DC: You’ve worked for the Who’s Who when it comes to media. Is there one company that you felt more connected with than the others?
ADB: I’ve worked for huge media companies with tremendous resources across many different countries. Of course, that’s an amazing experience because you often had the ability to execute your most far-reaching ideas. But my favorite experience was when I was Editor-in-Chief of Honey Magazine. Honey was owned by Vanguarde Media, a small black-owned company that had a few
small but important magazines. Our CEO and all our senior leadership were in their 30s. I got the job when I was 29. We were all so young and intense, and we all trying to run through walls. The energy and creativity and will in that office were incredible.
DC: What women influenced you in your personal life and career?
ADB: There are two women who have had a major impact on my career. The first would be my mother, Dr. Marguerite Ross Barnett. In addition to being a great mom, she was the first black president of a major research university in the country. The second is Isolde Motley, who was the corporate editor of Time Inc. She recruited me to run Teen People, which made me the first black woman to run a major mainstream magazine in the country.
DC: As a dynamic woman, journalist, cultural expert and writer, what more do you want to accomplish?
ADB: I’d love to eventually transition into academia. I’m the child of two academics so I always envisioned that I would one day work at a university. Then I taught a class at Kellogg while I was still living in Chicago, and I loved it. I’d love to teach at or run a journalism school.