Interview with Jana Pettey, Publisher of Justine magazine

Jana Pettey, talks about what led her to her role at Justine magazine

By Heather Riccio

Justine magazine's publisher, Jana Pettey, the mother of teens, has over twenty years of fashion and teen expertise under her belt.

Pettey started in the fashion industry at her sister's wedding gown company over twenty years ago. The business took her all over the world and was sold internationally. But Pettey had no intention of leaving the fashion world behind. Instead she signed on as the publisher and editorial director of Justine magazine, a teen magazine about real girls, minus the sex and scandal.

The magazine accentuates the positive aspects of a teen's life, and provides girls with fashion and beauty that they can afford. The magazine has already caused a lot of buzz, and poses stiff competition for some of the generic teen magazines.

HILARY Magazine sat down with Pettey to find out what makes Justine magazine unique.

HILARY Magazine: What led you to your role at Justine Magazine?

Pettey: I was in the fashion and marketing business for about 20 years [running her sister's couture wedding gown company] I was just ready for a break to do something new or try something new. And truly, I think being in the magazine business is just where I'm supposed to be. The concept for Justine was sort of floating around between several people who worked for a regional home magazine here, who are the owners of it. Several of the people had teenagers and I started helping them with some things with their home magazine and this concept was sort of there and I got in touch with them and everything just progressed to the point of where now I'm the publisher and editorial director of Justine. I have a teenage daughter also. And I think just everything I've done in my professional life has come full circle... it all sort of came together.

HILARY Magazine: What particular experience do you have with teenagers that led you to work for a teen magazine?

Pettey: I have a teenage daughter. I mean I'm living the teen life again. I try to be totally in tune. The pressures these kids are under are greater than when I was a teenager. The expectations are so much more, there are pressures from educators, parents, guidance counselors, and colleges, so part of Justine is just having a refreshing moment to just sit down and enjoy reading something, rather than it being required reading, to make it fun. I've also worked with a teenage program for the last 20 years, [which has led me to work with] 500 teens for a week every summer. So I've always kept my pulse on what teenagers are into and what they are all about. I think it was just a natural fit for me.

HILARY Magazine: Many teen magazines out there focus on sex and scandals, why have you chosen to stay away from that?

Pettey: Well, I don't think that teens have to be hit with it all the time. Yes, you can access all the information you want on any given day from the internet, from the media, from TV shows, from movies, and, so, from magazines as well. Everything they come across doesn't have to have all of that in it. Part of what we're doing with Justine is creating a really refreshing, entertaining magazine for teenagers. They can sit and enjoy, read it from cover to cover, and they don't have to worry that there's a cover blurb on the outside that looks too racy, and that they need to hide if their father walks in the room, or their boyfriend comes in.

HILARY Magazine: What kind of feedback have you gotten from teenagers, and others, about the unique Justine concept?

Pettey: We've heard back from so many teenagers. They're embarrassed picking up some of these magazines that have really racy cover blurbs on it. I think that the niche we carved out for Justine and the teen magazine genre has been one that appeals to the complete teenager. We're not just focusing on the fact that all teenagers love celebrities. We're looking at the more well-rounded teenagers, the real girls that love to make cool things to give to their friends, that want to learn how to study better and score higher on an ACT or college entrance exam. They don't want to be talked down to. They want lots of information. This is an information seeking group, even more so than any other generation that has come before them because there is so much information at their fingertips.

It makes me really happy to know that kids are actually reading and enjoying the information we put out there because our editorial staff is doing a great job of researching and providing lots of information that will help. My adult friends that have read the magazine like it. Yes, it's geared to teenagers, but it's about women wanting to learn more and learn new things.

HILARY Magazine: I'm sure it's great to hear that from everyone, that it's not just teenagers who love it, but the parents are glad that there's something out there they can actually read?

Pettey: They are. They are very excited. I mean we are now on an approved school library list because so many magazines have been taken out of the libraries because they don't feel they're appropriate and we've been approved, which is something I hadn't even thought about as we entered the magazine business.

HILARY Magazine: How do you manage to attract teens that have all the tantalizing magazines to choose from?

Pettey: You have to walk a really fine line to present something that's in a more wholesome manner. You don't want to turn kids off who say "I have no interest in reading that." Wholesome can sometimes be boring, and it's not necessarily. So I think what we're trying to put out there is something like a Lucky, In Style, kind of teen lifestyle guide for teenagers.

HILARY Magazine: What exactly does your job entail day in and day out?

Pettey: Well, since I'm the publisher and editorial director, I really hit both sides right now because we're a start up company, with a small staff, so a lot of us wear many hats in one day. So not only is my job to create and help direct the vision editorially for the magazine... but I'm also a part of the business side of it as well, dealing with paper manufacturers, to make sure we get the quality of paper that we want for the magazine, dealing with public relations people, granting interviews, and just all the day to day operational parts of running a business fall back on my shoulders. My view of the magazine is really a 360 degree look because I'm involved in all aspects of it.

HILARY Magazine: You're a relatively new magazine, and the first year is always the most difficult for any new business so what have you done to stay afloat, and to really achieve all the success you have so far?

Pettey: We understand that there's a time, you have to sort of pay your dues in the magazine business to commit to advertisers that you'll be around for awhile. There's a longer time span that goes with putting out a print magazine, as far as getting into so many advertisers since they plan 18 months in advance. Well, we haven't been out, so it just takes time and you have to be patient.

HILARY Magazine: What has personally kept you motivated?

Pettey: I learned it from my mother. My mom is 86 now, and she's as sharp as she can be, is positive about everything, always has a good attitude and is willing to help people. Just that caring, good sense of wanting to do good things for people, I think it's been engrained in me. I think that wanting to make a difference in people's lives keeps you learning and young.

HILARY Magazine: Do you have any advice for people in terms of achieving their own goals?

Pettey: You have to know yourself and you have to feel good about who you are, and I think that goes back to the self-esteem part that we are really trying to impart with this magazine. We want to make these young girls, who are in these turbulent years of their lives, feel good about themselves and to know that they're not alone with whatever they feel, and to just center themselves and understand who they are.

I think that's the key for all of us at any age, if we understand who we are, we can deal with the obstacles that come our way better because we know what the center point is for us. If there's no other gift I give to my children, who are now entering and exiting their teenage years, it would be that they have a healthy sense of self.