my first week at cg!

Meeting the editor in chief of any magazine is a daunting experience, especially one that I avidly read as a teenager. Nonetheless, Susan was incredibly charming from the moment I stepped in her office. However, her interview questions were tough and she most definitely kept me on my toes. As soon as Susan hired us, she immediately challenged us by giving us our first assignment: to interview and write a sidebar for an upcoming cover story for the October issue. As you may well know, Andrew and myself had already interviewed celebs (remember our misadventures on the CFDA red carpet?) but I nonetheless felt nervous! Even though we had a day or two to write the sidebar, I tend to be an overachiever and obsess about details while forgetting the big picture.

Meeting with Susan: Since the sidebar was a so-called competition, I strode into Susan’s office with a façade of confidence (obviously I was terrified). After pitching my quirky ideas – such as how “Virgo” she is or what her random ticks are (I constantly play with my hair). But after Susan and Michelle “praised” me and my questions, I was let onto their secret: I had been tricked! Even though the interview had been planned, the window of opportunity had closed. Susan could have told us, but she told us she wanted to see what we put togther in terms of questions and how thoroughly we did our research. So she didn’t tell us it had fallen through until after we pitched our ideas! She explained that this kind of stuff happens all the time with celebs—timing of interviews can always change at the last minutes—and complimented me on the research I did to prepare. So even though I didn’t get to do the interview, it was still a good experience.

Eye Candy Assignment: Instead of writing and competing for a sidebar (which would have been a juicy published clip for me), Susan gave me an assignment that was far better: assisting on the Eye Candy shoot. I mean come on, those guys are gorgeous, and I always learn a tremendous amount on any shoot. But a hot shoot with sexy boys – done!

Meeting with Alicia: once I was informed that I would be participating on the eye candy shoot (!!), I met with the bookings editor, Alicia, to review the male model’s books and see what they had to offer. When I worked with her, she taught me how to pick the right guy for the right look. And for the record, its not the easiest job. With the Eye Candy shoot, for example, we were looking for “beefier”, hunky, all-American guys versus high fashion models.

It was so much fun working with Alicia and getting to check out the cute boys.

XOXO,
Rachel