Episode 35 – Lisa Smosarski

For this episode, I interviewed Lisa Smosarski. Lisa is the Editor in Chief and Board Director of Stylist magazine. Stylist is a free weekly magazine for women, known for its fashion, beauty, people and careers news.  Over the years, it has featured Hollywood stars such as Angelina Jolie, Penélope Cruz, Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston on the cover as well as Hillary Clinton, comedian Tina Fey, activist Emma González and classicist Mary Beard.

I’ve always been a big fan of this magazine, from the very moment they started in 2009 they have set out a very different vision to other women’s magazines. As Lisa explains during our conversation, their aim is to treat women differently; intelligently. With no paparazzi photos, no gossip, no diets, no mumbo jumbo. It’s all about creating well-researched, thought-provoking articles for multifaceted women. 

11 years on, the magazine continues to live up to that motto, and you can see why with Lisa at the helm. She says the answer for this success is that they listen and constantly try to adapt to their audience needs. She’s also not afraid of her gung-ho attitude and she is prepared to break the rules of publishing, however with a hint pragmatism and a great team to help support her vision. 

As usual with the podcast, we chart her entire career journey from when she fell in love with journalism as a teenager to landing in the magazine world and being made editor at the age of just 25. Finally, I get to hear the fascinating story behind Stylist and what it’s like to run – she even shares her story on how she got to work directly with Hilary Clinton on an exclusive Stylist edition.