Sarah Chaisson Warner

founder, athena magazine for girls

By Rebecca Lavoie

Like a lot of creative women, Concord’s Sarah Chaisson Warner finds inspiration in unusual places. But it was at the supermarket checkout, the most unlikely place, where the idea for Athena Magazine for Girls was born.

“Doing an online magazine was percolating in my mind for a while, but the idea would fester every time I’d be buying my groceries and I’d see the covers of the teen magazines, which are 80 to 90 percent about makeup and boys,” she said. “As a young woman, it made me angry. Finally I figured, hey, I can sit here and be angry, or I can do something about it!”

Warner is a 29-year-old graduate of Barnard College and Harvard Graduate School who works for the New Hampshire Citizens Alliance on a variety of public policy issues. She didn’t tread lightly into the world of online publishing. Though she had some prior screenwriting experience, she knew that she needed a talented team of writers that her target audience could relate to in order for Athena to be successful.

“Our basic mission is to provide a variety of well-rounded articles, but our secondary mission is to train the next generation of media leaders,” Warner said.

Posting online applications for writers at colleges all over the country, candidates were soon pouring in, and Warner found herself assembling a team that exceeded her wildest expectations.

“Our writers and editors are mostly undergraduate students with plans to enter the world of publishing or journalism,” she said. “Not only do they drive our content by pitching articles to me for each issue, but they’re immensely talented and feel as strongly as I do about the mission of the magazine.”

Athena Magazine for Girls is a unique publication with a unique business model. Warner has made it the magazine’s policy to never accept any forms of advertising. In the magazine world, advertising drives content, which is counter to Athena’s mission to bring readers more than just “Linsday Lohan and lip gloss.”

“We publish a variety of features in each issue, interviews, articles about cool careers, a little bit of accessible and affordable fashion, and our monthly ‘Athena of the Month’ column, which highlights the accomplishments of young women nominated by our readers,” Warner said.

The magazine also features some book and film reviews, and a new “Featured College” column with every issue.
Since advertising, the financial lifeblood of most publications, is not accepted by Athena, Warner has other ideas about the magazine’s future growth.

“As with everything I do, I think big,” she said. “I want Athena Magazine for Girls to be the biggest young women’s magazine in the country. Right now, we’re an entirely volunteer organization, but I am thinking that in the future, we may establish ourselves as a nonprofit, so that we can fund ourselves going forward without even thinking about advertising. That way, we can focus on the things that really matter to young women.”

It would seem that Warner’s grocery store inspiration has struck a chord with its target audience. At the one-year mark, Athena Magazine for Girls now has more than 10,000 subscribers all over the world. And with a passionate leader like Warner at the helm, and content that is engaging and relevant, it’s easy to see why.

Athena Magazine for Girls can be found at www.athenamagazineforgirls.com.

Rebecca Lavoie is a freelance writer who lives in Hopkinton.