'Pub Trivia' is where we get to know our favourite Australian publications a bit better.

This week we speak to Bri Lee, founding editor of Hot Chicks With Big Brains, about building a community and challenging stereotypes.

So, what is Hot Chicks With Big Brains?

Hot Chicks with Big Brains is a magazine (and community) talking about women and work.

When did you start?

I started the project as an online-only interview series at the beginning of 2015, with me doing all the interviews and photography, and Anna formatting them for the site. We started printing a biannual magazine in 2016 with me as Editor and Anna as Art Director, and now Anna and I run the whole business (it’s grown!) together.

Who is Hot Chicks With Big Brains for?

When we make the magazine we say that it’s by – and for – women and GNF people, but we also have a lot of men who come to our events and read what we publish. We really strive for diversity too, so we make sure to cover stories by and about people with disabilities, First Nations Australians, LQBTQIA+ people, and culturally diverse people. We believe that anyone can identify as a Hot Chick with a Big Brain.

If the publication were to recommend a book to its readers, what would that be?

Honestly, Brodie Lancaster’s new book, No Way! Okay, Fine does such a good job of explaining the interconnectedness of women’s bodies and minds. Our logo is a Venn diagram because we’ve always talked about fighting the way women are pigeonholed, and Brodie has an awesome part of one of the essays where she talks about women in movies having to be hot bimbos or unfuckable sidekicks, because we have to be “likeable”. Competent and attractive women are apparently too scary to depict, so our mag must be terrifying! Also the book is funny and smart, like Brodie, and I hope like our magazine too.

What's the best feedback you've had on the mag?

This sounds mushy, but honestly, when we have launch parties, industry events, and movie nights, we see people making connections and meeting other like-minded, awesome new friends, and it’s incredibly affirming. We’ve given many emerging writers their first print by-lines and seen them moving onto bigger and better things since. We get lovely feedback all the time, and it’s what drives us to keep publishing and growing.

What's the weirdest criticism the publication's received?

One woman didn’t want to be on our podcast because she thought the name of the magazine would tarnish her professional reputation. We offered to talk about the name with her, either beforehand or on the podcast, and she still declined. She said she had asked a male colleague if he would be in something called “Hot Dudes with Big Dicks” (to which he obviously said he wouldn’t) which is both absurd and ironic, seeing as how the “Brains” in our name subverts the expectation for another word, therefore drawing attention to it as a point of difference. I did not feel the need to explain this to her. Most people who don’t “get” our name aren’t our target audience. Everyone else loves it.

Tell us something people don't usually know about Hot Chicks With Big Brains

Anna and I have been friends since primary school. We know basically everything about each others’ lives and now we run a business together. It’s epic.

When's the next one out?

Right now!!! Issue #3! We just had launches in Brisbane and Melbourne, and there are copies available online and at a few different stockists around these two cities. http://hotchickswithbigbrains.com/shop/

Where can readers find you?

https://www.instagram.com/hotchickswithbigbrains/

https://www.facebook.com/hotchickswithbigbrains/

https://twitter.com/HCwithBB

http://hotchickswithbigbrains.com/shop/

Banner and cover images by Alana Potts