This week at our chapter, we discussed more than just content that would interest our writers: we discussed what it means to be a badass babe who works toward a dream career and how family could interfere or even compliment those goals.
Ann Shoket, former Editor of Seventeen Magazine, wrote a book on women’s successes in careers by interviewing friends and contacts that she has known throughout her career. The book “The Big Life: Embrace the Mess, Work Your Side Hustle, Find a Monumental Relationship, and Become the Badass Babe You Were Meant to Be,” focuses on the women Shoket has met throughout her career and her life, focusing on how they succeed while juggling every other aspect of their life.
[Photo courtesy to Ann Shoket]
The biography for the book on Amazon says, “Millennial women are changing what it means to be powerful and successful in the world―for everyone. Forever. You want The Big Life―that delicious cocktail of passion, career, work, ambition, respect, money, and a monumental relationship. And you want it on your own terms. Forget climbing some corporate ladder, you want a career with twists and turns and adventure. For you, success only matters if it’s meaningful. Ann Shoket knows the evolving values of young women more than anyone. She’s the voice behind the popular Badass Babes community, a sisterhood of young, hungry, ambitious women who are helping each other through the most complex issues around becoming who you’re meant to be.”
“As the trailblazing editor-in-chief of Seventeen for the better part of a decade, Shoket led provocative conversations that helped young women navigate the tricky terrain of adolescence and become smart, confident, self-assured young women. Now that they are adding muscle to the framework of their lives, she’s continuing the conversation with The Big Life.”
This made our chapter wonder what it meant to be a badass babe and what foreseeable conflicts might arise in our future pursuits of our goals. We saw this as an opportunity to chat about personal hopes, life goals and even expected obstacles.
The question that started the conversation: What is your dream job or big life goal?
One of our officers, Olivia Clifton, said, “My goal is to get Bachelor’s at UNCW and then [get a] Masters and then get an MRS degree so I can live off of writing.”
Another writer, Bethany Bradley explained that she wants to be a teacher, but the ultimate dream would be to work for a publishing and READ BOOKS!!! And one of our very own Co- Campus Correspondents, Taylor Maloch, discussed how when she was younger, she was 100% sure I was going to move to New York. Sadly, she soon realized how cold it was up north and is considering other avenues.
For our dinner, our staff enjoyed some badass pizza and french fries.
[Photo courtesy to Casey McAnarney]
Taylor definitely has grown to refine her goals, and that led us all to wonder how our goals have changed since we were teenagers. What goals did we have at sixteen that we maybe do not still have now.
Just like Shoket, writer Julie Reyes and editor Gabriella Dionisio wanted to work for Seventeen. Gabriella explained that working for Her Campus now reminds her of those desires she used to be so fervent about. She also recalled wanting to attend New York University or Columbia, “because no one thinks of money at 16.” But we are glad that she is here, writing for our chapter of Her Campus, instead.
On the topic of idols, A lot of our staff members actually said that they looked up to Shoket growing up. Some other idols included Danielle Toulo, creator of a chapter of Her Campus at Fairfield and now a food editor at Cosmo, and Kathryn Moira Beaton, creator of the Hark! a Vagrant comic writer.
Moving away from topics of dreams and career goals and ideals, we asked each other about what they need in a partner and if they would ever stop working to have children.
In relation to having a partner, a lot of our staff noted that they do not need a partner who necessarily matches their drive to work, but their current or future partner must have passions and goals and must help provide for the life that they may share together. Specifically, Bradley discussed how her husband is in the military and how that affects her choices and her goals.
[Photo courtesy to Casey McAnarney]
“[The] military is my life for 12 years. I’m tied to certain areas because of his drive to become an officer and sometimes I want to do me,” Bradley explained. “We’ll do my thing when he gets out.”
When it came to having kids, though some editors expressed a desire to take time off to watch their children, others expressed how they would not. I, myself, shared how I am one of five daughters raised by a mother who has worked in public education for over 30 years and editor Maddie Brindle talked about how her single mom took care of two kids all while having a career. Both ways can be done and can be successful.
Overall, we are glad that this book is coming out and that Her Campus afforded us the opportunity to talk about it. There are so many successful women in the workforce now, and sharing their stories to inspire others is great! And what is even better is that not one story is exactly like another story; women succeed in their own way, and showing this to young women can inspire them to find their own path to their own personal successes in life.
[Photo courtesy to Ann Shoket]