There was movement at the station for the word has passed around: MAMAMIA HAS A NEW MANAGING EDITOR
MEDIA ALERT
Jamila Rizvi
Mamamia is pleased to announce that Jamila Rizvi has been appointed Managing Editor of Australia’s leading independent women’s website, Mamamia.com.au.
Jamila comes to Mamamia from the office of Federal Minister Kate Ellis, where she worked in a variety of roles, most recently as Deputy Chief of Staff and Press Secretary. Previously she worked in former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s media unit.
Jamila has worked in politics and public policy for almost four years, providing advice to the Australian Government on women, youth, early childhood and media issues.
Jamila said that she was thrilled to be joining the Mamamia editorial team.
“Like so many other Australian women – checking in on the latest Mamamia content each morning and afternoon is an essential part of my working day – it’s how I stay connected with what’s happening,” Jamila said.
“Mamamia is one of the few media where women can celebrate the lighter side of life, while also delving into current affairs issues, opinion and personal stories.”
“I can’t wait to start contributing to the daily conversation at Mamamia and providing engaging new content for a growing and dynamic online community of women.”
Publisher and creator, Mia Freedman said that Jamila would be a welcome addition to the editorial team.
“I first met Jamila when I was appointed to the Body Image Advisory Group in 2008 and I’ve always been hugely impressed with her spunk, her passion for women’s issues and her extraordinary work ethic,” Mia said.
“Politics shares many similarities with running a website – they’re 24/7 operations and you have to be able to move and respond very quickly.
“Jamila’s diverse skills and boundless energy will be an integral part of Mamamia’s expansion plans as we continue to be a talking point online and in the wider media.”
Jamila will start work with Mamamia from 12 June 2012.
As we mark our 5th birthday this month, it’s been a week of big announcements, kicking off with news that Mamamia’s current Managing Editor Lana Hirschowitz is to be the editor of a new site we’re launching, ivillage.com.au (you can read all about that here).
After a big search and interviewing many candidates to fill Lana’s large and impressive shoes, Jamila shot to the top of the list very quickly. I may even have found the only human who is used to working more hours than Lana. Working thisclose to a federal minister means that Jamila hasn’t switched off her phone in 4 years.
I love that about her. While many candidates were daunted by the intensity of managing Mamamia, Jamila was worried purely about the thought of dropping down to anything resembling ‘normal’ working hours after the adrenaline rush that working in politics has been throughout her twenties. I was quick to reassure her that her adrenaline was safe.
If you want to follow Jamila on Twitter you can do so here:
After so many years in politics, she’s going to have to get used to being able to express an opinion publicly (fast) so feel free to encourage her by asking her questions! Kidding. Not really.
Jamila starts in a couple of weeks and we cannot wait.
Comments
57 Comments so far
I just read this again plus all of the amazing comments and it made me sad all over again!!!
To the MamaMia family: I hope you realise that you have stolen my amazing housemate + SingStar partner. I’m not prepared to forgive you just yet but I’m sure that over time (plus the regular supply of free samples of ANYTHING), I could probably be convinced.
To Jamila: I couldn’t be more prouder of you and can’t wait to see your star shine brighter than ever!!! While I am still numb to the harsh reality that our days together are numbered (with many teary nights ahead) I am absolutely thrilled for you.
I DON’T WANT YOU TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!
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Thanks for the responses on work/life balance, very interesting topic! I certainly understand the commitment to hours when you are starting your own business, my husband and i started a corporate IT business 13 years ago and the hours you need to put into your own business at the embryonic stage is punishing but in the end fruitful. As you become established the pay off is the security and success. It is only in the past two years we have really reaped the benefits of this hard work and can now ‘work on the business not in the business’ and have the flexibility to enjoy the rewards of our hard work, that at times can be exhausting and relentless. I can understand Mia exactly what you mean in that respect. I work also in my own career as a senior manager in health care, I advocate for both my staff at work and in our own business a healthy work life balance, it certainly results in greater productivity long term, efficiencies, low sick leave levels and higher morale. I have an achieving type A personality and if left untethered would work around the clock! however I have learnt that this is not healthy behaviour or sustainable. Balance in everyone’s lives is a must for physical and mental health. I love work and I love my family, I am glad more organisations are embracing contemporary thinking and realise that to achieve in the corporate world people need devotion to both to be able to give the best of themselves to both. I love margaritas so would love to spend some ‘life balance’ time with you Jamila, let me know if you ever head over to SA, I only live a suburb away from contributor Bec from MM too, so can all meet up? Sounds fun
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LOVE THIS. Jamila is one of the first women I met in politics and she is utterly gorgeous, and so brilliant at what she does. She is going to be amazing in this role. xoxo
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May your enthusiasm shine on… Very proud of you!
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Wow, so happy for you Jamilla! Can’t wait to see what you do with the site too.
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Huge congrats, Jamila!
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OMG!
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Congratulations Jamila! Delighted we will have you on board, and yes, get ready to bare some opinions! If not your arse, like the lovely Noah did today
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Congratulations, also, to Mia and to Lana for iVillage, which I was too sick to read until now. Isn’t it amazing to think all this started with your blog? Wow!
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Congratulations to one and all on new appointments! I would be interested to know however what is the culture of work/life balance at your organisation. As a senior manager working ridiculous hours is not something I value and I believe just leads to employee burn out and low productivity long term. I believe encouraging a healthy home life with a strong work culture is the key to long term employee engagement, productivity and retention. Just interested in others thoughts on this….
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I’m interested in this too (and quietly depressed about it). I remember reading in Mia’s book that she hated the long hours culture at Channel 9 and used to pretend to go to the toilet when she needed to leave work at 5pm to collect her kids from daycare so that no-one thought she was leaving early.
So it’s genuinely puzzling that today Mia now loves that the willingness to work long hours can make an interview candidate stand out. Surely it’s about working “smarter” and not “harder”.
It’s also made me recall a horrible girl I worked with in my first real job after uni (“my big break” yeah right!) who told me in no uncertain terms that “I was to be at my desk before her and be there long after she had gone as that’s how the pecking order works around here”. She was only one step above me on the rung but thought it necessary to throw her weight around simply to make herself feel better. It scared the crap out of me and contributed to me suffering panic attacks and serious burnout, etc. That said, I’m glad I learned that lesson very young: If a manager expected long hours as a prerequisite, it wasn’t the job for me. Long hours means nothing. it’s the quality of how you spend those hours that matter.
Perhaps this is something that Mia can clarify further? Or perhaps it’s a good idea for another column to kickstart discussion: i.e. is the pursuit of work/life balance simply a myth? Do managers still really expect and respect long hours?
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Hey Bryter and Sarah,
Thanks for your interesting and insightful comments. You raise some excellent points.
For my husband and I, as small business owners of a start-up company, long hours are inescapable.
And when you work online, it’s very difficult to quarantine work hours. Also though, when you LOVE what you’re doing, those lines blur and not neccessarily in a bad way.
I once heard Annabel Crabb (political journo who is also a TV presenter, columnist and 100 other things) say that if she weren’t being paid to write about politics, she’d follow it anyway so really it’s a bonus.
I feel that way about what I do and so (I think/hope) do those in the MM editorial team.
Also, Jamila doesn’t have kids and so there are certain times in your life when you DO want to throw a lot of your time and energy into work.
The reality of this job is that it is one with big hours. Having said that, I am hugely flexible with my team.
Lana and I often leave work early to pick up our kids from school and then hop back online when we get home.
When someone has to do early morning posts, they go home earlier in the arvo.
Other members of the team sometimes work from interstate for the odd day when they go home to visit their families.
So within the demands of running a 24/7 website that’s never ‘shut’, we do try to support our team to have lives. I think it’s really important.
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Call me stupid but I’ve only ever had one job with ‘normal’ hours and it nearly drove me up the wall. I’m at the stage in my life where my career is very important to me and I need to be engaged in what I do. I live and breathe this stuff. You’re a good boss Mia!
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Hi Mia
I also have no children, but don’t feel this means it should be ok for me to work longer hours than those who do have children, so am not really sure why you mentioned this about Jamila. Work/life balance is something everything needs and it doesn’t mean that those without kids shouldn’t be afforded this. Perhaps I misunderstood this portion of your comment, but does this mean that you have a preference in hiring female staff without kids as it’s ‘easier’ for them to work longer hours??
Love this website, but interested in your thoughts!
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Oh I was very surprised at the ‘Jamila doesn’t have kids’ comment. Does that mean because she doesn’t have kids she is willing or able to work longer? I am single, live alone and don’t have kids. But I do have a’life’ outside my work. I have a currently very demanding full time job in the finance industry and study law part time. I’m not sure that Mia meant her comment in the way that I interpreted it, but I do find it annoying that many, not all, people think because you don’t have children you are ‘married’ to your job, or atleast have nothing better to do after work so can stay late. That said I also understand that the nature of their business means that as long as they have a computer and internet access they are ok. That I am super jealous of, I wish I could work remotely from any where.
Rant over, I think that change is always a good thing, so congratulations to everyone on their new roles and I look forward to seeing what Jamila does with the site and I also look forward to checking out ivillage.com.au, something I knew nothing about until I read about it here.
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Hey LondoneEye, fair point. I have many friends without kids who are searching for ‘balance’ as much as anyone else.
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My take on this is that everyone is different – work life balance is just like any other kind of balance, it’s different for everyone.
I’m definitely weighted towards the ‘work’ end of the spectrum but that’s always been a choice and one I make willingly. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I have always loved every job I’ve had, so find it hard to imagine doing anything differently.
And I don’t think Mia is suggesting at all that people without kids deserve less balance, I think it’s more a case of me having more time to devote to work (without giving up the ‘life’ bit) because I don’t have little people who rely on me! Which, for now at least, is probably a good thing for those hypothetical little people…
Michelle, Bryter, Sarah – we shall all grab a martini together soon, so I can maintain some ‘balance’. Deal?
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Well, I think working at a startup website (like working in politics) is more demanding as far as hours go than some other jobs. Whether you have kids or not! So I think there are certain realities of some job that can’t be sugar coated.
Lana, Nicky and I all have small children an we manage but it can be intense!
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Jamila, I totally agree it is your own choice, wasn’t suggesting that Mia thought that people without children deserve any less balance. I think it is great that you have been able to find jobs that your love
I was just more surprised at Mia’s comment given that it is not something she would normally say, but then sometime people say things and they aren’t always exactly what they mean, or interpreted in the way they mean. What an amazing new job you have, although I would love your old job as well. Good luck and it will be great to see some ‘fresh’ / new take on the site. Look forward to mid June when you take your seat 
I also think it is great to see someone ‘young’ take on such a great a role.
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I see your point, but before I had a baby I was prepared to work long hours, because I liked my job and felt it was ‘making a difference’. Now that I have a daughter, there is simply no way I could do the hours I did before.
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Just weighing in for a moment here – When I first read the ad, I went “They’d have to work 24/7! No way! That’s awful!” and then I thought about it.
I DO work 24/7. Not in my job, my job is 9-5, 5 days a week, but on top of that job, I run two websites, one on my own and one with JJ, which is obviously the bigger of the two. I do that, completely unpaid, purely because I like doing it. If I got paid to do it, that would be awesome. If I could do it 24/7 getting paid and not have to go to a different work, I would absolutely!! So I can really see where Mia, Rick & all the others are coming from.
Which surprises me, since, when I worked in marketing and was forced to work long hours, I completely burnt out. When I queried the hours, they told me “working here is a lifestyle choice” and I thought “well, it ain’t mine!”
But then it’s kind of like being a working parent with kids, isn’t it? You work all day at one job, and you come home to another. But it doesn’t feel that way (some days, some days it sure would), because you love your kids.
Well, these guys love their website.
That’s my perspective on it, anyway.
PS: Jamila, I’m in for that martini!
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Yep, T is right…our website is a 24/7 project…that doesn’t mean we work 24 hours a day on it…but we’re always thinking about it, exchanging ideas, making changes all the time, despite also having day-jobs and separate lives away from the website…
If you’re doing something you love and are really proud of, it’s not something you switch-off from…I totally understand how MM is a 24/7 concern for the MM team…why wouldn’t it be? I wish my day-job engaged me as much as that…it doesn’t.
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Good point Miss T, you always make such wise comments
. Good to see an objective view. If I could find something I love and get paid for it, I too would it do in a heartbeat.. I love that they love their website and working in fast moving , competitive industry is hard, especially when everyone is a critic, and on the internet able to hide. I like my job , but I don’t love it, so I guess that is what I can’t understand and I think that is the difference, exactly what JJ said 
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Thanks for your reply Mia. I would love to see you take up this issue of work/life balance more on this site and campaign for more tangible changes to be seen in Australian workplaces.
I think you are obviously an incredibly flexible boss, but most are not. And that’s what worries me. Long hours are now expected due to constant access to email, internet, teleconferencing, etc. When does anyone get a chance to switch off and actually live a full, real life and take a moment to literally and figuratively smell the flowers?
From personal experience, I do not think it’s wise for anyone to live and breathe their job. Not only for health reasons but for business reasons: it impairs perspective and creates inefficiency.
I took a career sabbatical this past year for personal reasons (the death of my mum, an international relocation, difficulty conceiving and hurrah a pregnancy and now a new baby!), and it has been enlightening to say the least. As a media professional myself, I now look back and see that it was too easy for me to get lost in the news cycle and world of deadlines, headlines, click-throughs, ad revenue, PR spin, office politics, etc, etc. For the first time in a decade, I have found myself reading magazines as a reader and not as an editor. It’s been an invaluable lesson. I need a full, real life outside of work to be more efficient in my job and deliver better results.
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Welcome aboard and looking forward to your posts and improvements with the site too. Phone always on? Is there any work life balance working at MM? Hope it goes well.
Something I just noticed. If you lined up Lisa wilkinson, Mia and Jamila they all look so much alike! Talented and gorgeous.
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So lucky to have a person like Jamila – a loss to the ALP
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Congratulations both Lana and Jamila! It’s very exciting times at Mamamia HQ.
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congrats!
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I’m going to miss Lana !
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Jamila,
I feel such a buzz in the air with the excitement of your impending start at Mamamia! Even though I’m in the Adelaide office (cough *my dining table* cough) … I am sending you a big welcome hug and putting out the welcome mat. This company is the BEST place to work and I can’t wait for you to add your ideas and enthusiasm to the mix. And PSST: Mia can always be bribed with chocolate or sequins. Or chocolate sequins
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Thanks Bec! I’m so excited to be joining the team and it’s always good to have early tips on how to bribe the boss. Thankfully noted. Xx
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Can you get sequinned chocolate, I wonder?!
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Congratulations Jamila! Am I right that you’re the older sister of Miriam? I went to uni with her and she is brilliant too!
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Yep – Mim is my baby sister!
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Congrats and welcome Jamila. Great name – what’s the origin?
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Thanks so much Simone. ‘Jamila’ is Arabic and it means beautiful. My parents picked it because they were keen for me to have a Muslim name and mum was reading Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children when she was pregnant. Jamila Singer is a character in the book and is a peformer – which explains my extreme enthusiasm for karoke (…although perhaps not skill). Xx
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Karaoke
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As a colleague of Jamila’s, I can honestly say that our incredible loss is a massive gain for the Mamamia community xxxx
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Congratulations Jamila.
Mia, I think that in this day and age, you have to be very judicious in your application of the word ‘spunk’.
Luckily, I think that you just managed to bring it off here.
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Was going to comment this also! Is there sort of age/culture/regional boundary with this word? It means something very different in my part of the world; I only know of it’s ‘clean’ meaning from Enid Blyton books when I was a kid!
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Can’t wait to have you here, Jamila! I hope you like sparkly things because we tend to wear a lot of them. xxx
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Oh Nat… if you’d seen me before the Prince concert earlier this month, you would be left with no doubt in your mind whatsoever. Xx
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We demand a photo!
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Congratulations Jamila and Lana all the best for your new endeavors!
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Welcome Jamila! Can’t wait to read your posts
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Weeeeeeelcome! Can’t wait to have you in the office. Bring cakes.
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And dinosaurs . . .
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And cakes shaped like dinosaurs?
Kate Ellis is a wonderful hard working Minister, and if Jamila contributed to that then lucky Mamamia!
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Sigh. The Mamamia office sounds great! Any chance you’re after someone with 10 years office management/EA experience? I come with two VERY cute children (one of each colour) and am partial to baking anything sweet lol
Oh yeah… We’re in Canberra. But warmer climes do beckon! I don’t suppose the Mamamia office is thinking of moving lock, stock and barrel to QLD? Or Bali/Fiji/Bahamas? Or my living room?
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One of each colour?? Are there only two “colours” of people?
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Pink and blue, boy and girl perhaps? I think it was said in jest, the poster was not being racial.
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Absolutely – ‘two colours’ refers to sex, not race
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But you are leaving the office!
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Does anyone else feel like we now have our very own Ruby??
Welcome Jamila
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Congratulations Jamila AND Lana!! You’ll both do wonderfully!!
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Congratulations to Jamila, I’m sure she’ll prove every bit as good as Lana was. Perhaps a “Welcome to the team” function with bucketloads of cocktails and wine to help her feel free to express herself?
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An outstanding suggestion from kirstys!
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Congrats to Jamila, and may I say for the umpteenth time how proud I am of Lana???? x
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