FAQ
Q: Can you help me get work experience at a magazine?
A: Not really because I don't work in magazines anymore.. Mags like Cosmo and Cleo and Dolly tend to be booked up to a year in advance but you should always give it a go and ask to be put on a cancellation list. Then call and email the editorial co-ordinator who is in charge of work experience placements. Be persistent but these mags are hugely popular so you may have more luck at a magazine you don't actually read. Like, say, Ralph. Or Caravan World. For work experience at Cosmo, try here. For Cleo, here. For Dolly, try here.
Q: I'm doing an assignment/essay/thesis for school/uni/fun.
Can I interview you?
A: While there are few things I enjoy more than hearing the sound of my own voice or the tap-tap of the keys as I bash out my opinions and thoughts at length, I'm afraid I'm not able to do those kinds of interviews anymore. Not enough hours in the day and there are so many clever people doing so many interesting assignments...... I've had to draw a line in the sand. Sorry. My thoughts on body image and magazines are a few questions down so just scroll. There's info on my career here which might help.You are welcome to take direct quotes from there so long as you attribute them back to me and this site.
Q: Can women have it all?
A: Well, you can try. I certainly have tried andon some days in occasional fleeting moments, I feel like I may just have pulled it off. But most days I feel guilty about not spending enough time at work and enough time with my kids. Or my husband. And what's "it all" anyway? Yep, I've got kids and a husband and a career. But I've also got lots and lots of help and I still get it wrong and drop those damn balls (the juggling balls) constantly. Maybe you should ask my son if women can have it all. I've forgotten to pick him up from after-school care twice in the past six months. I'm working hard to pay for his future therapy. But would I give up my career or being a mother? No fricking way. Not today.
Q: Do you think magazines cause eating disorders?
A: No. Eating disorder experts back me up on this one - as do women who have eating disorders. Anorexia and bullimia and compulsive over-eating are complex mental and emotional conditions caused by a host of factors.
HOWEVER. I know what it's like to flick through a magazine and feel crap about myself and my body at the end of it. I think the fact that all magazines are fully of tall, skinny, mostly Anglo-Saxon 16 year-olds (aka fashion models) is lousy for the self esteem of anyone who is NOT tall, skinny, Anglo-Saxon and 16 (aka 99.9% of the female population). I think - no, I PASSIONATELY BELIEVE - that magazines and all forms of popular media including TV, music videos and movies should feature a diverse mix of women. Different shapes, sizes, skin colours and ages should be the norm, not an exception in a Dove commercial. How the hell else are we going to feel good about ourselves if we never see bodies and faces that look like us reflected back at us from glossy magazines? That's why I created Body Love when I was at Cosmo. And that's why I think magazines - and other forms of media - need to take responsibility for the images they present. Morally, karmically, ethically.There's my rant.
Q: Should I send you unsolicited advice or negative comments?
A: No.
A: Not really because I don't work in magazines anymore.. Mags like Cosmo and Cleo and Dolly tend to be booked up to a year in advance but you should always give it a go and ask to be put on a cancellation list. Then call and email the editorial co-ordinator who is in charge of work experience placements. Be persistent but these mags are hugely popular so you may have more luck at a magazine you don't actually read. Like, say, Ralph. Or Caravan World. For work experience at Cosmo, try here. For Cleo, here. For Dolly, try here.
Q: I'm doing an assignment/essay/thesis for school/uni/fun.
Can I interview you?
A: While there are few things I enjoy more than hearing the sound of my own voice or the tap-tap of the keys as I bash out my opinions and thoughts at length, I'm afraid I'm not able to do those kinds of interviews anymore. Not enough hours in the day and there are so many clever people doing so many interesting assignments...... I've had to draw a line in the sand. Sorry. My thoughts on body image and magazines are a few questions down so just scroll. There's info on my career here which might help.You are welcome to take direct quotes from there so long as you attribute them back to me and this site.
Q: Can women have it all?
A: Well, you can try. I certainly have tried and
Q: Do you think magazines cause eating disorders?
A: No. Eating disorder experts back me up on this one - as do women who have eating disorders. Anorexia and bullimia and compulsive over-eating are complex mental and emotional conditions caused by a host of factors.
HOWEVER. I know what it's like to flick through a magazine and feel crap about myself and my body at the end of it. I think the fact that all magazines are fully of tall, skinny, mostly Anglo-Saxon 16 year-olds (aka fashion models) is lousy for the self esteem of anyone who is NOT tall, skinny, Anglo-Saxon and 16 (aka 99.9% of the female population). I think - no, I PASSIONATELY BELIEVE - that magazines and all forms of popular media including TV, music videos and movies should feature a diverse mix of women. Different shapes, sizes, skin colours and ages should be the norm, not an exception in a Dove commercial. How the hell else are we going to feel good about ourselves if we never see bodies and faces that look like us reflected back at us from glossy magazines? That's why I created Body Love when I was at Cosmo. And that's why I think magazines - and other forms of media - need to take responsibility for the images they present. Morally, karmically, ethically.There's my rant.
Q: Should I send you unsolicited advice or negative comments?
A: No.
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