How I Got Into Oprah’s Magazine

January 8, 2011 success No comments

A little over a year ago this appeared in O Magazine:

After reading Suzy Welch’s article, I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth. For years Oprah’s show has been encouraging women to say no and to put ourselves first. Welch’s article tells us to say yes and to put our careers first. Other pieces in the issue encourage us to slow down and even to take a break from e-mail! I’m confused-should we say no or yes? I work for the consulting firm that chooses Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in America, and we favor employers who encourage a work-life balance, yet I don’t know of anyone who ever became a CEO by putting that into practice. How do we find the right balance for us? Is Welch suggesting that a woman can’t have it all?
Roxann Allen
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 

Suzy’s response:You’ve hit the nail on the head, Roxann. Women’s lives these days can be confoundingly complex and filled with contradictions. My intention when I wrote the article wasn’t necessarily to urge women to put their careers first by always saying yes; it was more to explore the reality that when you say no, there are consequences. The best decisions are always informed decisions.

Jack Welch’s wife, Suzy Welch, wrote an article contradictory to what Oprah has been empowering women to do – balance a crazy life full of competing responsibilities like work, family, and “me” time. I emailed my note but did not expect to be put into the letters to the editor section or even to receive a response from Suzy herself!
How I got into the magazine

Obviously, it wasn’t my good looks because they couldn’t see me.
Looking back, these are the components of my very short note that got me noticed by O Magazine‘s editors:
  • Wrote for her audience – women
  • Wrote about a topic Oprah cares about - women and life/work balance (even if you don’t think there is a distinction, Oprah’s audience still does
  • Kept it short & to the point
  • Established credibility – mentioned that I worked on a high profile magazine article in Fortune Magazine
  • Established history with Oprah – that I’ve followed her for years and know what she cares about, that women should be empowered to balance all aspects of life
  • Interesting content – even Suzy Welch felt compelled to respond!
Some of you might think:

A)  Any crazy person can get into the Letter to the Editor section or
B)  No one ever reads that section anyway
And I might say:

A)  The section is only a few pages away from Martha Beck’s column and
B)  Baby steps, small actions, that you can test and learn from get you closer to a big goal
I may not have had a full column or been a favorite thing but I got to dissect and test what Oprah’s editors are looking for to give their audience.
What baby steps are you crossing off your list to get to your goal?  How are you leveraging what, how, and who you know to push yourself farther?
I think you’ve been getting by on your good looks til now.  What if you used that brain of yours to drive up some attention and move yourself forward?

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