Meet Trailblazer Brittany Werges

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Werges.

Brittany, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started at 303 as an intern fresh out of college in 2013. Originally, I was thinking of grad school and getting a Ph.D. in History but after my mother passed away my senior year of college, I wanted to go after my dream of being a writer. Back then, 303 was transitioning from print to digital and there was a lot of change and subsequently room for growth. I took every opportunity I could get to be a part of the magazine and for years, I had to work several other jobs to support my dream. I joke that I’ve had every job at the magazine and made a few more up — which in a sense is true. I’ve been an intern, writer, editor of several desks, photographer, social media manager, graphic designer, managed and marketed all of our events and even became a co-producer at our signature event — Denver Fashion Week. A lot of the times, no one expected or asked me to do half the things I do, but I’ve always enjoyed learning and a challenge. It’s one of the reasons I love working here — it’s never the same and I am always learning new skills or things about the city I grew up in. I recognize in a lot of ways, I was just in the right place at the right time to go from intern to Editor-in-Chief— because very few places have that possibility for upward mobility. But I am a strong believer in taking every opportunity you have and making the most of it. Fortunately, that led me here.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s definitely not always been a smooth road. Running a local, digital-only independent publication has its fair share of struggles. Local journalism and media can be hard and expensive — and even within the last seven years I’ve been with the magazine, I’ve seen publications big and small succumb to similar pitfalls we face at 303. But I’ve always been about stability, consistency and measured growth. Whether it’s creating systems and procedures that writers and editors can rely on, a friendly and open office culture, solid schedules and deadlines — the way a publication functions day-to-day is super important. Also, I would say that my management style is proudly feminine. Meaning I highly value openness, communication, and empathy and try to lead with all of those things in mind. It doesn’t mean I am a push-over — sometimes I can be very stubborn, outspoken and I *always* have an opinion — but I try to balance that with a willingness to learn and listen.

For women and young women in particular — take every opportunity you have, don’t apologize for having an opinion and if you think it’s a good idea — speak up. You may be surprised by how many people will listen. If they don’t, keep grinding until you’re in a position where you have to be taken seriously. Let the people that tell you no or try to pull you down motivate you. Try to find a lesson in everything, even the bad, but don’t feel like you have to know it all at the same time. It’s a process. You have to allow yourself to fail because it’s not all going to happen at once. And be nicer to yourself. Only give yourself constructive criticism and cut the rest out.

Please tell us about 303 Magazine – what should we know?
My role at the magazine is always evolving. Mainly I oversee all the editorial content that is published on 303 Magazine and work with writers, editors and photographers to produce our daily publications. But like I said before, I am involved in many aspects of the magazine and more recently have been working on my design, photography and video editing skills to support our ever-growing event roster. I am also really focused on our growth strategy and financial model for 2020 and working very closely with our advertising team on how to improve our revenue stream.

Also, we’re always working on events and partnerships that expand how we engage and entertain our readers in real-time. For example, this year alone, we added two new local music events, a fashion exhibit with the city, a women + art event during Crush, expanded Denver Fashion Week by doubling our designers and are currently working on an event with Denver Film Festival. We also produced the second volume of our all-local vinyl (303 Music Vol. 2) that supports the Denver music scene and Youth on Record — an awesome local non-profit. We also throw a great city-wide celebrate with Illegal Pete’s and Channel 93.3 for 303 Day (March 3) by doing an open call for all local creatives to get a free headshot. I think currently, our dedication to these smaller, community-focused events — combined with bigger cornerstone events like DFW — sets us apart from many other publications.

We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
In the realm of entertainment, lifestyle and culture writing in Denver, I think it can be fairly female-friendly as we have a lot of amazing women in leadership roles. But I think the issue is more complex for women of color and women who come from a background of less privilege, as journalism and magazine work can often involve an unpaid internship or lower-paying gigs. The solution to that problem ultimately comes from making journalism more profitable and valued in the day and age of the internet — which is not an overnight fix — but I think there are ways to lessen the burden and create more opportunities for people of all backgrounds.

At 303, we have various range of how people can participate and a lot of flexibility in how often you can contribute. This allows more people and more voices to be apart of the conversation within the realm of what is fair and possible while not solely relying on a small overworked editorial staff. That doesn’t mean we don’t have an incredible core team of amazing and hardworking editors, but I think our large list of contributors make us a much richer and diversely focused magazine.

Contact Info:

• Website: 303Magazine.com
• Email: Brittany@303magazine.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/303magazine/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/303magazine/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/303_magazine
• Other: https://303magazine.com/303-magazine-newsletter/

Image Credit:
The main photo of me in the green dress is by Adonye Jaja photography, the black and white image of myself is by Kyle Cooper, and so is the photo of the vinyl record (but the graphic design is by me). And all the rest of photos without me in it are by me.

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