On this week’s episode of Food Network Obsessed, Jaymee Sire talks to Maile Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief of Food Network Magazine and The Pioneer Woman Magazine. Maile talks about what it takes to create each issue for Food Network Magazine and the process behind choosing the cover story (including what the worst-selling cover of all time was). Maile also chats about predicting trends for upcoming issue themes, and about TikTok’s influence on food culture. Plus, what it’s like to work with Food Network stars like Ina Garten, Guy Fieri and Bobby Flay. Finally walks through a typical day as an editor-in-chief and how it’s the opposite of what you might expect (and bonus: her go-to takeout food).
On this week’s episode of Food Network Obsessed, Jaymee Sire talks to Maile Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief of Food Network Magazine and The Pioneer Woman Magazine. Maile talks about what it takes to create each issue for Food Network Magazine and the process behind choosing the cover story (including what the worst-selling cover of all time was). Maile also chats about predicting trends for upcoming issue themes, and about TikTok’s influence on food culture. Plus, what it’s like to work with Food Network stars like Ina Garten, Guy Fieri and Bobby Flay. Finally walks through a typical day as an editor-in-chief and how it’s the opposite of what you might expect (and bonus: her go-to takeout food).
Connect with the podcast: https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/food-network-obsessed-the-official-podcast-of-food-network
Follow Food Network on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foodnetwork
Follow Food Network Magazine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foodnetworkmag
Follow Jaymee on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaymeesire
Follow Maile on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maile_fnmag/
Learn more about Food Network Magazine: https://www.foodnetwork.com/magazine
Start Your Free Trial of discovery+: https://www.discoveryplus.com/foodobsessed
Find episode transcript here: https://food-network-obsessed.simplecast.com/episodes/a-day-in-the-life-of-food-network-magazine-editor-in-chief-maile-carpenter
[MUSIC PLAYING] JAYMEE SIRE: Hey, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Food Network obsessed. Of course, it's the podcast where we dish on all things Food Network with your favorite Food Network stars. I'm your host Jaymee Sire. And today, we have a guest who is a little different from the rest of our guests we've had on the podcast so far. You're not necessarily watching her every week on Food Network, but you are reading her work.
I am talking about Maile Carpenter. She is the editor-in-chief of Food Network magazine and The Pioneer Woman magazine. I am so excited to talk to Maile because growing up and especially in high school, I took an interest in journalism very seriously. I was the photo editor of both my school yearbook and newspaper my senior year.
And there was a time where I thought I might go in the path that Maile has been on her entire career. I obviously chose to go the TV route but still very passionate about journalism and love hearing from other women in this business, who have really made a name for themselves and really blazed their own trail. So I'm so excited for you guys to listen to this interview.
But before we get to Maile, I do have some important Food Network obsessed news. We are going to be taking a very brief break from releasing new episodes, but do not worry. I promise we will be back in another week or two with more guests and more fun conversations. So make sure you're following us wherever you listen to podcasts, so you do not miss our next new episode. We will miss you guys. But do not worry. We will be back very, very soon. All right.
So let's get to Maile. She is the founding editor-in-chief of both Food Network magazine and The Pioneer Woman magazine. During her time with the brand, she has launched Food Network magazine to the top of Adweek's hot list and has been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, and more. She has both a journalism and a culinary degree and is a two-time James Beard Award nominee. I cannot wait to welcome her to the pod. So without further ado, here's Maile Carpenter.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Maile, welcome to the pod. How are you doing today?
MAILE CARPENTER: I'm great. Thanks for having me.
JAYMEE SIRE: Thank you so much for joining us. I'm super excited to talk to you because I, too, have a journalism background. And I just love hearing stories of women really thriving in this business. So we do appreciate you taking the time today. You are the founding editor-in-chief of Food Network magazine, which launched in 2008. So I guess you could say your baby is becoming a teenager this year. Can you take us all the way back to 2008 and tell us the story of how this magazine came to be?
MAILE CARPENTER: I can. In fact, I had two babies at the same time. I had a real one and the magazine ones. So they're growing up together. But it was so funny when we took this idea out to people, to focus groups, everyone was like, where has this been? The Food Network had been around for 15 years at that point. And it was so much a part of their lives, and they just didn't have-- they wanted another way to interact with it.
And I remember going to this focus group, and this woman says, we had this whole like, fake news stand-up with real magazines and then our prototype. And she walks in, and she's like, oh, I love that magazine. I love that. I get that all the time. I was like, no, you don't. You've never seen that magazine. But it was like-- so it made so much sense to them that they couldn't believe it didn't already exist.
JAYMEE SIRE: Let's talk about the magazine and on an issue by issue basis, what the process is because I always find this super interesting. How far in advance are you determining what's going on in the magazine and also what is going to be on the cover of the magazine?
MAILE CARPENTER: Well, sure. You've always heard these stories about the Test Kitchen is working on turkeys and Christmas cookies in the middle of this summer. And we're always a little off season, and we never really know what holiday it is.
[LAUGHS]
We're a little confused. But we work about three months out. But that said, we're really doing long-term planning too. We've had some-- we had Sunny Anderson guest-edit an issue last November. And we're-- Molly Yeh is our next big guest editor coming up this fall. So those kinds of projects we do a really long lead on and spend a lot of time thinking about.
But some things to Test Kitchen has to think about a full year ahead of time because if they're testing summer desserts made with summer fruit, they have to think about those a full year ahead. So we're all messed up schedule.
[LAUGHS]
JAYMEE SIRE: Tell me a little bit more about a guest editor. What does that really mean? And what does that involve?
MAILE CARPENTER: Well, we didn't even know. It was the first time we had done it last year. And Sunny called, and it was like, it was the best call I ever got in this job. It was such a great idea. It was the perfect time for it. And it was our November issue, which is the biggest of the year. And we were like, let's just go for it.
And Sunny truly guest-edit. I mean I'm sure different magazines differ. And maybe some are just only a name. But she was in there. Like, she was picking images, and writing captions and headlines. And she planned the whole issue with it. So it's very involved. I hope Molly's up for it.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's awesome. I could totally see Sunny just diving in full speed ahead and really getting involved. As far as deciding on the covers, I've heard that you have two options that you have planned out for each issue, and there's an alpha, beta test to see what makes the cut. Is that an accurate statement?
MAILE CARPENTER: It depends. I mean sometimes, we'll have three or four options. Sometimes, we're like, oh, dear, we got all of that shoot. We have one. One. And one just have to work. But it's always-- it's tricky to figure out what'll sell on the cover. And we study it like crazy people.
We look at-- we've learned all these things over the years about little things that make the sales drive up or down. This is a funny one like, the word dips will help sell an issue, but the appetizers won't. Dip sound more fun. Appetizer some more serious. Little things, like exclamation points can hurt your sales.
JAYMEE SIRE: Really?
MAILE CARPENTER: It's really like, weird things. But in terms of the food, we like it to be something somewhat familiar but was like a little bit of an interesting twist. It's always tricky to figure out what will work.
JAYMEE SIRE: I heard the kale soup was the worst-selling ever cover.
MAILE CARPENTER: Oh my god.
JAYMEE SIRE: What went wrong there?
MAILE CARPENTER: I remember going into my boss's office. It was 2015. It was the year of kale, right? Everyone was obsessed with kale. And I was like, look. America loves kale. I think this going to be huge on the cover. We made this soup that looked like green sludge.
And I brought it to her, and she's like, I don't know. I said, trust me. It's going to be-- it was January. I was like, everyone wants something healthy for January. I mean it bombed so spectacularly, and she let us do it. She let us make the mistake. A couple of months after that, we did this cupcake with sprinkles all over it, and it sold twice as many copies as the kale soup so.
[LAUGHS]
A lot of times, we've learned in research that people will say when you ask them like, do you want to be healthier? They'll always say yes. But then when they have to go buy an issue, they buy the one with the cupcake, not the one with the kale soup so.
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean I can't really blame them. But it is interesting to have that trial and error and figure it out along the way. Do you have a favorite issue or cover after all these years?
MAILE CARPENTER: Oh my gosh, that's such a good question. They're like babies, right? I still love them. I do not love them all. There are some I look at, and I still get stressed out like, why on Earth did we do that? That was such a terrible idea.
JAYMEE SIRE: Like, which one?
MAILE CARPENTER: Oh my god. Well, one time we did this holiday cover that looked so sad. It was like we were going for this Woodland theme. And so all the trees were brown, and it was on this evergreen background. And it was the saddest-looking holiday cover you could-- I don't know what we were thinking. We've done some weird ones.
But the ones that are my favorites are these ones that just look like you could grab them and eat them, like cinnamon rolls and big burgers. We actually-- we put Ina. It's the only time we ever put a person on the-- we put the stars, heads on the cover, usually at the top. But this time, we actually had a full body cover with Ina. And that was fun to do just for something different.
JAYMEE SIRE: You're really good friends with Ina as well. How did that friendship develop?
MAILE CARPENTER: She's the loveliest. And we-- the first time we went to shoot at her place, I walked in. I was-- of course, I'm super stressed out about shooting it. Ina's barn. And what's it going to be like? I'm sitting there and I was like, oh my god. I went-- literally, I feel like I'm sitting in an episode of her. She's testing caramels for her line. She's testing caramel sauce or something separate from what we were shooting.
She's got the doors open. There's lavender in the garden. And there's like-- she's like, would you like some fresh orange juice? And I just made coffee. And then I kid you not, this neighbor stops by. She has this giant straw hat on and a bouquet of flowers just to say hi to Ina. I was like, oh my god. And literally-- and I felt like I was being punked.
I was like, I'm in episode of Barefoot Contessa right now. It was too good to be true. But she has turned out to just be like exactly what you see. I just really love working with her. We've been around 13 years now, so it's been a while. And we've had a chance to get to know each other.
JAYMEE SIRE: I'm so glad when I hear that from people that it's just the same person that you see on television. She seems so lovely, so fun. I would love to be part of that shoot in the future. So if you ever need just like a production assistant, I'm there. But what about the story of the shoot with her and Taylor Swift? Because that seems like it was pretty amazing as well.
MAILE CARPENTER: It's an unlikely pair, right? We were-- she has this great music mix. Every time we shoot there, she was always playing really fun music. And we noticed that she played a lot of Taylor Swift. And so my coworker at the time was like, hey, let's just-- I heard-- I think Taylor Swift is also an Ina Garten fan.
Obviously, Ina likes Taylor. Let's see if we can get them together. And Taylor was just so excited about the idea of meeting Ina, that she really wasn't supposed to be doing any press. But she really-- she wanted to meet Ina and agreed to come out. And it was cue, so she drove out with her mom and her brother. So it was like a little family meeting, and I aspired. And it was just like no fanfare. It was really a fun day.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's sounds like a dream. What was it like seeing the interaction between the two? Because it sounds like Ina was obviously a fan of Taylor and vise versa. And there are huge stars themselves as well.
MAILE CARPENTER: It was sheer admiration on both sides. So it was so nice to see because Ina really admires Taylor Swift for-- not just her music, but just the way-- she's just such a great person, and her messaging is great. And so they talked a lot about their mutual experience with stardom and fans. And they have more in common than you think. And it was very fun to step back. It was sweet. They were all just fans of each other.
JAYMEE SIRE: Obviously, you get to work with all sorts of different people, different stars. I heard the Bobby Flay styled his own burger for his burger cover. How did that process unfold?
MAILE CARPENTER: We were shooting-- it was only a third cover. And we were having Bobby stopped by to shoot him for the inside of the issue, and we-- it was just meant to be a portrait. So we had a bunch of shirts for him. And he comes in, and we're in the middle of styling the cover burger, which is his burger. And our stylist had everything out, and she had-- we had a whole team of people, prop stylist, food stylist ready to go.
And Bobby's like, we were having a hard time, honestly. We couldn't get the cheese to look right. It was not melting. He's like, hey, let me back there. Our poor food stylist, she steps back, and she's like, oh my god. Oh my god. And he steps in. And I am not kidding, in two seconds, just nailed it like, made the burger, put the cheese on. He's like, here's how you want to melt it, brought it over to the set, and that was it. And that was our cover.
JAYMEE SIRE: What did he do differently than the food stylist was working on?
MAILE CARPENTER: I don't remember exact-- I think part of it is that sometimes, you're just so bogged down in the details and so obsessed about, so worried about getting every little piece right, that you don't let loose a little bit. And he can do this stuff in his sleep. So he just very comfortably walks by.
And I think we were probably spending too much time on it, honestly. And food can-- what we say food can die on set. It can just start looking not alive anymore. And I think we were spending too much time, and he just whipped it up, brought it over, and it looked like a hot, melty cheeseburger. And that was it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Something that you would want to grab off the cover.
MAILE CARPENTER: Yes.
JAYMEE SIRE: Like you said, right? Well you mentioned the Test Kitchen team, and then the food stylist. And I think those jobs are just, obviously, so important clearly in what you guys do, everything the Food Network does, right? You really rely on these people to make the food pop and make it be something that people really want to eat and grab through the page or the screen. Can you tell us a little bit just about what you've observed as far as how they make this magic happen?
MAILE CARPENTER: I mean the Test Kitchen team is unbelievable. I have never worked with a team like this. They are-- I mean obsessed is the right word about getting things right. And they think about it when you read a magazine or find a recipe anywhere. I feel like you have a chance to maybe fail someone once, and that's it. And then they're buying ingredients and spending money on things, and if you fail them, they're not going to come back to you.
So Test Kitchens are just obsessed with getting it right, and they will test, and test, and test, and test until they get it right. I mean I feel for them through the past year and what it's been like to work in a-- work at home. It's completely changed the way everybody works. But in the craziest way, I feel like there have been some great things that have come out of it.
And if you think about working in a big Test Kitchen, where you have a support team and people who can help you grocery shop, and food shoppers, and dishwashers, and a big team. And then suddenly, everyone in the Test Kitchen was thrown into-- well basically, they became the reader immediately, right? So you're dealing with the same problems we all have like, ah, I don't have a pan for that. You don't have a closet and a big equipment shelf to grab whatever you want.
So they were suddenly like, oh, OK. I feel for people. This is like, I don't want to wash all these dishes, so I'm going to make this a lot easier. And so we have heard stories that there have been as hard as it is to develop at home and really function like a Test Kitchen at home. There are some good sides too.
JAYMEE SIRE: What do you think the biggest challenges were during this time adjusting working from home, like we all have over the last year? But not only that. I mean you're putting out this massive magazine on a very regular basis as a team. What would you say the biggest challenge?
MAILE CARPENTER: I mean this is true. I'm sure you feel the same way doing what you do. It was-- I think the hardest part was predicting how America would feel a few months from now because things are changing every minute. And I mean, god. Writing an ad letter for those issues was just torture because I don't know how much worse is it going to be.
Are people going to be happy? Or are they going to be sad? I mean we would rewrite cover lines over and over again because we had. And I feel terrible about this to this day. But we put out an issue before anything had-- before the shutdown. And it said something like, it was like, a sheet cake will solve all your problems or some things like that.
And I was like, no. It will not solve all your problems. Not at all. So it was like a little tonally off when it finally hit. Thank goodness. Nothing was worse than that. But that was the hardest part for me personally and in my job, was to try to constantly guess how we were going to feel.
JAYMEE SIRE: I would imagine that's tough no matter what times that we're going through, but especially during the pandemic. How do you guys think that far ahead predicting what the food trends are going to be a couple of months ahead of time? Because like you said earlier, you really have to plan that out at least three months before the issue actually hits newsstands.
MAILE CARPENTER: Yeah. I mean, I would have said, and this is true before all of this happened, like a lot of eating out, a lot of food shopping, constantly going to stores just to remind ourselves what's on the shelf and what's available. And you discover new things all the time. But of course, we're all dealing with not being able to do that.
And so it's just obsessively reading and paying attention and then paying attention to ourselves in the way we cook. I mean all of us change the way we go during the past year, right? I mean not only were we doing it constantly, but we learned things about ourselves. I think a lot of it this past year was just tapping into that and realizing, how are we solving problems at home with our own kids? And how can we translate that to the magazine?
JAYMEE SIRE: What are some of the food trends that you think we can still expect to see this year or maybe things that will pop up as the months go on?
MAILE CARPENTER: I mean what we've found, and I think everyone I've talked to this is true is that everyone has created a little bit of a culinary compound at home and these little projects that they want to become expert in. I became obsessed with finally learning how to steam milk properly for a latte.
My husband became obsessed with pizza and baking. Of course, we know baking just went through the roof. What was really nice is that we just did a big study on-- well, it was on all generations. But it was-- we studied different generations in the way they're cooking and specifically, through the pandemic. And we found millennials and Gen Z were one, we're thrown into cooking in a way they never expected to be.
Suddenly, a whole generation of people were forced to cook a lot. But the best part that came out is that they actually really liked it. And it was a really-- I think it was 87% said they're going to keep cooking at close to the pace they've been cooking because they really liked it. So there could be a weird upside to this happening because I think a lot of people who wouldn't have cooked constantly suddenly did and loved it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. And speaking of that younger generation, not only were they cooking more, they were sharing those experiences and those recipes on TikTok and other social media platforms. What are your thoughts on just the way that those food trends take off from a TikTok video? I mean obviously, I think of the feta pasta or the tortilla trend or things like that. What are your thoughts on those and how they affect the food trends?
MAILE CARPENTER: Well, it's funny not to be too geeky about it. But they seem like these goofy things are going to come and go. But I feel like they're grounded in real cultural trends, right? So the pancake, the tiny, little pancakes here thing. That seems ridiculous, but it's not.
People were suddenly home for breakfast. They had time on their hands. They were sitting down and enjoying breakfast in a way they never did. And so breakfast sales are crazy, and Dutch babies are fit. And so you can often tie them to other bigger trends and feel like cloud bread with the baking trend. I think they're not as silly and want off as they seem.
JAYMEE SIRE: How do you guys approach those specific trends with the magazine?
MAILE CARPENTER: I mean some of them stick and some of them don't. And so I guess we have to be really careful about which ones are going to stick around. Again, we're the reader, so we're trying these at home. And of course, we're going to garden for Gotcha! That's so awesome. We have to do that.
And sometimes, we worry about feeling a little bit late. But I don't think that's the case because I think so many people either missed it or saw it for a second and still wanted to try it. And we were talking about that the other day. Can we still talk about dalgona coffee? Or is that gone already?
[LAUGHTER]
Oh, I don't no. It was delicious. If everybody likes it, I don't think it's wrong to talk about it still.
JAYMEE SIRE: I think it's fun. I think I've been asked about that as well. And I think that anything that can get people excited about cooking and doing it at home and exploring those things that maybe they hadn't done before. It all goes in the same positive direction of more people getting excited about cooking.
And obviously, if there's more people excited about cooking, they're going to be more likely to pick up the magazine, potentially. I guess that's only a good thing all around for Food Network magazine.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Maile has even more great stories to tell about some of your favorite Food Network stars. That's coming up next.
I want to talk a little bit more about some of your memorable moments with some of the Food Network stars. We talked about Ina and Bobby Flay. And I heard you ran into Guy Fieri in Times Square at one point. What was that story?
MAILE CARPENTER: I mean I cannot say. You had a great podcast with Guy. I loved listening to him. It just reminded of me of what a lovely person he is. And I've always loved Guy, and he is off camera such a just caring, a really caring person. And it's so many times has helped me out on a shoot or just been great to work with.
But he had just opened Guy's American Kitchen and Bar, I think, it was called, in Times Square. And we were excited about at the office. And we're like, hey, let's go down and get some chicken wings and some fun stuff thinking. And we were laughing like, wouldn't it be so funny if guy was there? I think of course he's not cooking in his restaurant in Times Square right now. I'm sure he's at home in California.
So we go, and we walk downstairs. And we're-- this giant sign that says Flavortown. And we were having a good time to look up. And the downstairs kitchen, I'm like, that looks just like Guy. There's no way he's cooking. There's no way he's cooking. And sure enough, I walk over closer. And it's like, Guy. And I wave to him.
This woman comes up to me, and she's like, you can't go back there. And I said go. I just want to say hi. We know him. We worked with him. And she's like, no, no, no. He's doing a Make-A-Wish. And I was like, oh my gosh. Of course, he is. And again, no fanfare, no anything.
And he came out afterwards and had a nice conversation with us about what he had just done and how he was-- he's like, I always include the siblings when I do this because I care as much about the siblings are going through something too. And anyway, it was just like a reminder of what a great person he is. Here we are being silly and thinking oh, what are the chances he's in his kitchen? Of course, he was.
JAYMEE SIRE: Listening to him talk about everything that he's done for the restaurant industry, especially over the last year, that does not surprise me one bit. So I love hearing these stories. Are there any other Food Network stars that you spend time with outside of work?
MAILE CARPENTER: Gosh, I'm trying. I mean we've had so many. I feel like, when I look back, I'm embarrassed of some of the shoots, with things we've made. We asked them to do crazy things. We're like, can you carve a pumpkin? Can you do this? Can you wear this crazy outfit? And they are always game and willing to work with us. Thank goodness.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, speaking of which, you're also the editor-in-chief of Pioneer Woman magazine, which launched in 2017. How did that project come to be?
MAILE CARPENTER: Well, we were watching Ree, and she was just exploding on the network. And and we were-- there was a lot of talk about. She have a magazine too for Inches. It's gone crazy. I mean she's so popular. And when you look at the common thread with people like Ina and Ree, it's just they're really authentic.
The more you get to know them, you're like, yep, that's the real deal. I think we fly out to Oklahoma to do these shoots, and she's living that life. It's not-- there's nothing about that is fake. You'd have to wrap up a shoe to go catch a football game and then get food for the boys.
And it was-- she's really doing it. That one was particularly interesting. It's the same production team shooting Ree Show as Ina Show. And they're so different. So this team who would come over from England and shoot in the Hamptons with Ina. And they would come out and shoot on this ranch in the middle of Oklahoma. So it was always fun to hear their stories.
JAYMEE SIRE: I actually followed Ree's blog before she became a Food Network star. So it's been really fun to see that evolution because as you mentioned, she is so beloved. And it's good to hear that she is also very authentic. What is it like working so closely with her just on a personal level?
MAILE CARPENTER: She's much-- as I was talking about Sunny doing the issue, she's very involved. And she has such a clear brand. This was true with Food Network too, I think. Sometimes it's-- there's one thing to create a magazine from scratch. But when the brand exists, and it's really a strong brand-- and it's almost harder because there are all these expectations.
We had all these Ree fans. Who knew exactly what they wanted in a magazine? And we just had to figure it out. So I hope we did right by them. But it's fun to work with her. It's so different. And Food Network will often shoot food. When we started the magazine, we wanted to get rid of a lot of the props. It was all about the food.
So we would shoot on white plates and shoot it all in focus, so you wouldn't have these old-fashioned images of candles in the background, and wine glasses, and all kinds of stuff. It was just meant to be clean and all about the food. And then when we launched Ree's-- I mean if you follow her, you know she is just like, layers, and layers of patterns, and fabric like, colors, and stripes, and polka dots.
And she's like, I don't like white space. It ain't real. Food Network, we have-- a lot of things are shot on white. So it was a really fun visual exercise to switch gears between Food Network and Pioneer.
JAYMEE SIRE: That sounds very fun, but it also sounds like, a lot of work. I mean you're the editor-in-chief of two different major magazines. What was your experience with journalism or print media that pointed you in this direction?
MAILE CARPENTER: I started in newspapers, but I kept asking to work in the food department wherever I was working. I was like, will you let me write a food story? Will you let me do this? And finally, I was working at Time Inc in New York, and they would help you pay for schooling. I was like, I'm going to have them help me pay for culinary school.
So that's how those two came together. But I feel like it's a gift to be able to do something you love. We all work really hard. But if you love what you're doing, as I'm sure you do, it's just it's like a different story.
JAYMEE SIRE: Absolutely. And you can hear that excitement and that passion in your voice too as you talked about your babies. And I know in every magazine, every issue of every magazine, there's a star diary, where a Food Network stars essentially gives their day in the life account. So we thought it'd be fun to flip the script on you. What is a typical day in your life look like as editor-in-chief of two magazines?
MAILE CARPENTER: Well, it is not Devil Wears Prada.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm not throwing my coat on anybody's desk. I'm like-- I often think, what am I doing? Especially during quarantine, I'm on our porch in a coat and gloves. I'm food-styling because we don't have anyone to shoot, like my brother in law is shooting a story. It was like-- I was like, anything we could do to get story shot.
And I'm like, this is not glamorous. We are often doing crazy things. I mean I've always got to work. Everyone on the staff works that way. Everybody's up for anything, but it's not the glamorous job that you might think.
JAYMEE SIRE: What is your favorite part about your job?
MAILE CARPENTER: I love seeing the finished issue come together because we take it from idea to seeing it in print. And being able to touch something is really fun for me. I mean I love meeting the talent and talking to them about ideas. But the sad part is this past year has been so hard because it's fun to be in an office of creative people and have people bringing food in and talking about food all day.
And I mean that's what we would talk about food all day. I remember we hired a woman one time. And six months later, she came in, and she's like, it's just too much. I can't talk about food all day long. I was like, that's funny. That's what we do. But if you're down with it, it's going to be pretty fun.
JAYMEE SIRE: What would your advice be to any young aspiring female journalists out there maybe dressing as editor-in-chief for their own career day? What advice would you give them?
MAILE CARPENTER: Oh my gosh. It's so hard now because media is changing so fast. But if-- again, I would come back to like, if you love what you're doing, then you'll always want to do it. So I mean I've interviewed people, and I can tell in the interview that they just want a job. They don't want this job.
And I remember I interviewed for a job. He's a very serious, and earnest, and didn't feel like me. And we can talk ourselves into things. I think a lot of people talk themselves into jobs they think they want. And it's hard to not do that. But I think if you can find a way to not do that and make sure you're loving what you're doing all day, you'll be in a better place.
JAYMEE SIRE: You mentioned your letters from the editor, and obviously, it was tough to write them during the pandemic. But you've done hundreds of these over the years. It feels like this introductory love letter for each issue. So how do you approach writing each one of those?
MAILE CARPENTER: I mean every issue, I'm like, I'm done out. I'm done. I don't have any more energy. So I think this was the last one. And like, can we come up with a new rubric, like something else that I don't have to write? But no, it is-- I think in the beginning, I thought this had to be like, explain everything that's in the issue. And that just started getting boring. I was like, forget it. I'm just going to tell one story that relates to something in the issue.
And I think because I live the life that we are doing. It would be a different story if I were editing a magazine about something I didn't live every day. But it's my life. And inevitably, I have some ridiculous story that I can retell. And sometimes, it's just a little behind the scenes because we have readers who've been with the magazine for a really long time.
And sometimes, it's fun just to talk about putting spaghetti and meatballs on the cover for a first time and why that was a big deal for us. Because normally, that seemed like such an ordinary dish to stick on the cover, but it's what we all need right now. We just need some comfort and to know everything's going to be OK.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. We need that big pasta hug, as I like to say. Well, speaking of behind the scenes, let's go behind the scenes of your everyday life, aside from being this powerful editor-in-chief of two magazines. Looking at your Instagrams, it seems like you're always baking with your daughters. And obviously, your husband Wiley is a chef. I would imagine that the girls are foodies as well just in their blood. What's your favorite thing to bake or cook together?
MAILE CARPENTER: OK. They are not. They are terrible.
JAYMEE SIRE: They're not.
MAILE CARPENTER: No. They're terribly picky eaters. This is just killing my husband. He's like, what did I do wrong? I mean they're getting slightly better but really not. And I mean this would just horrify you. We are just pandemic aside, even before then, we were getting like-- we were ordering meal kits, which is absurd.
JAYMEE SIRE: No.
MAILE CARPENTER: Can really not get dinner on the table on our own? I'm trained. He's trained. But we just had no time. We we're like, OK. If we want to sit together, we'll get meal kit, but while they kept taking the meal kit and not following the direction. So he would just use it as like a grocery shit man. I'm like, what are you doing? This is not what you're supposed to do with this kit.
And so we gave up on that. We stopped doing the meal kits. But we do what everyone else does. Sometimes, we just do Trader Joe's dumplings or takeout or whatever. It's like, we're not cooking every night. But I mean we do cook a few nights a week, and it's just-- every night gets hard.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. No. What's your go-to takeout when you guys do order in?
MAILE CARPENTER: We live next to this place called Thai Villa that is just-- ah, it's so good. And then while he's become obsessed with pizza. So I used to love ordering pizza. That was like our night off. But now, he's making pizza all the time. We can't order it anymore. So that joy is gone. It's been replaced by the homemade pizza.
JAYMEE SIRE: I can identify with that. I never got into the banana bread or the sourdough baking, but I started making some homemade pizza as well. Probably not as much as Wiley. It sounds like he's very involved in that. But that was my version of banana bread or sourdough during quarantine. I highly support that.
Another question I wanted to ask you as it was coming across different articles and things preparing for this interview. You had this mantra about having a personal brand and identifying that purpose and having a bumper sticker phrase that describes your brand in four or five words. And of course, Food Network magazines is cooked like a star, which has been printed on the spine of every single issue. So I'm curious what would your personal bumper sticker phrase be?
MAILE CARPENTER: This is so hard. I was like, honk if you love food, I think.
[LAUGHTER]
JAYMEE SIRE: I love that.
MAILE CARPENTER: But then I thought, I was like, that's ridiculous. But then maybe it's not because it is kind of. You know this because you're in this world. Food people find each other. And it's like--
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes.
MAILE CARPENTER: And you can relate to each other. So if you had a bumper sticker honk if you love food, you'd find all the other food people. That's the best I could do. I don't know.
JAYMEE SIRE: I like that one. I like that one a lot. I think in New York would be hard, though, because somebody might just be honking at you, and you know it. Yeah.
MAILE CARPENTER: No. You'd get a honking violation or something.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. Exactly. I know. I was trying to think of what mine would be. And it's hard. It's hard to sum up your life or your personal brand in just a few words. I was going to go with one tough cookie.
MAILE CARPENTER: Oh, that's a good one.
JAYMEE SIRE: But I feel like it's always changing so. And I think that's OK.
MAILE CARPENTER: Yeah. You can change your bumper sticker.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, this has been so much fun. But I did want to ask you one final question that we ask all of our guests here on Food Network obsessed, and that would be, what would be on the menu for your perfect food day? So breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. And there-- by the way, there's no rules. You can time travel. You can just regular travel, whatever you want to do.
MAILE CARPENTER: I mean why is it making a scrambled egg pizza? It sounds weird.
JAYMEE SIRE: What?
MAILE CARPENTER: It's so good. It's very-- it's new. But I would say that would be my breakfast. My go-to lunch no matter where I am, I make feel-good lunches, tomato soup, and grilled cheese, anywhere, any time. Then if I could travel, I mean. Well, dinner. Can I just say literally any restaurant on Earth? I mean I just don't. I just want to eat out.
We haven't eaten out in nine months, and I'm losing my mind about it. I miss it so-- I mean it's so close to Wiley's heart and our life. And it's just-- I miss it a lot. So I would go to any restaurant. If I could just have someone else cooking food for me, that would be great. And dessert, I am a kindred spirit of yours, and that I hate mint ice cream. I mean chocolate chips ice cream.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, thank you. Thank you for validating.
MAILE CARPENTER: God, I heard you say. That it's like, yes! I know exactly what you mean. So literally anything, but that.
JAYMEE SIRE: Anything, but that. OK. OK. That's totally fair. And it sounds like a perfect food day and a very-- comfort food. You got some home-cooked food in there. You've got some restaurant food as well. And obviously, spending time with your family, which I can see through your Instagram and your words that is very important to you as well.
Thank you so much for giving us just this peek into your life. I think it's super interesting and so fun to hear all the behind the scenes. So thank you again for joining us.
MAILE CARPENTER: Thanks for having me.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
JAYMEE SIRE: I have always wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a major magazine, especially Food Network magazine. And I really enjoy going inside Maile's world today. And I hope you did too. And who knows? Maybe you'll see me in a future issue of the magazine, so be on the lookout.
And for more of Maile and Food Network magazine, be sure to pick up an issue today on newsstands everywhere. As always, thanks so much for listening. And don't forget. We are taking a brief break, but we will be back in a week or two. So make sure you are following us wherever you listen to podcasts, so you do not miss a single thing.
And of course, if you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to rate and review. We love when you do that. That's all for now. We will catch you foodies next time on Food Network Obsessed.
[MUSIC PLAYING]