Name: Amy DuBois Barnett

Age: 34

Company: Teen People (www.teenpeople.com)

Company Headquarters: New York, NY

Tidbit:

Amy Dubois Barnett is an accomplished writer and editor with more than 13 years of experience in print and online media. Currently managing editor of Teen People, she is the first African American to lead a major consumer publication. She is also one of just nine African Americans in the upper echelons of the magazine industry. Barnett holds a bachelors from Brown University and master's in creative writing from Columbia University.

Why You Should Care:

Managing Editor is a career goal many writers and editors dream of -- one that carries even more weight as part of Time, Inc.’s media empire. Barnett oversees one of the company’s most popular magazines with a circulation of 1.5 million, and in each issue, she's the architect of information that reaches and influences countless young adults.

Barnett began her journalism career at TotalNewYork.com, a New York travel site. She later joined FashionPlanet.com, a luxury fashion e-zine, as features editor and later became managing editor. While working at FashionPlanet.com, Barnett created and managed Fashion Almanac -- a print extension of Fashion Planet. She joined ESSENCE magazine in 1999 and worked as lifestyle, beauty and features editor. She interviewed supermodels, celebrity hairstylists and designers and edited several sections of the magazine. A year later, Barnett was named Editor-in-Chief of Honey magazine -- a role she stayed in until she was hired away by Time, Inc. in April 2003.

Hired specifically to halt Teen People’s circulation slippage, Barnett’s challenge was clear: Advance the magazine’s presence despite stiff competition from CosmoGIRL!, ElleGirl, Teen Vogue, Seventeen, etc. Her modus operandi is equally simple: Maintain Teen People’s closeness to readers by increasing teen participation in the magazine, keep a sharp eye out for star power, feature the hottest celebrities first and entirely, and speak to all aspects of teen lifestyle.

About the Author

Ayeko Vinton is a writer, teacher and web developer living in Boston.