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Schema interviewsAtoosa Rubenstein | the Alpha Kitty
She calls herself an "Alpha Kitty" leading a female tribe of 13-30 year olds. Who is she? ATOOSA RUBENSTEIN, the former editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine and founding editor of CosmoGIRL!, and now founder of Big Momma Productions and Atoosa.com. She was also the youngest editor-in-chief (at age 26) in Hearst's 100 year old history. Not too shabby for a self-proclaimed dork.
Atoosa Rubenstein was born Atoosa Behnegar in Tehran, Iran in 1972 and moved to New York with her family when she was 3. Graduating from Barnard College, Atoosa quickly moved up the ranks of the competitive magazine world, making CosmoGIRL! a success with a circulation of 1.25 million readers, as well as reversing a 5-year decline in Seventeen's newsstand sales.
In November 2006, Atoosa left Seventeen for new ventures in multi-media platforms including online, television, public speaking and more. "'I saw what was coming,' she said, referring to the ongoing Web-driven destruction of the teen magazine. 'What I want to do is gather my tribe--the ones reading Seventeen, and the ones who were, and grew out of it.' This tribe is 13 to 30, female, thoroughly digital, and, in Rubenstein's view, lacking an "alpha kitty" addressing their concerns and sensibility. What she brings is her big-sister, geek-gone-glam persona." Rubenstein says her brand attributes are inspiration and motivation, sisterhood, positivity, and activism.
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