The Collective Hub is set to return as a print magazine in late November, following its closure a few months ago due to unsustainable growth and financial issues.
17 of the 32 staff who were previously made redundant will return to the magazine as freelancers, with The Collective Hub owner and founder, Lisa Messenger predicting more efficiencies, less wasted time and fewer unnecessary meetings.
Although Messenger spent over $500,000 on redundancy payments, when questioned if it would be more practical to restructure the previous full-time team with strict KPIs, and therefore avoid the unnecessary $500,000, Messenger disagreed.
“Nope. Not in one million years. The reason is this. When I started my business in October 2001, everyone worked 9am to 5pm, or 8am to 6pm. Everyone had one job. And that’s what they did. And we have got to move with the times… I want [my staff] to be free. I want them to be able to have multiple jobs. I need to not get frustrated and sit there going ‘Why aren’t they working for me harder?’ or whatever. Let them be free. And I tell you what, I am just so much happier now,” she revealed.
Messenger also said she has some huge partners and advertisers on board for the revived issue 53, but she refuses to waste time with media agencies that are not accepting of her offers.
“[During the magazine’s first run] I was on the phone to media agencies, dialling for dollars, and kids, 19-year-olds [were] beating me down,” Messenger said. “‘No, can we not pay $10,000 for that page. Can we get it for $3,000?’ And I’m like ‘What the hell am I doing? This isn’t me in my sweet spot. This isn’t me in my genius zone’… So I broke it.”
