WORKING WOMEN OF WESTCHESTER: MARY ANN LIEBERT

Westchester County Business Journal, Mar 31, 2008

MARY ANN LIEBERT

CEO and publisher

Mary Ann Liebert Inc.

Works in: New Rochelle

Lives in: Lower Westchester

What inspired you to get into publishing?

"I was a journalism major, have a very curious mind, love to write, and I had some very inspiring teachers. I always have had, and still have a great nose for news. My father had Parkinson's disease and while I did an internship at the American Medical Society, I hoped to find, somewhere, hidden in the literature, a cure or effective therapy. Sadly that was not the case but it did ignite my interest in medical publishing."

As a woman in the workplace have you ever felt you needed to prove yourself to your male co-workers?

"Yes, but I didn't fully realize it at the time. Publishing has been a fairly kind field to women. Male colleagues, or male competitors, sometimes have difficulty dealing with powerful women. The testosterone factor, perhaps. Men also like to impress with the cars they drive or the credit card that has the most spending power. Mine is the AMEX Centurion so when we get into that game, I have the trump card."

What are some obstacles you have faced in the workplace?

"Women have broken through the glass ceiling in the corporate world, but there is less recognition for women who own very large corporate companies. They're still not as visible and they need to be. But that's partially their own fault. Women need to be more savvy about their business and less how it will impact their personal life."