When did you graduate from the University of Miami, and what did you major in?
“I was class of 2008, and I had a Bachelor’s of science in journalism and political science and a minor in English literature.”
What were you involved with while attending the University of Miami?
“I started the Distraction magazine while at UM, and prior to that, I was a writer for The Hurricane. I was also president of the Society of Professional Journalists. I was a member of Delta Phi Epsilon, and was New Member Educator and Risk Manager. I was also on the Panhellenic Executive Board and a Rho Gamma.”
What made you interested in the editorial world?
“I always loved magazines and reading and writing in general. I would read magazines cover-to-cover, even the captions, since I was 12 or 13. I used to love magazines like YM, Seventeen, Teen magazine and Teen Vogue. When I was applying to colleges and choosing my major, Journalism seemed like the best way to combine several things I liked to do.”
What made you want to work at Cosmopolitan?
“Cosmo has always been an icon to me. When I started my career, I didn’t have a specific magazine in mind. I kind of made my way and found my niche in health and fitness, which are some of my passions. I was the senior editor of the men’s magazine Details prior to Cosmo. After Joanna Coles, the current editor of Cosmo, took over three years ago, she made the magazine smarter, and showed that women could be smart yet fashion and beauty-savvy. I really respected her as an editor and an individual, especially since she focused a lot on social justice. After Cosmo won The National Magazine Awards in 2014, that really solidified my decision to want to join the team. Then, an opportunity to be the health editor came up and I jumped to take it!”
What’s an average day in the life of a Cosmo editor like?
“Depending on which department and Cosmo editor you talk to, each day is very different. For example, I personally spend a lot of time looking at studies and research to see what social justice issue is trending. In the morning, I’m usually trying out a new fitness class or a new trainer, or stopping by the opening of a juice bar. During the day, I have a lot of various duties and tasks, like maybe I’ll be cutting a story to fit it into a layout, or maybe I’ll be editing the text that just came back from freelance writers and making sure the voice and language is there. I’ll read a lot of articles, and I read a lot of New York magazine and The New York Times too. I’m also on Twitter constantly to see what’s going on in health and fitness world. Working at Cosmo is a lot of fun because we get to bounce ideas off each other, and typically we have a happy hour one or two times a week where companies will bring out products for us to try. I usually wrap up around at around 5 p.m. and I’ll either work out again, meet with friend for drinks, or go home and watch Netflix.”
How did this Tampon Tax initiative first come about, and who initially spearheaded the initiative?
“Well, here at Cosmo, we’ve been working on the whole package, which is the November 2015 issue on periods, since July. While we were researching the piece on questions on sanitary products, we wanted to find out if there are any places where you can get them for free. We thought that women’s clinics or Planned Parenthood would give them out for free, but turns out, no place does. I found this out after I reached out to Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, Vice President for Development at the Brennan Center of Justice, because she was quoted in an article speaking about some of the initiatives. Weiss-Wolf said that not only are there no places that give out sanitary products for free, but also there are all these other financial burdens from sanitary products. For example, they are considered a luxury item so sanitary products are charged sales tax. I brought this up to all the Cosmo editors, and they were all enraged that an essential item such as tampons are taxed. Food, which is considered an essential item is not taxed, and candy and soda are under the umbrella of food. Candy and soda aren’t necessary and are bad for you, whereas you actually need tampons. Our thought was why tax something you actually need? The initiative then kind of came about naturally after hearing about this.”
What makes this Tampon Tax initiative so important to you?
“Personally, I am fortunate enough that Hearst provides its workers with female sanitary products. But I realized while working on this piece that there are so many women who are not as fortunate as I am. Sometimes women have to make decision between buying food or buying tampons, or between buying utilities and buying tampons because they are living paycheck-to-paycheck. So many women who are homeless or victims of domestic violence are in this situation. Think about a time where you get your period without a sanitary product on hand and how you felt. No woman should have to go through that or be put in that situation.”
What has been the most rewarding experience about being a part of this Tampon Tax initiative so far?
“Seeing all of the great responses. So many readers wanted to help and wanted to be involved. Many people are genuinely learning something new. The goal of any journalist is to really feel like someone is learning something from what you wrote. Seeing responses from readers telling me thank you and saying that they were informed, that they learned something and that they were entertained was incredible.”
What’s been the biggest challenge of this initiative?
“Spreading the word. Even with the reach Cosmo has, it is always tough to get people to pay attention to something that is not the most fun topic to talk about. It’s always a challenge keeping the momentum of the initiative and to have people keep sharing it. All the Cosmo editors have their own work and busy lives, so it is difficult trying to keep people’s attention on the initiative.”
Do you have any tips for girls looking to get a foot in the door of magazine editorial?
“If you want to work at magazine or editorial, get internships as soon as possible writing for magazines. It may seem hard not being in big cities like New York or LA., but you can even work at your local paper. You need smaller internships to get ones at places that have a lot of weight, like Cosmo. Try to apply to the bigger name publications junior/senior year if it’s feasible financially living and working in New York City. Interns are so important to us here at Cosmo. As an intern, you really get to see firsthand the ins and outs of the editorial world. The hiring manager at your first job is going to want to see you’ve done internships. Also, in general, write as much as possible on top of the internships.”
Image credit: Twitter – Danielle Mcnally