Mia Freedman, also known as Mia Lavigne, (born 1 October 1971) is the co-founder of women’s digital media company Mamamia. She was the youngest editor of the Australian edition of ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'' in 1996, aged 24.

Career

Freedman began her career at ''

Cleo Cleo may refer to: Entertainment * ''Cleo'' (magazine), an Australian magazine established in 1972, now active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand * Cleo (group), a South Korean girl group formed in 1999 * ''Cleo'' (play), by Lawren ...

'', doing work experience at the age of 19. Her first paid job in media was as ''Cleo'''s beauty editor and she stayed at ''Cleo'' for five years working her way up to the position of features editor. She left ''Cleo'' in 1995 and spent several months as a freelance features writer for magazines including ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

'', ''

New Weekly ''NW'' (formerly ''New Weekly'') was a weekly magazine (typically 110 pages) published in Australia by Bauer Media. It contained articles about media celebrities, Hollywood gossip, clothing, makeup, dieting, and entertainment. In July 2020, the ...

'' and '' Who Weekly''. In 1996, aged 24 years, she became editor of Australian ''

'' magazine, the youngest editor of ''Cosmopolitan'''s 58 international editions. Freedman is also the founder, publisher and editorial director of Australian women’s website Mamamia. In 2012, Freedman also launched an Australian edition of parenting website iVillage. This was rebranded as The Motherish in June 2015. All content for The Motherish was folded into Mamamia by November 2015. Freedman has appeared regularly as a commentator on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

and Ten's '' The Project''. In 2009 Freedman was appointed Chair of the Australian Government's National Body Image Advisory Group by Minister for Sport and Youth, Kate Ellis. In 2015 Freedman disclosed in an interview that she suffers from an

anxiety disorder Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental disorders characterized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear such that a person's social, occupational, and personal function are significantly impaired. Anxiety may cause physi ...

. Freedman has written four books, including ''Work Strife Balance,'' where Luca, her 19-year-old son, contributed a chapter describing his mother as having "no filter".

Personal life

Freedman is the only daughter of Laurence Freedman , a funds manager and chairman of The Freedman Foundation, and his wife, Kathy, a

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

and

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

owner. Freedman was raised

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and grew up in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. She attended the Ascham School. In 1998, Freedman married Jason Lavigne, with whom she has three children. In 1999, Freedman had a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...

and spent two years in therapy, separated from Lavigne. In 2020 it was reported that Freedman and Lavigne purchased an 12.75 million house in .

Published works

* * * *

References

External links

Mamamia website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freedman, Mia Living people 1971 births Australian columnists Australian women columnists Australian freelance journalists Australian people of South African descent Australian television personalities Women television personalities Jewish Australian writers People educated at Ascham School Australian women editors