Trust Starts With a Story – with Danielle Keller of Peekaboo Magazine

Dec 12

The first time I picked up Peekaboo Magazine, it felt like walking into someone’s living room—warm, familiar, real.

When I sat down with Danielle Keller, Editor-in-Chief of Peekaboo and co-host of the People of NWA podcast, I thought we were going to talk about publishing. What we actually talked about was people. Trust. Legacy. And what it means to keep showing up, especially when things get hard.

Danielle didn’t set out to be a media mogul. She set out to preserve something that mattered—to families, to this region, to the way we stay connected when everything around us is moving too fast.

Dusting Off a Beloved Brand

Peekaboo had history. It had a little dust on the cover and fingerprints on the stories. It had been passed from one set of hands to another until it landed in Danielle’s lap. Instead of rebranding, she leaned in. She brought the magazine back by listening first—what mattered to readers, to advertisers, to the parents and businesses, and kids who saw themselves in those pages.

She didn’t try to modernize it into something soulless. She honored what it had been, while making space for new voices and new perspectives. That right there is what trust looks like in action.

Trust Isn’t a Marketing Play

As we talked, Danielle shared something that’s stuck with me ever since:
People don’t connect with brands because they’re polished.
They connect because something feels true.

We talked a lot about vulnerability—not just as a buzzword, but as a leadership muscle.

Danielle said something that stuck with me:

“When we’re vulnerable, we give others permission to be human.”

That’s the kind of leadership that builds loyalty. Whether you’re running a team or rebuilding a brand, storytelling with empathy might be the most underrated business tool you’ve got.

Nostalgia, Print, and the Power of Tangible Connection

We got to laughing during the episode about something surprisingly universal—how people instinctively smell a magazine when they pull it out of the mailbox.

It sounds funny, but it says something deeper. In a world where everything feels fleeting, digital, and disposable, holding a printed magazine in your hands means something. It’s not just information. It’s intentional. It carries weight.

Danielle knows that. She’s built Peekaboo to feel less like media and more like a moment. Something worth lingering over. Something that tells readers: you matter enough for this to be made just for you.

And it hit me—trust doesn’t always require automation or innovation.
Sometimes it’s built the slow, steady way: one issue at a time. One story at a time.
With presence. With care. With a commitment to creating something that lasts.

For the Leaders Feeling Disconnected

If you’re feeling burned out, unsure, or like you’re carrying your business on your back…
If you want your team to believe in what you’re building—but aren’t sure how to get them there…

This episode is a reset. A reminder that people trust people, not policies. And that your story might be the very thing that brings your business back to life.

Listen now:
The Overlooked Skill That Builds Trust Faster Than Strategy – with Danielle Keller