From the outside looking in, Elaine Welteroth’s historic ascent to the top ranks of the magazine industry–culminating in her being named editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue at the age of 29–had all the makings of those neatly-packaged narratives we love to tell, with heavy doses of millennial ambition and #BlackGirlMagic mixed in.
As the youngest person to assume the role, she was also only the second Black woman in Condé Nast’s history to hold the title. Welteroth’s new book, More Than Enough: Claiming Space For Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) (Viking), details her journey to that pinnacle, candidly sharing that getting there was surely more grit than glamour.
Though Welteroth grew up far from the center of the publishing world in a working class suburb of California, she found her inspiration as a college student in the pages of Essence magazine, where an encounter with the byline of Harriette Cole, a legendary Black editor and author, proved to be the spark that would help her find her way to her dream. Determination and pluck landed her in New York City for an internship with Cole, who at the time was reviving the legacy Black publication, Ebony. Cole took her under her wing, gave her a start and the rest – was quite literally – history.
While mostly a memoir, the book also imparts inspirational advice, with Welteroth citing valuable, relatable lessons from her own life and career. With true vulnerability, she recounts missteps in the name of young love: following her high school sweetheart off to college instead of the school of her dreams; finding the strength to leave a toxic relationship and reclaim her self-worth in the process was also a turning point for the editor. Welteroth peels back the curtain to reveal the sacrifices made to climb the ladder as a Black woman in the overwhelmingly white world of fashion and beauty publishing; courageously and honestly and calls out the exclusionary way in which privilege is used to preserve Eurocentric ideals within the industry; and even goes so far as to name how she, as a light-skinned mixed race woman has benefitted at times from that same system.
It was at Teen Vogue that Welteroth found her voice. At the helm, she and her team were able to turn the teeny-bopper title into a place that actively advocated for marginalized communities, spoke truth to power, and inspired its young readers to activism. The magazine is now a go-to place for political analysis and reporting on culture and identity; the voices of young celebrity activists like Yara Shahidi and Amandla Stenberg are often found within the publication, while special issues guest-edited by political heavyweights like Hillary Clinton have now become commonplace.
With her days as an editor behind her now–she left the industry in 2018 after Teen Vogue shuttered its print edition and moved to an all-digital format–Welteroth sees her transition as just the beginning. Now a judge on Bravo’s Project Runway, Welteroth pursues projects that are purpose-driven these days, because “only you can choose to walk away from what no longer serves you, to leave what you’ve already conquered, and to step boldly into what’s next.”
