Rules Don’t Apply: Breaking barriers – Poppy Reid’s path from intern to editor-in-chief

As part of its presence at SXSW Sydney in 2024, The Growth Distillery hosted a series of 10 vodcasts hosted by Dan Krigstein and branded Rules Don’t Apply.

The special guest for this episode sub-titled “Breaking barriers” was Poppy Reid.

In his introduction to the episode, Krigstein welcomed his guest: “Poppy is the co-founder of The Brag Media. She was formerly the editor-in-chief of The Brag Media, which includes Rolling Stone, Australia and New Zealand, Variety Australia, Tone Deaf, The Industry Observer, The Brag and The Music Network across the portfolio.

[Mediaweek is now part of Vinyl Group which also owns The Brag Media.]

“Poppy is a multi-award winning journalist and commentator, having won the Music Journalist of the Year Award in 22 at the Australian Women in Music Awards. She received the publishing accolade at last year's Mediaweek Next to the Best event.”

Poppy Reid

The discussion talked about starting a media business and Reid spoke frankly about the early trials and tribulations:

“We made every single mistake that you could possibly make in starting a company. The three biggest mistakes? One, we naturally had hardly any budget, so we hired a lot of entry-level very young people. We hired kids, and so they weren't super experienced. They wanted to be led by us.

“Two…we didn't know what the fuck we were doing. We were still learning how to be managers, how to be leaders. We were terrible. We were terrible managers. So, we hired young people, we did not have experience as leaders.

“The third mistake that we probably made, we had that idea of like, oh, let's just throw things at the wall and see if it sticks. We were trying to be data-led, but we weren't as data-led as we possibly could be. We just went, let's just have a crack and probably weren't as strategic as we should have been.

“Then we launched a magazine in Covid. We got the rights to bring Rolling Stone back to Australia.”

Despite the pandemic, Reid explained The Brag Media invested in digital marketing and counterculture strategies, focusing on youth and diverse artists.

Dan Krigstein

Cultural engagement strategy

She explained how the strategy involved listening to the audience and young staff, and identifying gaps in the market.

Reid's personal passion for pop music and elevating women influenced cover choices, which resonated with the audience.

Leadership and management lessons

Later in the vodcast, Reid discussed recognising her initial management mistakes and investing in an executive coach to improve her leadership skills.

Key lessons included understanding that employees value flexibility, transparency, and understanding their impact within the business.

Watch this special episode of Rules Don’t Apply with Poppy Reid.

See also:
• Rules Don’t Apply: The Battle for Creativity: AI vs. Humanity with Futurist Brian David Johnson
• Layne Beachley first guest on Rules Don’t Apply vodcast series from The Growth Distillery
• Rules Don’t Apply: Unmasking Reality – Navigating Truth in the Age of AI with Noelle Russell
• Rules Don’t Apply: From airwaves to algorithms – Adam Spencer’s take on creativity and AI