Find out what it's like to be in charge of one of the hottest magazines!

August 10, 1999

Find out from Atoosa Rubenstein, CosmoGIRL's Editor-in-Chief, what it's like to be in charge of the hottest magazine for young women today! She'll also tell you how to create a new wardrobe from the one you already have, and what exactly the name "Atoosa" really means!

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CosmoGIRL!: Chat today with CosmoGIRL!'s Atoosa Rubenstein CosmoGIRL! 's Editor-in-Chief about friends, love, and family. This chat is sponsored by CosmoGIRL! - a magazine for REAL girls with REAL issues. Log on at www.cosmogirl.com Welcome Atoosa!

Atoosa Rubenstein: Hey everyone! I've gotten so many responses to the magazine, I love getting all of your email and letters. Thanks so much for your support, it means a lot to me. And for those of you who write me, you know that I write back, so keep them coming!

Sweetteen: How did you get started working on magazines?

Atoosa Rubenstein: Well, I was always reading magazines under my desk in class! That's probably not a great thing to do, but it's what I used to do. So one day I thought, someone must work at these magazine, why can't it be me? So I applied for an internship at my favorite magazine at the time, and lucky for me they hired me! When I graduated from college, I got a job at Cosmopolitan, and now I'm here at CosmoGIRL!

LuvsCG: Why did you decide to create CosmoGIRL!?

Atoosa Rubenstein: When I was a teen I felt like most of the magazines didn't address the problems that I had. I felt that they talked to a girl that was prettier than me, that had more money than me, and had a lot of guys hanging all over them, which was not a problem for me. So, I wanted to make a magazine that was real, honest, supportive, like a cool big sister. And that's how CosmoGIRL! was born.

Boycrazie: What was your first job?

Atoosa Rubenstein: My first job ever was at Carvel Ice Cream. I used to put my mouth where the ice cream would come out, and they would turn the machine on and see how long I could eat the ice cream for without getting sick! How's that for an embarrassing moment?

Lotsoffun: What did you want to be when you grew up? It was a toss-up.

Atoosa Rubenstein: Some days I wanted to be a magazine editor and others I wanted to be a rock star (I was obsessed with Madonna). I was really into the magazine editor job because I thought that magazine editors had this cool life of hanging out with all the stars and going to tons of parties and stuff. It's not all glamour, now that I'm here, but it definitely is a lot of fun.

EZguest432: Do you like running CosmoGIRL?

Atoosa Rubenstein: It's my dream job! I have so much fun, every day. I hear a lot of people complain about their jobs, but me and everybody at CosmoGIRL! are so psyched when we come to work. We all feel very lucky.

Bubblegum: Do you get to meet cool and famous people?

Atoosa Rubenstein: Yeah, I get to meet a lot of fun people. Whenever we do cover shoots, I go on those. When celebs are in town, they come by our office. When I was a teen, I was really into New Kids on the Block (don't laugh at me!) and when we had our party for the first issue of CosmoGIRL! Joey MacIntyre came. I WAS TOTALLY FREAKING OUT!

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