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: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'' in 1996, aged 24.

Career

Freedman began her career at '' Cleo'', 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'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

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

'' magazine, the youngest editor of the magazine'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 ''

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'' on the

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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. 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". Freedman executive produced, with others, the comedic drama TV series '' Strife'', which was inspired by Freedman’s memoir ''Work, Strife, Balance''. The series ''Strife'' was written and adapted from Freedman's memoir by Australian screenwriter Sarah Scheller. The comedic drama tells the story of a modern, imperfect woman and publisher named Evelyn Jones, played by acclaimed Australian actress Asher Keddie, and her journey from lounge room blogger to becoming a force in women’s media. ''Strife'' is a Binge original series, released in December 2023.

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 explanation, interpretatio ...

and

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owner. Freedman was raised

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and grew up in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. She attended 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, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

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 . In 2021, Freedman was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Freedman disclosed this one year later, in September 2022, in a 2-part essay published on the website Mamamia and in an episode of the ''No Filter'' podcast. Previously, in 2015 Freedman disclosed in an interview that she suffers from an

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

. In 2023, Freedman's son Luca Lavigne married ''Mamamia'' executive editor Jessie Stephens. The couple's first child, Freedman's grand-daughter, Luna, was born later that year.

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 Australian women television personalities Jewish Australian writers Jewish Australian journalists People educated at Ascham School Australian women editors People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder