In January, Glamour Magazine announced that Samantha Barry would be the magazine’s new Editor in Chief replacing previous Editor in Chief Cindi Leive who announced in September 2017 that she would be stepping down from her position. Samantha Ahad previously worked as executive producer for social and emerging media at CNN.
In July of this year, I was fortunate enough to hear Samantha Barry speak at Her Conference. She spoke to attendees about her experience in the media, what is is like to be Editor in Chief for Glamour and gave advice to everyone present. After hearing her speak, I was able to speak with her and set up a phone interview. Samantha and her assistant Jennifer Lance, were both very kind.
Samantha spoke to me about her life before Glamour, recent changes Glamour has experienced and even walked me through a “typical” day in her life:
At Her Conference you spoke about your early life before becoming the Editor in Chief at Glamour, can you please tell our readers more about your early life?
I grew up in Ireland and wanted to be in media since I was a little girl. For as long as I remember I wanted to be in media. I studied a degree in English and later a master’s degree in Journalism, and my first job was overnight news for Irish National Broadcaster
What was the transition from radio to print journalism like, and how did you adapt to the changes?
I worked in radio and then transitioned to tv then to digital and finally to print. Being Editor in Chief at Glamour isn’t just being editor of a print publication but also for a digital publication, events and real life experiences. Really my background is in all forms of media.
How has Glamour Magazine changed since you became Editor in Chief and how do you see Glamour changing in the future?
Glamour is going to be 80 years old next year and is an amazing power legacy brand that stands for so much. I wanted to put my stamp on it and keep what is important to the brand at it’s core and that is; empowerment of women, stories about women for women, fashion and beauty in a positive way, politics and culture. So far I’ve made two larger changes, we did a re-design of the print magazine and we’re doing a digital re-design as well. We’ve also changed our sections into look, field, live and think. Another one of the bigger changes is that we don’t just work in print, we work on all formats of Glamour.
Many magazines including some Conde Nast publications have gone completely digital, do you think Glamour will ever go fully digital why or why not?
I don’t have a crystal ball to predict what is going to happen, but as an editor putting out 11 issues of the magazine each year is something I love. What I can say is storytelling will continue in whatever shape and form.
Help our readers understand what it is like to be Editor in Chief at a major magazine, tell us about a typical day in your life
It sounds cliche, but there really is no typical day. I’ll run you through today though. I wake up around 5:30 or 6:00 A.M. and listen to The Daily, which is the New York Times Podcast. I’ll then scroll through news and lifestyle. While I’m making breakfast I might watch the Today Show or GMA (Good Morning America). Around 9:00 A.M. I have a meeting with the team about big stories we’re doing, what we should care about and what we should be aware of. After that I have editorial meetings, today we had a meeting about the digital re-design and I also spoke to job candidates. At 4:00 P.M. today I will go to a screening for an actress we’re interested in. After that dinner is usually with an advertiser or publishers.
What has been your biggest accomplishment as Editor in Chief at Glamour and what do you hope to accomplish in the future?
One of the biggest accomplishments for me is hearing directly from our audience that they love what we’re doing. After the May issue about money lots of women and men also said they were grateful for us talking to women about money. I also love when we do stories no one else has done, and having them do the same stories. We did an article about African American women running for office in Alabama and many followed doing the same story. It’s an accomplishment when the audience reacts to journalism positively.
Aside from the print magazine Glamour also consists of video content and digital articles what is the process of creating video and digital content like and what role do you play in creating the content?
Ultimately I’m the Editor in Chief of all content. All content weather that be video, social media or print falls under my radar and has to make sense of the brand. We do a lot of video content like “You Sang My Song” and video pieces are always important. One of our videos has been nominated for a News Emmy.
What advice can you give to young women who are also interested in working in the media industry some day?
Understand the job you imagine you’ll have now will be different in a few years. Old schools media was a television station with a mic in hand or being the editor of a magazine, but now media is different and media jobs will look different in the future. My advice is be enthusiastic, and nice to prove how good you are. Be brave and ask people for coffee and have conversations. Go against the norm of your generation and don’t rely fully on DM’s and messages, be good at real life communication.