Andrea Ferrari never entertained the thought that her business was not going to succeed. When she moved her life and her career to Australia, she took a great risk and it paid off, the Founder and Managing Director of Andrea Ferrari Publishing and ESPRIT Magazine Australia has become a leader in magazine publishing.
Rescu. caught up with Andrea Ferrari to find out the secrets behind her dream career and how to succeed in magazine publishing.
RESCU: Tell us about your career before launching Esprit magazine in Australia
Andrea Ferrari: Before launching Esprit Magazine in Australia in 2004, I co-founded Sandron Publishing in the UK in 1987 with Esprit Magazine as the main monthly publication. We also enjoyed great success with an annual, industry-wide recognition scheme for beauty sales staff called The Supreme Consultant Award.
Following school I studied journalism, with a focus on fashion and beauty writing at The London College of Fashion. After graduating, I got my first job as a Junior News Reporter on the weekly trade magazine Hairdressers Journal (HJ) published by IPC Business Press. Hairdressing was in a heyday with Sam McKnight, Anthony Mascolo (Toni & Guy), Vidal Sassoon, Robert Lobetta, Trevor Sorbie as the young stars who shared their skills through photo shoots with HJ.
Four and a half years later, we developed a standalone consumer magazine called HAIR and I was appointed Deputy Editor. Today, it is syndicated around the world…but started literally on the floor of our HJ offices in London.
Later, I was approached by the managing director of a fine fragrance distribution company. He suggested that I start up a new magazine which focused on the retail beauty industry exclusively, similar to European and American publications. I agreed after lots of research and a little soul-searching and Esprit Magazine UK launched as a monthly magazine in April 1988. The magazine quickly became the retail beauty business’ ‘go to’ for industry news.
RESCU: Can you share a little about how you made what must have been the very difficult decision to move to Australia with two young children without ever never lived here before?
Andrea Ferrari: By 2003 the magazine was very well established and running successfully with a team of five. But my personal life had changed dramatically and I was a single mum of two children aged nine and 11. I found myself needing to move house to somewhere more affordable outside my area. A quest that took me a lot further than I originally intended.
I had never visited Australia. What was drawing me? Perhaps the seed was sown a few years earlier when I met Shelley Barrett, MD of ModelCo and Natalie Bloom, MD of Bloom Cosmetics, visiting London from Sydney and Melbourne respectively. They both leapt on copies of Esprit Magazine and said ‘I wish we had a publication like this in Australia.’
The idea of the healthy lifestyle in Australia appealed and as those two leading ladies in the industry had pointed out, Australia offered the opportunity of launching my business there.
My children were just as enthusiastic as I was, thankfully. There was a clear opening for my business, we had friends living in Sydney and we got our visas! Within three months of arriving in Australia in December 2003, I had my first meeting as the Managing Director of Esprit Magazine Australia.
RESCU: Was there an ‘aha’ moment that really cemented the fact that launching Esprit Magazine in Australia was the right move for you?
Andrea Ferrari: I never entertained the thought that my business was not going to succeed. Each time I presented the idea of the magazine I was met with a hungry appetite for such a publication to bring together and share the retail beauty industry from both the supplier and retailer sides of the business. Gavin Blackburn was launching Kenneth Cole men’s fragrance in July 2004 and committed to buying the key advertising position – front and back covers. That determined we had our first issue dated July. It was literally as ‘scientific’ as that.
I powered on with meetings and picking up the phone; making presentations; taking up every networking and event opportunity to make connections. I was driven by passion, belief and encouraged at every step of the way by the response to my proposals. I built a subscription base; found a designer, printer and distribution company and produced the first edition of Esprit Magazine Australia on June 29th 2004.
I could not have wished for a more complimentary and fulfilling response. Industry associations confirmed their support and wanted to be part of the magazine, giving us valuable, diverse and relevant input from ACCORD (the regulatory body), The Cancer Patients Association and Look Good…Feel Better, and The Fragrance Foundation.
Ten years of publishing Esprit Magazine Australia have produced a thriving business with enthusiastic readers and clients and the prestigious accolade of winning the inaugural Star Award for Outstanding Contribution to Beauty Journalism.
RESCU: What does the average day in the life of Andrea Ferrari look like?
Andrea Ferrari: An average day in my life starts at 6.30am. Gym. Puppy walk. Connect with the kids, now 23 and 20, brekkie and at the desk by 9.30. Depending on the quarterly publishing cycle, I may be negotiating for advertising; creating editorial content – interviews, store visits, attending events, conferences, working through the daily emails announcing new product launches and brand animations.
RESCU: The magazine business is, today, a risky one but there are still many women and men who dream of working in mags. As you head towards your 10 year issue, what are the top three pieces of expert advice you can impart on anyone who dreams of working in publishing?
Andrea Ferrari: I am motivated to work smart, set achievable goals, ensure Esprit Magazine’s relevance and offer useful and valuable content. Being a print publication is a major point of difference from online publications – you simply read the pages and flip forwards and backwards at your leisure wherever you happen to be. Key to any publication’s success is its relevance and usefulness. There is a very clear “what’s in it for me” offer from reading Esprit Magazine Australia each quarter; and importantly with our publication, keeping it for reference.
RESCU: What are your biggest career highlights to date?
Andrea Ferrari: Career highlights include launching Esprit Magazine UK in 1988 and Esprit Magazine Australia in 2004, interviewing such fashion and beauty luminaries as Paco Rabanne , Evelyn Lauder, Christian Lacroix, Mary Quant, Tom Ford, Vittorio Radice (the visionary retailer and then Managing Director of Selfridges), Horst Rechelbacher (founder of Aveda) and seeing Yves Saint Laurent come out onto the runway at the end of one of his last shows in Paris. More recently, in Australia, the major highpoint has been winning the respect and friendship of so many clients, readers and beauty writer colleagues who have enthusiastically journeyed with me as Esprit Magazine Australia has grown and evolved.
I am blessed with a naturally motivated personality and I am intrinsically happy and positive. I am an avid reader, usually factually true/based on true story novels as well as motivational books. Recently I was recommended to read real estate guru, John McGrath’s book You Inc. The content totally resonated with me – it is about driving your life to be the one you want, achieving your own personal success.
RESCU: Anything you wish you’d done differently?
Andrea Ferrari: I don’t really buy into making mistakes; I see them as learning experiences. Having a purpose works for me. Connecting compassionately and collaboratively with people of all ages and demographics, having genuine curiosity and operating with purposeful endeavour are probably my key drivers in life.
RESCU: And finally, what’s next for yourself and Esprit Magazine?
Andrea Ferrari: As we celebrate 10 successful years publishing Esprit Magazine Australia we want to develop the magazine’s role in setting our readership up for success; providing our Beauty Advisor readership with generic skills, support and inspiration to be the best they can and provide the industry as a whole with a source of international comment and discussion forum.
