Lisa Messenger bringing back The Collective Hub print magazine
The Collective Hub will return as a print magazine in late November after the magazine’s founder and owner Lisa Messenger closed it a few months ago citing unsustainable growth and issues drumming up advertising dollars.
The Collective Hub’s return has seen 17 of the 32 staff who were made redundant in March return to work for the publication, but this time as freelancers.
Messenger has a message for those who think she’s just in it for the publicity
Nah, no one asked for it before, we’re not asking for it now.
That was absolutely a fair question to ask, Mumbrella. I must say, having followed Lisa’s journey and having literally bought into her narrative, this latest chapter doesn’t sit right.
Richard if you email me directly with your mailing address I would be so happy to send you a copy of Risk & Resilience which outlines everything in detail. Having the full story warts and all might help it to make sense. At this stage I am only bringing back one issue of Collective Hub as mentioned in my comments below. I had hoped (and still absolutely do) that this might give encouragement to those struggling in the industry. When we have the courage to break something, work out where we (in my case – me) went wrong, then we can all learn and move forward. Enjoy the read and have a good weekend – L
“no one who knows her would think that”. I know her and I DO think that. Truth is the whole Lisa Me,Me,Me brand needs a serious rethink if it is ever to have any credibility. Hallmark Card aspirational quotes, pretending you are besties with Richard Branson and claiming the magazine is reason you haven’t had a family is no longer going to cut it.
Too much “Me, Me, Me” / too many “I” statements
I watch and observe and think it is all smoke & mirrors as far as I can see.
yep On the Contrary i think you have got it right. I always found the magazine confusing. Models and actors on the cover and business content inside, it just seemed all over the place. I think that the question was reasonable. When you put yourself so far out there as Lisa has done, you have to expect some level of fall back. Her reaction was over the top which could of course be caused by stress. But the truth is it’s a magazine, she’s not saving lives. She needs to put it into perspective. I hope she does well, it is incredibly tough running a business, hiring staff, etc. And let’s face it there are more than enough people being judgmental and critical, we have that in enormous abundance. Maybe before judging and criticising her, some of her harsh critics, may like to give it a shot themselves?
Just realised there is another “Lou”. That comment from “Lou” of too much “me me me” wasn’t me. Louise
And it worked – so many headlines generated about her devastating closure and now it’s back. If I was the staff, I’d go work freelance for someone who wasn’t messing with me. The whole mess does nothing for the brand
19 year olds in media agencies are no better or worse than the 19 year olds on the publishing side. Frankly, if a 19 year old media buyer was driving a deal on a magazine spend, I’m impressed.
Completely agree! The metaphorical 19 year old Lisa is complaining about was clearly doing their due diligence.
Can you point out one 19-year-old media planner/buyer? To work in media requires a university degree, putting employees as professionals in their early 20s and it’s a bit snarky to dismiss younger people as ‘kids’ because they’re good at their jobs and negotiating media as media buyers. It also says something to the character as this is supposedly who Lisa + Collective Hub was/is targeting – young professionals. As a young media professional who did enjoy Collective Hub from time to time, knowing how the voice behind it thinks we’re just ‘kids’ and not professionals in a professional setting, nah – I’ll pass from the lack of respect. Maybe this is why the magazine failed in the first place, if you can’t respect your target audience, you have no business trying to speak or resonate with them.
I completely agree with you. Young, smart, hardworking professionals are no doubt a huge part of Collective Hub’s target audience, it seems incredibly hypocritical to be selling magazines based on a message of empowerment and then in the same breath tearing down these same people for simply doing their jobs. Respect – for your team, for your audience, for the other industry players you need to collaborate with to get things done – seems sorely lacking. I’ll definitely be avoiding this magazine in the future if this is an indication of how Lisa treats young professionals.
Since when have media buyers needed a degree? That’s nonsense, there are plenty of people working in media buying without degrees. I see her point. At 19 you’re not going to have much business experience, how could you? so of course it’s very frustrating for her to to be negotiating pages. I’m surprised that an agency would have a 19 or thereabouts year old negotiating ad pages.
I don’t have a degree and have been successfully working in the media industry for 15 years (as have many others) so that point is incorrect.
Lisa is 100% spot on in stating that young employees are in charge of huge accounts and are taking publishers for a ride, on behalf of their seniors, around the rate game. It’s very transactional with wiyh many young media buyers and they don’t care to take the time to get to know a brand and what they are about. Asking to pay $3k for an already reduced $10k offering is just taking the piss, both parties have a business to run and their assets have great value in market.
Yes, young professionals need to be respected, but respect is earned and only given when respect is initially shown.
I thought the question was ridiculous at best, incredibly naïve and over the top insulting. No matter any individual’s take on another individual’s personality or the projection of their image, no one in their right mind could believe that you’d do all of that for a publicity stunt. And now, even publishing this story framed the way it is, it a very, very cheap shot at sensationalism.
The front cover of every book she’s published ,and half the magazines, is a huge picture of herself – of course its a publicity stunt
Should the story be Messenger follows other publishers, axing 15 staff? She makes it sound like overtime (unpaid or not) would be an unofficial KPI.
Seriously, does anyone believe this nonsense anymore?
I really wouldn’t want to work for her after reading her comments
Lol. She made a huge song and dance about closing. Then writes a book about the hardship. Then fires all the staff and hires all contractors and magically reopens. Hope there’s a chapter on how to do this in the new mag. Classic
Hey guys,
Just to be clear, I am at the present time bringing back just one issue of Collective Hub print magazine in November – for a multitude of reasons.
One we had commissioned a full issue when I had to close at 52. Secondly after I closed the business, I realised that actually the print magazine wasn’t the problem.
It was me taking my eye of the ball and not getting intimate enough with the data – scaling too quickly, saying yes too often to the wrong things etc. And thirdly we have had so much incredible support from the industry – Newslink, WH Smith and all our incredible retailers who have supported the entire journey. As well as our incredible loyal community. I wrote a 208 page book in real time about all scaling too quickly and all the mistakes I had made and how I would and will do things differently to rebuild a sustainable brand.
I included every figure, statistic – its an entire open and honest blueprint to the whole journey in the hope it would help others in a similar situation. I’m saddened by the conversation to be honest. Lets lift each other higher in a time when the media industry is in turmoil.
Lets celebrate those of us who are courageous enough to recognise our mistakes and break something to rebuild it again. Lets learn from each others lessons.
Lets not tear one another down but actually think – wow – how just after three months of being in such a hideously dire situation have I managed to start rebuilding. Because I hustle my arse off every day and I know what I stand for. Living my life out loud, wearing my mistakes and my heart on my sleeve, having authentic, real conversations so that other business owners might not feel so isolated and alone.
Lets start having real meaningful conversations and stop tearing one another down which is the absolute antithesis to why I started Collective Hub in the first place. It takes a lot of energy to hate and be resentful.
In my experience, its much lighter and more freeing when we just support each other and lift each other higher. There is room for everyone.
Namaste xx
Don’t say Namaste. It’s cultural appropriation.
i appreciate you being real and putting you first. it takes guts, grit and grace. i was a bit taken back at the closure but i’m excited so see what is to come. thanks for being so vulnerable and owning your mistakes. only you can understand the why.
stay wild + wonder
ash xx
I’ve crashed and I am just about to start up again, I love your energy and unwavering integrity! I can’t wait to support the next issue, Lots of love & thank you times a million+
I LOVE the idea of working smarter and allowing employees to work to their own schedule / life / circumstances. I’ve just come off the back of a HORRIFIC experience and lost my job due to the fact that my ‘commute was unsustainable for my employer’. If I had been working my own way, I would have been able to excel at my role, my children would have been happy and I would have felt a success. Let’s move with the times. Well done for recognising that, Lis xxxx
What exactly do you mean by ‘namaste’ Lisa? As an Indian person, I’m genuinely interested, given it’s unlikely you give a shit what it actually connotes in our culture…
Being an employer with around the same number of staff as Lisa had, i totally believe Lisa, and can’t believe we are having this ridiculous debate. Making that many redundancies would have been the toughest part of her career to date. They are people and effecting people’s lives is a serious responsibility for any employer.
Good luck i say:)
Thank goodness there’s someone who has a sane perspective responding to this chain. How ridiculous.
Thank you. Yes, hideous and horrible and something I never want to relive. But I am grateful for the journey (only now being out the other side) so I can share the lessons and not repeat the mistakes. We don’t know what we don’t know til we’re right in the middle of it. Thanks for your beautiful response. Big love xxx
I am sure it was hard. No doubt just as hard for those who were made redundant
She should probably remove the “FINAL ISSUE ON SALE NOW” from the homepage of the website then.
I did my last “Whispering Jack” tour 9 times before the ACCC stepped in and told me to stop it.
Won’t be going anywhere near this woman or her faux magazine. Never delivered what was paid for and then just disappeared.
I, for one (by the sounds of the comments), really enjoyed the content of this mag around entrepreneurial businesses, and I’m glad it’s back. I think the comments here are pretty harsh and cynical. And why would closing a publication, and then a few months later re-launching it, make for a good publicity stunt anyway?
Thank you. I did wonder the same. Certainly not something I would choose to have lived nor wish on anyone to ever have to live through.
Big love and have a beautiful weekend xx
What does Fair Work say about making everyone redundant then getting them back as ‘freelancers’.
Agreed – how on earth is this being branded as ‘working smarter’ and not what it is – cutting costs by not having to pay super, leave, and having any responsibility to the wellbeing of your staff?
Happens all the time and also happens within government organisations
I feel like a good commercial director and a restructure would have been far more efficient than $500K of redundancies, to now only bring all those staff back as freelancers. I’m not convinced, and I don’t think the freelancers will stick around either.
Not if the attitude is that she wants them to work longer & harder for less with no job security.
” I need to not get frustrated and sit there going ‘Why aren’t they working for me harder?’ or whatever.”
If I was one of her staff re-hired as a freelancer I’d be running for the hill after reading this.
This brand is tired and stale. No one cared when it left the market and no one really cares for a return.
I won’t be buying an inch of her story or ad space in Collective 2.0
Is anyone gonna fact check this piece? Holes, holes, holes.
Most of the above comments are simply proof that the agencies of today do not understand the value of print media, nor understand the energy & passion that is invested into creating such a tangible product. Well done Lisa, restructuring your product to bring it back to life should be applauded.
Thank you. Really appreciate your support and comments xx L
Very very brave to be re-launching a print mag – won’t be an easy sell to agencies or clients directly but good on her for giving it another shot
JUST one issue at this stage. Lets see how it goes. Certainly not my intention to make it a regular thing. Maybe one or two a year – baby steps this time. Thanks for your support xxx
It took 32 staff to produce that magazine? Crikey. No wonder print is completely unprofitable.
Yes some very silly mistakes associated with high growth on my behalf. Breaking it gave me the opportunity to look at the inefficiencies, get intimate with the data again and understand why it was struggling. Here’s to a brighter future (for all of us) xxx
what a crazy conversation. as an entrepreneur who has been through a similar journey (like I suspect most other entrepreneurs out there) I am astounded that anyone can think that one would close their baby just for a bit of PR. as founders, our biz is so much more than just a biz, its an extension of our lives. lisa, you have inspired me (and I suspect thousands of others) over the years and I congratulate you. i know i wouldn’t be where I am today without your books and mags over the years. thank you.
Thanks Sam. This means the world. Really appreciate it. Have a beautiful weekend xxx
*Lisa rallies cult member to start supporting her.
Hey Lisa, here is a great article on why white people who aren’t Hindi should stop saying Namaste, unless of course you wrote this at the end of a Yoga class.
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/why-white-people-need-to-stop-saying-namaste-20160401-gnw2xx.html
I’m a huge fan of both Collective Hub and Lisa Messenger and I am in awe of how incredibly brave she has been to not only stop and rethink the print issue but also to so openly share those tough moments with the public in the hope of sparing others from the same mistakes and helping to share the lessons she has learnt. Its phenomenal that the business is still up and running and that they are finding new ways to keep moving forward and doing what they do best – inspiring people to live their dream! I don’t believe for a second that this was a publicity stunt, it would have undoubtedly been ridiculously difficult both financially and personally – If you have followed her journey like I have (or read her posts/books etc) you would see how searingly honest they are and what a brutal of a time its been. Power to them, I can’t wait to get my hands on another print issue whenever that may be 🙂
Thank you. Thank you. Your beautiful words and kindness mean the world. I have been absolutely blown away today with messages of support so lets hope authenticity and kindness trump all else. Appreciate your comments. Have a stunning weekend xxx L
AGREE!
As someone who has worked closely with Lisa I can say that she is an incredible human being and a pleasure to work for and with – she is more honest and open than I personally can ever dream of being and its very sad to see people wanting to cut her down for that honesty and that willingness to give it her all.
Most businesses don’t live through something like that, how about we celebrate someone who is trying in the face of adversity to make something beautiful and lasting!
Are we really going to sit here arguing about whether she should have told her story and speculating on a truth we didn’t live through? People shouldn’t need to suffer in silence or keep things running publicly while they’re falling apart behind the scenes. They also shouldn’t need to dim their light to make others feel better – Lisa & the Collective Hub team should be proud to be where they are right now and I know a huge community of people will be very proud for them.
Why the victim positioning? and why, when stuff goes down, is the answer in exploiting labour laws? Boo hoo to having to pay redundancies. The answer isn’t in removing the job security of workers and calling it freedom. This is white collar slum lord justifications with a dash of “it’s stacked against me, so I had no choice but to exploit them” vulgarity in the mix.
Australia has a serious lack of strong, smart, independent business women – the kind of women Lisa Messenger represents – and reading through some of these comments it’s easy to see why we are struggling to encourage more girls and women to pursue entrepreneurial career paths.
When did it become acceptable to make cruel personal attacks online, when you wouldn’t say these things to her or anyone else face-to-face? Some of these comments are so vicious and say much more about the authors than they do about Lisa Messenger. The comments on this page would be completely different if the article’s focus was a male entrepreneur instead of a woman. You would NEVER bring up his family or make such vile accusations in an attention seeking click bait article – where is your credibility, Mumbrella? Aren’t you supposed to represent pro-women media, or at least attempt to maintain the visage of balance in your articles?
Luckily, I’ve read Lisa’s books and I know it takes a lot more than an antagonistic article or some harsh words in the comments section to deter her or stop her from challenging the status quo. I’ve loved Collective Hub for years, and I’m excited for the new issue – there is no doubt Lisa Messenger and her team still have a lot of great content and advice to impart, particularly in a media landscape notably devoid of any peers.
Vivienne, it’s disappointing that your article is so firmly incomplete that Lisa is having to make her own corrections in the comments section, amidst some quite vile comments which seem to echo the tone of your article. Surely a more balanced journo would have conveyed the entire circumstances of Collective Hub’s prodigal return, rather than cherry picking Lisa’s understandable response to your rude ‘shock value’ line of questioning? Perhaps you’d be a better fit at Women’s Weekly, or the Daily Mail online – I know they share a similar journalistic integrity to the one you’ve displayed here.
Agreed Ian. Really shoddy article Mumbrella, particularly because the journo didn’t find out or, alternatively, didn’t share the fact that the mag is only coming back for a single issue.
This story implies the magazine is back on stands regularly, which does indeed make the conversion of redundant staff to freelancers look like ‘slumlord’ labour practice as another commenter said.
The reality, which shouldn’t have been left to the interviewer to correct in the comments, seems to be that issue 53 was in progress and the return of half the previous team under freelance arrangements makes good sense to clear the edition. It may be a welcome temporary gig for the people concerned, too.
A sentence or two of explanation would have gone a lot further than the faux shock horror of excessively quoting Ms Messenger’s response to the question about intent.
I agree journalists are justified in asking provocative questions, I don’t agree with the petty way this story brings the journo in as a subject and devotes an unnecessary amount of space to the exchange while still not providing full context.
Mumbrella stories are digital and easily updated – show some professional standards and at least add a note at the end about the freelancing context.
And so begins the love in … after some mild criticism, all Lisa’s “fans” start to emerge from the woodwork to offer never-ending praise about her never-ending “journey” to god knows wherever. It just goes on … and on … and on …
It takes HUGE courage to break a brand, take time for yourself and re-think how it comes back to life. “It’s not the critic who counts, not the man (or woman) who points out how the strong man (or woman) stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to who is actually in the arena…”
The woman’s in the arena shaking up an industry which needs it. Let’s await the outcome before throwing judgement. <3
I don’t usually jump on comment trails like this, but reading this article and then the nasty comments above just made me absolutely boil. I’ve worked with Lisa for over 9 years, I was there before the magazine was even a thought bubble. I watched the heart and soul Lisa poured into it and I watched as the cash equally poured out the door and we struggled to get it back in. Yes, it took 32 staff, yes the redundancies were an absolute nightmare and hellish time. The undercurrent in the article above is just gross, I’m so disappointed someone even suggests that Lisa would tear apart the business she had absolutely given everything to, simply for some PR, is beyond insulting. It goes to show that these people have absolutely no idea how much strain Lisa was under to make such a dramatic decision. I was there, I’ve always been there, and I always will be there for Lisa. She is a pinnacle of strength and determination to NEVER give up. I have a ridiculous amount of respect for Lisa and what she has endured to be where she is now.
The people above who left negativity, and the person who asked such a despicable question in the interview, you should all be ashamed of yourselves.
I just read the article and the comments and I’m totally writing this in “real time”… because, like, priorities and all.
So, my thoughts are this… maybe you should just chill, yeah! Get off the high-horse you are so desperately trying to climb and bring it down a notch or two… maybe a step ladder will suffice? Meh.
I’ve followed for a while and I mean, bland, but hell I still look (I’m honest, you’ll deal) and look we all make mistakes, but your biggest was probably the fact that, and you’ve mentioned this several times now… that you were writing your book in “real time”… WHAT?
I mean, damn, how real we talking here… cause maybe, just maybe you should of been paying more attention to the hardworking employees working with you, instead of writing a 208 pg book in “real time” about yourself… but yoooouuuu knooooooow, that’s just me.
As someone who worked for Lisa and resigned after constantly seeing the way she treated us as a team (of women no less), I’m sure the 150 employees turned over during the time of collective (some who left willingly, others who were walked randomly based on an outburst) would agree that this article has shed some light on the ‘raw and real’ side of this business.
As always Lisa, the facts don’t support the narrative, but as you well know, if you keep banging the drum loud enough, there is a good chance people won’t notice. It’s worked so far. This whole show was never about the audience or the team, it was (and I’d say from your recent PR blitz, still is…) all about you. I actually don’t mind that, but much of the BS you spout disrespects the former team (who know better), and manipulates the audience – who believe it all.
Wow, there’s some seriously nasty peeps in this train. I also don’t usually add my comment to the bile that went before, so I’m not really addressing the hate commentary that’s being peddled here. Instead, I will add my name to the Lisa Messenger supporters – because I am one of the ones who actually knows her, not interpreting her personality or business acumen by comment alone. Fair enough for you to do so – I judge also, when people I don’t know make big comments. So this is just for those that would like a perspective from someone that does know Lisa and has worked with her. Yep, she can be a train wreck at times (who isn’t)? She can ‘fall into’ hackneyed terms (lots of people do). And she can be so positive about future opportunities that you want to stick a fork in your eye – you know why? Because you don’t feel that good about it. But she does. And that I know – some people like to criticise because it sounds to good to be true. And at times she is – but do you know what? She’s out there giving it a shot. She’s trying hard. And how amazing, she’s not perfect. Not even close to it. But I’d rather be a full participant in life than a passenger or spectator. Say what you want about her but from someone who knows her – she gives life a crack. And there’s not enough of those in the world – of any gender.
What a negative and thoroughly cynical article. Has Mumbrella actually read the book? Sounds like Lisa gave it right back to Virginia and good one her, she had every right to be offended. The Collective Hub was an incredible magazine hence why it such a huge readership and I think most of Australia will be cheering to hear that we have another issue to look forward to. Now that’s what I call a news angle Mumbrella!!
What “huge readership”?? It was never audited so no one knows what the true circulation/readership was. This was one of the massive issues. It’s difficult to take a magazine seriously without an audit.
What a negative and thoroughly cynical article. Did Mumbrella actually read Risk & Resilience prior to the interview? Sounds like Lisa gave it right back to Virginia and good one her, she had every right to be offended. The Collective Hub was an incredible magazine hence why it such a huge readership and I think most of Australia will be cheering to hear that we have another issue to look forward to.. p.s just for the record, I am one of the aforementioned freelancers, and will most certainly be sticking around.
Need to find myself one of these “19y.o. media buyers” who could have warned me not to invest my money with this magazine!! As a business owner myself I really aligned with this brand and what they believed in – shame Lisa does not practice what she preaches. Also her poor staff – “freelancing” just sounds like a really great excuse to not pay people benefits they are entitled to.
There are better people to get relationship, life or business guidance from. Failure and openess is interesting to an extent but only goes so far.
Came to that session with no pre-conceptions or awareness of Collective Hub or its Publisher. Vivienne asked the very questions good journalists ask. I was generally underwhelmed by the answers.
Peter, you’re a media and magazine expert. What are your thoughts on this publication?
I’ve followed Lisa and Collective Hub since it’s inception. I’m a huge fan of her work and have read all of her books, including her latest one which goes into detail about why the magazine folded. But I think Vivienne asked a legitimate question and Lisa’s answer was a total overreaction. When you put yourself on a public platform, tough questions are always going to be asked. So you need to give a professional and measured response, no matter how you felt about that question.
I also found it rather ironic that Collective Hub is all about building each other up and being part of a community that supports one another, yet here we see Lisa (who is the face of the brand) verbally attacking someone else who was only doing her job as a journalist.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love Lisa’s work and I’m ecstatic the magazine is coming back. I’ll be one of the first to sign up if pre-orders happen. However, when I read this article, the first screaming thought I had was “it’s too early”. Personally, I think she should spend a bit more time rebuilding, rather than relaunching after only a few months of it folding just because she had new advertisers and advisors on board. I’m hoping it doesn’t fold again the second time around and that better decisions are made.
The media landscape is crying out for another vanity project driven by underpaid staff on precarious employment agreements.
Apropos of nothing here’s a link to an MEAA story titled “Wage theft is becoming a business model in the media industry”: https://www.meaa.org/mediaroom/wage-theft-is-becoming-a-business-model-in-the-media-industry/
Lisa,
I meet you, briefly, at a very recent Breakfast pres in Quirindi. You mentioned Chad. However, your response to my follow-up email was lost before I could read it. Would your mind re-sending it?
Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
I’m in shock reading this thread. I’m also a publisher and have worked in partnership with Lisa and her team and I’ve experienced absolute professionalism and realness. Trolls are also real and some of these comments are bordering on abusive. How dissappointing. Not surprisingly though Lisa has left a comments on here and this thread for complete transparency and to demonstrate to those nasty people that she is a strong women rising above this unsolicited verbal abuse. Shame.