Today we’d like to introduce you to Tawana Blassingame.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In 2011 I started Queen Size Magazine not really knowing where I wanted to take it. I just knew that I really wanted to write for a publication. But when the opportunity did not present itself to do that, I created my own opportunity. But owning and running a publication was all new to me. I had a lot of learning that I needed to do if I was going to succeed. I had no idea when I started that I would be as far along as I am now. I had no idea that we would be an award-winning publication.
I aligned myself with great professionals in the business because I realized that I had so much to learn. After two years from the inception, I took a four-month hiatus, rebranded myself and came back with better knowledge and direction for the magazine. I had to learn the basics about photography, styling, makeup, on-set creativity, all of those things and more in order to effectively communicate with my team and deliver a quality product to my clients. There was a lot of stepping out of comfort zones for me and my team. There were a lot of growing pains. Most people don’t just wake up and say “hey, I want to start a magazine”. LOL! But for those that do (raises hands) I would definitely suggest having some real conversations with people who have been done the road you are trying to travel on.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Smooth? Absolutely NOT. I have had many moments where I questioned why I do this every month. I have had many days when I wanted to say this is going to be our final issue. When I first started out there were some months where I didn’t sell not one magazine. Building your audience and keeping their attention can be tough sometimes. But you have to learn that if you want to continue to thrive; and that takes time and patience.
Being a media company, we do a lot of traveling to cover events. That is a lot of time we have to spend away from our families as well. So it can be a little challenging having to choose between work and family time.
Keeping your audience happy is a challenge in itself. Any entrepreneur knows that, and as much as we tell ourselves that we can’t please everyone, the truth is we really do want our clients to be happy. I have had to deal with a few unhappy people who felt like I didn’t use the right picture of them. Or having to tell a client that their submissions weren’t up to par. I really do try my best to make sure anyone that does business with me leaves with a great experience. I had to really learn patience in this business. I had to learn how to put a client’s feelings before mine, no matter how small I thought the situation was. And for someone who has struggled with patience in the past, it was really hard for me at first.
Please tell us about Queen Size Magazine and The Full Figured Industry Awards.
I am the CEO and Editor in Chief of Queen Size Magazine, an award-winning monthly print and digital publication dedicated to servicing the full-figured industry. We publish articles every month that focus on lifestyle, fashion and beauty topics. Our focus here at QSM is to bring our readers the latest news and trends surrounding the fashion industry. From eye-catching images to controversial articles; we capture it all every month without missing a beat. Additionally, we pride ourselves on providing a platform for both established and up & coming professionals in our industry. At Queen Size we believe and promote that women and men of all shapes, sizes, heights and color are equal.
As a publication, the intention is to add another platform to help grow our industry. There are several fashion magazines that cater to the plus industry and we all offer our audiences something a little different.
In November 2019, Queen Size Magazine will be producing the Full Figured Industry Awards (The FFIAs). The FFIAs is a prestigious ceremony of awards and of distinguished recognition honoring the craftsmanship and commitment to excellence across various platforms spanning the full-figured industry. We will be honoring professionals such as models, designers, productions, bloggers, journalist, stylists, makeup artists, retailers, ect. This is something that was long overdue for us in my opinion. This is why my team and I decided to produce it. We have some amazing talent in this industry; talent that deserves recognition in a big way. I have watched the Emmy’s, the Golden Globes, and other award ceremonies and said many times when will our time come. Our time is now….
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Personally, I don’t believe in luck. I believe in blessings and lessons. I believe that if things are not going as planned (which some would call bad luck) then you step back and reassess. As I mentioned earlier, this is something that I had to do within two years of the magazine. In fact, this is something that we do each year; we take a look back at what didn’t work as well what did, and we implement different practices if needed.
Even when things are running smoothly (which some might call good luck) we don’t take it for granted. For example, when we received the award for 2018 Magazine of the Year from Full Figured Fashion Week, that was not luck; that was our hard work paying off.
Pricing:
- A print issue is $14.99
- A digital issue is $4.99
- An annual digital subscription is $35.93. That’s about $2.99 an issue
- Tickets for the Full Figured Industry Awards are $55.00 and can be purchased at www.theffias.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.queensizemagazine.com
- Email: queensizemagazine@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Philip Drew
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