Living The Red Life - SUCCESS Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Reveals What Billionaires Know About Success

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

What separates brands that survive disruption from those that disappear? Kerrie Lee Brown, Editor-in-Chief and Chief Content Officer of SUCCESS Magazine, joins Rudy Mawer to explore the strategies behind building a brand that stays relevant. Drawing on 30 years in publishing and conversations with entrepreneurs like Daymond John and Tony Robbins, she examines the power of calculated risks, audience-first content marketing, and business innovation. As traditional media faces digital disruption, she reveals how SUCCESS Magazine approaches AI, digital platforms, and community building while protecting its editorial identity. From spotting market opportunities to adapting established business models, this conversation challenges entrepreneurs to rethink how they create influence, reach customers, and compete in an evolving marketplace.Key TakeawaysWhy adaptability is essential for established brands navigating digital disruption and changing consumer behavior.How successful entrepreneurs use calculated risks, setbacks, and unmet market needs to discover opportunities.Why understanding the audience matters more than choosing a particular content platform.How SUCCESS Magazine connects print, digital content, AI tools, and community platforms to strengthen its brand ecosystem.Why diversifying distribution channels, memberships, and services can help media businesses remain competitive.Notable Quotes"Audience is key." — Kerrie Lee Brown"Their stepping stones were their setbacks." — Kerrie Lee Brown"It's about risk taking." — Kerrie Lee Brown"I've been able to kind of like accept the change." — Kerrie Lee Brown"The staying power is really in the content that's online." — Kerrie Lee BrownConnect with Rudy Mawer:LinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitter

Joining me today is Kerry from Success Magazine. Thank you so much, Rudy, for having me. Obviously, you're editor-in-chief. You get to meet a lot of amazing people, and Success Magazine is famous for creating amazing content for as entrepreneurs. So what is some of the reoccurring themes when you've interviewed all these billionaires and legendary people? What are key principles that could help them?

I get asked this a lot because I have interviewed quite a few people. A lot of celebrities, you know, and not just celebrities, but thought leaders, right? who in this space have really learned through their own experiences. And a common thread I see with the most impactful stories is... Carrie Lee Brown is the editor-in-chief and chief content officer of Success Magazine. For more than 30 years, she's helped tell the stories of some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, celebrities, and thought leaders. People will look at me and say, oh, my God, you're so lucky. You run a man.

Well, you don't know what I went through to get here, and it's being hard, and it's being blood, sweat, and tears just like yourself. And I think reiterating those lessons to people, you know what I mean? And just like taking away nuggets from these kind of people. It's just so important. But they have to understand that they're real people too. Magazines with the internet and COVID and all those things got one of the biggest disruptions. I've been able to take what we were doing at the magazine and what people love about our content and really being able to now streamline it across all of our channels to Success.com.

And what I've learned too is that... My name is Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the Red Life, ditch the Blue Pill, take the Red Pill, join me in Wonderland and change your life. Hello and welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. Joining me today is Kerry from Success Magazine. She's the editor-in-chief, and I'm sure you know Success Magazine.

We're going to dive into everything she's up to personally and with the magazine and all the experience she has from working with some of the most influential, successful people on the planet. So welcome to the show. Thank you so much, Rudy, for having me. So it's great to have you. So I think let's just start. Obviously, your editor-in-chief. You get to meet a lot of amazing people, and Success Magazine is famous for creating amazing content for as entrepreneurs, right?

So I'm sure you, you know, it's pretty incredible job to meet and work and distribute all this amazing content. I love creating content to help people. So that's why I love what you do and you guys do. But maybe start a little about yourself as well in your career and then we can lead into that. Yeah. Well, thanks again for having me. It's just such an alignment, right, with the two of us working inside the inside success. But a little bit about me.

I've been a journalist and worked in media and publishing for 30 years. I'm aging myself. But I've survived it. I've survived a lot of different publishing, different evolutions in the, in the magazine world and worked in everything from health and fitness to city lifestyle to like home and garden, many, many different kind of publications. One of the things that's always drawn me to that is the audience and getting across different stories and being a storyteller and being able to amplify different people's voices.

So now that I'm at Success Magazine, it's been a few years. And success, you know, the magazine itself is 130 year old and it's crazy, right? Like I always like to joke and say, I haven't worked there that long. But I've been there the last three years. I'm very, very proud. And we've really evolved even in the last couple of years, the content and the direction and all that we're trying to aspire and get across to people because business has changed, right? Yeah, yeah.

And it really has over the last, definitely since the pandemic. Yeah. Over the last decade. So businesses change. Entrepreneurs have changed. Content creators are obviously a lot more in different platforms and, you know, social media. And there's so many different ways. So Success Magazine has always been about helping.

the entrepreneur and through professional development. But now we are really helping those who are not just the CEOs and the billionaires. We're helping the startups. We're helping the solopreneur. And we're also talking about philanthropy. And what are some ways that these people give back? So I'm really proud to be a part of that. And I've gotten there because of my experience in media and because I'm a natural and

authentic storyteller. Well, and I think what's great, you know, about the magazines as an example is, you know, all of us entrepreneurs start at ground zero. and we learn from other people, whether it's books, mentors, the internet, social media, YouTube. But then it's like a cool experience to go full circle and then, you know, maybe be in Success Magazine or work with you guys and teach and help educate. Yeah.

Because that's the next wave, right? And those people you teach in 10, 15 years, maybe some of them will be in Success Magazine and because of your history, right? Yeah. And then 20 more years later, the people they teach will be in there. So it's really like a history. book and a history of entrepreneurship. So that's why I think it's so cool. And, you know, obviously a mutual friend, Russell Brunson, he loves, you know, that whole history side. Oh, yes. Obviously,

it was just on the cover of you guys. And he's so into it because it is true. Like a lot of the core principles of business and success are the same. But obviously, as you said, the internet now changes a lot of the finer details so quickly. Yeah. And I mean, you know, I like to address that because publishing in itself has changed, but business has changed. And the way that we lead teams has changed, the way that, you know, business influencers and, you know, we can get our voice out there. And yeah, Russell's a great example. I was with him for the cover shoot. And his, you know, his archive of Success Magazine. I mean, back to issue number one, which I got to, I got to hold, was so incredible and his passion for it. But I understand that passion. Like I'm now with Success Magazine as a like a little

glimpse, like a little glimpse, right, of my career and a little bit of time where I can help evolve it because it will go on to live beyond me as well. And I think that's a really cool aspect. You know how far it's come, but you know where it can go as well. And yeah, I mean, all the different platforms, we even have Success.com, we have our digital editions now and everything. And, you know, it's all tied together as an ecosystem. And it's all about sharing stories so that we can help other entrepreneurs be able to get to the place where they're in the magazine as well. I can picture 50 years from now someone's reading it in space, right? It's like how I got, how I built this space station.

Exactly, right? We laugh about it now, but if you said that 50 years ago about the internet and people would be reading it on these things, right? It's just like that's the cool thing about it. So what are, you know, for everyone listening, we've got a ton of entrepreneurs listening. And they're probably the everyday reader, right? Somewhere in that zero to 10 million mark, a lot of them.

Starting out, you know, it's always the hardest part. art in some ways. So what are some of the reoccurring themes when you've interviewed all these billionaires and legendary people? What are key principles that could help them? Well, I like to, I get asked this a lot because I have interviewed quite a few people, a lot of celebrities, you know, and not just celebrities, but thought leaders, right, who in this space have really learned through their own experiences. And a common thread I see with the most impactful stories is rags to riches, right? Those who don't really come from much and who've really built their way up. And case in point is a mutual friend is Damon John. Right? Our mutual friend Damon, even Tony Robbins,

all these people, they didn't necessarily know they were going to end up where they are, right, at all. And I love those stories. So I always tell people that, you know, you'd be surprised listening and interviewing some of these top celebrity and personalities where they really came from. Yeah, I think you forget, right? You do. Or you just don't know. You just see them on the stages. So far away. Yeah. And it's, so that's why I always like to tell people is that you'd be surprised where these some, a lot of them come from and how they've just built their way.

And their stepping stones were their setbacks. Yeah. And how they got over hurdles. And you did too. And I have two in my career. People will look at me and say, oh my God, you're so lucky. You run am I. Well, you don't know what I went through to get here.

And it's been hard. And it's been sweat, blood, sweat and tears just like yourself. And I think reiterating those lessons to people, you know what I mean? And just like taking away nuggets. from these kind of people. It's just so important. But they have to understand that they're real people too.

Yeah. And I mean at its core, those stories are self-motivating. Yes. And really impactful because when someone is so successful, they made $100 million or whatever. It's too hard for the average person to ever think that can be them.

Right. But when they hear that that same person that did 100 mil, nearly went bankrupt twice, had to remortgage their house, borrow $800 from their mom to start the business. business. They go, actually, maybe I'm not doing too bad right now. I'm not remorgeting my house.

So maybe I'm actually, I could be the next Damon John. And I just, you know, Damon John, we actually just finished editing his episode here with us in our studio. Yeah. And I didn't, you know, I was watching it. And he had this like story of like needing to borrow $800 from his mom or something to keep Fubu alive. And you just forget those things. Right. Like that's crazy to me. Well, I've interviewed a lot of celebrities too. And, and, and some of them, necessarily on the business element, but I also like to focus on philanthropy and they're giving back. And we did a cover shoot with Jewel, like the singer Jewel, the musician, songwriter, Jewel a couple of years ago. And she lived in her car, right? Like for many, for many months,

if not years, to get to where she is now. Like people, I love being able to share those kind of stories because it gives people hope. It gives people like a path that I can do that too. And I know that Dem and John and all them, they will share that part of them. When I interviewed Tony Robbins, He has an interesting backstory too in childhood and upbringing. Like there's a many, many of them. And I think that has to be highlighted. And I love kind of bringing that to the forefront because you'll see them on stage and you'll see them on Shark Tank or whatever. And you'll think, oh, gosh, like there's no way.

But once you make them relatable, which you do with talking to them here, then it becomes a lot more aspirational. Yeah. And a lot of them, I think, too, I don't know what you've seen, but a lot of them just fall into it because they believed in themselves. That's one thing I've noticed so much. Yeah. We just interviewed Dolph Lundgren, the actor, for our series. And he was like in Australia doing a degree and he started doing some karate on the side, became a bount, like a bodyguard for a famous musician.

And that started his whole career. And it's just because he took risk. He moved to Australia from Europe, then moved with the singer to New York, met people in New York and became Dolph Lundrum. And it's like, most people wouldn't do that, you know, around the world. But it's because he took risks and just say it's about risk taking. And I mean, even if you don't have the money to do it, we all take risks. But these people have like, it's like stepping stones, right?

You get to where you are based on what you've done previously. Another thing that I've found a lot of them do is they really just, not only do they just take risk, but they also see a need in the market. Like it's something that they need or they know their friends need. And then they go towards that because they feel passionate about it. And then it becomes something that we realize that the majority of people in the society need something, like a product or whatever service. And that's also how they've built their passion as well.

Yeah. And let's switch to you. I'd love to ask too. Obviously, you've been in content for many years, right? And what makes you good at your career and job is disseminating content and making it consumable and applicable, right? That's the core of great content.

So obviously, now we're all content creators too. Yes, I know. Whether we know it or not are accepted or not, we are all content creators. So I'd love some tips from you and your 30-year. experience on, you know, you can't just be in charge of a magazine and put out whatever, right? Like every paragraph and sentence and headline, it's all copywriting and it has to flow. So what tips would you give from your own career in your industry for people listening on content side?

Well, I always say that it's about the audience, right? Audience is key. So no matter what kind of platform or publication or anything that you're actually relaying that content is, whether it's a podcast, whether it's. a TikTok or even a publication on the newsstand, you really have to think about that end user. So it's not a matter of just the story. It's who is actually consuming it. Like the person that right now walks into a Barnes & Noble and looks at a magazine stand is someone

different that's, you know, it's a different person. It's a different person completely than who's going to just turn on their Instagram and see a reel. Like it's, I mean, they might be the same person, but there's also those differences. And when you're creating a publication, a magazine in print form, there is a knack to it. There's who we put on the, you know, the cover, to the cover lines, to the font size. It gets so much different, so different than obviously putting together content for other platforms. And in my experience, and I talked about it a little bit before, but I just, I've had to evolve with that content creation evolution, and I've had to evolve with it too. And I like to say,

I'm a classically, you know, classically trained journalist. I'm old school, whatever, but I've had to accept that, yes, everyone is a content creator and everyone's a writer and everyone's a graphic designer now, right? Everyone's a producer. And there was a little bit of time when that first happened and I was a little bit like, I went to school for this. Like, I should be respected. But now I actually see why and how it's very, very valuable because it's also helping me

in my job now where when we put people in the magazine, they obviously promote it through their channels. And if we, years ago, we didn't have social media. So we relied on word of mouth more. And now it's completely different. So I actually have evolved over the years to be able to accept that and move with it. And I actually like to say that that's why I've survived in business to be to where I am today because I've been able to kind of like accept the change.

Well, I was going to say, I think magazines with the internet and COVID and all those things got one of the biggest disruptions, right? Absolutely. And an industry like newspapers and magazines were a dominant industry for 50 hundred years plus, right? right? That's how you consume content. Yeah. And then the internet comes on and goes, oh, screw that. You can go on Google or social media on YouTube and learn whatever you want, right? Yeah. Yeah. So it's like, you know, and a lot of magazines did go out of business too, right?

In that pivot. In that pivot, so if they didn't adapt. So what have you seen for success? And before that, like that pivot, like how did you pivot a big company's, right? Because these aren't just like, oh, with five employees. It's like you're churning out hundreds of thousands of print copies. And now you have to go, well, we've got to do that and churn out thousands of pieces of online content. Yeah. Well, and that's the thing, right? Like, so right now, I'm the chief content officer as well for success. Yeah, success.

So I've been able to take what we were doing at the magazine and what people love about our content and really being able to now streamline it across all of our channels to Success.com. And what I've learned, too, is that, yeah, there's been lots of change. I mean, print magazines, I like to say I've, you know, I've survived and thrived in print because I'm still there. But you're right. There's been many, many, many magazines go out of business. Or just maybe even not out of business, just change format onto digital.

So with that, I think what success has that is so unique is we have access to a lot of people who want to be in the publication because it's an iconic brand. And people resonate with it. And I'm saying even before I was there, right? People have resonated with it over the years and being able to say I was in Success magazine. But also the name of it. I mean, you can't go wrong with calling it. Success Magazine, it makes you feel like if you're in there, you have made it.

So we're very fortunate to lean on that iconic brand, but be able to evolve how we basically distribute content. So, yes, like print copies have gone down across the industry. But having that presence on the newsstand is still important. One thing to mention, though, is like back in the day when I first started journalism in magazines, we relied on the newsstand sales to keep us going and actual advertisements in the magazine. Well, they're like the news feed.

They were the news feed of social media. And that's how we kept the revenue. Nowadays, we don't rely on that. We can't. They're like nice to have. It's a promotional tool. I mean, it really is. And 10 years, 20 years ago, if I were to say that our beautiful publications we put our

heart and soul into producing was just used as a promotional tool for the company, that would just like irk me. And I would hate that. But nowadays it really is. It's really just creating that brand presence and being out there. in the Hudson on the airport, like the Hudson newsstands at the airport. And you see it. And you see people tag us because they saw it. And it's really exciting. And Damon John, when he saw his on the newsstand, he went up to it. It's very exciting. But at the end of the day, the staying

power is really in the content that's online. Yeah. Because the print comes and goes. And the people who are in it in that print issue may keep it and frame it great. But we move on. And then there's another one that comes out. So in my own career, I've had to evolve with it. We've had to learn to utilize the content there, bringing it across our whole ecosystem, and now, like, whether it is in podcasts or whether it is obviously on our website. And I think that's what keeps a brand really solid and really, like, have staying power. Yeah. And I mean, I think, you know, what I teach is similar. Like, you've got people ask me, what's the best social media platform? And I never answer. I say, wherever your customer hangs out, because you've got to basically meet people where they're at. So,

you know, I think some of the print businesses that would have gone out of business are the stubborn ones that said, we're not doing the internet. Right. Whereas if you learn, like, we've got to, you've got to, as a business owner, you've just got to meet the customer wherever they're at. So if in five years they're all on Reddit, well, you better get good at Reddit. Yeah. In five years, they're in some VR glasses, right, from meta.

Well, you better get good at making content in the VR glasses. Yeah. And you can't like, I think if you're stubborn, that's when you can fail in business, you know. Yeah. And that's where, I mean, with the AI and all these different advancements, which we're very, we're really embracing right now on our team. Like we've done like an overall and the restructure of our team and now we're really focused on those advancements in AI and how we can offer tools. That's another disruptive for the writing industry, right? Well, yeah. And I was saying that like we

haven't really utilized that in our editorial. I do like to keep the editorial integrity and the authenticity. But what we have done is offer these tools and created these tools of an amazing team behind me that does this. And we offer that also to the reader. So we can talk about these tools authentically with the right sources in the magazine. And then we can say, but we also have this to help you in your business or to inspire you. And that's how we're bringing AI into the actual ecosystem and being able to advance our brand as a whole because we watch our competitors. And, you know, there's some great competitors, but they are not doing what we're doing.

And I think that's really important where we're going. Good. So last question as we kind of wrap. I'd love to hear a bit about what you're, you know, what's next for you and what's next for the magazine? Like what is the big focus for the magazine, right? Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, for the magazine, we're like I said, working on a lot of AI tools,

not only internally to help with our efficiencies in-house, because we are doing that, but also offering out there as well. We've just started and launched Success Labs, which is our exclusive proprietary social networking platform for people. It's free. It's to get people through the door. A lot of this is there's a strategy behind it. But we're in there and we're able to communicate. communicate with our consumers. They're able to communicate with the staff and everything. It's a real

kind of connective tissue to our publication, keeping that as the foundational product. But we're also obviously promoting our platform, right? We have success plus membership. There's a lot of, a lot of these media kind of outlets now and publications have memberships now or subscriptions as a larger whole. In order to keep our foundational product like living and breathing, we need to extend that, you know, community. And that's what we're really focused. on now too. And then one other thing, again, going back to offerings for our readers is we're relaunching success coaching in the new year. So this is big now. We're reigniting it. And we're going to be able to have success certified coaches across the board. And they're going to be able to

bring the wisdom that we offer to their clients, to their businesses, to their teams. And that's what's going to keep the brand going, not only word of mouth, but in all these different avenues. So really excited about that. And I look forward to leading the charge. So yeah, yeah. You guys. Yeah, it's great to, you know, it's a magazine, but you're innovating so much, right? You're like a whole ecosystem. I think that's why you guys will be around for another hundred and thirty years and beyond, right? I may not be with a magazine that long, but we'll see. And then, you know, obviously more about you.

I know we're filming your episode now and, you know, talking about success magazine and what success means, which is obviously a great fit for what we do here. But so our theme, too, is sharing, you know, the success stories of people and the ups and downs. and I know there's more of your story in that too. So guys, if you're listening, check out that episode. That'll be coming up soon. Thank you so much for being on. And I hope you guys enjoyed that sort of behind the scenes look

and some lessons from lots of the most successful people on the planet that you guys have hung out with and done content with. So until next time, keep working hard. I hope you're more successful in your business, career and life. I'll see you guys soon. Take care.