Melina Bellows says she’s taken a lot of “left turns” in her career, but it’s a route that has brought her to some very interesting places.
Although she started out at entertainment publications like Entertainment Weekly, Bellows is now Executive Vice President of the National Geographic Society and Chief Creative Officer for Books, Kids and Family. In that role, she leads the editorial and design teams for adult and children’s books, and for Kids and Little Kids magazines. She’s also the author of 10 books, including Mother’s Love: Inspiring True Stories From the Animal Kingdom, the novel Wish, and The Fun Book for Girlfriends.
Bellows recently spoke with Technology for Publishing about a career journey that has enabled her to experience a variety of roles in the publishing industry.
How did you get started in this industry?
I started as an editorial slave. It was the best job I ever had! Rupert Murdoch had launched Premiere magazine in 1987, and I had just graduated from college, and I was an editorial assistant to three editors. My starting salary was $16,000 a year, which meant I had to live with my parents and commute into New York City every day.
What that job taught me was that I loved reporting. I loved getting the story and talking to people about what they were passionate about, and in that case it was films. I wasn’t afraid to work incredibly hard. We’d do these things back in the day called film roundups; we’d have to do reporting on 100 movies, but the movies were still in production, and so you didn’t really know what the movies were. You’d have to sit by your landline, because there weren’t cellphones back then, waiting for a producer or director or star to call you and give you some quotes so you could write your little article about it. It was baptism by fire; it was really, really, intense. And it taught me that I’m very passionate about talking to people who are passionate about whatever they’re passionate about.
It was not glamorous. But I had a good attitude about it, and I didn’t complain because I was so happy.
How did you end up making the move from Premiere to Entertainment Weekly?
Three of the freelance writers we used regularly, who were sort of the stars of their day, were approached by Time Inc. to launch Entertainment Weekly magazine, and they said, “Who else should we be talking to?” They kept hearing my name from different people. And it’s hilarious, because they weren’t recommending me because I was this great writer, they were recommending me because I didn’t mind inputting their manuscripts and doing their travel arrangements and doing their research. But I think I made their lives easier, and I was careful while I was doing it, because I loved it.
By the time I left Premiere magazine, I had two columns there—little columns, but I had a byline, so that gives you street cred. And I was also freelancing for Cosmo, Glamour, and Elle. I really just wanted to be a writer, even though I didn’t know how.
So then I got to Time Inc., and that’s another animal altogether. You get an expense account, and you get an office, you get your own phone with two numbers. I had a major case of imposter syndrome. I would sit there and be like, “If the phone rings, it’s for me!” It was so different.
Then I heard that Ladies’ Home Journal was looking for an entertainment editor. I met with Myrna Blyth, and she offered me the job. I got to negotiate and write the cover story every month for that magazine. It was so much fun to be in my 20s and be interviewing Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jody Foster, and Mel Gibson. It was just a great ride that took me to a lot of really fun places, like the Cannes Film Festival every year, and London at least once or twice a year.
I was there for five years, and then I met my future husband, and he worked in Washington, D.C., so really, coming to Nat Geo was a complete left turn. I took a lot of left turns in my career. Going to Ladies’ Home Journal, from the prestigious entertainment magazines? They were like “Ew, you’re going to a pink-collar ghetto! Women’s magazines are horrible!” But I had so much fun there, and I learned so much, and I didn’t have to fight to get my hands on the assignment like you did at Time Inc. It gave me much more opportunity to write and have adventures and explore and grow.
What led to your transition from writing about the entertainment industry to leading a children’s magazine?
After about 12 years of straight entertainment, I was looking for something more general, and that’s when Kids magazine—at the time it was called World—didn’t have an editor. Bob Simms, who was heading the magazine division said, “I think you should go for it.” It had not aged well. They asked me what I would do with it. I spent a long time writing a deck about how I would change the tone, the design, the content, who the competitive set was, how it needed to get with the fact that kids now have Internet access, soccer practice, and Nickelodeon’s Nick magazine [which ceased publication in 2009], and millions of things vying for their time. It was sort of like a makeover—to take something where the cheekbones are great, and the eyes are gorgeous, and the teeth are white and pearly, but we just have to get the ‘80s hair off this thing.
You said you’ve taken a lot of left turns in your career. Are there pivotal events that you think were critical to your success?
Every left turn I took absolutely terrified me. I remember going to Ladies’ Home Journal and handing in my first cover story, and Myrna ripped it to shreds. And I went out with one of my friends from my old job and I said, “Do you think Entertainment Weekly would take me back? I think I’ve made a horrible mistake.” I was so scared. But then I got the hang of it, and I got Oprah on the cover, and I got Julia Roberts on the cover, and things just turned around, but I had to hang in there for a bit.
And then, when I came to World magazine, it was really in bad shape. We had to get in there and roll up our sleeves. And remember, at this point, Margot, I didn’t even like kids; I hadn’t had mine yet. Kids were just a customer to me: “What does this client want? Let’s give them what they want. And we have to do it in a way that makes the National Geographic proud of itself.” So it was about taking risks and not freaking out in the beginning, when things looked like they were going really badly.
Taking that job wasn’t really a natural progression. It was like two steps up and five steps to the left. It wasn’t in my comfort zone. For example, at Ladies’ Home Journal, I didn’t manage anybody. And then I came to National Geographic and started managing a staff of 20. I wasn’t prepared for that.
I think that if you’re really willing to give it your all, people sense that and they’re willing to go along for the ride with you. Like, “OK, we might not make it, but I’m going to go down swinging.”
What are some of the challenges you felt as a woman, and if you were to advise others who are coming up in the ranks of publishing, what would you share with them?
I would say I never really thought about being a female much in my career. I think that served me, because I think that could have scared me and made me doubt myself. So I would say just ignore the fact that you’re a female. Just forget it. And just be fearless. But I also think that females have an advantage, where we can be softer, and we can be more collaborative, and we can be very, very good managers.
Are there other projects you’d like to work on someday?
What I love to do is write, and I’ve written 10 books, but that’s not what keeps the roof over my head, so I try to do that slowly but surely on the side.
And I just want to have more fun doing what I’m doing. I worked really, really hard last year, and sometimes that’s not the best thing to do. I find that when I’m not working so intensely, I get better ideas, because I’m not in fight-or-flight mode.
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
That I intercepted a spy drop in a Paris metro. A woman came out of a metro and chucked this Elle magazine on the bench, and I picked it up. So I’m flipping through it, and I’m thinking, “God, this is two years old. How random,” and I tucked it into my bag. At this point I’m completely alone in that station, going up a long, long escalator, and there’s this tap on my shoulder. A man was standing behind me, and he said in this accent, “You have something that doesn’t belong to you.” He looked like he really didn’t want to hurt me, but I really didn’t understand what he meant. “You took something,” he said. And I pulled out the magazine and said, “Is this it? Do you want this?” And he took it from me, smiled, and disappeared into the darkness. It was so strange. At a dinner party, I told somebody who works for the CIA, and he said, “Oh, you intercepted a spy drop.”
Technology for Publishing’s Women in Media blog highlights the news and achievements of female leaders and role models in the publishing and media industry. Look for our monthly in-depth profiles and interviews of top women to watch. Is there someone you’d like to nominate for an upcoming Q&A? Drop us a note!
Posted by: Margot Knorr Mancini
