During its 18-year history, Heart & Soul magazine has been dedicated to helping African American women stay fit physically and mentally but now with its recent acquisition by Brown Curry Detry Taylor & Associates, LLC, the publication is expanding its focus to include all women of color.

“When you look at the statistics and see the significant health disparities that exist between Caucasian women and women of color, you look for ways to close those health gaps,” President Clarence I. Brown says. “Women of color are disproportionately affected by a number of diseases and health conditions and many of those problems can be avoided or minimized through optimizing nutrition and regular physical activity. Heart & Soul will provide readers valuable information, expert advice and relevant resources that will help reduce the disparities and improve the lives of all women of color.”

The publication’s future appears to be in good hands. All of the principles of BCDT are media and marketing veterans with past ties to Heart & Soul.  Brown was responsible for daily management of the magazine when it was owned by BET; George E. Curry was editor of Emerge when Heart & Soul was part of the BET magazine group; and Patrick H. Detry and Pamela E. Taylor provided consulting services to Edwin Avent, the former owner.

Heart & Soul will be the only national publication that targets multicultural women ages 21 to 55 in the health, fitness, and wellness category which will give it a leg up on competition as women of color increasingly make up more of the U.S. population.

“We are excited about our acquisition of this important brand and readers will quickly notice a revamped, first-rate print edition and more engaging digital version of Heart & Soul,” says Brown. “We will focus on repositioning the brand back to fitness, health and wellness, and broadening the content, the audience, and the advertisers.”

Do you read Heart & Soul? What do you think about the magazine focusing on women of color in general rather than just African American women?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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