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In the podcast after a long time of no advertisements. So while this might be slightly annoying for you to have to listen to and maybe contemplate skipping. I just want to let you know that we're able to find this podcast through the partners we source and secure and abling us to bring you these incredible women and this awesome podcast, so, please keep listening and supporting and sharing and I hope you stay inspired. We are celebrating our one-year anniversary and with that we want to invite a lucky listener into the studio with us. So if you can on your stories tag at RM super women and at Rebecca Minkoff a screenshot that you've downloaded that you're sharing the episodes that you're just telling anyone about the podcast that enters you you must live in New York City or want to fly here and we'll pick you out of the crowds. You can come watch a podcast happen in real life. Today's guest on superwomen is Laura Brown currently the editor-in-chief of InStyle magazine. I think in style magazine is known throughout the entire universe as one of the most Incredible fashion magazines. There is before that she was at Harpers Bazaar and what I love about Laura is she's strong. She's powerful and man she gets what she wants and to top it off. She's really really really funny and I love her sense of humor. Take a listen to Laura Brown on super women. So this is a one off because we're in Laura Brown's office the editor-in-chief of inside. So am I yes, yes, you're here where all the magic happens. I'm looking at us a cover. ER of Miss Aniston, which is gorgeous. Yes. I'm well, I'm staring at six covers of Jennifer Aniston and one cover of Megan Rapinoe and Sue bird. So it's for the beauty issue and it's the I just think it's the most perfect mix of ladies so which is what I try to do the old in style. So yes is of Tobar issue and then we have to do November and then December and in January and February and we just have to keep doing it. It's a lot. It's exhausting. Can we go back to when you were young a young lady? Always young lady. Yes, and I was much of a lady but I was certainly young. Can you start telling me what made you want to get into magazines? Yes, I always say delusions of grandeur. So you thought you were going to be in the limo not everything that it was like more just like I wanted to be no. I didn't want to like, you know, when I was like nine years, I didn't know there was such a thing as a Hamptons house or anything. But like I wanted to be in it. I wanted to be like where the fashion was happening and where the glamour was and where the movies were and and it was because I was brought up in Australia and in Australia when I was a kid, which was like kind of, you know lates early 80s wouldn't have internet wouldn't have anything and so everything was sort of happening somewhere else and that's a blessing on the coast of Australia. You know it especially what's changed obviously completely now with internet social media and everything else, but it was so I was sort of hungry for an experience would be close to things that I found glamorous, I guess and not going to click again a cliche glamour, I think I was being able to see something with your own eyes when it sort of happened and see creativity kind of manifest itself on a big stage and we just didn't really have that. So for me, it was just like I've got a I've got to be part of it. So I would get all the magazines. I'd buy all the voges and the Harper's Bazaar is that would you know, which came in like three months late to Australia then and I'm just was obsessed with the most models and all of that are like early. Jeez. Hang on the early W magazine. We didn't really get in style down there that I remember anyway, but that was no one no install started. I was in my last year of college. So I didn't I wasn't quite in that like dreamy childhood idea of in style, but I just and I'd read them and I would just sort of go away in my head to whatever this place is now this to this glamorous office. So you moved when how old were you when you moved moved to New York? Yeah I moved so I went I did a stint in London for like two years came back and then I moved to London what? Right New York, and I was 27. Okay, and I moved here on telling her Nana Nana Nana September the 4th 2001. Thank you. Thank you master of strategy here. My first fashion show was September 10th 2001 you of your own my first I was like a group show. Oh my God. Yeah, so I feel your sister and I remember because I was at hustled my way some of my friend Libby Callaway. She was the editor fashioned out of the New York Post at the time and she's kind of taken me and we met in the street. Leah and we went to the Marc Jacobs show on the 10th night and it was I just remembered it was like this sort of like dionysian feet was the most incredible like Fashion Show on this pier and these walls came apart and I was just ho Greek like it was just the most luxurious amazing thing I've ever seen. I remember just like seeing like that Arquette or something. I just was beside myself and I'm at this my my I'm here. I'm in New York, and I'm in the fashion show of fashion shows, and I've had a bit of champagne and I'm wobbling around. And I was like I got it and then the next morning I know you know sober. Yeah, so but I never wanted to look again lucky enough. I didn't lose anyone was not you know, I cannot complain about anything, you know, I cannot mention any of that but I just arrived my poor mother was like because you know her obviously horrendous it was on TV from Australia look like World War 3. Oh, yeah, you know and my mom was like get your bags are still packed. You can come home and I was like I'm liking gristedes like buying some tuna. Hi, I'm like, no, I'm here now, but I never wanted to never wanted to go I just was in it, you know and had you already started working in magazines at that point. Are you just moved and I just you're going to see no wasn't magazines before I get started in magazines a home. I was too worried about yeah, that's six years. I had been since I spent 22 years in Australia two years and two years issue in London two years back in Australia then here so I had a bit of moved to because I had some like it's like a foreign journalist Visa. It's called lagoo you Do work from outside the country. I'll let you come to the country if your work is from Australia or Canada. So I did that until I got my first sponsorship which was for w magazine W magazine hired me as a senior editor in 2002 I think and they have a grateful to them because they made an honest woman of me. I mean like Jesus I think about people who need to get like working visas now with this Administration. It's so terrifying well, so I'm very glad that I was earlier and yeah, so I then I just kind of just Got going. I worked it now before wo worked up like freelance for talk magazine for like six weeks until that closed down. It was just was like what the first few months were just like a dream sequence. I was like that have that happen. That wasn't very good. Was it like just over again? And I used to have a roommate on Saint Mark's Place who who were like in a double level apartment and she had to like walk up stairs sure to walk through my room to go to the bathroom. I mean as a things we do. Yeah, I walk to my friends bedroom. Get to the bathroom and what you know, she was still a virgin. I remember the first time she was losing her virginity and I'd like you to walk through I like held it as long as I could but I was like girlfriend. I gotta pee it was really just stopped. Yes, and I was like, sorry. Sorry. Sorry that I put it off. Well, we things we do a big city you guys mmm so you obviously see on your Instagram. Yes, everything the Glamorous side of this job. I would love to hear we would love. Love to hear the not glamorous side. The this is hard. I think you know what's interesting is in a weird way. It's somewhere in the middle because the people I would say if all the fancy people the shiny people I call them if they're all ducks on a pond right. I've always been able likely sort of see the legs moving like to see what you know, every person I know who's a celebrity has had something happen to them. Of course, like they've had married your fertility or body issues or And will that give started I mean, there's always something that I look at and I go I have a lot of respect and love for a lot of people that I've met and work with but I don't envy anyone. I think that's important that I want to put out there more. It's not necessarily like this is glamorous and amazing and wowie wowie. There you go and put their their clothes on for a red carpet and they got to make sure they look cute in their dress and then they get bombarded by questions and they get off the red carpet and they go and promote all this stuff and they get paid a lot of money great. They get free stuff great. Have a nice house great like it followed everywhere. They go forever. I wouldn't say that super great. So I think that that part but yeah. No, I think that that's a the doing of the work of putting a magazine together is it's a lot of work and especially when when you Propel it you are the editor and chief you are a producer but you also are also a host kind of it's like you're going to make it happen, but you also got to be like, this is the greatest you're on. Oh, yeah and the day you see A lot. Yeah. I mean I go to bed for like if there's an eight hours on the clock I will weep and open the way but I will because I'm I sort of hurtle around I have this sort of idea that I can't do it all the time. But if you show up for me I shot for you and especially we just had our 25th anniversary issue come up for September and I asked a bunch of former cover stars to do a shoot do it sitting for us in an interview and and 15 of them said yes, which is beyond. And and I was a fight. Okay, if you are going to do that for me, I'm going to interview each and every one of you so I was like like an octopus being like Cameron Diaz Kerry Washington Reese. No, no Michelle Pfeiffer immigrant. What have you learned? Have you changed? Okay, thank you. Anyway next one, you know what I mean? But it was like I have to do that because and Reese was like you're mad like interviewing or and I was like, yeah, but I mean she can talk she works her ass off to you know, so that that's really important to me and I'm also in a constant state of sort of over-excitement like like if I want to you know, I mean Soon as I can after the soccer after World Cup, I was like Megan Rapinoe is unbelievable. And I was you know learning about Sue and I was like, I want to get those guys for the beauty issue for all the reasons that that is beautiful. And so for them to say yes, and we just then we hustle we go. Okay, we got to do this in Seattle in 8 days and we all go and we do it and it comes back and we're just so probably like because you've got to be reactive right and I think a lot of other folks in this industry aren't particularly and that's fine. I find it very weird. You can't just like Like yeah, you got it. You got it. You got to hustle a little bit. But yeah, and then I'm also like you know, somebody says yes to who has been a hero of mine in the magazine. I'm just so excited. I'm like I've got I've got to go. Yeah, but I go to the shoot on of my gosh. I can't go everywhere because of my just health over there either any personal like you might want to but it's I do and when you do something great you can surf on that for weeks. Like when we were putting together the anniversary of showing did this thing called 25 dresses or it's called iconic, but we call it 25 dress. Which was taking some of the most famous red carpet dresses of the last 25 years. I was able to make that interesting and like modern we wanting to put on models now and put them in streets and and do that as the film was coming and we were all just like like we just knew I was good. Yeah, we just knew it was good and we were like and I that old-fashioned pleasure of like printing out your layouts and looking at them on the floor or like mixing them around or getting out a pair of scissors. You know, I like making an image or changing an image. It's it's so old-fashioned and it's so wonderful and is also what actually will help everybody survived, you know is actually the old-fashioned things telling a story creating an image putting it out there. It's not about your SEO or you're a digital acronym XYZ. That's all fine. But if you don't have have the idea and you don't have that little then, you know, no we're totally yeah nowhere. So I feel very very strongly about that and I actually said that I was profiled for Australian magazine and the writer put it really well. She said print is the queen and digital's the carriage she rides on I thought that was really absolutely true. So I was like, I really love to make magazines and I also say what's Instagram. It's a magazine guys write like a you know, it's not when I first got home my old bosses at timing that you can't call a magazine your to call it a brown. I'm like dudes. It's a magazine. It's the magazine. It's alright a magazine can be literally on your phone. Or I can be sitting on my desk doesn't matter, right? You know a brand or a sounds like like you're going to put slap in style on the side some sunglasses. Yeah, cuz it doesn't sound as personal doesn't sound as as sort of invested, right? You know what I mean? Like, what is your brand out? Like, I don't really like, you know, I just always find that the most one of the least human hmm word so I try not to going. Oh, that's my phone. It makes a weird noise. It's gonna hang up, you know, if it's Oprah we can we can talk to her. I'm even know I would be okay. I screen Oprah often if yeah. She's See it so when you make the jump yes from Harpers to hear. What was that phone call like or what? Was that even approaching me or me leaving both? Okay. I was I was at that's a big jump. Yeah for many reasons. I had always by the time I was as executive editor bizarre. So me and Glenda were, you know, quite thick as thieves and I was still coming all these crazy ideas and doing all these portfolios and there was a lot of jobs within the time I was there and then I got a call from um head of HR at timing and then right after that are around that time REO foxman resigned left and I was like, I don't know what she was calling me back then when he resigned I went oh interesting and then I ended up going sort of on the cam at mad round of speed dating was just like various timing pooh-bahs. Okay, and so I did all that and then I wrote a memo. What did she's like a memo about what I kind of remember but it was like so I sat in my is what I think in stock could be and actually I said what I boiled down to us like So it actually has the greatest name. It's in style. So take it back to the right like take it back to like if you are in a magazine or in stuff. You read the magazine you're in style. Like it doesn't have to be like Harper's Bazaar is a trickier name Vanity Fair is a tricky and I mean it's fine. They stand for something now, but I was like, let's take this back. Let's distill it. And so I made so anyway, so that was like, let's just you got it. Anyway, I have to give it more. It was very very nice, but it was quite to date, you know and quite quiet and I was like, I'm going to really take it. Button, kick it. So yeah, they hired me and that was I remember when they gave me my offer letter with the old head of HR and Greg June Grande aka the jij who will appreciate this shoutout. It was summer. It was August was three years ago and I just was like and I went and sat we were down here and I went and sat just in the park on the grass with my little wedges and I just went. Oh, okay, and then we It was tricky getting me over here from up there. But anyway I got here and was it hard to tell Glenda being that you were so close, you know, it was crazy. She was away on vacation, which was not how I wanted to do it at all. Yeah, you know and she was in Lake st. Lucia or something. Yeah. I had to call her and like we're really close, you know, and and she just was like brilliant like you're brilliant, you know, and she was actually the that's the most the most gracious of everyone at that company to like, let me go like she was like Like you deserve it. I'm so proud of you. Like you know that she's really proud of like she's really me of me and Christina only all who's the Editor in Chief of wsj Christina and I came up together at bizarre. So sort of the Bailey finishing school really? So yeah, so then I started just about God but three years ago this week, I think here. Wow. I hope you're planning a big party for you. Nah, my party is asleep. No, my father's like my party is not having to go to any parties right now. I just got everybody wildly drunk forever. Celebration of our September issue, so it was great. If you didn't even make it in the next morning. I was so proud. You're like, yeah, I just hassle them orders. Oh, I'm sorry. Can you not make it can I have an update on blossomy anyway, so yeah three days later. So how do you sort of foster Community here or deal with staff or alcohol? No. Um, the I wear is I don't see your outlets on the drawers. It's right behind it. Anyway, I think when I got here, I'm not that sort of person. That is like I call I call it the bfm the bad fashion moving like I don't act like I'm in a bad budget movie. So I wasn't gonna come easy go. I'm bringing in a bunch of cool people and you'll have to get out like I'm not that freaking guy. I'm an only child. I'm a bit of a pleaser at the end of the day. So I just was like, okay guys, I'm gonna do all this cool stuff who wants to do cool stuff and the ones who I loved I call the sunflowers because they go we can we will so I am I'm being a sunflower you can't see but just imagine anyway and I could tell that they were up for being challenged more. Were and more being more active and I would give them more ownership. And so it was like, I mean we have obviously breaking news. It's been a bit. We had a whole company sold and a bunch of stuff happening at timing. So I have a smaller staff that I when I walked in to but everybody just rallied and that's the thing if everybody knows the headed to work and do a good job of what's been greatest to seeing sort of the three corporate turn but like the winds we've had of the like the photographer that we've never worked with it showed up for us or the ACT. So I just all of this stuff visit this magazine is world's solar systems are part of what away from what it used to be and the people that show up and so people feel real my team feels real pride and they're like, they're like, oh, yeah, we did that and they go hustle a little shoulder now I'm shaking my shoulders like Hillary Clinton when she did that good had that good point in that debate that time anyway, huh. So they're kind of we're all propelling each other. Yeah, and we also we don't have any far for don't have any room for one a desire for drama where I have no we have none here that like Zero because we're too busy with just nice people. Look everyone says your team is is great. And I know and we laugh and we show up and I are like I expect my fur Department to produce a shoot well and on budget and if I can't go to do what I would want of course, but I don't micromanage either. I don't go may I have a most of the concepts come from me at least for now until I become exhausted but I don't see that happening. I want your energy reserves. Mmm. I love it. I first asked morning had three. Glasses of Rose a oh yeah, I've never touched the stuff since oh, right. So it's being like a yeah for a while. It was like turning around a cruise ship which was was quite slow because it was a large large ship and now we feel we're much more Nimble and be the we're speedboat and I think come in the in compared in our industry. We are I really feel that I'm not even being like big UPS in style. I just feel as a lot of passivity and fear and lack of imagination. And it kind of freaks me out because I'm like, I'm a fan of magazines. I want magazines to be great. Yeah, you know, so what do you say? What do you like? And what do you tell the the youth the youth? Yeah. Yeah. Well tell them to stay hard working and not show up in turn like intern intern intern just get to where you want to bake at physically near where you want to be and and for interns I always say get the lunch. It's not like a diva get my lunch if I'm In this office, I'm stuck here. It's like I'm running a deli people are in here. Every two minutes did it. I've never had an unwatched meal at my desk. Like I'm just eating my chicken and everyone's watching but if an intern like brings me my lunch, they actually get more time with me right then anyone would otherwise like this. I see my awesome intern Kathleen there more than half of the office more than half the office so doesn't that sort of faux sincere like be humble, you know, it's not like that, but it's just like show up and And be up for and get too near where you want to be and I do think that if you've got this sort of job in your DNA, you won't have an S write a list or you won't have to be like I need to do that. You won't have to force it because this is a sort of Industry that you just have in your gut. So you don't write you know what? I mean? You can't really learn it. You want to be part of it. You want to be you're curious about the next thing you want to go to the show or the art exhibition on the movie or the new Netflix series or whatever you want to do that and so if you're going to Not be sort of hungry for it. It's not really the place for you totally. So I had an interesting conversation yesterday where the woman I was interviewing was like, you know with entrepreneurs like there's all this talk about your personal life and your work life and a lot of people do that because some people are just clocking into their job so they want to have that separation. But as an entrepreneur, it's your job. It's a passion and the time mingled. Yeah. I have a feeling that you approach this as your entrepreneurial self. Yeah. So what is your personal life? And do you? One or is it just all one big soup? I think look the good part about, you know, I moved to New York to be in this industry in a weird way because it was a lifestyle Choice like if my life my last Choice was to be at home in Sydney and be able to go to the beach every day and raise a family and that is unbelievable and wonderful and very I would have done that but I came here because all the things happened here. So that was already part of my life or part of my personal life. No, I yes. I do have personal life. I just got an engagement months ago to a delightful man called Brandon know he I think that as you know, when you're younger and you're hustling every one you want to go to like everything Bungalow 8 remember that Markie Markie and you want to you want to go everywhere. I think as you one you get older and you get more established you don't need to and you're also like I don't need to I say I sort of a joke as I have liver credits. I'm not going to hit like go and waste my liver on like some dumb party or dinner that I don't want to go too. Feeling that I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna use liver credits with my friends or my you know what I mean or like people are really love or so. I don't I'm not running around to I mean obviously during the fashion weeks after go to more but I very rarely go to Fashion events. Yeah, you know, especially in New York because I've done and people know what I produce if you want to be part of in starts very clear at sun stands and online every day and I just I feel like the industry needs to work on that sort of idea of obligating people to show up to places like it's the 1950s. You know, it's just like we don't have to do that. So that's why because people have families because people have three kids or and then you take care of themselves. So it's all that needs to be respected as well because it's a very very challenging time in what we do every day for a living and sometimes just want to like go home, but it did take me a while to sort of I've heard various my former students. I'm like, yeah, I can do that thing and then a last minute like I can't do the thing, you know, because I'm just exhausted and now said my sister is great, but I'm just like are you really gonna do that? And I'm like, I couldn't do that. So it's a matter as a matter of managing myself and having somebody help me manage myself. Totally. I instituted that with mine. I said you need to check me when I say yes everything because when I regret it and the hour before I have to go or whatever you want to die. Why did I say? Yes. Yes. Yes. He's like you you said yes, you told me to RSVP you but this I also like when I'm home because I travel so much. I want to be hot in my house. Yeah, like we had a weekend we've been running around all summer, but we had a weekend home we can for last and I was like, all right. Right, I've got for dinner with my friends two nights. I'm inside I'm going through the kitchen cupboards and I just was like, but it made me it makes me feel more cheesy Earth or something like yeah, like I've got my house together. I like I bought some new orchids and I nin him bringing candle like some whatever bullshit but like it makes me feel like I have a springboard then I can then just jump off and if that's not kind of right I get anxious totally. Yeah, so I have two last questions for you just to is a good one though, but I They want it to be a powerful one. Oh shit. I asked all my guests. What is something we'd be surprised to know about you. Um, give me embarrassing can be non embarrassing. Come on. I come from a family of Dairy Farmers. I love that. I come from a family of Dairy Farmers in Madison, Wisconsin. Oh the cheese place. Yes. My dad went there once to the cheese festival what it was going to be cheese curds probably. Okay. Um, my my dad was my dad mom met on the country. My dad was was he's up in the sky now, but he was a Dairy Farmer literally Farmer Brown. So he found Dairy my sister. I was a Dairy Farmer every morning. She gets up at Jesus 4:30 or 5:00 o'clock and milks cows every day twice a day. She's a total Legend lives in rural New South Wales and is the greatest and all my you know, my I don't have any sister Brothers on my mom would me so all my extended family are coming born of a farm. I love that, you know and I was crappy at it. Like I was when I was in like high school not trying to be glamorous all the time. And I was like, I'd go visit my dad at like the Royal Easter show and he would literally sometimes just like taking a nap like on a cow. Look at the Cow would be like what nothing and dad would just be like, I'm reclining on a couch. Just imagine and and I be like, how much can you like if the cow wins a prize like how much can you sell it on the chin my heels like wandering around all this cow shit and like yeah, so but I do my farming my Dairy Farmer family their Legends The Legends is with Senator bloody Legends. I'm going to try the milk when I go to Australia. Just want to let you know. Yes, let you know today. I was every single part 2. So my last question for you is any advice you'd like to pass on whether you learned it and it was valuable or someone gave it to you and you just think you know, it's white. Yeah, I think my I say this a lot but I do really believe it. Um, I would say under thinking nothing has anybody ever over thought anything and God God that worked out better never I hate over thinkers. Squirrelly in your hair like no. No, just like if you're where you meant to be professionally, and hopefully we all find our way or those of us who have the option. Just your guts a wonderful thing. You know what I mean? Just be good. Do good work be kind good things happen to good people go to bed at night knowing that you weren't a dick tiny one, you know and then get up again do it again high five. I'm so basic. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That was Laura Brown to find out more about her. You can follow her at Laura Brown 99 or just pick up an InStyle. I hope you enjoyed this episode of super women.
Laura Brown came up in the 80’s – a period devoid of the internet and Instagram, where fashion inspiration came almost exclusively in the form of magazines. To make things worse for a young fashionista living in Australia, as Laura did, those magazines arrived three months after their release date. Laura was hungry for the glitz and the glam, and made it her goal to one day work and live in the heart of the fashion world. After working a few stints at magazines in Australia and London, Laura arrived in New York. Finding herself at a lavish Marc Jacobs show within days of moving there, Laura finally felt the pulse of the life she had so long been yearning for. After working her way up to Features at Harper’s, she was then hired as Editor in Chief at InStyle. In the three years since, Laura has revitalized the magazine, injecting new life into it, forever showcasing her love of fashion, layouts, and a good dose of creative, hard work. This episode is in partnership with SAP Success Factors. Thanks for listening! We love our listeners! Follow Superwomen on Instagram. Big Ideas   The excitement and satisfaction of pulling off creative, hard work. [11:25]  Advice for those interested in working at a magazine. 