Sandi Sieger chats to Andrea Ferrari, Managing Director and Founder of independent retail beauty magazine, Esprit Magazine Australia.
What inspired you to start independent retail beauty magazine, Esprit Magazine Australia?
“It’s what I do”. Knowing my own skills and my passion for the beauty business drove me to create Esprit Magazine in Australia after I had decided to immigrate to Sydney. I’m English and was living just outside London, a single mum with two young children. I had founded Esprit Magazine in the UK in 1987 and it was successfully building as a business. There was a healthy niche for a beauty trade magazine and it was exciting to be pioneering the first and only publication of its kind in the UK. I thrive on meeting new people in business as well as developing collaborative relationships and there are two such meetings that unbeknownst to me at the time, triggered my choice to move to Sydney and create Esprit on the other side of the world. Both Shelley Barrett (Founder, ModelCo) and Natalie Bloom (Founder, Bloom Cosmetics) had leapt on Esprit Magazine UK when they were visiting London and said they’d love such a publication in Australia. The seed was sown. Two or three years later, having decided to venture into a new life overseas, I was mulling over which country. I couldn’t opt out of corporate life and work in a café in Spain or a gite in rural France, or go and meditate in India. I had 10 and 12 year old children to raise through school. I needed to earn ‘proper’ money. I needed to “do what I do”. English speaking country…hasn’t got a trade magazine for the retail beauty business…Australia. Sydney here we come! It was an exhilarating thought and drove me excitedly through the 11 months of research into the market and gaining visas. Launching the first issue in July 2004 was one of the most satisfying thrills of my life. The synergy of my passion for what I do and the enthusiastic response from Esprit’s readership has resulted in a successful, happy business…through the GFC and out the other side, now celebrating 10 years of publishing.
Who were your beauty idols growing up? And which modern beauties do you look to for inspiration?
I absolutely loved the cosmetic brand called BIBA created by Barbara Hulanicki. It was all dark tones: burgundy, inky blues, petrel blue, dark blue/greens, black smudgy eyes. Mary Quant was another with her black nails and matte, highly pigmented yellow eye shadows, hot pinks and oranges. It was the early/mid 1970s when I first got into make-up, not long after the revolution of the 1960s. I devoured my British Vogue and eagerly awaited each month’s new treasure trove of fashion and beauty. I love Audrey Hepburn’s elegance and simple, winged-eye make-up and neat chignon. Today I love an emphasis on the eyes, a lashy look and smokey eye with nude/gold lips a la Duffy and Adele. Julia Roberts has gorgeous look.
You moved to Australia as a single mother with two children in 2003. Was it hard setting up life in a new country?
It was exhilarating. My eyes pinged open in the morning. I worked methodically, prioritising what needed to be done to achieve each goal. Getting a home, getting the kids into school, connecting with good friends already living in Sydney, lawyer, accountant, mortgage, phone plans, business registered, printer, magazine designer…tick, tick, tick…the boxes got ticked. My first business meeting for Esprit magazine Australia was Jan 28th at 10am with Terry Little, the then GM of Clinique (who I knew from Clinique in the UK in the 1980s). This was six weeks after landing in Sydney pre-Christmas 2003. Naturally there were challenges which we worked through, long hours and managing my abandoned comfort zone. But the new people I was meeting and the feedback and opportunities coming my way drove the development of Esprit Magazine. It was clearly a publication this market wanted and were keen to collaborate with me to create the best and most relevant offer – genuinely a unique offer.
In 2011, you were awarded the inaugural Star Award for Outstanding Contribution to Beauty Journalism. What was it like being selected by your peers for such an award?
Hearing my name read out as the inaugural winner of the Star Award for Outstanding Contribution to Beauty Journalism almost stopped my heart and then made it race! It was such a thrill. Being peer voted meant so much to me – so that’s the other beauty editors here in Australia…they voted for ME! I felt completely honoured and very excited.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to start their own publication?
Whatever you do in life has to be driven by a personal desire to achieve a happy and successful outcome. You need to be offering a publication that has relevance and offers content the readership cannot get elsewhere. You have to research your market and create what will work for them, what that market can sustain in advertising and subscription revenues. Ask questions of people who are working in that industry. Listen to what they say. Today we hear all sorts of tips like ‘surround yourself with like-minded people’ and it’s true. Read books by people who inspire you or who are successful in their businesses. Always be open to learning and evolving.
Esprit Magazine Australia turns 10 this year – congratulations! Where do you hope to be in another 10 years?
Thank you for the congratulations – I am very proud. The magazine has evolved over its first 10 years and will do so again over the next decade. Online publishing has grown up over our first 10 years and Esprit has maintained its position of importance to the readership because they like its format – a paper publication they are familiar with and they can easily file for reference. We will build Esprit Magazine to continue to provide industry news, views and insights that play a part in our readers’ success in their jobs. Informed and inspired and in-the-know with their ‘industry bible’ as they refer to Esprit, through the magazine they feel a little more of a special connection to the jobs that get them out of bed in the morning with a spring in their step.
And just quickly – which Australian beauty brands can’t you live without?
Oh well that is a big question! OK Australian brands. My loyalty to Shelley Barrett for sowing a seed of inspiration to set up Esprit Magazine in Australia is not tested here…it is genuine. I love ModelCo for its tanning products with their lovely skin-softening formulations, and now they are launching a natural formulation tanning cream. I love BeHave, Pure and Juuce haircare. Kosmea and Trilogy rosehip skincare are both refreshing and bring a bloom to the skin. Naploleon Predis Primer and BabyDoll Mascara. Gorgeous Cosmetics black eye liner and false lashes. All great!
