The media plays a crucial role in society. Its job has long been to educate, inform and entertain. Likewise, the media has also played a critical role in facilitating social change and shaping public opinion and attitudes.
When I began my tenure as the editor-in-chief, I was faced with a difficult challenge — spearheading a new media platform for the everyday woman to have a voice.
We had to redefine not only what it meant to be a woman but what it meant to be a print (and digital) magazine.
Glossies had long championed celebrities and models, whose lives were largely unattainable if you didn’t have the right opportunities, social standing or family lineage. They now made room for women of colour but it was still mostly the same faces that frequently circulated the shelves of our local newsagents and our digital mailboxes, whilst the real stories went untold and remained undiscovered.
We weren’t interested in the supermodels and the actresses, we wanted the women that were often responsible for putting them on the cover, from The Wall Group’s founder, Brooke Wall, who was undoubtedly one of the most powerful women in Hollywood or British Fashion Council’s CEO, Caroline Rush who organised London Fashion Week, one of the Big Four, the British Fashion Awards and played a key role in attracting brands such as Christopher Kane, Mary Katrantzou, Erdem, and J.W. Anderson. And the women that had created the products and brands they were wearing — from Bobbi Brown Cosmetics (by Bobbi Brown) to NYX (by Toni Ko) and Jo Malone fragrances (by Jo Malone CBE) to House of CB bodycon dresses (by Conna Walker) to Jessica Rich 4-inch stilettos (by Jessica Rich). These women were the new generation role models.
We were ambitious — at times some may say a little too ambitious, but we were adamant to push boundaries. We weren’t just a magazine.
We became notorious for working with women from all walks of life — a decision that was often contested! Some were against it, but many, many more were for it. We cultivated a community that all women could belong to, from the ex-offender needing her 10th chance at change to the corporate who quit her 9-5 to start the business she’d always wanted to create from her kitchen table right through to first ladies and MPs.
The media, through its reporting, can put a spotlight on critical developments that impact negatively and positively on people’s lives, as well as bring to the fore issues that are often ignored and voices that are marginalised.
And that’s exactly what we did.
In March 2020, a then 16-year-old Christina Adane began her quest to challenge Boris Johnson’s ruling to take away free school meals from 1.4 million children in the UK. By November of that year, 430,997 people had supported her petition and the government finally put together a package of support that would run all the way through until the end of 2021 for those 1.4 million children. The media had reported that Manchester United forward, Marcus Rashford, had spearheaded the work because they weren’t interested in the nameless. Nevertheless, we were. Christina shared her story of her continued fight with the UK government with our 250,000+ readership, as our cover girl in 2020 and again in 2021.
Fast forward to almost half a decade later and there’s been 190 cover girls, 270 features, 2 summits, an annual award show which celebrates upcoming talent, a Fashion Week platform which grants access to London’s cosmopolitan fashion industry and a podcast featuring some of the world’s biggest female leaders — stories that would have otherwise been missed.
However you — our readers, our patrons, our supporters, asked for more.
You wanted stories from all people.
And whilst we’ve told stories of great men: our Man of the Year ‘Flex God Daps’ who covered the issue in December 2021, after he was recognised for directing some of the best music videos in Hollywood to Belize's longest-standing prime minister Dean Barrow, who covered our partnership issue right after his 13-year tenure as the country’s leader came to an end, but we didn’t want to be limited in our storytelling and so it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to The W Group and my new role as the global editor and CEO.
The W Group comprises a total of 8 brands which include Gadgette, Conversations With Her, the Big Beauty Summit, the New Faces Awards, the Now Woman Summit, The W Fashion Week, Mama Tribe, The W TV and of course The W.
Our role is always to produce quality storytelling and experiences through several mediums from events in which we have become masters, hosting one-of-a-kind experiences with CEOs, first ladies and other editors all in the same room, to audio and our very own podcast Conversations with Her where we’ve granted our listeners unprecedented access to some of the most enthralling discussions from successful female leaders.
We are incredibly excited to bring you along on this new journey.
Welcome to The W.
The new issue featuring Charlie Mullins OBE is out now.
Click here to
watch the interview.
watch the interview.
