INTERVIEW
Meet our publisher with her finger on the Pulse
One minute she might be commissioning a feature about a round-the-world charity trek, and the next organising her dozens of delivery staff, or getting creative with advertising artwork. As the editor and publisher of the biggest monthly titles covering Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire, Kerry Lewis-Stevenson thrives on the variety that heading up Pulse Magazine involves. Kerry spoke with Sammy Jones about her journey so far and her vision for the future... 48
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ith a keen eye for art and design, Kerry was a creative force from a young age. She completed a foundation course in Art and Design at Nene College before hot-footing it to Liverpool to undertake a three year degree in graphic design. Returning to Northamptonshire, she worked for Blue Ribbon Label Company in Milton Keynes, which proved a great learning curve. “I learned the print trade from the ground up, gaining an understanding of every kind of print method there was, and that was the start of my career path,” Kerry said. “When the company relocated, I worked as a gift designer, but I wanted to go back to graphic design, so I went to work for another local company and they allowed me to work self-employed.” Kerry’s business brain began ticking: “I realised I could earn the same amount of money that I earned full time working just three days a week for myself. I made the jump and I’ve never looked back.”
April 2022 | MK Pulse Magazine | 32,000 Copies delivered every month door to door across Milton Keynes
Kerry had also studied with the Chartered Institute of Marketing, gaining a Post-Grad Diploma which bolstered her know-how. In the late noughties, Kerry began drawing up a new plan – for a magazine that would sit at the heart of the community. “There were other titles locally, and one was being used by everyone to source suppliers and to keep in touch with what was happening. I loved the village vibe that surrounded it. I thought, ‘Why can’t we do that for Milton Keynes?’ “I felt I could do it and had enough print experience behind me to make it work.” That first issue of Pulse came out in the spring of 2009. The print run was 10,000, which might have been seen as rather ambitious. “I wanted to hit the ground running,” she explains, “I never thought I’d fail, I genuinely didn’t. It might sound arrogant or foolish, but I just really believed in the product. I knew it was something that people would respond to, would need and would use.
