I'd Rather Be Reading Lesley Jane Seymour on Being Editor-in-Chief of YM, Redbook, Marie Claire, and More, Resilience, and How It’s Never Too Late to Reinvent Yourself
Our Women in Power series for Women’s History Month rolls on—today’s guest is Lesley Jane Seymour, who has been editor-in-chief of four different magazines, something that is just not done. That is legends only stuff right there. I feel extra connected to her because she was editor-in-chief of Marie Claire, the magazine where I now work, from 2001 to 2006. She was also editor-in-chief of Redbook, YM, and More, and before taking on her role as an editor-in-chief worked at Women’s Wear Daily, Vogue, and Glamour, so she has certainly cut a wide swath in this industry. Lesley was another icon of magazines who was very much present for what I call the golden age of magazines, and as we’ll talk about in the show, I think a cornerstone of her story is resilience. In 2016, Meredith Corporation, which owned More, her last editor-in-chief role, announced it was closing the magazine. Lesley went back to school, receiving a master’s degree in sustainability from Columbia. In 2018, she founded Covey Club, an online community for professional women, specifically over 40, that resembled More’s demographic. Lesley calls Covey Club “a meeting place for lifelong learners,” and it continues to thrive today. Lesley maintains it’s never too late to be all that you want to be, and, in addition to all of her work with Covey Club, she hosts the podcast “Reinvent Yourself”; she has really taken what others might wallow in and has turned this into purpose-driven work. She is also the author of two books, On the Edge: 100 Years of Vogue and I Wish My Parents Understood, and she has appeared on every major television news show you can think of from Today to Good Morning America to Hardball to MSNBC and CNN. I can’t wait for you to get to know her.
By Lesley Jane Seymour:
“The Joys of Losing Your Job in the Digital Age”
On the Edge: 100 Years of Vogue
+ Read: Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read | Watch: Society of the Snow on Netflix, out now
+ more great books:
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives by Katie Couric
Going There by Katie Couric
I’ve Been Thinking…: Reflections, Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life by Maria Shriver
Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Went Out into the Real World by Maria Shriver
“The Sunday Paper” by Maria Shriver