connect with their most important fliers. And you know, everybody knew like maybe right now, you're not going to go to Scotland. They're not going to go to Italy. You're still planning that future trip. We went back on planes in June of 2021, and it was really seamless. The only negative was that people who got it at home were emailing me, like, why can’t I still have it at home? I want both. Which was really nice to hear, but financially it didn't make sense.

Hanna (11:59)
I mean, I remember, the first trip since the pandemic started was, uh, last December to London. And of course we flew United Airlines, and a holding that Hemispheres magazine in my hand, it was just such a special feeling. I'm like, I miss this so much, and I was flipping through every single page.

Michael (12:22)
It’s just not the same without it. So what would you say makes a Hemispheres story, a Hemispheres story? 

Ellen (12:27)
I think it's different depending on the section. As I was talking about with the read features, I think that to me is what makes the best Hemispheres story, is really getting that personal pulling, this person can tell this story. I think how we approach it maybe makes it more Hemispheres. 

Then obviously, if we're writing about a new restaurant or new hotel, it's very likely it's going to be in T+L and it's going to be in Conde Nast Traveler as well. I think for us, if we can have a personal approach to it, that always makes it better. And even if it's a front of book story, that's not written in the first person, it's really important to me that people go to the places they're writing about, because I think that makes a difference in how the story is told. You know, really talking to people there and understanding and seeing the mosaic tiles in the kitchen, rather than just seeing a picture of it on the internet, you know, I think that kind of thing makes a big difference in how the story is told.

Michael (13:24)
So how often do you get to write articles for Hemispheres and what topics do you typically cover?

Hanna (13:31)
Yeah, we see quite a bit of a byline articles by you.

Ellen (13:32)
Well, that's one of the best things about being Editor-in-Chief is that you get to choose what you want to write. It depends on the issue. Like I'd say some issues I write two stories, some issues I write five. Sometimes they’re 300 words, sometimes they're 3000 words. So it kind of depends on what I'm interested in that month and what my bandwidth is. And I mentioned, I have like a celebrity background. I worked at Nylon and Rolling stone, and I can't help it. I love doing celebrity interviews. 

With Hemispheres I’ve interviewed Ethan Hawke. And this month I interviewed Matthew Broderick, like Michael J. Fox, all these people who I love and who are inspiring. So that's really fun for me. So I love doing those and I love interviewing up and coming people like we get Quinta Brunson from Abbott Elementary, like a couple months ago. She's great. 

And then for the other stuff, like, I love writing travel stories. So I love getting to write those. And I'm picky about which ones I do. And then there's two, like right now, coming up, I did a trip in the fall to Quebec with my mom. We did this Louise Penny pilgrimage and people who know about Louise penny will know, but she writes murder mysteries and they’re all set in this tiny fictional town in Quebec called Three Pines. So my mom and I went to find Three Pines. So getting to write that kind of fun, personal story to me is really rewarding.

Michael (14:56)
Let's circle back to Matthew Broderick for a second. You know, you also interviewed Brooke Shields on her new business venture, Beginning is Now. So how do these celebrity stories come about and do you find it, you know, very different interviewing celebrities versus regular folks.

Ellen (15:15)
I mean, celebrity stuff comes about mostly just based on when the projects are happening. And it's always great. Like, I love doing Broadway because that's a reason people travel. So if we can do an interview pegged to a Broadway show or pegged to a show on the West End or even kind of a movie that has a big travel component. I don't think there's a big difference between interviewing someone who’s a big time celebrity versus, uh, someone who, you know, runs a store or someone who is an amazing chef, because for me, it's always just the person and their personal story. 

So I might prepare a tiny bit more for a celebrity only because there's more out there to read, but I think the conversations are pretty similar 'cause you're really just trying to get to the essence of who they are, why they're doing, what they do and how they want people to experience what they're doing. 

You know, whether that's the food they're preparing at a restaurant or the movie they're making. I think that's, it's actually all the same thing. 

Hanna (16:11)
So given the United Airlines’ global reach, how large is your editorial staff, or how many freelancers do you work?

Ellen (16:20)
There's only two of us who are Editors on the magazine, me and Justin Goldman. And then we have an Art Director and a Photo Director, and Web Director in our Miami office. Me and Justin are just based in New York, out of our own little, tiny homes. And we have so many freelancers because you have to, if there's only two editors, we can't write everything. We have people who've written for us for years and years and years and people who pitched me out of the blue and start writing for us. So it's a really grea mixt.

Hanna (16:51)
So now that travel is back. Tell us about the Three Perfect Days. By the way, we really enjoyed reading the Almafi Coast cover story in our recent issue. So how do you choose the destination to feature?

Ellen (17:09)
So basically what happens is me and Justin, we go through, I'd say in the summer of the year, sort of starting maybe in like June. Um, we start thinking about the next year's list. And the first thing we do is we look back at the past and see how long it's been since we've done major cities, that's the first thing we think of, like how long has it been since we covered New York or London, or Houston. 

And then we look at big events. So what, maybe a place that's going to be the World Design capital, or maybe it's going to be a Queen's Jubilee, you know, or just a place that's having a moment. And then the next thing is new United routes, which sometimes aren't announced, that's usually the last thing cause we're waiting for United to see what their new locations are going to be. So for this year, we have a ton, which is exciting. And then of course you always want to have a mix. We want to have north America. We want to have Europe. We want to have South America. 

We want to have snow, we want to have urban, we want to have, you know, country, we want everything. And so it's, it gets a good collaborative process with the airline. And sometimes we end up swapping things in because they announce later, like they added in a lot of new routes, like we added the Canary Islands, that's going to be for June, but then we knew last year they launched Croatia. So we have that for July. So it's like mixed, you know, New York we have for August. We haven't done New York in like six years. It's fun. It's kind of like a puzzle to figure out.

Michael (18:36)
So another favorite part of magazine is the Away section. We really enjoy that. And we thank you so much for covering, uh, Popular restaurant at Ian Schrager’s PUBLIC. So talk to us about the section. What's the lead time for getting featured in it typically?

Ellen (18:54)
Generally, on average our lead time is three months. If it's something that's really seasonal, we might do that a whole year in advance, you know. But for a section like that, like obviously new is always great, but that's also, I think, a special place because we're able to also put places that aren't maybe brand new or are having a moment or had to redesign or maybe have a new chef or something that kind of adds to the story.

Michael (19:16)

So speaking about restaurants and bars, does everyone who writes about them for the magazine have to personally visit them?

Ellen (19:22)
Yeah. I mean, I'd say not a hundred percent, but yeah. Ideally, I mean, I think most people, when they pitch me, they pitched because they went somewhere. Sometimes, if it's a roundup, they might not go to all of them. So like coming up, we have one about Seltzers, Hard Seltzers that Stacy Lastoe wrote. And so she wrote about Seltzeries and I don't think she's been to all of the ones in the roundup, but if you go to one, then you can start to see a trend and you look for more. So I think that often happens.

Michael (19:41)
In the coming months, uh, what type of stories that will you be working on? And is there are any way, our listeners who are chefs, restaurant, hoteleliers, and pretty much everyone in our hospitality and travel industry can learn something from you and potentially pitch their stories?

Ellen (20:05)
Looking at Hemispheres in the front of book, especially the way it’s laid out, it’s pretty easy to pitch. So we have stories like The Meal, which is just a beautifully shot dish from a restaurant. And so if you're like a publicist or, you know, working in a restaurant that you know has gorgeous food, pitch me that! I would love to see, you know, photo examples and maybe a cool dish, or like maybe a chef that’s doing something really unique, but it also happens to look beautiful. 

And, um, we also do like, The Restaurant, which can be like a new restaurant or it could be a new design space. The Stay we always have in every issue, and that's a stay in a hotel, and that can be new or also a redesign. And I will say like, it has to be pretty. One thing we don't do as much as we used to pre-pandemic is we used to shoot a lot more of the pages ourselves. The front of the book now, we use a lot more pick-up than we used to. And because of that, we need people to supply really good imagery. So if you have an awesome hotel, but your photos don't look great, like probably not going to feature it, which is a nummer but especially with social media, things have to look really good. And an airline magazine, people are going to read the story if the photo looks really pretty.

Hanna (21:13)
Yeah, I agree. I mean the power of photography, I mean, it's is so much more important than ever. So, do all print stories make it online?

Ellen (21:24)
Not all of them, but I'd say most of them. We also have, the magazine is also available in
e-reader form. So anyone can go and flip through it online. But I'd say the majority of our stories are online. And oftentimes, if one's not, someone emails me and says, why is this online, I'll put it up.

Michael (21:42)
Very thoughtful. All right. So it's it's time for some sharing of secrets. So what would you say are the top three pointers you could give our listeners to get your attention and be considered as a source for your stories?

Ellen (21:59)
Um, I like well-written emails, that use my name and not someone else's name. I think just, it makes a difference to me if I can tell someone knows what magazine they're actually pitching, like if they know what Hemispheres is and where a story would fit, that makes a big difference.

 So if they're like, whether it's a writer or a publicist, or if they say like I have this great restaurant that would be perfect for The Meal, or I have a lovely story that would be a really beautiful profile, like that would work in this section or in this section. Like that, to me makes a big difference. Like not just this place is cool. I want to know why it's cool and why it works in our magazine specifically. And yeah, and also I like when there's a link and I like when there's a picture and then I can have it all at once. So I don't have to Google. I don't like when people tell me about something and there's no link for image. 

Hanna (22:44)
You mentioned well written email, but does that mean, does it have to be short and sweet or could it be long? Like give you everything you need to know?

Ellen (22:54)
Um, if it's long, maybe break it down into bullet points so it's easier to read, and lead with the most important stuff, for sure. I think generally most things can be done in a couple of paragraphs.

Hanna (23:07)
So with, you know, the world opening up, is it more specific venues or destination pitches coming to your way?

Ellen (23:16)
Yeah, like for instance, I've been getting a ton of South Africa pitches because United, we fly to South Africa and I think because people are starting to really go there again and they hadn't for so long. So we're getting that kind of story of like, oh, people haven't been to this place in a while and they're going to want to go, or like, especially with new routes, like Mallorca, or we're doing the Canary Islands. We’re getting a lot of pitches based on new routes like that, too.

Michael (23:41)
Going back to social media for a moment. Does Hemispheres’ social platforms have editorial independence or do they basically focus on places and talent that's are covered by the magazine?

Ellen (23:50)
No, it's both. Celia in our Miami office, she handles the social media and she does a really good mix, I think of the what's in the magazine. She also commissions stories for the site, so sometimes there's regional stories for the site that are on social media. And then they also do a lot of reels that are just really pretty, you know, inspiring photos, a lot of hotels that aren't necessarily from the magazines that are just nice traveling.

Hanna (24:14)
And we love the hashtag #Hemigram. So listeners, whenever you post something on your travel journey, always hashtag #Hemigram.

Ellen (24:29)
Yeah. The main thing which we're bringing back, we stopped doing this during the pandemic and now we’re starting to try and bring it back is, the #Hemigram was initially thought of up so people would take the magazine with them. Like, you can take it home. They'll put a new one in the seat back pocket. You can take it, take it with you. So when you go to like the Eiffel Tower, take a photo of yourself with your Hemispheres in front of the Eiffel Tower, and then we'll put it in the magazine. So please do that.

Hanna (24:51)
I mean, it's interesting that for years, when I started flying, I thought I was not supposed to take the magazine. So I felt bad when I try to put it in my bag. I felt like, is anybody looking? You know, but it's a great to know that anybody who's flying United Airlines can grab it, put it in your bag.

Michael (25:14)
So let's talk about the Reader's Choice Awards. We were very delighted that New York City won Best American Food City in 2021 and the Four Seasons Hotel in Hawaii won Best American hotel. So with 2022 starting in a couple of months, in terms of the voting, how, how is the list of possible choices narrowed down?

Ellen (25:36)
So voting starts in May, so that’ll be live May 1. We’re doing a shout out in that magazine too, that month, so people will know. So the first arrow of voting is write in, so anybody can go in and just write. We have the categories, I think it's 40 categories or close to 40 categories. Everything from Best Honeymoon Destination to Best Restaurant in New York City or to Best Hotel Bar, to Best State for Adventure, all kinds of great categories. And you don't have to fill out every single category. 

If you only feel passionate about five, just write in five. If you know you’re into all 40 then write all 40. Then what we do after is we tally all the votes up and see who, basically, is the top three or top five in the category. And then we have voting based on that and that's open for like a month. And then we tally those results and we publish it in the magazine in September. 

Hanna (26:36)
Can't wait to see the results. And I will definitely be joining the voting, of course. You were recently in Paris. So jealous. So in the coming months, what are the travel destinations do you plan to visit and why? 

Ellen (26:48)
Yeah, I went to Paris and it was amazing and next month I'm going to the Grand Canyon, which I've never been to before. I'm very excited. And that's for our Family Travel Package and my son is so excited because we were supposed to go in April, 2020. So I'm excited to actually finally go and do that. also gonna spend some time Sedona and Flagstaff and Scottsdale and Phoenix. I love Arizona. It's beautiful. 

So doing that and then, um, going to Louisville, Kentucky, which is a great food and drink city, as you know. And then I might be going to Jordan. I don't know yet. So that's our cover story for September and I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to assign it or if I'm going to do it. Pretty cool. Right.

Michael (27:45)
This is a subject very close to our hearts. What's your favorite cocktail and who would you like to share it?

Ellen (27:50)

For sure! My favourite cocktail is a Manhattan? And my favorite place to drink them in New York is Sardi's before or after a Broadway show. This guy, Joe, he's the bartender there, makes the best Manhattan there is uses Bulleit Rye in case you're curious. I mean, I have so many people I like to drink Manhattans with, but I think I'd say my mom, because I love chatting with her over a cocktail and just, we have a great time.

Hanna (28:12)
So we named our podcast Hospitality Forward because we are super excited about the future of hospitality and travel. So in your opinion, what individual or organization is really pushing our industry forward?

Ellen (28:30)
Oh, it's so hard. There's so many people. I think in New York right now I have been excited for a while and I'm still excited about is Chintan Pandya, the chef from Dhamaka. And I just went to his new friend chicken sandwich place, Rowdy Rooster a couple of weeks ago, too. 

Um, so I think he's really exciting because I freaking love Indian food, but I think his restaurants are really exciting because he's taking food the way, I feel like at least how he talks about food, the way he wants to eat it and where he would be eating it in India, like street markets or restaurants. And he’s not dumbing it down, you know, for an American palate. Like every time I go, I go through a box of Kleenex because it's so spicy, but it's also very kind of, I think almost in a way it's fashion forward, like the spaces are so well-designed and fun. And like, I love when you're in a space that makes you feel bubbly and fun. I love that.

Hanna (29:32)
Yeah. I mean, he's pretty remarkable. And I remember, I think his restaurant became one of The Best Restaurant’s by New York Times as well as the Esquire magazine in 2021. So yeah, he’s doing something very special.

Michael (29:49)
Creating quite a stir. So practical question for you, Ellen, what's the best way for our listeners to reach you if they want to pitch a story to you?

Ellen (29:53)
Email, email. Friendly and concise pitches via email are great.

Hanna (20:23)
Listeners, follow her and email her and pitch your story away! Ellen, thank you so much again for doing this for our community. And as our industry comes back, I know, there’s going to be a lot of stories that a lot of people want to share with you. So thanks again for your time and your kindness. And we are looking forward to sharing a Manhattan cocktail in person

Ellen (31:03)
That'd be lovely. I can't wait.