Once a month we invite our member magazine publishers and enthusiasts to guest-edit our fortnightly email newsletter. The aim is to inspire others with magazine-related content, connect members and build our community so we can learn from each other.
This month our guest editors are Kate & Jack Lennie, founders of We Are Makers. You can follow them on LinkedIn – remember to connect and say hello!
Tell us about yourself
We’re Kate and Jack Lennie, a husband-and-wife team and the founders of We Are Makers, an independent magazine that celebrates the stories of craftspeople from around the world. As former makers ourselves, we launched the publication in 2020 to build the community we once longed for – one that connects, supports and uplifts creative individuals. In addition to publishing the magazine, we’ve recorded 110 in-person podcast episodes. Through carefully curated storytelling across print, audio and video, We Are Makers is our way of preserving the spirit of craft, inspiring future generations and helping makers feel seen, valued and understood.
What’s on your mind?
We’ve recently returned from a four-week podcast maker tour of the USA, arriving in Boston and flying out of Raleigh, NC. We met an incredible range of makers – from a lock and key craftsman in New Hampshire to a Windsor chair maker in Vermont, and supported a UK maker featured in We Are Makers at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York State. We spent time with a family-run timber framing company in Pennsylvania, a talented leatherworker in Cleveland, a print block artist in Indiana, and the amazing team at Coal Iron Forge – who are set to become sponsors of our magazine starting this November! So many more stories, so little space!
Members receive their first 5 Ikon Images illustration uses for £50 each
What’s the best article you’ve
read this month?
To be honest, we’ve not had a lot of time to read this month whilst being on road, but I do want to share a post that I loved on LinkedIn by the chief marketing officer at Monocle.
This post echoed everything we feel about print. For almost six years, we’ve poured everything into making a magazine that feels honest, thoughtful and lasting. It’s our community – our readers, subscribers and makers – who’ve trusted us to do just that.
We’ve built that trust over time, and it shows – more and more companies are joining us to help share makers’ stories, because they see the value in what we’re doing. In a fast-paced, digital world, choosing print might seem old-fashioned. But to us, and to many of you, it still means something. Something real.
This post was a powerful reminder that trust lives in tangible things – and we’re proud to be part of that.
Show us an incredible magazine cover
Monocle – November 2023, Issue 168 (Design Special)
It’s probably obvious why we loved this one – Monocle dedicating a full cover to celebrating craft, design, and the people behind it? Yes, please.
As publishers of We Are Makers, we were genuinely thrilled to see a globally respected title spotlight furniture makers, metal masters, interior innovators, and type designers. The illustration is playful, but the message is clear: making matters.
What’s your top tip for publishers?
Keep the maker mindset.
As magazine publishers, it’s easy to get caught up in logistics, deadlines and algorithms. But we’ve found that the most authentic growth happens when you think like a maker – starting from passion, focusing on process, staying curious, and letting your community shape your evolution.
When we launched We Are Makers, we took a risk and trusted our gut. We didn’t have all the answers, but we believed in our vision and felt strongly that the stories of makers needed to be shared. That belief pushed us to start. And we’ve kept that same mindset ever since – leaning into curiosity and showing up with honesty and intent.
We believe We Are Makers has grown – and continues to grow – because we share the behind-the-scenes: who we meet, who we spend time with, the small interactions on the road, the ups and downs, the good coffee, the real moments. The magazine is focused on the makers, but the wider platform reflects who we are and what we stand for.
People connect with people. That presence – getting out there and being with the community – is what keeps this alive and grounded. Let your publication be a living, breathing thing. Let your readers see the humans behind it. Because when people see the heart behind what you do, they don’t just buy a magazine – they invest in your mission.
Questions for the community
What subject or issue would you like the International Magazine Centre Members Group to discuss and untangle over on LinkedIn?
My question is: What’s one thing that keeps you motivated to publish issue after issue?
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