Introducing Rachael...
My god mother was the fashion editor of Cosmopolitan years ago. When I was in primary school she let me spend a day on set of a cover shoot that she was styling using Deborah Hutton as the model. Deborah had a deep throaty laugh that I imitated for weeks afterwards (how irritating for everyone that must have been!). It was my first taste of fashion magazines and I loved it. My mother has alway worked in fashion and I have always loved writing and been obsessed with beauty and beauty products (by the age of 20 I had written an 'amateur hour' beauty book).
I was working for a television production company when I heard about a job at a new magazine I really liked. When I arrived at the interview I found out that the position had already been filled, but the editor liked me and created a position on another magazine she was relaunching. So a week later I started writing on that magazine under the supervision of the deputy editor. To start with, it was just the two of us working on the magazine, so I suppose it was like an intense internship. I was given health and beauty stories to write and anything else they thought I could write too (book reviews etc). It was a great learning curve and I loved every minute of it.
I also asked if I could style any shoots to feed my fashion fetish. Magazines are always short-staffed so offering to help is a win-win for both - you get the experience they get more for their money. I did this for a few months and waited for the position I really wanted (fashion and beauty editor) to become available. Pretty soon it did! I was given the job and it has been smooth sailing ever since.
I have now been a beauty editor for just over six years and still love it as much as did when I started. Shooting beauty is so much fun and so fulfilling. Getting the proof sheets back from a shoot is alway exiting - to see the results of a team of people working towards inspiring beautiful pictures is a huge thrill. Cleo is the one of the highest selling women's lifestyle magazines in Australia, it has an amazing team and a fabulous editor so I feel very fortunate to be working here and am excited about what lies ahead.
I have a zillion beauty tips and tricks so feel free to write to me anytime.
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