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Harper's Bazaar editor teaches women to find own path and reach for dreams
By Nekesa Mumbi Moody
Associated Press
Published on Thursday, Mar 27, 2008
NEW YORK: Amy Dubois Barnett, a top editor at Harper's Bazaar's magazine, is the first person to admit that she's not a particular fan of the self-help book genre.
''They are not a staple of my library,'' said Barnett, looking appropriately fashionable while eating lunch at an upscale hotel. ''As a matter of fact, when someone tells me how to live, I'm really stubborn and I say, 'Well, I'm going to do it the opposite way!' ''
Yet Barnett doesn't think it's particularly ironic that she herself has penned a self-help book of her own: Get Yours! The Girlfriend's Guide to Having Everything You Ever Dreamed of and More
>, released last fall. Indeed, Dubois doesn't see herself as a self-help guru, but more of a guide for women to find their own path in life, by sharing the troubles and triumphs of her own.
''I believe I am here in the universe for a specific reason. I really feel I am here to empower women,'' she said. ''I feel like I have an ability to share my life and my lessons in a way that people can hear and they understand and it changes them . . . that's my mission.''
It's a mission that Barnett first realized several years ago when she was editor in chief at Honey, the vibrant, sassy magazine geared toward black women.
Like most editors, she had a message at the front of the magazine each month — but hers usually were very personal.
Readers learned about her mother, who died when Barnett was in her early 20s, or about painful relationship lessons, and other life experiences that Barnett was able to grow from.
Barnett says the response was overwhelming, with thousands of letters expressing their gratitude for her insight. It also made her realize that perhaps she needed to do something more than a one-page monthly column.
''It made me aware that women, particularly of color, are really hungry for a role model, are really hungry for people to be honest with them about their lives and the obstacles, and they really wanted to hear someone who they felt was in a position of power . . . how they actually were human too,'' said Barnett, who is deputy editor in chief at Harper's — the first black woman to hold such a position at the magazine.
Magazine milestone
It was then that Barnett planted the seeds of Get Yours!. She would later leave Honey to become the editor in chief for Teen People. It was another milestone — she was the first black woman to head a major mainstream magazine.
But along the way, she also dealt with setbacks, including the breakup of her first marriage. Though she describes herself as happily remarried, and the mother of a young son, it was, as Barnett calls it, ''one of the most challenging times in my life.''
But it also helped spark a rebirth of sorts for Barnett. Instead of feeling sad and alone, she learned to relish being a single woman in her thirties. She cut her hair short, dated guys that she may have overlooked before, and became more confident in her own skin — which she believes eventually led her to find her true love, her husband.
She stresses, however, that finding her partner didn't make her complete: She learned to be happy and fulfilled on her own, and that's one of her main points of the book.
''One of the deepest and most resonant lessons I have learned in my life is that life is this three-dimensional thing, and it doesn't just start when you're happy,'' said Barnett. ''Everybody thinks that life just starts when you're happy — 'It's going to start when I get the job I want, when I find the guy that I want, when I buy the apartment I want, that's when I'm really going to be living.' But that's not actually the case — life is right now.''
Sharing life's lessons
The book, which touches on everything from getting your finances right to getting that dream job to finding your inner travel bug, not only uses Barnett's personal path to help guide readers, it also includes her interviews with luminaries such as Venus Williams, actress Sanaa Lathan, comedian Monique and others as they share their own stories.
'Love letter' to mother
Barnett calls the book a ''love letter'' to her mother, a college professor and world traveler from whom Barnett learned many of the mantras that would help shape her book, including ''faking'' a happy persona from time to time to help you achieve that eventual goal.
''It's such a funny thing, act happy and you'll be happy . . . it sounds so funny but it's so true,'' she said. ''Just try walking around one day with your head up . . . it will be reflected back at you, people will start treating you as a confident person. If you project that you know your val
NEW YORK: Amy Dubois Barnett, a top editor at Harper's Bazaar's magazine, is the first person to admit that she's not a particular fan of the self-help book genre.
Get the full article here.
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