Joanna Coles talks to the women of Step Up (and the rest of the world)

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I recently attended an event hosted by Step Up Women’s Network, a national nonprofit membership organization dedicated to strengthening community resources for women and girls. The event was held at the Hearst offices in Manhattan and featured Joanna Coles, editor-in-chief of Marie Claire Magazine.

 

I had wanted to meet Coles for over a year, ever since a professional mentor mentioned her mission to reshape the women’s magazine to be for and about women who are “more than just a pretty face.” Coles was unapologetically honest and straightforward in her perspective on women and gender roles, and her professional insight was tremendously compelling. I wanted to share her thoughts with other young women, so I offer the following…

 

Coles kicked off with this piece of advice, saying its relevance would become apparent as she recounted the story of her career: “Keep moving. Keep changing jobs. Never stay in a position for more than three years.”

 

On her career path: Coles knew she wanted to be a journalist as a child. At nine years old she was writing stories for her local Yorkshire paper, for which she was paid two pounds. Fast forward to Coles’ graduation from college and first job at The Spectator newspaper, where she did a little of everything including advertising sales and editing the books page. After a few years there she told her boss, “ I love working for you, but I need to think about my next step.” What happened next gave her cause to advise us to always “try and get your boss on your side.” Her boss made a call to a friend at The Daily Telegraph and Coles alighted to the new paper where she debuted as a news reporter.

Next came a position at The Guardian where Coles spent ten years, all the while reinventing her position, going from news reporter to Op-Ed to interview columnist, traveling around the world and even appearing on a show for BBC radio.  She failed to return the call the first time they rang about offering her the job and she laughed at how foolish she had been for blowing them off initially. She noted that you just never know who might be thinking of you for a position.

The Guardian also brought Coles to New York where she became bureau chief. After a while, The Times of London approached her with an offer for a similar position. Coles was so comfortable at The Guardian that she was loathe to leave it, so she decided to play hard to get. Her husband advised her to go in with a figure that she wanted to make. She was shocked when they met it.

Eventually Coles and her husband decided to permanently emigrate to the U.S. from England. This meant looking for a job at an American publication, since if she stayed with an international pub there was always the chance of getting called back to home base. However, she had heard that “if you move abroad, you lose four years of your career” and she felt she had “zero” contacts. Fortunately, she had at least one, which was all she needed. Her friendship with writer Michael Wolf helped her get a foot in the door at New York Magazine, where she was hired as features editor. Although this was somewhat of a step back for Coles, taking into account the obstacles she faced as a relative newcomer to the industry in America, she believed it would serve her in the long run.

Coles spent three years at New York Magazine, toward the end of which she began feeling overloaded and miserable, barely sleeping in the wake of her second child’s birth. Not long after, Coles was recruited by More Magazine to become their features editor, but she didn’t feel the position was senior enough. More came back and offered her an executive editor job, number two at the magazine, which she accepted. After only 18 months at More, another offer came along from women’s magazine Marie Claire, this time for editor-in-chief, but Coles nearly missed the opportunity.

She had just returned from vacation in England with her family late one night. In the morning she woke to discover that there had been a fire in the refrigerator while they were away. It had been fully contained within the appliance but the food had gone bad and created a terrible mess. After Coles returned from buying a new refrigerator, she checked her email and discovered that Hearst President Cathy Black wanted to meet with her that day—in three hours.

Coles showered and rushed in to the city, scoring a blow-dry and a new outfit along the way. However, by the time she made it to Hearst, Black had already gone home to prepare for an impending airline departure to Paris for a week. Coles took a car to Black’s house, caught her as she was pulling out of the driveway and asked if she could accompany her to the airport. Coles says it was during that ride to the airport that the two women built a rapport, leading her to her current position at Marie Claire.

 

On a typical workday: There is no typical workday, according to Coles. However, she did provide a run down of her schedule last week in L.A., which included several meetings with writers and actors, a party with the cast of Grey’s Anatomy, and a cover shoot with Rebecca Romijn. She also rattled off her frenzied travel schedule for the next few weeks, with trips to Milan and Paris in May, having just spent time there at the end of February. Fortunately Coles cherishes her time spent on planes where she does much of her editing. Time spent “in the office” can including meeting with editors, advertisers, celebrities, circulation analysts, and looking at the magazine layouts and photographs.

 

On the workplace: Coles believes in surrounding yourself with people who are good at what you are not, and people that you like, since work must be fun (“if it’s not you need to get a new job!”). When she came on board at MC, she brought in her own executive editor who had been at GQ for 19 years, but there was very little turnover. She joked that this executive editor had recently come to her complaining that she was tired of cupcakes. There is a tradition in women’s magazines when a colleague leaves, “of gathering round the conference room and picking at the sugary frosting on the cupcakes, saying ‘I shouldn’t, but they look so good.’” Instead of white wine and cupcakes, Coles took her staff to Rosa Mexicana near Lincoln Center where everyone got hammered on Margaritas and had a really great time.

 

On negotiating an offer or raise: “First of all, don’t say you ‘need’ the money, we all need money. You’re better off saying ‘I’ve done this job for x years and I’m not being paid what I’m worth. Do you think I’m being paid what I’m worth?’” Then Coles says you just have to be quiet and wait. Don’t keep trying to fill the room with noise to block out the discomfort you feel. Silence is one of the most powerful tools you have in negotiation. Coles also says that if you are going to use another offer to ask for more money, you have to be prepared to take it if you hear ‘no’, and that if that negotiation tactic does work, it can only be used as a bargaining chip once.

 

On mentors and networking: Coles suggests finding someone in your work environment you like and trust to be a mentor, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be the most senior person. As her personal mentors she named both Heart President Cathy Black and Ellen Levine (Editorial Director at Hearst). She says that various men also helped push her in her career because they recognized that there was a need for female writers and opinions.

Regarding networking, Coles emphasized the importance of singling out people you want to get to know and chasing them down for a meeting, if that’s what it takes. While in her role as bureau chief, Coles was determined to meet with Michael Wolf, a writer she admired at New York Magazine. She says nearly had to stalk him to arrange their first lunch meeting, since he cancelled on her every time they set something up. But her perseverance paid off; it was Wolf who helped her get a foot in the door as features editor at
New York.

She added that young women should remember that their current peers and colleagues may one day be able to provide career support, networking or opportunities as they too rise through the ranks. Finally, if you are recruited for a position, always go to the interview. Even if you have no intention of taking the job, you may connect with the person who interviews you and when they eventually move on, they may remember you an pursue you for another opportunity.

 

On cultural differences between the U.S. and the UK: In response to a question about Americans’ tendency to sell themselves whereas the Brits are more modest and self-deprecating, Coles said that she sees it as the Americans being honest and saying “I’ve worked hard,” while the Brits tend to say, “I’m hopeless,” bemoaning all the work they have done/are doing—so that they are talking about themselves but it’s different, less direct.

“In the UK, one of the ways you prove your worth to your boss is by disagreeing with them and arguing your case,” Coles says. However, this approach didn’t work so well for her at New York Magazine where she continued to voice her dissent until a coworker admonished her and asked her what she was doing. Coles is now sensitive to this cultural distinction.

 

On qualities for professional success: “Have a sense of humor, don’t be defensive, and be flexible,” Coles says. She also quotes the advice a diplomat once gave her that “you can get more done if you don’t feel the need to take the credit.”

 

On juggling a family and a career: “Try to continue to work when your children are young, even if it’s just part time. It’s difficult but will put you much farther ahead of women who have paused and taken that ‘off-ramp’. And it gets much easier when your kids get older.” Coles admits that she isn’t that involved with the daily minutia of her children’s lives but that she is home most nights to tuck them in. She believes that it’s the years from 11 to 18 that you really need to pay attention to your children, as they are becoming little adults. She says she tends to zoom in and out on what’s important to her at different times.

Coles and her husband both travel often for work but they try to make sure at least one parent is home with the kids. That wasn’t possible last week when Mr. Coles was in London doing publicity for his new book, so she took the children to Los Angeles with her where they swam in the hotel pool and were cared for by a babysitter. Coles acknowledges that this will become increasingly difficult to pull off when her children need to stay at home for exams and other commitments, but for now it works.

 

On “balance”: Coles is all about what works rather than trying to create an artificial sense of balance. From her perspective, balance doesn’t exist so it’s futile to try to achieve it. Instead she focuses on making sure that there is always one thing she looks forward to doing every day.

The more she moves up in her career, the less Coles hears people talk about balance because “stress just is what it is, no one talks about it.” She believes that the stress of being in your twenties comes from the fact that you don’t have much control, because you don’t have much to stand on in terms of experience and you might feel frustrated if you are surrounded by those who are less ambitious. In your forties she says, “You can leave your job and know that you will find another one; you can reinvent yourself.”

 

On women and financial independence: Coles recommended a new book, “The Feminine Mistake” by Leslie Bennetts, which underscores the importance of financial independence for women. She said she has noticed a current trend where women accrue fantastic educations complete with an MBA and then decide not to use them. She personally loves the freedom of being financially independent and thinks it makes her a better partner in her marriage.

 

On Marie Claire and young women today: When she arrived at Marie Claire, Coles’ mandate was to make the magazine more sophisticated. All women’s magazines have been hit hard by the celebrity magazines, which are now so heavily consumed by the female audience. Coles’ approach has been to focus on who the MC reader is and how to find her. According to Coles she is: in her 20s or 30s, has no children, married or single (40/60), committed to her job, and financially independent.

Coles says that many of their readers find it difficult to find the time to date since they are working all the time, and when they do meet people, they may be faced with a situation where they are making more than their husband. “For the first time, all the things we put in place to create (gender) equality are finally resulting,” Coles says. “Young women are more confident and have a greater sense of entitlement than I did when I was starting my career.” They may also be making more money than their parents did at their age and have a different relationship with men or marriage than their mother had. As a result they have a harder time seeking and receiving help from parents and grandparents. We want to create a magazine that asks and answers these questions.”

According to Coles, some of her peers expressed surprise at her decision to take the helm of a women’s magazine. But Coles claims it is exactly where she wants to be because “women are so interesting”—due in large part to the fact that the workplace is so complicated for women right now.  “We’re not whining,” Coles says. “It just that none of us have great role models for how to do it because it’s uncharted territory.”

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