Jan 15, 2019
About Pauline Frommer:
Pauline Frommer started traveling with her guidebook-writing parents at the age of four months and hasn't stopped since. She is the co-president and editorial director for Frommer Media LLC, the company that publishes the Frommer guidebooks and Frommers.com, as well as author of what has been the bestselling guidebook to her hometown since its first edition, Frommer’s EasyGuide to New York City 2018. Each week she broadcasts two radio shows, one for WABC in New York City, and another that’s syndicated by Radio America. Both are also very popular podcasts.
Her first job in travel was on the website Frommers.com, and
eventually, she worked her way up to editor-in-chief. Next, Pauline
served as travel editor for MSNBC.com for several years, before
moving back to John Wiley and Sons to create the award-winning
Pauline Frommer Guidebooks, a 14-book series that won the
coveted "Best Guidebook of the Year" title three years in a row
from the North American Travel Journalists Association and once
from the Society of American Travel Writers.
For four years, Pauline created weekly travel segments for CNN's
Headline News and CNN's Pipeline. You may also have seen her
talking travel on The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, The
O'Reilly Factor, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News, Good Morning
America, FOX News and every local news station you can name. Her
writings have been widely published in everything from Budget
Travel magazine to Newsweek to Nick, Jr. magazine. She resides in
New York City with her husband, Columbia University Professor
Mahlon Stewart, and two very well-traveled daughters.
In this episode:
3:05 – How her acting career turned into working with her dad in the Frommer family business
6:19 – Why Pauline loves her team and how travel relates to world peace and tribalism
8:26 – Nancy and Pauline discuss the value of trust as part of growing a family brand
10:02 – The difference between bloggers and travel journalists and what is a parachute artist
13:36 – Her first assignment from her dad and why she enjoys having a mission
15:09 – The future of journalism because of Yelp and Trip Advisors, and why the public will come around to the value of journalism
16:58 – How today's readers have changed and how that has impacted Frommer's publications in print and online
20:58 – Nancy’s personal story about Arthur Frommer from her days at Sugarloaf Mountain
23:16 – Why Frommer's has expanded to radio and podcasting
24:17 – Why Frommer's is dedicated to American readers, including social media
26:50 – The social media site that Pauline is coming back to
29:43 – Pauline talks about her role models and writers that inspire her
32:04 – How Pauline stays organized with a to-do list, manages her time and why she is so hard on herself
35:45 – How Frommer's built a tribe of raving fans dating back to the end of World War II
37:57 – The challenge that Frommer's is facing moving forward
Quote: “Frommer’s has always been geared toward Americans. We know that Americans have woefully short vacation time, so we really do our best to not pull our punches to let people know this is worth your time and this is less worth your time.” - Pauline Frommer, Editorial Director, Frommer Guidebooks and Frommers.com
Mentioned in this episode:
Frommer’s Guide to New York City 2019 - https://amzn.to/2KQmUXL
Arthur Frommer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Frommer
Brian Kevin, DownEast magazine
Mark Twain, Travel writer
Bill Bryson, Travel writer
Edith Wharton, an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and designer
Sugarloaf - https://www.sugarloaf.com
"GI's guide to Europe"- https://www.amazon.com/G-I-s-Guide-Travelling-Europe/dp/B003RAFMBW
Europe on $5 a day - https://www.amazon.com/Europe-Dollars-Reproduction-Original-Printing/dp/0470165642
Looking to connect?
- Twitter: @frommers
- Websites: frommers.com