How did you get started at Cosmo?
Well, I was living in London for two years, where I interned for British Vogue, and InStyle. I eventually interned for Cosmopolitan UK, but then my visa expired and I had to go back to Australia. But I didn’t go back home to Geelong, because I knew if I wanted to continue working for a fashion magazine, I had to move to Sydney. So I moved to Sydney, where I applied for another internship, this time for Cosmo Australia, which I got. I worked full-time at Cotton On so I could live, but six months after I got the internship, Cosmo offered me a full time position.
You began filming and editing a lot of videos. What made you want to enter the magazine industry rather than the film industry?
The film thing was just a bit of fun, really. I liked making and editing videos, but fashion is my true passion. I love styling and I love working for a magazine, it’s really my dream. I still create videos sometimes for Cosmopolitan, mostly for their website, so it’s nice to sometimes go back and have some fun with the editing and stuff, but I’d much rather stick to being the stylist than the film maker. It’s a better fit for me.
How did your view of magazines and how they are created change when you started working at Cosmo?
Well, you think of working in a fashion magazine to be something like The Devil Wears Prada, and sometimes it is. I mean, the clothes we get are so gorgeous, but there’s not a lot of bitchy stuff you see in TV shows or movies. We all just work really hard, we have deadlines and are just trying to make sure our work is perfect. The editor isn’t nearly as scary as Miranda Priestly, but they do just want us to be our absolute best for the magazine, it is still a job after all.
Is there anything that can make you stand out from the crowd as a journalist?
I actually really recommend working overseas, if you can. You get a whole new perspective on the industry, how someone from the other side of the world sees things. You get a whole new view on life, and that can inspire you to go even further! I studied at the Paris Fashion School, which was incredible, but what really made me want to work in magazines was interning for British magazines, like Vogue, InStyle and Cosmo. You have to really work harder if you’re in a new place, and you learn a lot more when you’re somewhere new. You have to adapt; you can’t just be stagnant. You become more open to new things, and that improves your skills.
What advice would you give someone who wants to work in the fashion/lifestyle magazine industry?
Some other advice is maybe just keep going, never give up. If someone tells you that you can’t, just remember that you can if you really try, so never stop moving. Keep learning, keep applying for internships, as many as you can. Get your name out there, even if you start out like me and just have a blog; make sure you go to events, meet people, gain contacts. You never know who could help you in your career. Be nice to everyone too. You never know who that person could be, or become! So be nice, be professional and never give up on your dream.
