Atoosa Rubenstein
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Atoosa Rubenstein (born Atoosa Behnegar in Tehran, Iran in 1972) was the editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine. She was also the founding editor of CosmoGIRL!. She is currently the founder of Big Momma Productions, Inc. and Atoosa.com.
[edit] Background
Her father, Mansoor Behnegar, a colonel in the Iranian air force, moved the family to Queens, New York when she was three. They later relocated to Malverne, Long Island.
As an undergraduate student at Barnard College, Rubenstein became a public relations intern at Lang Communications, the company that bought Sassy magazine. Though she loved the magazine industry, she had to work at Carvel and retail stores to pay her bills. Rubenstein had to drop out of her sorority and take night classes to take part in her second internship, which led to a position in the editorial department of American Health magazine.
Columbia University honored Rubenstein in 2004 by naming her one of the top 250 alumni through the ages. She was also recognized by the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York as a Woman of Distinction. Rubenstein has been featured in Crain's New York Business “40 Under 40” and Folio's “30 Under 30.” In addition to her professional work, she is a member of The Candie’s Foundation Board of Directors, which helps educate young people about the consequences of teen pregnancy.
Rubenstein currently lives in East Hampton, New York with her husband of 8 years, Ari Rubenstein.
[edit] Media
In 1993 Rubenstein became a fashion assistant at Cosmopolitan and five years later was made the senior fashion editor. This led to Hearst Magazines president Cathleen Black asking Rubenstein to come up with a concept for a new magazine. Forty-eight hours later Rubenstein presented the idea of CosmoGIRL! and was offered the position of editor. This made her the youngest editor in Hearst Magazine's 100 year history. Rubenstein went on to make CosmoGIRL! a success with a circulation of 1.25 million readers.
In May 2005, Hearst Magazine bought Seventeen magazine and gave Rubenstein the position of editor-in-chief. Rubenstein quickly went on to reverse a five-year decline in Seventeen’s newsstand sales and delivered total newsstand growth of 23% by the end of 2005.
In the fall of 2005, a series that Rubenstein conceived titled Miss Seventeen, debuted on MTV. The series featured seventeen girls competing for the honor of being Miss Seventeen – a life-changing award that included a college scholarship, an internship at Seventeen and an appearance on the iconic magazine’s cover. Rubenstein was the Creator and an Executive Producer on the series.
On 7 November 2006, she announced that she would be leaving the magazine to launch her own teen-centered Web business, write a book and start a consulting firm specializing in the youth market. Her replacement is Ann Shoket.
In December 2006 Rubenstein started Big Momma Productions, Inc. after a prominent, thirteen-year career with Hearst Magazines. Her new ventures will expand her reach beyond print into multi-media platforms including online, television, public speaking and more. Her MySpace page is visited by over 40,000 “friends” encompassing young women between the ages of 13-30.
