Today marks one year since my first day at BuzzFeed! I seriously can’t believe it’s been a whole year. I’ve learned and accomplished so much, but at the same time I still feel kind of “new” to the whole editor thing. In addition to my one year Buzziversary (that’s what we call them at BF lol), I also just celebrated three years in New York City! It’s honestly hard for me to believe that this is my life sometimes. As I mentioned in my decade challenge post back in January, I wanted to be a writer in NYC since I was about eight years old. Everything I’m doing now is literally a dream come true. So, I want to share my career journey with you all in hopes that it can inspire some of you to never give up on your goals.
When I moved to NYC in June 2017 I didn’t even have a job yet! I truly took a leap of faith. All I had was a little bit of savings and a couple interviews lined up. I was prepared to work in retail or waitress (I had done so all throughout college), but since I was fresh out of graduate school I was, of course, eager to start my career. By the grace of God, one of those interviews turned into a paid internship. From that first gig in 2017 to my first day at BuzzFeed in 2019, I worked my way from an intern making less than minimum wage to a salary position as an editor at arguably the best digital publication in the world (?!) — but let me tell you, it was not easy.
Turning My Internship Into A Full-Time Job
Before I officially moved to NYC from Syracuse (where I went to grad school), I was an intern at NYLON Magazine. I loved it there, but it was an unpaid internship. Although I don’t recommend doing those if you can help it, having that name on my resume definitely helped me get my first paid position. Enter CafeMom.
I had actually applied for a job at the fashion and beauty site Revelist, but I’m guessing I didn’t have quite enough experience. However, my application ended up at CafeMom, another site under the same company. They invited me for an interview, which led to my full-time paid internship. As a 23-year-old fresh out of school, I was thrilled to be working for any publication full-time. I had my own desk in a Manhattan office and I got to write all day for a paycheck! It felt amazing.
The internship was only supposed to last for three months, but as that time period came closer to an end, I asked my boss if I could extend it. Because I was working my butt off and trying to help any chance I could, she said yes. I ended up working as an intern for eight or nine months! It was honestly really hard to afford my NYC rent, food, and other living expenses during that time period. I spent most evenings and weekends applying for jobs. And while I was at my internship, I made sure that I always volunteered to help with projects, I stayed late when I needed to, I pitched ideas to my boss, and I spoke up at meetings.
Since CafeMom had a small team, I was able to try everything from celebrity reporting to lifestyle writing to social media scheduling to pitching and co-producing video content! So, when a position finally opened up for a lifestyle reporter, my boss called me right away to offer me the job! She knew I could do it because I had already been doing it for months! I still remember getting that phone call while I was on vacation in Florida. I never felt so accomplished — and relieved. I finally had a salary and benefits for the first time ever.
Leaving A Full-Time Job for A Contract Position
I really enjoyed my time at CafeMom. My team was great and we tried a ton of new things while I was there. I covered the Kardashian pregnancies on a daily basis, I wrote an essay about Meghan Markle and the struggles of being biracial, I was in a viral curly hair video that got over 10 million views, and so much more. However, after being there for almost a year, there was a bump in the road. The company was sold and many people were laid off.
I actually made it through the layoffs. However, at the new company there were new challenges. Our staff was smaller and our expected output was much bigger. It was pretty difficult for me. I had a feeling that it was time to start looking for something new. So, when my good friend Aline told me that her commerce team at The TODAY Show was hiring for an editorial assistant role, I decided to apply and see what happens.
I got the job, which felt like a major win! I grew up watching The TODAY Show with my mom and I would be working in THE Rockefeller Plaza! The only downside was that it was a contract job, which means they couldn’t make any promises to hire me after a year. I took the job anyway.
I was scared for sure, but I knew that I would regret passing up such a cool opportunity. So I took the risk and joined the TODAY.com team. While I was there, I learned all about commerce editorial. I even got to interview some celebrities like Makeup by Mario, LeAnn Rimes, and Antoni from Queer Eye. Learning about shopping editorial was completely new to me. In fact, it’s pretty new to a lot of businesses and publications; therefore, it’s not something I could have learned at journalism school. I quickly began pumping out stories about all types of products: beauty, fashion, home, books, and more. I learned how to write based off of dollar goals as opposed to page views or article quotas. And I honestly liked it more than I thought!
The whole time I was at TODAY I was trying to prove myself so I could hopefully get hired on staff when my contract ended. This was incredibly stressful. I felt like I was right back to being in an extended internship. On the bright side though, I was getting paid more and I was working for a more well-known publication. So, even though I didn’t have stability, I still didn’t regret my decision. Plus, I was really starting to get the hang of commerce/shopping editorial.
Getting My Dream Job When I Least Expected It
I think I was about eight months into my contract at TODAY when I got a message from a BuzzFeed recruiter on LinkedIn. They liked the fact that I had commerce experience because they were looking to fill a couple of editor roles on their shopping team. I couldn’t believe it! BuzzFeed?? Recruiting ME? I was shook, but I had a good feeling about it. I nailed my call with the recruiter, nailed my in-person interview, and I must have done pretty good on my edit test because just a couple weeks later, I was officially an editor.
Of course, this is a very condensed version of my career journey. I did a TON of networking, staying up late to apply for jobs I never heard back from, and I was super stressed about paying bills and surviving in NYC. I felt like I was always trying to prove myself and I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to just breath for a second. But, I kept on pushing myself and my dream job basically came to me when I least expected it.
Now that I’ve been at BuzzFeed for a year, I’m finally starting to feel more confident in my abilities as an editor. I’d love to keep moving up in the company and trying new things. I love shopping editorial and I definitely feel like I found “my thing” (at least for now anyway). Of course you never know what to expect in the wild world of media, but today I am feeling incredibly blessed for my journey. I have made amazing friends at all of these jobs and I learned so much at each step of the way. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Thank you so much for reading! If you have any career-related questions please don’t hesitate to reach out!
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