THE BACKSTORY ON THE DEBUT OF SEASONAL LIVING MAGAZINE
An Update To This Blog Post: How Did Seasonal Living Magazine Start? With 8 pages and this image below. How did it end? With a 32 page magazine [ one example above ] which ran from 2018 - 2023, when Seasonal Living discontinued it. Here’s a link to the above issue: https://issuu.com/seasonallivingmagazine/docs/seasonal_living_magazine_summer_21
This is the story of how it all started…. the very first manufacturer produced magazine that included lifestyle content that wasn’t related to the brand and where the designers included did not have to have used Seasonal Living’s products [ or to pay ] in order to be featured.
I want to give a special shout out to Sam Henderson, who was, at the time Seasonal Living Magazine started, my company’s Creative Director, and who was responsible for all of the beautiful graphics and the recipes in each issue of the magazine. Sam and I co-wrote the magazine together, and we collaborated with Gary on all of the ideas for each issue.
I had sole responsibility for all content marketing of each issue and for securing all of the designers featured in each issue and their photographer’s permissions.
Now, here’s the original post:
Click here to read the inaugural issue: www.seasonalliving.com/seasonal-living-magazine
THE DEBUT OF SEASONAL LIVING MAGAZINE
I am so excited to share with you my new publishing & online marketing collaboration with client, boutique indoor outdoor furniture, lighting and decorative accessories manufacturer, Seasonal Living Trading Company, LTD.
The Backstory on Seasonal Living, As A Manufacturer.
Seasonal Living's CEO, UK born Gary Pettitt, started his company after a long career in the luxury hospitality and travel industry working for global brands.
His travels around the world to *off the beaten track* locations imbued him with a deep appreciation for handmade, small batch, artisinal products. Over time, he visited many of the factories producing the products he loved, and got to know the families that had passed down the knowledge of their art through multiple generations.
When friends overseas started asking him to import some of these products for their own homes, he relocated to Austin, TX, and started Seasonal Living Trading Company, LTD.
Since its founding, Seasonal Living has grown into one of the premier boutique luxury indoor outdoor furniture, lighting and decorative accessories brands, specified widely by interior designers and hospitality designers, and sold through both online and brick and mortar retailers, with sales not only in the United States, but all over the world.
Interior designer Rachel Horn is a frequent specifier of Seasonal Living's indoor outdoor furniture. Here, she used the GEO Table in turquoise blue.
The Backstory on How I Met Seasonal Living Founder, Gary Pettitt.
I (Leslie Carothers) had met Gary at Las Vegas Market several years ago. I was walking down the hallway of the C Building and all of a sudden saw this bold burst of color and said to myself, "Who is that manufacturer? I love these colors and styles and I want to go in and find out more."
It was true *love at first sight* regarding the products and the colors. This lifestyle shot, below, from the online Seasonal Living catalogue gives you an idea of what I was seeing.
The furniture was sexy and unique, the ceramic occasional tables and decorative planters and accessories were boldy and beautifully colored and I fell hard for the CORDLESS indoor outdoor lighting with its 3D printed lampshade.
I thought to myself, "This manufacturer *gets it*." As it happens, Gary was in the showroom and so I introduced myself and we started talking. I asked him all kinds of questions about his line, took a lot of pictures, posted a few online, and then he asked me what I did for a living.
And that conversation led to others....and then, every time I went to either Las Vegas Market or High Point Market, (where Seasonal Living shows in Interhall), I would stop by and see what was new at Seasonal Living and say Hi to Gary.
Fast forward about 6 years to the October 2018 #HPMKT. It was about 7:00 am in the morning, and I was in Interhall, in an exhibitor's space where the lights hadn't been turned on yet.
I was intently taking pictures of the beautiful things that I had fallen in love with in this space that wasn't lit yet...so I wasn't paying close attention when a man walked up to my side, who was much taller than I was, and said a few words to me.
I mumbled something, without looking up, and the man walked away.
In a few minutes, I moved to another part of the same space that was lit..and in that minute, the same tall man walked up to me again...and then, since I could SEE, I recognized that it was Gary and we both had a good laugh!
And it was then that Gary started a serious conversation with me about helping him extend the Seasonal Living brand experience, online, across multiple platforms.
Over the ensuing 9 months, however, we had many further conversations, including a lovely one in Gary's beautiful home in Austin. This is a picture of Gary and how he prepared breakfast for one of his guests and myself.
When I tell you he is a serious foodie himself, believe me. He IS his brand. He lives a life of wellness - running many miles each day - while eating well, entertaining beautifully, and travelling globally for his business.
Our strategy conversations ranged across a broad range of topics, including the state of the furniture and interior design industry in the USA, online branding, strategic positioning... culminating in Savour Partnership being retained to not only design, write and produce Gary's new Seasonal Living Magazine, but to manage other areas as well that pertain to online marketing and branding.
SEASONAL LIVING MAGAZINE. The Mission And What You Will Find Inside.
Seasonal Living Magazine's mission is to inspire people the world over to live a life of wellness and sustainability, in harmony with the seasons, through beautiful images and articles on *off the beaten track* global travel locations, sustainable food initiatives and recipes, unique indoor/ outdoor entertaining ideas, health and wellness articles and gorgeous spreads of indoor/outdoor interiors by nationally known interior designers.
In this first issue, we take you to our favorite *insider* destinations on Mackinac Island on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, share with you a grilled pear recipe (pears are just now coming in season!), give you our top tips for al fresco entertaining and share with you some of Seasonal Living's colorful ceramic tables, perfect for indoor outdoor life - and live linked from the magazine so you can easily find the retailer closest to you.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR SEASONAL LIVING MAGAZINE?
In our next issue, debuting Oct. 1st, we will be adding 5 pages, so we can help you explore our travel destination in even greater detail (we think you will love it...and a hint? It's not in the USA, and a major celebration occurs there every year around the early/late fall season), Sam is producing a custom photo shoot for our entertaining section and we are adding two double page spreads of the indoor outdoor design work of two nationally known interior designers.
We can't wait for you to see it!
Then, our HOLIDAY issue, debuting Dec. 1st, will take readers to an exclusive, seasonal holiday destination...(fun is ahead!) while also featuring the indoor outdoor design work of more interior designers and the new ARCHIPELAGO collection from Seasonal Living that just debuted at Las Vegas Market.
Here's a close up look at one indoor/outdoor chair from the new ARCHIPELAGO collection that was a favorite of editors who attended #LVMKT and below that is a video of their full collection shown at Las Vegas Market.
If you're a designer or retailer reading this and going to High Point Market next month, please stop by and introduce yourself to Gary and see another gorgeous new collection he will be debuting at Seasonal Living's stunning showroom in Interhall.