With 84 million readers, 42 million social media followers and nine leading content brands under its umbrella, Bustle Digital Group (BDG) is one of the fastest growing publishers in modern media. And despite 2020’s pandemic-fueled economic crisis, the company hasn’t slowed down; in fact, last August, BDG acquired revered fashion publication W Magazine—now to be known as W Media—in a buyout led by a group of investors, including supermodel Karlie Kloss, movie producer Jason Blum and racecar driver Lewis Hamilton.
And the woman propelling BDG into a media empire? Deb Schwartz.
Schwartz has been a key figure in the media brand’s explosive growth since taking the reins as CFO in November 2017, leading BDG in the acquisition of six brands in less than three years. By leveraging her Wall Street background and previous experience in Big Tech, she has helped marry BDG’s homegrown technology infrastructure with the traditional value proposition of media to take Bustle to the next level—or, “to build the modern-day Condé Nast,” as she puts it.
“The piece of advice that I would give to young women leaders who have a lot of potential and are looking to really have greater business impact would be for them to be bold,” Schwartz told Worth. “For them to recognize that they’re empowered to have real business impact. That the impossible is possible. What I’ve been using as an ethos to drive me in my career over the last couple of years—and I would encourage young women leaders—is to be bold.”
