Amelia Adamo Moves On

Amelia Adamo Moves On

After 29 years at Bonnier, Swedish magazine queen Amelia Adamo will leave the company weeks before her 70th birthday. But she’ll still keep a hand in.

Amelia Adamo started as a reporter at Swedish women’s magazine Svensk Damtidning in 1975, and since then she’s had a string of successes. She was managing editor for VeckoRevyn weekly magazine, features editor at Swedish daily Aftonbladet, and started up three magazines for Bonnier Tidskrifter: the eponymous Amelia, Tara and M-magasin, where she’s worked as editor-in-chief for the past ten years. 

“I’ve said that when I turn 70, I’ll quit,” says Adamo. “It feels really good. My entire life has mostly been about work, I’ve had 60-hour weeks. I leave behind me so much joy and exciting events. I’m leaving when things are at their best and my timing has been carefully chosen.”

Adamo will continue to work with M-magasin on a freelance basis and remains on the board of directors for Bonnier Tidskrifter.

During her extensive years in journalism, the biggest lesson she’s learned is that creativity requires planning, she says.

“To put out a newsworthy and exciting magazine, you need to have a well-planned foundation,” Adamo says. “Then the ability to make changes is much greater. The success of my magazines has been based on my knowledge of the target audience, and being able to surprise them. You can’t give audiences what they want, that’s just boring. You have to give them what they didn’t realize they wanted.”

Adamo knows her audiences well because she’s a social scientist from the beginning. “I’ve always been genuine and shamelessly curious. I’ve looked at how people live, asked what they talk about at girls’ night out, stared at them in the sauna and seen their wrinkles. Everyone says they care about their readers, but what you need to know is what your readers need. What need does my magazine fulfill? And you have to be on your toes, because audiences change their lifestyles and behavior all the time.”

For those starting their careers now, Adamo has advice: Don’t be too happy, always be a little dissatisfied with what you do. And keep your feelers out beyond your magazine and know what’s happening there.