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After winning two accolades at last week's Independent Publisher Awards, Happiful's Head of Content and Podcast Host, Lucy Donoughue, spoke to us about the evolution of her own career as well as the Happiful brand since it began in 2017. As well as writing for the magazine, Lucy has had the opportunity to sit down with a number of public figures to discuss their experiences of mental health as the Happiful podcast host. "My biggest challenge is just to relax when I meet the guests and focus solely on the conversation between the two of us", she tells me. "It’s one of the things I love most about my job."
What was it that made you want to work in the publishing industry?
In my career I have always worked in and around the media, so my career started in PR and Communication roles, but I have always been a huge fan of magazines since my pre-teens. Coming to Happiful was the perfect place because it meant that I could use some of the skills I had gained in PR to help the company expand, but I could jump the fence from PR to writing and helping to shape the content strategy here.
Could you briefly chart your career from the start to where you are now.
It started with a degree in film and drama and I think that was because I was really interested in people’s stories and telling peoples stories. I then worked in the arts industry in PR and Communications roles. I had always written and liaised with the media, but I really felt like I belonged working for magazines rather than giving content to them. This job came up and I am training to be a counsellor, I have a long interest in mental health and well being, and I have used the counselling directory which is part of Happiful, so it all came together in this beautiful career change package.
How has the Happiful readership evolved since 2017?
The readership has evolved hugely over that time through word of mouth. We have a lot of public contributors and they share their accounts which opens us up to a larger audience. In 2019 we really started to branch out. We went to events like Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place festival, we’ve started working with Book Of Man, we started the podcast and really just pushed the magazine and worked with a lot of different people for the covers to make sure we were telling a lot of diverse stories about the mental health community.
How has the podcast enabled the Happiful brand to extend its reach?
It allows us to open-up conversations to show that people may have mental health problems, but it’s not their whole person. The whole point of I am. I have. Is that we are so many different things, and mental health and physical health is just one part of that, but it can inform different parts of our lives. The podcast was a really big extension of what we were doing in the magazine.
What is the toughest thing about hosting a podcast?
The hardest thing for me is that we are a really small team, so I tend to manage the whole process of booking, research and hosting on the day. There is a lot to bring together on the day so my biggest challenge is just to relax when I meet the guests and focus solely on the conversation between the two of us, and not try to think of all those other bits going on. It’s one of the things I love the most about my job.
Is there a particular conversation on the podcast that has stood out?
Martin Robinson from the Book of Man. It was really interesting to hear a male perspective and Ben Bidwell, the Naked Professor. He was so open and unflinching about the mental health challenges he had.
Why do you think that Happiful won Consumer Magazine of the Year at the PPA Independent Publisher Awards?
We are very honoured to have won it as the competition in that category was amazing. I hope it’s because we are offering something that is authentic and human with a whole-person approach to mental health and well-being rather than anything that is too earnest or medicalised. We are passionate about everything we do, and I hope that comes through in what we are producing.
How do you handle your deadlines?
I manage a team as well as producing content, so I have to make space for that content production. I religiously work from home one day a week and I use that time wholly to focus on making sure I am reaching my deadlines.
What would your typical day involve?
It might involve meeting with the team to see what is coming up; looking at the counselling directory to see what people are saying; scoping out plans for content over the coming months. It might be interviewing someone for the cover, doing a podcast or social overviews. It is really varied because we are such a small team.
Whose phone number do you wish you had?
Professor Green. I have always thought that he is a really good example of how we are all a lot of different things. His music-making, his documentary-making, the way he talks about mental health and animal rights. He is a number of different things in different industries and I think there is a certain amount of honesty and openness about his journey with mental health.
What is the worst piece of advice you have ever received?
You don’t need to prepare anything, just wing it. Feeling comfortable that you have everything covered is the best thing you can do for yourself.
What is the last photo you took on your phone?
My dog. He has recently had a leg operation.
Room 101?
Fireworks.
Introvert or Extrovert?
I’m an introvert pulling extrovert tendencies out the bag when it is needed.
Optimist or Pessimist?
Practical optimist.
Film or TV?
TV. There are some great documentaries on at the moment.
Sweet or savoury?
Sweet. I’m a sugar fiend.
What magazine would be your long train journey read?
Obviously Happiful. I love Mslexia, the writing magazine for women. In The Moment magazine. I don’t work in London, so I miss Stylist. Also, a magazine that is an annual thing for me is the Radio Times Christmas edition.
Immediate and Future are amongst several publishers who have announced a move into retail media with Ocado Ads and Permutive partnership.
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