On Tuesday April 2, 2019 Editor in Chief of Glamour Magazine, Samantha Barry spoke at Sacred Heart University. Barry has been giving speeches regarding her career in journalism, and advice she has for young professionals to college aged students since she started her new position at Glamour Magazine.
Barry spoke about how every woman need a “f***-off fund” where she keeps at least 6 months to a year of rent saved in a bank account to use if she needs to leave a bad job, a bad man, or a bad situation.
During her career, Barry has been a pioneer and advocate for women’s stories, including her time abroad and here in the U.S. She has stressed the importance of every woman being financially independent because financial independence means total freedom for a woman.
Barry also spoke about how it is important to be flexible in your field, and to not be so set on one specific area of a career that you don’t consider something down a different path. Barry herself was originally in broadcast news at BBC and CNN before she became the EIC at Glamour.
During the Q and A portion of the event, Barry took some questions from students in the audience, from myself included.
I had the pleasure of asking Barry how young women can have the confidence to ask for raises in a job, or negotiate a better salary when starting a new job. Her clever reply was something that opened my eyes and I’m sure did for many people in the audience.
Barry went on to say that the first thing that a woman should do before even going into their boss’s office is compile a folder of emails, texts, or anything that can be documented of managers or their boss praising their work. She said to build that folder every time someone compliments your ideas or work, and to bring that folder into the meeting with you to be able to show all of your accomplishments, and to prove that you are a valued employee.
The second thing Barry said was a must, is to know the salaries of other employees who hold the same position as you, or even employees who are lower than you, especially male. Barry told a story of how she achieved that goal- she asked 3 male co-workers out for drinks individually and got them all drunk and she persuaded them to tell her their salaries.
The last thing Barry said to do, in the case that the company does not have enough money to give you is to ask for other things that aren’t money but can still further your career. Ask for an assistant, ask for the company to pay tuition for you to go back to school and get a higher education, or ask for other perks that can be achieved like a new title. For example sometimes it can be beneficial to add senior or executive to a position.
During her recent years at Glamour, Barry has brought the entire magazine digital and stopped the monthly print magazine. This has created for higher social media engagement and better videography and online skills.
Barry explained that women being featured in the magazine still get fitted by amazing designers, and can experiment with makeup artists, but their photos and stories are now being displayed online instead of in print.
It is more important, said Barry, to have an audience that comes back for more, rather than an audience that visits the site once for clickbait.