Q&A 4Her: An Interview with Max Weiss, Managing Editor of Baltimore Magazine

Max Weiss started at Baltimore Magazine as a staff writer and worked her way up to her current position as managing editor. While Weiss loves her work at Baltimore Magazine (she affectionately refers to it as her “baby”) that’s certainly not all she is. This successful, witty and charming woman in business is also a foodie, a pop culture and sports junkie, a film critic, a Twitter addict and a firm believer that you should not place yourself into a box personally or professionally.

MyCity4Her had the pleasure of chatting with Max for our latest Q&A. In it, she tells us how she defines success, what she would have done differently starting out and more. Read on for her incredibly insightful interview!

Did you ever imagine yourself achieving what you have?

Can I say yes and no? Let’s start with no: I always knew that I loved to write but I never knew I wanted to be a “journalist.” I never even worked for the school newspaper. I thought I was going to be a novelist. I had a great teacher named Richard Tristman at Bennington College who told me: “All writers THINK they want to write fiction, but your talents lie in essays and criticism.” He definitely started me on my path.

Here’s another on the “no” side: Once I became a journalist, I never thought I’d be an editor. I was a writer! But part of the hierarchy of magazine/newspaper publishing is that writers get promoted to become editors. Much to my chagrin (!) I took a liking to editing. I liked working with writers, brainstorming ideas, smoothing out copy. And here I am!

Now here’s the yes part (still with me?): I love Baltimore magazine, it’s my baby. But woman can not live by Baltimore magazine alone (at least not this woman). So I very specifically have kept a career alive as a film critic and pop culture blogger (you can read my stuff at maxthegirl.com plus the New York magazine’s Vulture). I’ve intentionally dipped my toe into many different media, especially radio, which I did for over 15 years and TV, which I still enjoy doing every Saturday morning on WBAL-TV.

What in hindsight would you say you underestimated about your industry or business and why?

Well, certainly no one could’ve seen the digital revolution coming when I first started out in the industry more than 20 years ago. I used to have to go to the library and use microfiche to access old articles for Pete’s sake. The Internet has actually been a great help to journalists (we’ve all become horribly lazy researchers), but it’s changed the game in many ways. Now, we have to focus on our online product as much as the print pages. For Baltimore magazine, we have to start thinking about producing daily (even hourly) content, as opposed to the monthly cycle we’ve grown accustomed to.

And all of us in this industry have to figure out a better way to monetize this darn thing. (The first person who decided that giving away a product for free online that people had previously paid for, should be taken out back and flogged.)

What is the best business related advice you have ever been given?

I always quote my pal Meg Guroff, who is now a big editor at AARP Magazine, but who used to have my job here at Baltimore magazine: “If I didn’t have this job, I’d be applying for this job.” No complaining. You have a great job. Appreciate it.

If I may flip the question and give MY advice to young journalists: Be hungry. Be curious about the world. Be willing to work hard. Read a LOT. And if you’re pitching to a magazine, make sure you really familiarize yourself with the publication and pitch something that is appropriate in content and tone.

What do you love most about what you do and why?

I love that there’s always a new story to tell or a new way to tell it. I love that my world turns over every month—and we have a finished product at the end to show for it. I love, obviously, the great friends I’ve made over the years and the talented people I’ve had the privilege to work with.

As a film critic, I still love movies and sounding off on movies. I see a LOT of bad movies, but the good ones make it all worth while. (And okay, getting snarky about the bad ones is kinda fun too.)

If you knew then what you know now, what would you do differently and why?

I’m a huge, huge sports junkie, and someone who can write and can fake her way pretty well on TV and radio. I’d probably move to Bristol, CT and try to get a job at a young network called ESPN.

When you’re not working how do you like to spend your time?

I’ve got tons of passions: I play cello seriously and do a lot of chamber music in and around the D.C. area, mostly with my sister Felicia, who is a brilliant pianist. Right now we are working on Dvorak’s transcendent Dumky Trio with our friend Renee.

I love sports, especially my Orioles, my Ravens, the Los Angeles Lakers (it’s a long story), and Terps Basketball. So I watch a lot of sports on TV and go to games when I can.

Recently, I’ve become kind of addicted to Twitter.

It was inevitable. I have a 3-year-old terrier mix named Oscar who is both a little bundle of joy and a royal pain in my butt. Good thing he’s so darn cute.

I’m a “foodie” (I know…that word), so I love eating out. Baltimore is opening more amazing new restaurants than I can keep up with, but I’m partial to my old faves: The Ambassador, Cinghiale, Woodberry Kitchen, Miss Shirley’s, McCabes, and the trusty Nautilus Diner!

I have a weakness for pop culture in all its forms, both high and low, so you’ll see me watching America’s Next Top Model one day and Downton Abbey the next.

And, of course, the usual stuff: Hanging with friends and family. I’m very very close to my family. I spend lots of time with them (on purpose)!

How do you define success?

Gobs and gobs of money. (Just kidding.) Really, what I have, in many ways: I’m so lucky to work in a job that I have a passion for, that is in line (roughly) with the career I saw for myself. It’s great to be excited to get up go to work in the morning.

If you had to share one final thought with our audience, what would it be?

Pursue your passions. If your job isn’t your passion, all the more reason to find your passion outside of your work. And explore all sides of your personality. When we’re in kindergarten, we’re encouraged to draw, write, dance, sing. Then as we get older, we are put in these boxes: THIS is who you are. If I had any advice, it would be this: Get the hell out of that box!