Kelley Sheenan
Magazine Editor , Peppermint Magazine

Written by Crystal Leung on 2009-10-06

Kelley Sheenan is the editor and founder of Peppermint Magazine.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in the media and communications industry?

In some ways it was more about the cause and less about the actual medium – I wanted to do something to bring attention to certain issues happening in the fashion industry – human rights, environmental issues, health problems due to pesticides from conventional cotton growing, etc. As my husband and I were both trained graphic designers and had run our own design company along with a small clothing label, we decided that publishing a fashion magazine to tackle these issues was the best way for us to combine our skills and knowledge.

What has been your most memorable achievement or experience working as a part of Brisbane’s media landscape?

We are very proud of managing to produce Peppermint as the greenest fashion magazine on the market, if not the greenest magazine on the newsstands. Peppermint is printed on Queensland’s only waterless printing press, using 100% post-consumer recycled paper, which makes it the print magazine with the least impact possible. And all out of Brisbane! It took a lot of work to achieve such high production values, we refused to compromise. Every step of the way has been a huge achievement for us – being an independent magazine – from the incredible support we have received locally and nationally, to speaking at Pecha Kucha, achieving high sales rates, and talking with Anna Bligh.

What are the most important/valuable skills that graduates can bring to your industry?

Enthusiasm is number one – a willingness to learn and take on new challenges is sometimes more important than the actual skills themselves. Research skills and attention to detail is also a big one, especially in our area as it often involves a lot of background research to understand what makes something ‘green’ or to find the best products etc. Knowing how to properly utilise research tools (like the internet/Google/contacts) to hunt down content is very important. Versatility is also important as often with small businesses employees need to be able to cover many areas – from various styles within journalism, to being able to use design programmes to help with layout. And an ability to understand or learn an individual magazine’s style/purpose/target market, as it always needs to be about what is ‘right’ for the magazine and its readers, not just what we want personally. Though often they are one and the same.

What are the biggest challenges you and your organisation face as a member of the Brisbane media community?

Financial support from advertising revenue has been our biggest challenge, as it probably is with every other publishing company. Being a new magazine it takes time for clients to understand what we are about, feel safe that we are going to be sticking around for a long time, and feel confident that our content is relevant and of the right quality to trust placing their brand amongst. Luckily we have had a lot of support from local companies from the start, but it’s always a challenge to keep momentum going. Gaining exposure through the local media has also been a challenge – most media outlets are not too keen to support other forms of media (for obvious reasons) but being independent and running purely on passion has helped us gain some more exposure.

How has new media such as the Internet and mobile communications revolutionised your workplace?

We wouldn’t be able to publish Peppermint without the internet – so many new eco startup companies are purely based online and we have also gained a great following through all our social networking pages which has helped move us much further than would be possible without. Approx 90% of all our work and research is done online – we spend a lot of time trawling websites and blogs to find the latest eco products and news.

In your opinion, what is the most prominent trend in the Print Media industry at the moment?

There is a big movement to go entirely digital or to incorporate digital alongside traditional media. I believe there is room for both as each has its own purposes and strengths. It’s an interesting time for the print media industry as it finds how to balance out the effects of the digital age – information now is so freely available (and so fast) that I believe the art of journalism and the lack of a user-pay system is making the industry suffer. The Global Financial Crisis has also had a big impact on print media and publishers are having to find new and interesting ways to stay afloat.

As the founder of Peppermint Magazine, what are your future plans for the magazine?

Bigger, better, more… we have a new website coming soon which is exciting, and will launch a digital version of the magazine very soon too. We are aiming to increase our circulation and to expand more into New Zealand and other countries eventually too. As the magazine increases we hope to be able to donate more money to various environmental and social organisations through our ‘FashionCents’ initiative (35c of each issue sold is donated to charity) – hopefully one day we can set up our own non-profit venture using the magazine to fund helping those in need. We want to reach as many people as possible in the hope that one day the need for Peppermint will be redundant, as the ‘green’ way of life will just be the ‘normal’ way of life.