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Confessions of a CFO, Interview with Phyllis Hoffman DePiano, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hoffman Media, LLC.

May 2010

 

A leading figure in the publishing industry, Phyllis Hoffman DePiano is president and chief executive ooficer of Hoffman Media, LLC.  A native of Alabama and a graduate of the University of Alabama in Birmingham, she began her career as a Certified Public Accountant with a nationally known firm before founding a special-interest publication company in 1983 that is now known as Hoffman Media, LLC.

 

DePiano is recognized industry-wide as a savvy businesswoman and talented entrepreneur.  Sher serves as the creative engine of the company producing magazine that define and celebrate women’s lifestyles including Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade, Cooking with Paula Deen, and Sew Beautiful, just to name a few.  Hoffman has also published and authored several Southern-inspired entertaining and decorating books. 

 

What kind of work did you do as a CPA?

I worked for what is now Ernst and Young in the late 1970s, primarily focused on hospital audits.  The work was interesting, but I left public accounting when my twins were born.

 

Can you describe the opportunity that caused you to re-think your career and move away from CPA work to publishing?

I always enjoyed knitting as a hobby, and I found that there was no print magazine in the marketplace that served other knitting enthusiasts.  So, I decided to fill that niche with a publication.  This was the beginning of my publishing career.  Since that time, Hoffman Media has grown to cover eleven print magazines, including “Cooking with Paula Dean”.   

 

How has your CPA background helped you in your role as publisher?

Being a CPA helps me understand the intricacies of the business, including revenue estimates, budgeting, and P&L analysis.  My CPA side never really goes away, but the creative aspects of publishing do frequently change.

 

Can you describe the most interesting business issue that you have encountered in your career and how you dealt with them?

Our “Cooking with Paula Dean” magazine has a distribution of 1.3 million for each issue, and was a huge success from the beginning.  The Paula Dean magazine grew from zero to one million subscriptions in less than one year.  At one time we were receiving around 1,000 calls a day asking for subscriptions to this magazine alone.  We had to quickly outsource the subscription services in order to manage this kind of growth.

 

What are your most pressing business concerns now, and how are you addressing them?

Diversification is a very critical issue.  We are still growing, having achieved a 39% growth rate last year.  We have chosen a business model that requires a balanced revenue stream from subscriptions, newsstand sales, and advertising.  We do not use free subscriptions in order to capture more advertising dollars, believing this to be the most diversified, less risky approach to the business.

 

What advice can you give to young CPAs, especially women, regarding ambition, career, and work / life balance?

Find what you love doing and do it well.  There is only so much bandwidth in life, so you have to choose carefully.  When you choose public accounting, or any form of CPA work, some compromise goes with the territory.  However, focus on balance as a critical daily priority.