profession: founder, president and publisher of Latina, the first glossy national mag for Hispanic women in the U.S.
the numbers: Started in 1996, the magazine made it to the newsstands. In 1996, it's circulation was 300,000, and not yet profitable. (Few magazines are in their first year.) Latina went monthly in July 1997.
born: Aug. 15, 1968 in Houston, Texas.
education: BA, Philosophy & Spanish literature, University of Texas. JD, Stanford Law School.
the magazine: Headquartered in Manhattan, Latina covers a range of women's issues -- with a Hispanic flavor. Recent features include a cover piece on "La Bombshell" actress Salma Hayek, and the first all Latina sex survey. The main articles are in English (features are summarized in a Spanish sidebar), and many of the ads are in Spanish.
Aimed at a range of Latinas, aged 18-49, the magazine find its readers in areas of the U.S. with large Hispanic populations, such as LA, NYC and parts of Texas.
beginnings: Born to a Mexican-American mother, Haubegger was adopted as an infant by an Anglo couple who strove to raise her with a strong awareness of her ancestry. She started learning Spanish in pre-school.
the inspiration: Haubegger says the blonde, blue-eyed models she saw in women's magazines as she was growing up did not reflect her body type or her beauty concerns. And when she went on to college and law school, she found that she and her fellow Latinas had trouble finding professional role models.
"I wanted to change the way Latinas see themselves, as well as how others see them," she explains.
CHRISTY HAUBEGGER
"I felt it [a Hispanic women's pub] was the one women's magazine that I'd want to read, and I kept thinking, 'Somebody should do it.' And finally I realized that that somebody was going to have to be me."
the way up: At Stanford she took several entrepreneurial classes while getting her law degree. Spent her first year out of law school doing her financial homework and looking for the financier most likely to support her niche.
the backer: Edward Lewis, CEO of Essence Communications, Inc., and founder of Essence Magazine (which 25 years ago was the first publication targeted specifically at African-American women) vowed years ago never to start another magazine from scratch. And he didn't -- until he saw Haubegger's proposal. "It was one of the best business plans I had seen in almost 20 years in this business," he said. "It was extraordinary for a person her age [27]."
the numbers: Started in 1996, the magazine made it to the newsstands. In 1996, it's circulation was 300,000, and not yet profitable. (Few magazines are in their first year.) Latina went monthly in July 1997.
born: Aug. 15, 1968 in Houston, Texas.
education: BA, Philosophy & Spanish literature, University of Texas. JD, Stanford Law School.
the magazine: Headquartered in Manhattan, Latina covers a range of women's issues -- with a Hispanic flavor. Recent features include a cover piece on "La Bombshell" actress Salma Hayek, and the first all Latina sex survey. The main articles are in English (features are summarized in a Spanish sidebar), and many of the ads are in Spanish.
Aimed at a range of Latinas, aged 18-49, the magazine find its readers in areas of the U.S. with large Hispanic populations, such as LA, NYC and parts of Texas.
beginnings: Born to a Mexican-American mother, Haubegger was adopted as an infant by an Anglo couple who strove to raise her with a strong awareness of her ancestry. She started learning Spanish in pre-school.
the inspiration: Haubegger says the blonde, blue-eyed models she saw in women's magazines as she was growing up did not reflect her body type or her beauty concerns. And when she went on to college and law school, she found that she and her fellow Latinas had trouble finding professional role models.
"I wanted to change the way Latinas see themselves, as well as how others see them," she explains.
CHRISTY HAUBEGGER
"I felt it [a Hispanic women's pub] was the one women's magazine that I'd want to read, and I kept thinking, 'Somebody should do it.' And finally I realized that that somebody was going to have to be me."
the way up: At Stanford she took several entrepreneurial classes while getting her law degree. Spent her first year out of law school doing her financial homework and looking for the financier most likely to support her niche.
the backer: Edward Lewis, CEO of Essence Communications, Inc., and founder of Essence Magazine (which 25 years ago was the first publication targeted specifically at African-American women) vowed years ago never to start another magazine from scratch. And he didn't -- until he saw Haubegger's proposal. "It was one of the best business plans I had seen in almost 20 years in this business," he said. "It was extraordinary for a person her age [27]."