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by De’Juan Galloway

The old adage “black don’t crack,” might be best applied to Essence Magazine. As the publication celebrates its 40th anniversary, the brand’s exponential growth illustrates that it only gets better with time. Joy Collins, Essence Communication Inc.’s general manager is one of the leaders guiding the company’s strategic growth. Since 2008, Collins has been instrumental in sustaining the company in a challenged economic climate and increasing the Essence Music Festival’s attendance by 37% from 2008 to 2009. She is certainly no stranger to success; during her time at NBC Universal as vice president of business development, she played a pivotal role in brokering  the $2.7 billion acquisition of Telemundo Communications. In her current position, the Harvard graduate combines her professional experience and personal identity as an African-American women to make Essence’s case in the boardroom.  While en route to New Orleans to prepare for The Essence Music Festival, she spoke to TAP about this year’s festivities, her career and the future of the Essence brand.

What is a typical day like for you?

Most of my days are different.  I come in on Monday and assess the goals that we are trying to accomplish for the week. As the general manager, I partner with the leadership teams on various strategic and financial initiatives that ultimately generate growth for Essence. My main [targets] are revenue and building strategies to extend Essence into a full multimedia company. Weekly,  I look at the goals to help us meet our overarching business, strategic initiatives and map the steps to get us there. So, my job combines strategy, planning and execution. There are a lot of  meetings and conference calls to ensure we are hitting  our goals and executing properly.

What is it like to play a key role in the most reputable publication for African-American women?

It’s an honor. When I accepted General Manager position two years ago, I knew this position would be more than just a job. I knew that it would be a role where I could contribute to building up and giving back to the African-American community. Everyday I come in it’s about being able to provide a service to people and being able to live a purpose larger than myself, that’s really what motivates me. Day-to-day the challenges are monumental and executing our visions is no easy task but what keeps me going is the amazing team I work with and being an ambassador for Essence and all of its extensions that serve the African-American community each and everyday.

How would you characterize your leadership style?

As a leader, I set the vision and am a model to the staff. I equip them with the tools to perform their job well, step aside and empower them. I also provide balanced feedback and objectives. So while I hold everyone accountable for achieving the objectives we set out to accomplish, I also focus on rewarding the team for the things they have achieved.

Are you involved in the trenches or do you rely on the directors to stay in the know of each department’s activities?

Essence is large brand with a very small and passionate team. What that means is that in addition to getting involved in the strategy, and setting the vision and goals, I am oftentimes a part of executing it. I get to roll up my sleeves and work hand in hand with the staff, who are extremely talented and gifted. Consequently, I see how they’re executing things, how they’re accomplishing their tasks and how they delegate to their team. Everyday is not only a process of modeling a better way of doing things but  also being that channel to provide feedback to the team as to how we can be more effective and efficient.

How has the digital shift impacted the Essence brand?

There is no doubt that digital media is becoming a huge part of consumers’ daily activities. We have research that reveals that African-American women over index in their consumption of technology versus the women in the general market. Essence is a service provider, so we know that we have to be prepared to provide information and entertainment content through devices that she is getting them from, which is digital media. So we endeavor constantly to provide those mechanisms and Essence.com is a perfect example of this. We have a very robust site that provides entertainment , news, topicality and has mobile extensions. We challenge ourselves to be on the pulse of what our consumers are seeking. Essence.com is doing very well and is an integral part of the Essence brand as we celebrate our 40th anniversary.

Have any advertisers showed preference of where to spend their dollars?

Our advertisers know that while digital is heavily consumed by African-American women,  the magazine over indexes the level of engagement that we provide versus our competitive set. What the magazine allows our brand to relay to our audience is still very important–the physical publication is still a valuable part of the media mix for a lot of advertisers. Digital has allowed them to augment how they are already hitting the African-American women through Essence Magazine. Oftentimes, our advertisers have integrated buys, where we create a program for them around a theme and they will express that theme in the magazine and on Essence.com it now includes digital whereas one  time it did not. The Essence Music Festival is  a third leg to such a buy and a property that is reserved for our largest clients across the company.

Are there any initiatives in place to give Essence a more global presence?

Yes, we are always trying to find relevant ways to extend the brand. We will be looking for opportunities to create international licensing businesses for our magazine where its applicable and makes sense. Additionally, we will be looking for ways to extend the brand into opportunities that are relevant for audiences abroad.  For example, film and television are areas we can take content that is very ubiquitous, universal in nature and extend into other regions. The Essence Music Festival is another example where music is a universal experience and the artists we feature at the festival have very notable careers and are known across the globe. Our goal is to take this content and place it into those global markets. We are actually looking into an opportunity to have The Essence Musical Festival broadcast in London and other regions.

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