Cosmopolitan Magazine

As Australian Cosmopolitan Magazine is celebrating it's 40th Birthday this month, I thought it only fitting that I write a little post.

It was at this Magazines Sydney offices that I started my first internship in the fashion department and where I had my first official interview for a Journalism position.

I think it is safe to say, out of all the internships a fresh-faced University student could have secured, I sure got lucky!! I "may" have harassed them with pleading emails until they actually let me come work for them, but hey, it's a cut-throat world!!

So for one-day-a-week for a whole year I drove from Bathurst to Sydney, to spend a day sorting out fabulous clothes in the fashion closet, running around Sydney picking up the latest styles from designers, helping out on fashion shoots, picking up lunch orders and photocopying the latest trends from worldwide magazines. Yes, woe is me and all that jazz!!

It obviously had it's bad days along with it's good. There is nothing more tedious then masking-taping the bottom of shoes so that they can be sent back to the designer after a shoot, or steam-cleaning a closet full of clothes, but you know what, I loved every minute of it.

My time at Cosmopolitan Magazine taught me that girls could have their cake and eat it too. There was nothing wrong with wanting a career that far exceeded the 9am - 5pm working hours, as long as you enjoyed it.

I think the thing I was most shocked about, and this may sound a little outdated, was that most of the girls at the Magazine weren't married or shacked up with children in their late 20's, early 30's. Wow, a life outside the traditional? I loved it!

During my time at the Magazine I was given lots of opportunities to expand on my career. I sat front row at a fashion show, appeared in the Magazine for an article, got to style my very own fashion shoot and had a say in what clothes worked with an outfit ensemble.

I was very lucky to work under the amazingly gifted and trusting Fashion Editor Nicole Adolphe who gave me my first reference when I applied for my first job at Channel Nine's travel program "Getaway" I think she played a big part in me getting the job!

It was at Cosmopolitan that I learnt what it was like to work under a deadline (stressful!), how to make tights work with any outfit (hey, this was a few years ago, give me a break!), how to work alongside others, rather than against them, and being surrounded by such awesome role models I learnt how important it is to have something to strive towards, such as a promotion or to simply be able to sit back and appreciate a piece of work once it had been published.

I absolutely loved my time at Cosmopolitan Magazine, and what it lacked for in financial payment, it sure made up for in motivation, learning, growth and experience.

To read about the inspirational careers of the Five Editors that had a say in what Cosmopolitan Magazine has become today, click here.. http://www.cosmopolitan.com.au/40th-birthday/2013/3/the-editors/#.UVqImY6eOFK