Meeting Recap for Oct. 2: Skype with Danielle Sanchez

Danielle Sanchez worked at Vanity Fair and is a Florida State University graduate. After working there for a year, she left to start her own magazine for her parents’ new up-and-coming boutique jewelry business.

She majored in “editing, writing and media” in college, which she said infused both her fashion and writing interests.

Danielle was the content editor for Clutch, FSU’s on-campus fashion magazine. After graduation she was an apparel intern for 6 weeks, then was hired as jewelry coordinator at Vanity Fair, where she stayed for a year.

Danielle’s day-to-day:

“I was a jewelry coordinator -- the assistant to the assistant to the accessories editor.”

“They would decide on a theme and come to me and say, ‘We’ll do a Marilyn Monroe shoot with Kate Upton. This is what we’re looking for. Can you contact X and X and X and see if they have anything that would work?’ They send it over, and I set it out for the editors. I put the yes’s out for them to design with, and put the no’s in the safe.” Then she packs everything up -- carefully.

“I make sure things are not broken and leave not broken. There’s a lot of liability in our department because we borrow absolutely everything. Making sure everything is in mint condition is really important.”

“We have inspiration photos, and someone would say, ‘I need this hat -- exactly.’ If no one had it, we’d have to make it. We base our samples off the photos. When I get the photos, I’d have enough inspiration images to gauge whether it’s the right for the shoot. Ultimately it’s the accessories editor’s decision for the shoots., and she decides what goes to the fashion director.”

Danielle also copy edited market director Michael Carl’s weekly blog column, Carl’s Crush. “I didn’t go to Vanity Fair to work for jewelry. I went because I wanted to edit … Before he’d turn it into copy, I’d see it. ... Then he’d see it, and his assistant would edit it again.”

What makes a good intern?

“You have to be willing to do things and give it your all. Apparel interns have to do a lot of running around. It’s very The Devil Wears Prada. It takes a lot of courage and belief in yourself -- you have to know what you're getting into. There's a lot of physical work. It’s tough, but if we don’t have a photo shoot, we’re really just sitting around the office organizing things, which is very tedious. An intern has to do all that physical labor and know they won’t be sitting at a desk all day.”

On hiring:

Vanity Fair likes to hire a lot of people they already know.  “We up a lot of ads at Ed2010, but never really took anyone from there.”

VF’s fashion department consists of 14 people. “We’re all wearing a lot of hats because we are a very small team. We like to hire fun people we can trust with our items. That’s why we typically go through people we already know.”

Are interns paid? What about your salary as you climb the ladder?

“I can tell you that the people above me are not making what they deserve. … In editorial and especially in fashion, we’re not making a lot. We’re working with the Manolos, but we don’t wear them.”

What about PR?

“I learned a lot from my job, contacting designers’ PR departments. I’m talking to a PR jewelry coordinator, someone at my level, 4th tier, bottom line work.”

Working in fashion closet versus working in editorial:

“The fashion closet is under the umbrella of editorial. I spend all my time working inside a literal closet.

It’s transactional versus transformational. Editorial definitely has the more creative job. They’re the ones who look at inspiration photos. And if the accessories assistant needs help finding a product, that’s when they come to me and I’ll help them. Otherwise it’s just very hands-on, very ‘I am not going to lose this earring.’”

We are the middleman: the complete management of the shoes, jewelry, clothes, everything. There's a lot of product in it and it can really get messy. It’s very high-stress, and we’re just very hands-on, whereas editorial is more creative. They communicate more with designers, and we focus more on the actual handling of materials.”

What should we do now?

“Get involved. Keep writing. Put it on your resume. When you put it on your resume or email people, keep it short. Our closet manager doesn’t have the time to read three paragraphs of why you love Vanity Fair so much. We like to see a strong resume. Definitely know their name. If it says “To Whom It May Concern,” it’s an automatic delete. ‘Hi Danielle, I’m interested in this internship. These are my credentials. Three quick points, then have a good day.’

“Keep all your contacts. If you talk to anyone, ever, always be cordial because you never know what they can do for you in the future.”

“It’s not always the resume that shines through -- it’s your persona and work ethic.”

On her new Floridian local mag venture:

My parents own a jewelry store, so Vanity Fair knew I’d be comfortable handling high-price jewelry. She had been working there for a year when her dad offered her a job as CMO of his new jewelry store in Tampa, Flo.

“Starting a local magazine is going to be really good for me. It’s really exciting.” Danielle wants to gear it towards fashion and jewelry at first, directly out of her father’s fine jewelry store, which produces unique pieces. “After a few months of circulation, I’ll probably only release the magazine quarterly," she said.

Meeting Recap for Sept. 11: Skype with Megan Angelo

Last week we Skyped with Megan Angelo, a Glamour entertainment contributor (she also occasionally writes for The New York Times). She writes four blog posts a day from her home in Pennsylvania -- she started almost two years ago, and so far she’s written about 1650 posts. Whew. She also helps the Glamour team figure out what entertainment content to include in the print magazine and contributes about 1,000 words per issue.

The Villanova grad and English major applied to the Conde Nast internship program, thinking she’d never get in because she didn’t have any connections. When she was selected for an internship, she was so surprised that she politely asked why she was hired. The answer: there were few applicants who were co-editors-in-chief of the school paper, and that was pretty cool. 

Six weeks after she graduated, she became the editorial assistant at Conde Nast’s “Portfolio.” She worked there for two years, and when it folded, Megan turned to freelancing out of necessity -- a.k.a., she shifted towards entertainment journalism. She helped launch the entertainment section for “Business Insider” and became its entertainment editor. 

After two years, her friend, a photo editor at Glamour, got in touch with her -- they were looking for writers since they were about to relaunch their site. After a big edit test, among other things, she was hired! She worked her way up from two blog posts a day to print.

Megan said she works on both the print and online schedule because of the nature of her job. She’s at her desk at home from 8 a.m. to around 6:30 p.m., and spends most of the day writing those four posts. Then she works on print.

On working at Glamour: “Working at Glamour is so satisfying to know I’m working at a place that any woman, regardless of how much money they make or where they live, can pick up the magazine. I love the universality of it. Everyone’s really nice.”

Megan’s advice: 
“Do whatever you have to do to get clips,” Megan said, “because that’s really all anybody cares about at the end of the day. There's no better time in college to write about whatever you want. … That’s huge when it comes to getting an internship, pitching an assignment, etc.” 

On networking: Before she worked for Glamour, Megan used to read magazines’ mastheads and cold-email people with coveted jobs. “I looked at EAs who were only a few years older and emailed them, ‘I think it’s amazing you have this job. I would love to hear about how you got here.’ … In that first email, there’s no reason to say you're looking for a job. It’s obvious.”

“You do have to have connections in the industry to make it, but you don’t have to be born with them. Be genuine and ask about them. I always remember them and I remember great interns who are sweet, get it and contribute meaningfully.”

“Be genuine with everyone. That’s all there is to networking.”

On living in New York: “If humanly possible, don’t get an apartment before you get a job. If it’s at all possible to live with someone for free, live with someone.”

“Get someone’s New York address and put it on your resume. They filter them. Just say New York so they know you’re available.”

Megan said she wouldn’t recommend working from home when you’re first starting up. “If your dream is to be an editor and to climb up the ladder, you probably won’t work from home.If you wanna go more the writing route, things get more murky because writers come from everywhere.” A “staff writer” or “contributor” is often working from home.

On being obsessed with Conde Nast: “I wish I hadn’t obsessed so much about getting certain internships.”

On blogging: “The kind of personal blogs that will impress an employer are time-consuming. They want to see you post twice a week. They want something sophisticated and consistent. The other route is writing for a campus publication, getting clips, etc.”

“People do like to see that you’re an expert in something or that you’re interested in something.”

On breaking into music journalism: “That’s a fantastic place to break in because you can review things constantly, get into niche areas of music, etc. It’s such a big thing to say, ‘You're not covering this and it’s really important and I know all about this. That’s why you need me.’”

On breaking into fashion: “It’s almost better to have a very well-curated Instagram or Tumblr. That goes a long way -- Glamour’s Instagram is huge for them. … Think about the visual and let your style come through.”

On freelancing: “There are so many places that young people can write, which is great, but make connections first if you can and get your reputation established in the industry. Most jobs, even if they’re grueling, it’s still possible to launch a freelance career on the site, even if it’s a blog post a month at a local bank or magazine that you love.”

“The good thing about freelancing is that you get to pick what you actually want to write about.”

Consider writing for start-ups, not just big-name publications.

And finally: “If you're the person who’s already thinking about this, then you're already ahead of the game. Relax, enjoy college, because working isn’t as fun as college. Trust your voice and show it off. No one is saying to you, ‘The deadline is tomorrow.’ Write what you want.”

“Everything really is a stepping stone.”

Meeting Recap for April 10: Skype with Judi Pena

Last week we skyped with Judi Pena, the assistant to the editor-in-chief at Every Day with Rachael Ray.
Judi studied at the University of South Carolina where she was a English and Biology major. When it came time to write her honors thesis, she decided to flaunt her love for food and wrote a chocolate cookbook. When it came time to graduate, Judi was still unsure of what she wanted to do, so she took a year off (which he highly recommends) and managed a restaurant. After that year, she decided to go to culinary school.
After culinary school, Judi did a 6-month, full-time internship at Rachael Ray. It was supposed to only last for three months, but the intern who would be replacing her changed her mind, allowing Judi to stay on for another three months.
After her internship, Judi worked as a bartender for a month before being asked to come back to Rachael Ray as the assistant to the executive and managing editors. When Lauren Purcell (a UNC alumna) came on board as the editor-in-chief of Rachael Ray, she asked Judi to be her assistant,
As assistant to the editor-in-chief, Judi answers the phone, and organized Lauren's schedule and travel plans. She also has the opportunity to see a lot of the behind the scenes things that go on at the magazine. Judi is also involved in doing a lot of research for the magazine and is in charge of all the social media.
Judi's advice:

• Always reach out to people and keep in touch
• Keep trying just as hard once you "get in the door"
• Take charge of what's assigned to you
• Ask for feedback
• When applying for a food magazine, have something in your back pocket like a blog, or food photography
• BE able to talk about recipes and food confidently

Cafme takes NYC

On Wednesday, March 20, 15 of us jetted off to New York City! We stayed in the awesome App State Lofts, right by Madison Square Park. We had some free time to explore the city Wednesday before meeting back up for a Southern dinner at Brother Jimmy's.

We were up bright and early the next day to start our magazine tours. First up was People Magazine in the Time Inc. building. We were lucky enough to sit in on their staff meeting and then chatted with Editorial Manager Andy Abrahams and Deputy Managing Editor Peter Castro. We also visited their iPad simulator room and got a demo of the People Magazine app.

That afternoon we headed to Glamour to meet up with Andrea Bartz, senior editor, who gave us some great advice about everything magazine and NYC-related.

 The next day was filled with more tours as we chatted with the Men's Health Social Media Editor Chris Rackliffe about the role of social media in the magazine world and what he does on a day-to-day basis. Associate editor Clint Carter joined us later to talk about the editorial aspect of Men's Health.
Our last stop was at Every Day with Rachael Ray, where executive editor and UNC alumna, Dana Bowen, talked to us along with Senior Food Editor Nina Elder and Editorial Assistant Morgan Gibson. After getting a ton of great advice from those three lovely ladies, we went downstairs to see their test kitchen. We got a chance to learn more about how food magazines work and even try some yummy cookies!

That night most of us headed back to Chapel Hill, but I already can't wait for next year's trip!

Meeting Recap for Feb. 27: Skype with Sarah Bruning--Associate Features Editor

Last week we skyped with the lovely Sarah Bruning. She had lots of industry wisdom to share with us--read on for a recap!

Sarah began college on the pre-med track, but her sophomore year she started a magazine with a few of her friends and realized that was what she loved. She worked on layouts and edited the 32-page USC edition of the magazine. Through her work with this campus magazine, Sarah was introduced to Teen Magazine, which has since folded but was based in California. She interned and freelanced for them through her last years at USC. After graduation, Sarah went back to Teen as a temporary editorial assistant to help out on their prom issue.
Sarah was determined to move to New York, though, and eventually got a job offer on a Friday to start a job in New York the following Monday (because her resumé listed a New York address!) Sarah made it work, however and worked at the small travel publication for three and a half years before moving to Time Out New York, which is where she is now. Sarah says starting out at a small publication helped her advance her career because she was thrust into leadership roles more quickly than she would have been at another publication--after just a year and a half Sarah was named the managing editor!
Sarah has been at Time Out for three years now. As the associate features editor, Sarah works with freelancers and interns and makes sure that all the fact checking changes get entered. She also blogs twice a week and writes SEO copy for her features, working with SEO managers and the web masters.

Sarah's Tips:

• Keep your eyes and ears open, always be listening and taking things in
• Know the publication you're applying for inside and out
• Show an active interest in journalism on campus, get internships or at a minimum start a blog
• Write the hiring managers names whenever possible (not "To Whom it May Concern")
• Attention to detail is very important
• Show enthusiasm--be engaged in conversation, and be excited to be there (but not too excited)
• Make your cover letter the body
• Being versatile helps--develop a portfolio that would speak to national magazines
• Networking is one of the most important things you can do: keep in touch, build a relationship, don't be shy, introduce yourself and talk about your interests

Meeting Recap for Feb. 20: Skype with Jason Tanz, Executive Editor of Wired

Last week we skyped with Jason Tanz, the executive editor of Wired Magazine. Jason has a lot of experience and had lots of great advice to share with us!

Background: Jason was a political science major at Brown University. He says the political science major is his "unending regret" and really doesn't think it's the best choice. He did take one journalism class his sophomore year and he worked on one of the school newspapers where he says he "sort of fell in love with the late nights once a week, putting together this newspaper, staying up all night, hopping in the car at 2:30 to get to Taco Bell before it closed, then two days later receiving bundle, dropping it off at the cafeteria, and watching people read it."

A couple of years after graduating, Jason moved to New York City and considered going to journalism school. A friend of his cousins (who worked at Smart Money Magazine) told him that "journalism school is great if you don't know anyone," and then connected him to some people at this start up trade publication called university business. Jason began working there, covering the tech beat and was later hired at Smart Money Magazine as a staff reporter. Jason had a few of his pieces published in the magazine, but after a while he decided to leave to become a freelance writer.

Jason soon got sick of pouring his heart into a story and having an editor not like it so he got a job at Fortune as an editor, and then moved to Fortune Small Business before getting a fellowship at the University of Michigan. While at the University of Michigan, Jason wrote a book proposal about "rap music and white people."

And that's when Jason got an email from Wired. Someone at Smart Money had mentioned Jason to an editor at Wired and the next thing he knew he was working as senior editor. Jason was very recently promoted to executive editor and moved from New York to San Francisco.

A typical day for Jason:

• When he was a senior editor it was mostly finding writers, nurturing the writers he already had, shaping pitches for pitch meeting, heavily editing articles
• When Jason was in New York, he was also the "guy on TV" when a show like Good Morning America called Wired for an expert
• Now Jason is increasingly working with new media and trying to integrate the website and the magazine

On the future of magazines:

• Personalities (on the web) can help set you apart
• Wired hasn't lost readers at all, readership has only gone up on web and in print
• They have lost advertisers, but some of these have come back
• Jason says he's not sure the print magazine will still exist 15 years from now, but he thinks there will still be an appetite for a product that’s presented like an object whether that's once a month, week, day or minute
• "As long as people want well written stories, I don’t care how they want it—paper, screen, beamed onto retinas."
• A high priority at Wired right now is to reboot their iPad app

Internship program at Wired:

• It's based in San Francisco and it's called a "fellowship"
• It's paid
• They look for someone with a sense of humor and hungry intellect--someone who likes arguing ideas
• Someone with great clips and a proof read cover letter
• Be sure to show personality, but not so much that it's weird
• Someone who's really interested and curious about technology—showing that you can think about technology in an interesting way is more important than knowing about technology
• Writing skills aren't negotiable

Last words:

• "I've had a long history of working at places that didn’t particularly interest me. The greatest luxury is working at a magazine that you would choose to read yourself, and I do love Wired. I would read it, and I love the people I work with."

Meeting Recap for Feb. 6: Skype with Kara McGrath, web editorial assistant at Seventeen Magazine

Two weeks ago we skyped with Kara McGrath, the web editorial assistant at Seventeen Magazine, who had lots of great advice for us!

A day in the life of a web editorial assistant:

• Kara covers fashion and beauty for the web
• She writes, makes slideshows, pitches ideas to the site director and works really closely with the interns
• Kara also helps out with social media and the beauty blog
• She says she's basically on the computer and writing all day long, which she loves

What really impresses her:

• Someone who's always pitching ideas
• Do something before your editor asks for it
• Never turn in subpar work: "If you don’t think it’s amazing, don’t turn it in. You’ll probably have to do it again anyways or not get assigned a new project."
• Don't be creepy or awkward with your editor--ask them about their weekend
• Being friendly: "I like interns who seem like someone I could hang out with after work."

Web/Print differences:

• Writing for web has a shorter lead time than print
• The magazine shoots everything, but for the web they often ask companies for product images
• As news changes you can go back and change the article online
• The most important part of web writing is search engine optimization--how your pieces rank on google

Resumes and Cover letters:

• Kara says she's really impressed by resumes that were cleary made in inDesign
• You stand out if you have your own logo
• In cover letters--make it obvious that you've read the site and try to write in the voice of the magazine
• Six sentences total is fine for a cover letter

On what she loves about working at Seventeen:

• It's so fun, I love our readers! But if they don’t like what you said about Harry Styles, they will tell you!"
• "I love that they’re so passionate about everything."
• "Teen girls are online all the time, and they're always interacting with us."
• "They're way more willing to try new (fashion and beauty) stuff."
• "We literally find girls on the street (to model)."

Informational interviews:

• The editor in chief is probably not going to sit and talk with you, try for the editors, assistant editors and editorial assistants
• Most people are happy to meet with you if you give them enough advanced notice and are very courteous
• Be as flexible as you can and give as much advanced notice as you can
• You might have to follow up
• Don't say "So can I have a job?"--seems like you're using them
• Ask for advice, what they like about their job, etc.--people love talking about themselves
• Consider doing an informational interview with HR so they keep you in mind