• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

2

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow

1

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

2

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
MPW

Exclusive: Two of the Most Powerful Women in Media Are Joining Forces On A New Venture

By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 24, 2016, 7:00 AM ET
Photohraph by Maithreyi Seetharaman
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Warren Buffett. Sheryl Sandberg. Meryl Streep. Barack Obama.

In addition to being on the guest list of your dream dinner party, these people all have one thing in common: They’ve been interviewed by Pattie Sellers or Nina Easton.

Sellers and Easton are both veteran journalists and longtime employees of Fortune, where they were, until very recently, senior editors. On Thursday, they announced that they will be starting a new chapter in their careers, launching a content creation company to produce stories for individuals, families, businesses, and other organizations.

The new venture, called SellersEaston Media (SEM), will combine the writers’ love of storytelling with their desire to apply all that they’ve learned during their years of writing about business leaders, says Easton. “We’ve been around so many entrepreneurs, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, powerful women, and we’ve been imbued by their passion,” she says. “At this time in our lives, we want to try [starting our own business].”

Sellers says the pair has been particularly inspired by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s call to “lean in” and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty’s advice to “get out of your comfort zone.”

Both Sellers and Easton are staying on with Fortune and its parent company, Time Inc. (TIME), as co-chairs of Most Powerful Women, which Sellers co-founded in 1998 and which has grown to become Fortune’s broadest multimedia franchise.

“What makes both Pattie and Nina so special is that they’re both very entrepreneurial,” says Fortune editor Alan Murray. “They were both entrepreneurial at Fortune and it’s no surprise to me they want to launch their own venture. I’m just happy we get part of their time for the [Most Powerful Women] franchise.”

While Time Inc. is supportive of SEM, it is not financially involved, says Sellers. The company has been bootstrapped and is entirely independent of both Fortune and its parent. “If a client needs help distributing content, we can help with that, but there is a wall between us and Fortune,” she says. The stories that SEM will create—whether written, illustrated, or in documentary format—will be entirely owned by their clients, who can choose how widely (or not) to distribute them.

“This is the era of storytelling,” says Sellers. Indeed, with the rise of ephemeral story creation on sites like Snapchat and Vine, as well as longer-form self-publication platforms like Medium and Tumblr, there are plenty of opportunities for people to tell their tales. Still, Sellers believes there’s a golden opportunity for SEM. “What’s missing is people who have the expertise to tell stories in a beautiful, elegant way.”

And expertise is exactly what the founders bring to the table. Sellers began her career with Fortune in 1984, reporting on the packaged goods industry before finding her niche covering female business leaders in the ’90s. She wrote the first-ever profile of Melinda Gates in 2008, the first business story on Oprah Winfrey in 2002, and did a definitive interview with Marissa Mayer a few months after she was appointed CEO of Yahoo in 2012. “I always wanted to do profiles,” Sellers recalls. “That’s what I was best at.”

Easton, on the other hand, cut her teeth at the Los Angeles Times, where she started off covering entertainment and profiling Hollywood legends like Bette Davis and Denzel Washington before going on to write about politics and culture at the paper’s Sunday magazine. She was deputy chief of the Washington bureau of the Boston Globe when she joined Fortune in 2005. At the magazine, she wrote profiles of secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker, as well as Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel. “At the root of everything is my belief that individual stories matter,” says Easton.

“We truly believe—and this comes after 30 years of writing about leaders and getting to know people like Warren Buffett and Melinda Gates well—that real success is having an impact and leaving a mark on the world,” says Sellers.

That’s what SEM hopes to help its clients achieve—and, if their journalism careers are any indication, it’s what we can expect from Sellers and Easton as well.

[vimeo 159353885 w=500 h=281]

About the Author
By Valentina Zarya
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in MPW

A supporter holds a sign for Democratic candidate for Texas governor Gina Hinojosa while she speaks during a rally.
PoliticsData centers
‘There are no rules. It is the wild west of data centers’: Texas Democratic candidates pounce on AI data center projects in Republican strongholds
By The Associated Press and Marc LevyJuly 24, 2026
2 hours ago
Inside Flavor Flav’s unlikely effort to help female Olympians build their brands and careers
NewslettersMPW Daily
Inside Flavor Flav’s unlikely effort to help female Olympians build their brands and careers
By Ellie AustinJuly 22, 2026
2 days ago
Anthea Hartig, Director of the National Museum of American History, looks to her left at a House Committee.
PoliticsWhite House
Smithsonian director denies ‘woke’ label from Trump while defending exhibit on teen’s gender-identity diary
By Steven Sloan and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
3 days ago
Cleveland’s WNBA team doesn’t play until 2028 but Progressive just scored jersey sponsorship
SuccessSports
Cleveland’s WNBA team doesn’t play until 2028 but Progressive just scored jersey sponsorship
By Joe Reedy and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
3 days ago
jd
PoliticsWhite House
JD Vance becomes first sitting vice president to welcome a child in office in over 150 years
By Darlene Superville and The Associated PressJuly 20, 2026
4 days ago
Backed by Daymond John and Post Malone, this Afghan-born founder built a $150M brand. Her real mission: the women back home
Successfemale founders
Backed by Daymond John and Post Malone, this Afghan-born founder built a $150M brand. Her real mission: the women back home
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
5 days ago

Most Popular

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
Big Tech
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
By Sydney LakeJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
Economy
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
By Eleanor PringleJuly 24, 2026
15 hours ago
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Economy
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
Real Estate
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 24, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 24, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 24, 2026
13 hours ago
Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet's business model
AI
Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet's business model
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.