Katrina Szish Joins NonSociety
And then there were four: Today NonSociety has announced that entertainment/celebrity reporter and commentator Katrina Szish has joined the threesome-that-was-formerly-a-twosome-that-was-formerly-a-threesome.
Szish joins the current NonSociety team — founders Julia Allison and Meghan Asha, plus more recent “domestic bliss” expert Jordan Reid— becoming the site’s style expert (or “Posh Pundit“) and fourth ‘personality’ of the site, documenting her various thoughts, opinions and experiences in a “life-cast” on the site at katrina.nonsociety.com. The announcement comes just before Fashion Week, which Szish will cover for the site.
Szish is no schlep — she’s an extremely familiar face on the topics of celebrity, fashion, trends, style and the like, owing to her stint as the on-air personality for Us Weekly and In Style, as an anchor for ABC News Now and ABC News on MTV-U, and a correspondent for E!, plus her ridiculously many and varied appearances on pretty much every network and show, numbering over 2,000, according to her site (it’s exhaustively detailed here). I just saw her the other morning on the CBS Early Show from Miami, talking about bathing suits for an online fashion site called PinkMemo.com, of which, NonSociety’s press release informs me, she is the Editor in Chief.
Szish has known NonSociety co-founder Allison for years now — they were both in the same line of work for a while, while Allison was the face of Star magazine — and it’s clearly a great get for NonSociety, since Szish is a pro who has not only been on pretty much every network, but has racked up bylines and/or titles everywhere: GQ, Vogue, YM, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen, Teen Vogue, Style.com, InStyle.com, Glam.com…the list goes on. NonSociety, while garnering all sorts of press in its two years of life, still has modest traffic, topping out at 24,400 uniques per month according to Quantcast. According to NonSociety Chief Operating Officer Megan Alagna, Szish is under contract as per other NonSociety contributors, though she declined to specify the terms. She did, however, elaborate on how NonSociety bankrolls people like Szish: “NS makes money through sponsorships, and contributors get paid for everything from blog posts to personal appearances to panels to TV appearances.”
So far, Szish has gotten off to an enthusiastic start, offering the kind of tips and tidbits that make a style blog compelling (interview with Robert Verdi, insider access, hot platform shoes, hair tips). Here’s what Szish says about coming on board, per the NonSociety press release:
“NonSociety is not only a frontrunner in the ongoing evolution of media, but it is a smart, witty, honest approach to the genre. Nothing says ‘success’ like a group of intelligent women sharing their experiences in a candid yet sophisticated forum. I am thrilled to be part of such a distinguished group and can’t wait to dish on all my passions using my unique voice and vision.”
I am betting that a few Fortune 500 CEOs would think other things say “success” better, but if you can make money off it, I’m down. Either way it’s clear that Szish is a fan of the NonSociety platform and that she is clearly an asset (she will also likely be covering the Oscars for the site). What’s not clear is how NonSociety plans to leverage this new addition for growth and development — or if this is the growth and development, in the form of a strong new contributor to build followers and bring in some sponsorship bacon (Alagna said that Allison has been “talking with some networks about working with NS” but declained to say more for the record). Either way, so far it looks like a win, for all concerned (and for the smaller PinkMemo.com, which will enjoy some ancillary exposure from the deal). I’m interested to see where they all go from here.
Top pic of Szish from NonSociety; pic of Julia Allison with Szish from Time Out New York.
