Laid Off: GQ's Manager of Newsletter Strategy

"Sadly, there’s no job security in this industry even if you’re the only one doing an essential job."

Nov 19, 2024

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In today’s issue, we talk to the former manager of newsletter strategy at GQ on how a union can protect you in the event of layoffs and what she sees as the future of the newsletter landscape for publishing brands.

Kelsi Trinidad was the manager of newsletter strategy at GQ for nearly three years. She led the launch of GQ Hype, Box + Papers, Show Notes, Pulling Weeds with Chris Black, and the Must Read newsletters for the magazine.

No one else at GQ worked on newsletters. It felt essential to the publication.

In June of this year, she was laid off.

At the time, union employees — including Kelsi — were in the middle of negotiating their first contract. Legally, the company can’t change the terms of union members’ employment until the first contract is ratified.

GQ proposed a layoff list and Kelsi found out via her union rep that she was on it. The union reps negotiated all of the layoffs on the list over six months. Once the contract was signed, they were laid off.

“There was a lot of secrecy from management when the layoffs were publicly announced.”

The first thing Kelsi did after receiving the news was sit at her dining room table, stunned, and order $40 of DoorDash.

Did you see it coming?

No. When we were first notified that there would be layoffs — a month before “the list” was proposed — I had heard from people outside of the union that they were looking to eliminate redundant roles which led me to think I likely wouldn't be chosen because no one else at the magazine worked on newsletters and we had just added a number of new newsletters to the roster.

Can you expand on how the union negotiations went?

The negotiations often got contentious and there were changes to our jobs during the process that definitely weighed on me mentally.

How might someone benefit from unionizing to protect themselves for future layoffs?

I really believe in unions and their ability to be your advocate, defense, and all-around support when it comes to creating the workplace you’d like to be a part of. I think people often think about wages when they think of unions. That’s a large part of it, but unions can also negotiate the number of gender-neutral bathrooms in your workplace, how to hold companies accountable for diverse hiring and promotion goals, and if your insurance plan will cover things like IVF and gender-affirming care. These are all things you’d likely have no say in without a union.

Even though I was eventually laid off, the negotiations by the union allowed six months to prepare for it and to find another job, which in a really tough job market was necessary.

What was your greatest financial concern with the sudden loss of income?

I got the job at GQ during the pandemic as a remote position. This gave me the freedom to move from New York City (I still love her!) and buy a house in Philadelphia. Naturally, a mortgage added another financial pressure of losing my job. I looked at unemployment benefits and they weren’t sufficient, which was very stressful.

Has being laid off changed your relationship to work?

Yes, just in the realization that there’s no job security in this industry even if you’re the only one doing an essential job.

If they offered severance, how much was it?

Two months of pay and three months of Cobra insurance (that we could pay out if we didn’t need or want it)

Who was the first person you told after getting laid off?

Honestly, it was so surreal I called my supervisor because I didn't actually believe it.

Do you have a group chat with your former coworkers?

Yes! A true lifeline.

Does it have a name?

Because almost all of our department was wiped out: Aud Dev Union Friends

Newsletters are clearly having a moment. Why do you think your company didn't want to bet on them?

I don’t think I’ll ever know!

What future do you see for newsletters at publishing/editorial brands?

I think that publishing/editorial brands will keep trying to find ways to integrate Substack’s column-like approach to newsletters. But it’s a tough balance — conversion objectives often look different for a publishing/editorial brand, and striking the balance of conversational/personality-driven newsletters and staying true to the larger brand can be tricky depending on the publication.

Additionally, I think many publications are grappling with how to compete in an overly-saturated daily newsletter space which has pushed some to take a more creative approach to what was usually a news/story roundup of some kind. I am hopeful for more creative daily newsletters in my inbox in the future.

What are a few of your favorite newsletters right now? Newsletters that you think are getting it right and doing something creative with the format.

I think a good example of rethinking the daily newsletter is New York Mag's weekday evening newsletter Dinner Party. It has the smart framing of "what you'd discuss at a dinner party tonight" and uses a voice-forward approach that sets it apart from other news roundups in my inbox. I also think on the Substack front, I’ve loved watching what Emily Sundberg is doing with her daily newsletter Feed Me.

Other than that I love Tembe Denton-Hurst’s books newsletter Extracurricular. That's definitely one I open every time. I think she really strikes a nice balance of creating something with recurring rubrics that doesn't feel too rigid or impersonal. There's also a variety of topics she's tackling which keeps it exciting — she's writing about books and her life, as well as interviewing people. I also like the thought put into changing up the format of the template. I think nailing all of those things is really hard to do and even harder without a publication's resources behind you.

I also think Chris Gayomali’s new wellness newsletter HEAVIES is doing this — from a ranking of Celsius flavors to getting a massage by an AI robot to interviewing author Hua Hsu about his running journey. He also includes interesting tidbits about himself like that he knows how to do acupuncture!?

What advice would you give someone who has just been laid off?

Your job isn't your worth. It really sucks and can feel humiliating, but it really shouldn't be! You're not alone. Reach out and find a friend to vent/cry with. Having my friends at the company going through the layoff too kept me sane. Layoffs happen to almost everyone and most of your friends likely have advice or resources to help you through it. Even though a lot of job hunting is out of your control, just concentrate on the things you can do when you can do them.

Kelsi is now a Community Manager for Vox. “I get to be much more creative and am given the freedom to grow my skills.”

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