Anthony Robinson, Owner/CEO, Logging & Sawmilling Journal

Anthony Robinson Logging & Sawmilling Journal on beach in front of tree stump— By Joy Ling, MagsBC intern, July 2024.

Anthony began his journey in the forestry industry, working in the mills and planting trees. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Western Australia in 2008 before attending the University of British Columbia where he completed his MSc in forestry.

In 2017, he was able to witness his career grow as he joined the Logging & Sawmilling Journal, where he became the owner and CEO just after two years. Today, Anthony enjoys working with his close knit team to publish new, innovative articles, as well as starting a new project on his property in his free time.

I interviewed Anthony to find out how he was able to develop his career so efficiently, what differences or similarities he felt when transferring into a new industry, as well as any advice for individuals interested in the publishing community.

The journey from forestry to publishing is quite an interesting intersection. What made you decide to join the Logging & Sawmilling Journal? 

In one word, opportunity.  At the time I was at a crossroads in my career. I had been the on-site manager for Demo International, a large forestry equipment trade show for the better part of three years. Throughout that process I had met many industry contacts, manufacturers, and dealers. After the event I had two job offers: one to move back to Australia as a harvesting manager and one to stay in Canada and join the magazine with the opportunity to one day become the owner. 

I had always thought of owning my own business at some point in my career, but in my early 30’s, this was an opportunity that came around much earlier than I had expected. By joining the Logging & Sawmilling Journal I could leverage the relationships I had built during my previous role, which made a lot of sense to me at the time.

It was a scary change, but being very familiar with the subject matter made it easier for me. 

I guess ambition is a big part of that. I wanted to write my own path, and not be restricted to work for others. I am very happy I made the move; small business ownership is very stressful but incredibly rewarding at the same time.

How has the experience working in publishing been similar or different from just working in forestry in the past?

Publishing is most certainly a different field compared to on the ground forestry operations that I was involved with, but at the end of the day many of the skills are transferable. It’s about building relationships, be that customers, printers, staff, industry contacts or mentors. In a forestry setting that could be logging contractors, road building teams, tree planters, ecologists, research teams or perhaps safety auditors.

It takes a team of interconnected professionals, service providers, and contractors to complete the tasks in any business. Within publishing, it’s just about leveraging those relationships to connect editorial and marketing to make great content. Happy readers equals happy advertising customers. 

Are there any skills you wished you had learnt earlier? 

I was set up well from my master’s degree in terms of writing and communications. Data analysis from my two science-based degrees enabled me to manage finances and forecasting. If I could have done anything differently, though, that would likely be to learn more about sales sooner. A big part of my role is sales, and I have no formal sales training. That could have been helpful. 

What does a typical day look like for you? 

My wife and I made the shift to working from home in 2020 during the pandemic. A typical day looks like waking up early, having coffee, and getting on the computer to manage emails and logistics for the first half of the day. That could be organising printing proofs, advertising material, sales, or video content, which we have been doing a lot more of lately. 

By midday I have taken our two dogs for a nice long walk, and I am either back at my desk completing more emails or working on something around the property. 

From January to May I am travelling at least once a month for conferences and tradeshows, so that takes a lot of my time and preparation at the start of the year. 

We publish twelve magazines a year, so we are busy, but we have built a great team that works really well together. 

What are some challenges you face as the CEO and how do you overcome them? 

The biggest challenge I face daily is adapting our business to change. COVID 19 was a massive change to say the least, but we managed to work through that. Most importantly, what we are seeing is change in the way businesses like to market their brands.

Twenty years ago there were perhaps two or three ways to market your brand: TV, print and radio. Today there are endless ways a manufacturer can market their brand: print, digital, social media, etc. This has diluted the once strong print advertising revenue and forced us to be flexible and cater to that change.

That is challenging, but that is also a huge opportunity for us to show our adaptability and offer new avenues to our customer base. Adapting to change under budgetary constraints can be difficult, but I feel we are making great progress; given that we are a small business, we are flexible and can pivot very quickly which is a great advantage for us. 

Staffing was a challenge at the start of my business ownership, but we have managed to build a team today that works extremely well together.

What do you mainly look for when publishing pieces?

Value! Is the editorial bringing value to our readers, such as new information, dynamic topics, great photos, etc., or is the piece bringing value to our advertising base? If we can achieve both, then great. 

Our mandate is to bring new technology and innovation to our reader base. The forest industry is incredibly dynamic.There’s a lot of new technology being implemented globally and we want to be at the forefront of that information exchange, be that in print or digital. 

When you acquired the company in 2019 from the previous owner, were there any changes or rebranding you wanted to make?

Nothing too major, a few tweaks here and there. At the time I felt it was important to not upset the apple cart too much. I had been working within the business for two years, whilst some of our staff had been with the business 20+ years. That was a dynamic that I had to navigate with caution. I made many small changes over the last five years. I felt that approach was better, rather than big changes straight away. 

We re-built our website, invested majorly in digital growth, let some staff go, and hired others. For the most, part the magazine has maintained great brand recognition throughout Canada without too much change needed. 

Any final pieces of advice for individuals looking to work in the publishing industry? 

Follow the opportunity. If there is a great opportunity to build a career and lifestyle that you want, then go for it, whether that’s in publishing or small business ownership. Be adaptable, seek mentors, and be open to learning. 

One of my greatest fears was that by removing myself from an active role in forest management, I wouldn’t be able to go back into that field one day, but the skills I have gained in managing relationships, business development, finance and acquisitions and managing staff are incredibly valuable and transferable to any role in my future. 

Back yourself. You never know until you commit to something.

Find Logging & Sawmilling Journal on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and through the Forestnet website.

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