Rugby's Taylor blazes a trail for women's magazines

It's a widely-held view that many women's magazines undermine their readers' confidence rather than help them get on in life.
Taylor Reid, editor of Clarity magazine. NNL-161222-175019001Taylor Reid, editor of Clarity magazine. NNL-161222-175019001
Taylor Reid, editor of Clarity magazine. NNL-161222-175019001

A quick look at any newsagent’s shelves proves the point with headlines more likely to make the buyer feel insecure about their looks, their love life and more.

But while it infuriates many, a Rugby student seized the day when asked to find a gap in the magazine market and is now editor of Clarity, which sets out to do things differently.

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Taylor Reid, 22, went to Avon Valley and then to Southam College for A-levels before going to Southampton Solent University, which gave her the breakthrough.

She admits her group’s university project university assignment could have been better but it was a landmark moment: “It was awful but it was at that point I knew that was what I had to do.”

She started discussing her plans with her lecturers and was successful in getting some backing from a university fund to support business launches.

Her vision was quite clear and in part inspired by her Christian beliefs. While at Avon Valley she did a work experience with Rugby Youth for Christ even though she wasn’t a Christian at the time.

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Indeed she had been used to reading some of the main women’s magazines and was hugely influenced by them.

But when her life changed she saw things differently: “When I became a Christian it was so exciting but there were no magazines for young women like me. I had all these issues but nobody inthe media doing anything.”

That was her position when that university project came along and although her colleagues were not Christians they could see the gap in the market.

And as Taylor moved on from university and that original idea became Clarity magazine, she has stayed true to her beliefs but produced a magazine anybody can – and already has – picked up and found to be of interest.

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So whatever your view of what a quarterly Christian magazine for young women might be like, this is a high quality product and has already covered topics as varied as porn addiction, the war on terror, depression and, yes, beauty and relationships –without the garish headlines.

With a team of fellow Christian volunteers around her now and Kickstarter funding getting the first issue out in time for a launch at the big summer festivals, issue two has landed and Taylor has been delighted at the reaction.

She said the feedback had shown they were heading in the right direction: “We’ve had emails from people saying they are so glad we’ve written about a topic and it’s amazing when you realise you’ve helped people.”

To order a copy or find out more, go to: www.claritymag.co.uk