Heart Business Journal for Women covers work and business from a women's perspective.

When Brenda Wood started her own marketing company six years ago, she couldn’t find a publication that spoke directly to her as a female entrepreneur.

“I always seemingly had to go to a male source: Fortune, The Economist, Canadian Business, Profit,” says Wood, president of EKG Marketing Inc. in London, Ont. “With women, looking at fashion or home décor, we can go to Vogue or Canadian House & Home or Style at Home. Those are great references for certain targets. But there’s nothing for the Canadian businesswoman.”

To fill this niche, Wood is launching Heart Business Journal for Women, a new bimonthly set to hit newsstands June 30. 

Heart has been online since September, building a community around its website.

While the glossy is not quite the first of its kind—the association Company of Women launched a female-friendly business magazine called Company last year, while Scarlett, a magazine for professional women out of Vancouver, folded in 2005—it is probably the most ambitious.

For the 88-page, perfect-bound premiere, Wood is printing 50,000 copies to be sold nationally at airports, major grocery stores, drug stores and mass merchandise retailers for $6.95. Coast to Coast Newsstand Services Partnership is distributing the magazine.

Wood says she's hoping to have circ up to around 250,000 by next year. Subscriptions are also available for $36.90.

On the ad sales side, Wood is after the biggies—Procter & Gamble, Dove, Estée Lauder and Kellogg’s are on her list of targets—and charging $8,000 for full page. Coca-Cola has the back sheet for the debut.

Heart will carry all the usual business mag fare—profiles of the successful, advice on getting ahead, lifestyle features on food, drink and travel—but with a distinctly feminine perspective. Balancing work and home life will feature prominently.

Workplace issues specific to women will also be covered. The debut, for example, carries a feature titled, “Avoid the bitch trap.”

“As women we can be our worst enemies,” Wood says. “We haven’t maybe achieved a level of confidence and that insecurity creates counterproductive behaviour. So, let’s get over that.”

Several pages have been reserved for journaling exercises that readers can complete in the magazine.

“It encourages people to think about pausing, taking some time and getting their thoughts on paper,” Wood says. “Some people we’ve chatted to write out a business plan every year. But very few write their own plan. They feel they are caught on this treadmill…But when they start taking even just 10 minutes a day, they feel a sense of control back in their life.”

Related links

• "Magazine for professional women a global first" [London Free Press]