Meet Our Editors, Designers & Producers

Doug Crichton Editor-in-Chief, BHG.com
Doug came to BHG.com in 2007 after 14 years at Time Inc., where he was editor-in-chief of Cooking Light and Health magazines and their Web sites. He spent 7 years in daily journalism -- as a reporter at the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch and then a supervising editor at The Associated Press in Dallas -- before switching to magazines as editor-in-chief of American Airlines' American Way. Doug and his wife, Ginger, live in Des Moines with a very full house of four kids.
E-mail Doug

Amy Tincher-Durik Managing Editor, BHG.com
Amy joined the BHG.com staff in September 2008, following more than five years with Meredith Books as both a home design and decorating editor and managing editor. As an editor Amy wrote and edited books for Better Homes and Gardens, Home and Garden Television (HGTV), and the Discovery Channel. Prior to joining Meredith Amy worked as an editor and later acquisitions editor in the book group at Krause Publications (Iola, Wisconsin), specializing in sewing, crafts, and quilting. A Wisconsin native, Amy holds a BA in German, English, and Education (Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin) and an MS in Management and Organizational Behavior (Silver Lake College, Manitowoc, Wisconsin). Amy lives near Des Moines, Iowa, with her husband Jacob and four Ragdoll cats. Amy enjoys vegetarian cooking, practicing yoga, traveling, doing home improvement projects, and adding to her shoe collection.
E-mail Amy

Debra Steilen Senior Editor, Holidays BHG.com
Debra comes to BHG.com from Meredith Corporation's Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Media division, where she led a variety of home improvement titles, including Kitchen Makeovers, Weekend Makeovers, Kitchen Planning Guide, Kitchen & Bath Products Guide, Simply Perfect Storage, and 100 Decorating Ideas Flea Market Style. Prior to joining Meredith, Debra was a nationally accredited public relations executive with expertise in home improvement, the decorative arts, and economic development. Outside interests include creative writing, antiquing, and remodeling her 100-year-old Craftsman-style house.
E-mail Debra

Heather Morgan Shott Senior Editor, Food, BHG.com
Heather joined BHG.com in September 2007, following a six-year stint as online editor for National Geographic Traveler, where she won two Lowell Thomas awards, and editor positions with WineSpectator.com and Brides.com. Heather has been a judge for the City and Regional Magazine Awards since 2000, and she has written about travel, health, weddings, food and wine, and art for Wine Spectator, Modern Bride, National Geographic Traveler, Web MD, and Washington Flyer magazines. She and her journalist husband, Chris, live in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
E-mail Heather

Lori Brookhart-Schervish Associate Editor, Food, BHG.com
Lori joined the BHG.com team in the spring of 2009 after working as a writer for Meredith's health titles including DiabeticLivingOnline.com and HeartHealthyOnline.com. Before moving back to her hometown, Lori spent four years as a writer and editor at Brentwood Media Group in Los Angeles, where she first earned her stripes, and graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism. Lori lives in Des Moines with her husband Dave and daughter Sailor, where they can be found browsing bookstores, playing at the park, and buying more instruments for their family band.

Justin W. Hancock Senior Editor, Gardening, BHG.com
Justin officially joined BHG.com in May of 2007, having come from the Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Media Garden Group, though he's been helping out with the BHG.com since June of 2006. He's a Certified Professional Horticulturist who has a passion for plants. A gardener through-and-through, Justin spends his free time working in and photographing his home garden, jam packed with more than 2,500 different plant varieties. When not elbows-deep in his garden, Justin can be found indulging his sweet tooth and tracking down sweet treats with the rest of the BHG.com staff.
E-mail Justin

Brenda Drake Lesch, Creative Director, Crafts, BHG.com
Brenda joined BHG.com in 2009 after 21 years on Meredith Corp. magazines. She spent 14 years in Meredith's Special Interest Media group, working on decorating, gardening, remodeling, and crafts titles, and serving 7 years as the Art Director for the Crafts Group. Brenda and her husband, Steve, live near Des Moines with their two kids, Tyler and Bree, and two ornery cats. She fills her spare time watching her kids compete in various sports, reading, walking, decorating her home, and trying to complete multiple in-progress crafts projects.
E-mail Brenda

Veronica Toney Associate Editor, Decorating, BHG.com
Veronica joined the BHG.com staff and celebrated her birthday on the same day in March 2008. Before coming to BHG.com, she served stints as a contributing writer for Retail Jeweller: The UK's leading watch and jewellery magazine; KC Magazine, and Kansas City Homes & Gardens. Veronica has both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in magazine journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism. She fills her spare time by exploring Des Moines, making trips back to Kansas City, reading magazines, planning her return to the UK, and hoping one day her Scottish terrier, Gigi, will remember what they learned in puppy class.
E-mail Veronica

Amanda Hyde, Associate Editor, Home Improvement, BHG.com
Amanda joined BHG.com in 2009 after working as a staff writer for the Meredith Corp.'s RemodelingCenter.com and KitchenBathIdeas.com. She also worked as a freelancer for Meredith Interactive Media for three years. Amanda attended the University of Iowa and has a degree in history and secondary education. She lives in Des Moines and enjoys spending time with family and friends, running, traveling, shopping online, and watching her favorite sitcoms.
E-mail Amanda

Nate Becker Art Director
Nate joined the BHG design team in October 2007, with the goals of maintaining brand standards and refining usability for the site, and spreading the gospel of Apple in the workplace, both skills he practiced while working as a designer at Red Five Interactive and Dice.com. In their spare time, he and girlfriend Rothtida love to travel, visit family, enjoy great food, and play the Wii in the presence of Nate's Pez collection.

Diane Starkey Art Director
Diane brings a modern design sensibility, a fantastic fashion sense, and a killer cookie recipe to the art team at BHG.com. Prior to joining the Better Homes and Gardens staff, she spent 8 years at ad agencies working with home and garden clients and on software development. On the weekends, you can catch her remodeling and adding modern style to a 1910 Arts and Crafts home with her husband, Miles; walking her dog, Lucy; and hopefully baking a batch of those cookies for her coworkers.

Lory Stewart Production Director

Amanda Ware Production Manager
Amanda grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and graduated from Drake University with a degree in journalism. She started working with the BHG.com team as a freelancer in 2001 and joined the staff full-time at the end of 2003. In her free time, Amanda enjoys traveling, reading, and baking.

Sarah Bailey Producer
Sarah grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Business Management. Upon graduation in May 2007, she moved back to Des Moines to work at Meredith as a freelancer for Interactive Media, and then joined the full-time staff in July 2007. Outside of work, Sarah enjoys going out with her friends and family, pet-sitting, cooking, reading, traveling, and shopping.

Christi Boudewyns Design Production Team Lead
Christi moved to the Des Moines area in 2000 to attend Simpson College. While attaining her bachelor's degree in graphic design, she worked with the Simpson College Marketing and Public Relations Department. Toward the end of 2004, Christi started working with Interactive Media as a freelancer and joined the staff full-time in 2006. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, painting, and reading.

Meet the editors of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.