Since Cosmopolitan for Latinas’ Michelle Herrera Mulligan first began her job in January, heels are practically an every day staple for the newly crowned editor in chief.
I telephone her Brooklyn home just as she’s heading out to the office and ask if she’s already taller than she normally is. “Of course,” she says in her trademark soft, raspy voice.
Herrera Mulligan has leopard heels, turquoise ones, ones pushing the four-inch barrier. “I’m not going to lie, it feels like torture sometimes. But heels bring me to another level. You feel like you’re in your A game. You take yourself more seriously as part of an executive team, with a team to manage, and they make you stand tall.” She pauses. “There is a purpose for them.”
That podiatry pain and purposeful attitude will also help her get through today of all days. The day Cosmo is announcing to the media that the Dominican-American actress Zoe Saldana will grace the cover of their debut issue; the day her team should have completed the final touches on the website; and for the lack of days left until the magazine hits the newsstands on May 1st.
The magazine chose Saldana for the inaugural issue for several reasons. “We went with Saldana because, other than being stunningly beautiful and fashionable, she’s a mysterious figure, and not many know she’s Latina,” Herrera Mulligan said, adding that she was also taken by Saldana’s personal story of being born in Queens, NY, then raised in the Dominican Republic. She embodies many qualities of a U.S. Latina with a Latin American sensibility, she said.
According to Herrera Mulligan the first issue will be written in a “strong intimate girlfriend tone” and will include what Latinas who read the regular Cosmo always wanted: Skin care and beauty articles that speak to the needs of their skin tones, hair types and body issues. She’s proud of the section called “CurveTacular,” offering tips on what jeans work best for Latina bodies, and of in-depth culture articles with headlines that read “Is Your Family Holding You Back?” which takes on the intensity of Latino family bonds that, all too often, don’t include enough boundaries.
It’s been a long, caffeinated, marathon reformulating Cosmos’ bold and sexy voice for Latinas these last few months. Understandably, it’s left this editor feeling far from sexy and depleted at times. But there were days when things were looking sunny for the magazine’s future, and if she happened to be wearing a pair of sky-high heels and a little more kohl-black mascara and red lipstick than usual that day, that Herrera Mulligan admits to stopping in front of the bathroom mirror to smile and think to herself: “This is what my mother always wanted for me.”
Cosmo for Latinas Editor Michelle Herrera Mulligan and her mother Alicia Granados
APPLE FROM THE TREE IN THE BIG APPLE
Even when her daughter called to warn her not to get her hopes up too high about landing the Cosmo for Latinas job, Alicia Granados says she always knew her daughter would get it. “I’m so proud of her,” says Granados from her Chicago home.
Herrera Mulligan describes her mother as a strong woman who knew how to hustle and support three kids without formal schooling or mentorship. Raised in Carpentersville, IL, Herrera Mulligan often found herself feeling awkward as one of the few Mexicans in a very white school system.
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“My mom would tell me to be proud, ‘you come from two cultures, not just one.” She has always been an inspiration,” says Herrera Mulligan, who calls New York home. “She raised me in the Cosmo spirit, and I mean that sincerely. From an early age she always fostered a fierce independence in me. She taught me the value of taking care of oneself, to never rely on a man, and to never show anyone your weakness, in the same way some girls may have learned to make a masa from their moms.”
Evidently, Herrera Mulligan’s brazen personality traits didn’t fall too far from the tree. It seems as much as her daughter’s rebelliousness in high school may have driven Granados crazy at times, she also appreciated the fact that her combat boot-wearing, smart-talking daughter had cojones like her. One day Granados bought her daughter a t-shirt that read: I SUFFER FROM PMS (Putting up with Men’s S**t). Herrera Mulligan wore it proudly to school the next day and when the principal asked her if her mother knew she was wearing that shirt, she proudly told him who had given it to her. The principal wanted her to wear the t-shirt inside out for the rest of the day and Granados went to the school to defend her daughter and her first amendment rights. The verdict? She was to put on a jacket if a teacher found it offensive. And less than half did.
The cover on the left is on newsstands; the cover on the right went to subscribers.
LATINA VOICES WITH AN EDGE
Herrera Mulligan’s talent for pushing the envelope on provocative and Latino-interest content will undoubtedly bolster Cosmopolitan for Latinas’ success. One of the first important editing and writing jobs she landed was at Latina magazine back in ’97. Soon after, she jumped to Time, where she worked on a special international edition dedicated to Mexico, and where she whet her appetite on Latin American politics and sociology. In later years, her editing and research skills got her through the doors of fashion bibles like In Style, Glamour and Elle, and where she learned the magazine world’s modus operandi.
While Herrera Mulligan became all too familiar with the mainstream woman’s personal views about dating, sex, family, and career, she grew hungry to read more Latina voices, and ones with an irreverent attitude. In 2004, she and her co-editor Robyn Moreno published Border-line Personalities: Latinas Dish on Sex, Sass and Cultural Shifting (HarperCollins), a collection of first person stories by prominent Latina writers. In 2007, she edited and contributed to Juicy Mangos, the first literary collection of Latina erotica in English that Oscar Hijuelos called “not only a tantalizing read, but a deeply rewarding one as well.”
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If this is indicative of what’s to come at Cosmopolitan for Latinas, then I need more ice for my Mojito please, my eye-glasses are already steaming up.
These magazines always want to take black and white people and tell us that these people are “Latina.” SIGH…
We want to see people on magazine covers who look like us. Maybe if these magazines were published in the West where most Hispancs live, then they would get it.
Dear Red Lady,
Zoe Saldana is Dominican and Puerto Rican and 100 percent Latina! We were so proud to have her as a role model for our first issue. I hope you check out our first issue, you’ll find Latinas from all over the country represented, in all colors and shades (including a super-hot photo shoot with the lovely Puerto Rican actress Naya Rivera). Thanks so much for commenting and for reading this article.
Un beso,
Michelle
9% of Latinos are Puerto Rican and an even smaller number are Dominican. No offense, but she doesn’t reflect the majority of Latinas. This magazine “Cosmo for Latinas” is only being published twice a year. Why do you think that is?
Because they refuse to put people on the cover that the majority of the Latina community identifies with. You are trying to tell us who we are supposed to identify with instead of reflecting who we are. If you actually reflected Latinas you would be publishing every month instead of twice a year.
If you think this magazine should be a monthly, support it. This is a test to see if there is an audience for a magazine directed at Latina women in all parts of the US. Many publishers don’t think so, but you can help prove them wrong.
I don’t think the magazine industry and advertisers know about Latinos” in all parts of the US.” Here is some info from the 2010 Census:
http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn146.html
Dear Redlady,
We cover Latinas from many other countries in the magazine and an entire section on Mexico, including travel, entertainment, parties, and drinks! On almost every page, you’ll see references to almost every flavor of the Latin experience, including beauty tips and products from Salma Hayek, Eva Mendes, and many other incredible Latin women. Also, every issue of our mag, online and in print, will be dynamic and cover Latin women in all of our various shapes and sizes. We are being published twice for now, but hope to increase our frequency soon. Again, I thank you so much for responding and having a strong opinion on our community, which I can tell you feel passionately about,
Michelle
You have already accomplished so much, and clearly many more accomplishments lay ahead. Am so proud to know you! You give Latinas everywhere another reason to raise their heads a little higher
It bothers me that the magazine -or at least this comment- goes over the sexual nature of Latinas AGAIN! I would like to add that Latinas, for instance, are starting new business at a faster pace than any other group in the country, and stepping into leadership roles in corporate and politics, just for the record. Would that be of interest to the editor?
Dear Susana, I actually did know that Latinas are starting new businesses at a faster rate (6 times the national average!) , it’s something that inspires me and that I intend to cover in the magazine. I don’t believe that an honest discussion of sexuality, from our perspective, is negative or stereotypical in any way, or contradictory to a message of empowerment in business and all other fields. In fact, in my opinion, sex is something that rarely gets discussed in our community from a frank, female viewpoint, and ironically, often, as beautiful Latin women, we are left behind in sexual education and are instead objectified by others.
I thank you so much for your thoughts and opinions,
Michelle
What is beautiful about latina women is that we all come in different shades, I’m a blonde blue eyed puerto rican, speak, read, and write spanish fluently. People are shocked to find out im latina…It makes me crazy.
I was a bit disappointed by this magazine. It seemed very stereotypical… It was a let down… and choosing Z.S. as the cover girl, well I do not fell she embodies the latina “essence.” Reading about how to make a “fiesta’ the magazine said to use some of the “saint candles.” Obviously that’s a bit of disrespect to all the families that light those candles and pray as part of their Catholic beliefs. There is so much about the magazine that made me feel disappointed and so “stereotyped” that I don’t even know where to begin.