Atoosa Rubenstein (born Atoosa Behnegar, Persian: آتوسا بهنگار; 13 January 1972) is an Iranian-American former magazine editor.[3] She was the editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine and the founding editor of CosmoGirl. She went on to found Big Momma Productions, Inc. and Atoosa.com[4] before becoming a stay at home mother.[5]
Atoosa Rubenstein | |
|---|---|
| Born | Atoosa Behnegar 13 January 1972 |
| Education | Barnard College (BA) |
| Known for | Magazine editor |
| Spouse | Ari Rubenstein (divorced)[2] |
| Children | 3 |
Early life and education
editBorn as Atoosa Behnegar in Tehran, Iran, her father Mansoor Behnegar was a colonel in the Iranian Air Force, and immigrated with the family to Queens, New York, when she was three. The family later relocated to Malverne, on Long Island.[6]
As an undergraduate student at Barnard College, Rubenstein became a public relations intern at Lang Communications, the company that bought Sassy magazine. She worked at Carvel and retail stores to pay her bills. Rubenstein dropped out of Alpha Chi Omega sorority and took night classes to take part in her second magazine internship, which led to a position in the editorial department of American Health magazine.
Honors and awards
editColumbia University honored Rubenstein in 2004 by naming her one of the top 250 alumni through the ages. She was also recognized by the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York as a Woman of Distinction. Rubenstein has been featured in Crain's New York Business "40 Under 40" and Folio's "30 Under 30".
She is a member of the Candie’s Foundation Board of Directors, which helps educate young people about the consequences of teen pregnancy.
Career
editIn 1993, Rubenstein became a fashion assistant at Cosmopolitan and five years later was made the senior fashion editor. This led to Hearst Magazines president Cathleen Black asking Rubenstein to come up with a concept for a new magazine. Forty-eight hours later Rubenstein presented the idea of CosmoGIRL! and was offered the position of editor-in-chief. This made Rubenstein, who was 26 years old at the time, the youngest editor-in-chief in Hearst Magazine's 100-year history. Rubenstein went on to make CosmoGIRL! a success with a circulation of 1.25 million readers.[7]
In May 2003, Hearst Magazines bought Seventeen magazine and gave Rubenstein the position of editor-in-chief. Rubenstein reversed a five-year decline in Seventeen's newsstand sales and delivered total newsstand growth of 23% by the end of 2005.[8]
In the fall of 2005, a series that Rubenstein conceived titled Miss Seventeen, debuted on MTV. The series featured seventeen girls competing for the honor of being Miss Seventeen – an award that included a college scholarship, an internship at Seventeen, and a cover and spread for the publication. Rubenstein was the creator and an executive producer on the series.
She appeared in several episodes of the reality show series America's Next Top Model.
On 7 November 2006, she announced that she would be leaving Seventeen to launch her own teen-centered web business, write a book, and start a consulting firm specializing in the youth market. Her replacement was Ann Shoket. In December 2006, Rubenstein started Big Momma Productions, Inc.
Personal life
editRubenstein was married to Ari Rubenstein, the founder and managing partner of Global Trading Systems, a stock, commodity and foreign currency trading company.[2] They separated in 2020.[9]
In 2008, Rubenstein gave birth to a daughter.[10] She later gave birth to twins.[11]
In 2023, Rubenstein announced she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.[12]
References
edit- ^ "NYRM - ATOOSA!". archives.jrn.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
- ^ a b Rubenstein, Atoosa (29 November 2021). "When I First Left My Husband". Atoosa Unedited. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ Goldman, Andrew (14 February 2000). "Atoosa, Former High School Loser, Is Hearst's New Cosmogirl Queen". The Observer. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ Rosenbloom, Stephanie (4 October 2007). "Calling All Alpha Kitties". The New York Times.
- ^ Ilyashov, Alexandra (22 September 2017). "Where Are They Now? An Update on the Heavyweights in Media and Fashion". Fashion Week Daily. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ Weinstein, Nola (2007). "image From magazine queen to the MySpace scene". New York Review of Magazines. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ Stewart, Dodai. "CosmoGirl: One of the Smarter Newsstand Choices For Teens". jezebel.com.
- ^ "Charlie Rose - A conversation with Atoosa Rubenstein about "Seventeen" magazine". Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
- ^ Schwedel, Heather (12 September 2021). "A Teen Magazine Icon Is Shattering Her Legend, One Jaw-Dropping Confession at a Time. Why?". Slate Magazine.
- ^ "Atoosa Rubenstein Welcomes Daughter Angelika McQueen". People.
- ^ "Alpha Kitty Atoosa Rubenstein Buys $8.8 M. Pad For Her Expanding Litter". The New York Observer. 25 January 2013.
- ^ Rubenstein, Atoosa (5 April 2023). "I Have Breast Cancer". Atoosa Unedited. Retrieved 17 May 2023.