Monthly Archives: April 2020

Pixabay/kreatikar

In order to maintain communication with patients, optical practices have been utilising social platforms to share updates and to reassure the public that their optometrists are there to help.

According to data from the insights and consulting firm, Kantar, social media engagement during the pandemic has increased by 61% over normal usage rates, with overall Facebook usage increasing 37%.

Bayfields Opticians has been keeping in touch with clients through a mixture of email communications with clinical updates and information, and social media posts that feature more of a personal touch.

We are a family business, explained founder and managing director, Royston Bayfield, adding: It is important that comes across in all communications internally and externally.

Bayfields Opticians has a network of 19 practices nationally. Describing the impact of COVID-19 on business as huge, Mr Bayfield confirmed that services were being offered remotely and that practices are still open for essential and emergency eye care and hearing care, though a number of employees have been furloughed.

Despite the change in approach to delivering eye care, Mr Bayfield said the group has still been busy, explaining: Across the group in one week weve taken 400 telephone calls from people wanting care.

There is clearly a need for us as a profession to be there for clients at this time and were trying to do our bit, he added.

Commenting on the approach the group has taken to social media, Mr Bayfield said: The social channels are about reaffirming that we are here for clients. We are a family business and we want to make sure they know that, during this time, it is real people that are here for them.

Social media posts from Bayfields Opticians range from information and resources, such as a checklist for contact lens wearers to answer key questions during the outbreak, to videos and pictures of how the teams are spending their spare time during the lockdown.

As the network spans the country, Mr Bayfield highlighted the importance of engaging with the communities in which Bayfields Opticians practices are based, through social media.

Mr Bayfield also emphasised the importance of communication inside the business, highlighting that he has been providing updates for staff throughout the outbreak, as well as providing training resources.

Managing director and dispensing optician at Allegro Optical, Sheryl Doe, delivering emergency repairs in Holmfirth and Saddleworth

Based in the north west of England, Allegro Optical has also been uploading pictures and videos of the practice teams and their lives in lockdown.

The opticians has closed its doors during the outbreak with managing director and dispensing optician at Allegro Optical, Sheryl Doe, adding that the practice has generated no income since the day it closed.

The practice has been offering repairs free of charge during the period, with Ms Doe adding: All the optometrists are furloughed so it is just me doing the triaging and all repairs.

On closing the practice, the team called all its elderly clients to explain the situation and offer support. They then also shared the message across social media.

With the practice doors closed, it is essential to maintain our relationship with our clients and let them know that we are still here if they need us and that we are all in this together

We have worked with the new volunteer networks, many of which didnt exist before COVID-19, Ms Doe added, explaining that these groups help to deliver the practices message around the village.

The practice has also been supporting the network, Ms Doe explained: If someone from the group is picking up a prescription and were repairing glasses for the same person or a neighbour, we will pick up that prescription and save them the job freeing the volunteer up for another errand.

This has worked well and even generated new clients for us, who have asked to be added to our database and require tests once restrictions are lifted, Ms Doe added.

Commenting on the importance of using social media to keep in touch with patients during this period, Ms Doe said: I think the old adage: Out of sight, out of mind, is very relevant at this time. With the practice doors closed, it is essential to maintain our relationship with our clients and let them know that we are still here if they need us and that we are all in this together.

The practice has been sharing updates of how the team has been spending the time during the outbreak, from screenshots of virtual socials, to pictures of Ms Doe delivering emergency repairs to patients.

We have always been quite personal in our approach to social media, Ms Doe said, adding: We feel that if people get to know, like and trust us, we will have a customer for life.

Posts featuring a team member also appear to receive more engagement, she added: We have found that a post showing a staff member cutting a birthday cake, playing an instrument, gaining a qualification, graduating and so on receives huge engagement. Even greater if it features their pet.

The practice specialises in musicians eye care, and so whilst in lockdown the team members have also been creating musical pieces to entertain patients.

James Brook, clinical support technician at Allegro Opticians, played a rendition of Amazing Grace on the euphonium, arranged by managing director Stephen Tighe, and dedicated to keyworkers.

We try to keep our social media about us and show that we are real people, Ms Doe said. All our staff are local, and by featuring them we can also reach a wider audience as their friends like, comment or share.

Also aiming to keep people connected and maintain engagement with its clients, Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care has launched Leightons Social to bring virtual activities to its communities whilst in lockdown.

Leightons Social is not just about social platforms. Weve called it Leightons Social as a social club created for our patients and for us to be able to continue to engage with them, Sue Dover, director of marketing for Leightons, told OT.

Leightons branches are currently offering remote care, including remote consultations, repairs, replacements and contact lens ordering.

For us, Leightons Social is about making sure we continue to support our community during what is such a difficult time, Ms Dover added.

Leightons Social provides a variety of interactive activities, groups and content to help keep people busy during the lockdown, but also to help customers to keep connected with their optometrists and branch managers.

Though designed with its customers in mind, the platform is available to anyone and features weekly brain teasers and quizzes, a book club, an educational section and puzzle packs for children.

Members of the Leighton team will be involved in delivering the content, with area managers hosting quizzes in what Ms Dover called a great opportunity for them to engage whilst the branches are closed.

We created Leightons Social from a position of considering what the right thing to do would be. As a family-owned business we are fiercely proud of that, with those family values resonating throughout the business. This was just an extension of that, Ms Dover said.

Describing the response as amazing, Ms Dover commented: We were really astounded at the number of people wanting to sign up and the level of engagement with the activities.

Its lovely to know it is something that was wanted, we are responding to a need, she added.

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic transforms the way optometrists practise, OT is sharing the experiences of optometrists across the UK. If you, or a colleague, is interested in sharing your story, please get in touch by email.

OT endeavours to keep the most up-to-date news on our website and this information was correct when published. However, the situation regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) is rapidly evolving. Please check OTs rolling optics-specific coveragefor the latest news and guidance on COVID-19.

Read the rest here:

Connection through social isolation - AOP

It is an accepted notion that a creative person needs time and solitude to ponder over unique ideas and utilise creative skills to materialise these ideas.In most cases, artistic creativity is pursued as a hobby. People who are busy with their jobs often struggle to find time and serenity to work on their creative ideas. The novel coronavirus pandemic and resultant phenomenon of social distancing can be a good opportunity for creative individuals to make maximum use of their time at home.Since the outbreak of the virus, psychological and medical experts have been laying stress on the need to get involved in some positive and constructive activities while staying at home to ward off the negativity and stress. With the passage of time, established artists and art teachers have started encouraging people to utilise their creative strains to fight the negative strains.Amber Rauf, a young Qatar-born Pakistani, is a versatile artist and a much-sought-after teacher. I consider myself as a contemporary artist. I have been teaching arts for more than four years now. I have mostly been carrying workshops for the art and design enthusiasts.Amber, a graduate from Aptech Qatar, further said: I am a professional surface designer. I design fashion prints collection for local brands in Qatar. Also, for two years, I am giving sustainable awareness talk sessions as a speaker for well-reputed organisations such as Qatar Cancer Society and Green Building Council and this year, I have also given upcycling workshop with Abdullah Abdulghani Toyota Showroom.Like many other talented people, Amber has also been taking the heath crisis as an opportunity to do the things she has so far been unable to do due to lack of time. I am trying to utilise this time by doing things which were impossible or I could not do because I had no time off from my normal daily routine. One of the most important things was that I always wanted to launch my exclusive collection which anyone can buy directly online. Now that I have more time to create art. I am keeping myself busy making a series of art pieces which I will be uploading soon online under my new brand name Finesse Creation my focus is currently setting up my online retail shop.Having no other option during the unusual times, the young art teacher has also resorted to digital platforms to stay connected with her students. Well, I started receiving messages from students who previously attended my workshops, and they requested me if I could give online workshops something which they can learn easily from home and also engage their kids in creative activities since schools are closed, and they have plenty of time staying at home. I am trying my best to provide quality art education online by creating PDF lessons which are followed by easy instructions with images, step by step guide to learn without any confusion.Also, I am recording videos now, just showing my hands working and making art. Which I think will definitely be more helpful.Amber asks all amateur artists and art enthusiasts to do whatever they wanted to because it was the time for them. This is the best time to do all the things you like; rediscovering yourself, spending time practicing and focusing on your skills for improvement. It can be writing, painting, sketching, pottery, photography, or embroidery. I am sure we all have some kind of creativity within us and this is the time to work on it.Keeping yourself busy by doing interesting tasks will keep your mind diverted and stay positive during these circumstances. As everyone and everything is online at the moment, every artist should take advantage of this and promote themselves through social media because people are going to notice you as they are spending more time online. Also, doing some kind of collaboration would be a great idea. For example, you can start an interesting project. If you are good in photography or making videos then you can reach out to your fellow artists and ask them for photography or video editing. Supporting and backing each other at this time will spread good vibes and entertain people.

Excerpt from:

Time to rediscover, express yourself in creative ways - Gulf Times

We are your neighbors and friends, and we have all been through many high and lows.

The strength of our communities flow through each of us individually, and we are asking you to be the one who brings happiness to others.

Be the one who shines in the darkness.

Be the one who brings a smile back to someones face.

Be the one who shares inspiration in hopes of uplifting a neighbor.

From Community Media Groups Be the One video

You may not be all that familiar with Community Media Group, but you are certainly familiar with at least one of the newspapers in the Community Media Group family namely this one.

Community Media Group newspapers serve hundreds of communities in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, and over the last few weeks weve seen heroes in every single one of them. The bravery and selflessness of our health care providers, emergency personnel, grocery store employees and so many others has been nothing short of astonishing. We will continue to tell their stories and bring our readers the important local information they need each and every day, both in our printed products and through our websites.

Theres another sort of outstanding person emerging these days too, and thats who our Be the One project is all about.

Im talking about the people who have been inspiring us to stay active, healthy and positive throughout all of this. Theyre the ones who have been putting smiles on our faces and making us laugh during these dark and scary days.

With that in mind, were challenging the readers of all Community Media Group newspapers to participate in our Be the One project by visiting one of the following Be the One pages and uploading a video, photo or story that you think might put a smile on someones face and help them stay positive.

communitynewspapergroup.com/waverly_newspapers/be_the_one/

communitynewspapergroup.com/vinton_newspapers/be_the_one/

communitynewspapergroup.com/independence_bulletin_journal/be_the_one/

communitynewspapergroup.com/oelwein_daily_register/be_the_one/

Maybe its something extraordinary, like a video of a long parade of cars for a kid who cant have a birthday party.

Maybe its something clever, like a well-edited video making the rounds in upstate New York of the Canandaigua Academy softball team playing catch with each other virtually.

Maybe its something entertaining, like a granddad playing the banjo, a dad trying to moonwalk or a full-fledged family dance routine.

Maybe its something inspiring, like a video of a nature walk or exercise routine to get people off the couch.

Or maybe its something super simple but touching, like photos of chalk drawings from kids that might lift someones spirits.

Show us how youre passing the time. Show us how youre reaching out while still staying apart. Show us the best of the communities we serve.

How you take up this challenge is really up to you. Just remember the goals inspire, uplift and make someone smile.

So please, share your story. Spread the joy. And be the one.

Continue reading here:

Share your story, spread the joy, be the one - Cedar Valley Daily Times

Editors note: The Salt Lake Tribune is providing readers free access to critical local stories about the coronavirus during this time of heightened concern. See more coverage here. To support journalism like this, please consider donating or become a subscriber.

Jarrod Phillips felt fine, but a digital newsletter he subscribes to encouraged him to take the coronavirus survey at TestUtah.com.

The Farmington resident answered the questionnaire Wednesday. Despite his lack of symptoms, the website booked Phillips an appointment for the next morning at a free COVID-19 testing center in South Ogden.

I think everyone would be curious whether they have it, Phillips said, whether they have symptoms or not.

While the Utah Department of Health has pleaded for people with any of six symptoms to get tested for the coronavirus, a coalition of Utahs technology sector, in partnership with state government, has extended testing to a wider group: those without signs of COVID-19 but who are selected by an algorithm.

The TestUtah.com effort has used a social media campaign with the slogan Crush the Curve and Test Utah Challenge to steer people to the website. It is an example of the varying messages about testing delivered to Utahns and other Americans.

Health experts have said widespread testing is necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus, given research showing people without symptoms can carry and spread it. Yet some states dont have enough COVID-19 tests for even the obviously sick residents they have.

In Utah, however, state epidemiologist Angela Dunn has said the state has more testing capacity than demand. During the past week, she has pleaded for those with any of six symptoms fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle aches, or loss of taste or smell to seek testing even if their symptom is mild.

Dunn has stopped short of endorsing the testing of asymptomatic people through TestUtah.com or elsewhere. She said a group from Utah hospitals and other public health components have set the testing criteria she has promoted.

Its my understanding that [TestUtah.com is] looking to come on board with the guidelines that have been set, Dunn said at a news conference Thursday, ... and thats what were recommending to them.

There is a place for asymptomatic testing in this pandemic, she added moments later, but its necessary to have a very thoughtful approach in terms of recruiting who should be tested if they dont have symptoms, so we can accurately interpret those results and use good data to inform policy going forward.

Following their lead

In her weekday news conferences, Dunn has directed anyone with symptoms to the states coronavirus website. On Friday, the state announced 6,093 new test results and noted that the number included 3,388 new negative results from TestUtah.com that had not previously been reported.

It was unclear Friday whether asymptomatic people could still be selected for testing. Clint Betts, executive director of the nonprofit Silicon Slopes organization, said the TestUtah.com operators were working with state health officials and following their lead.

There also is a concern that people with no COVID-19 symptoms but who are carriers of the virus are more likely to have a false-negative result. That could distort epidemiologists understanding of hot spots and discourage the asymptomatic person from social distancing.

Theres no harm in getting a test if youre asymptomatic, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who has led the states coronavirus task force, said this week. We do know the validity of those tests [goes] down a bit. Certainly asymptomatic people who have the disease [are] out there.

If people have the desire to get tested and start to figure out where some of that is, the broader the testing we do, the better off were going to be. We would still rather find somebody who is asymptomatic and has the disease."

TestUtah.com was created and is administered by Silicon Slopes and a coalition of Utah technology firms. Dave Elkington, chairman of the sales platform Xant and a co-founder of Silicon Slopes, said the website is using an algorithm and methodology based on the testing criteria approved by the state health department.

But on days when demand is lower than testing capacity, Elkington said, the state makes the decision to increase or decrease the criteria for testing, permitting TestUtah.com to refer some asymptomatic people for testing.

The algorithm is determined and dictated by the state, Elkington said Friday. We are the facilitator.

Three Utah companies Nomi Health, Domo and Qualtrics have contracts with the state to operate the website and testing. The contracts were issued through the office of Gov. Gary Herbert and have not been made public, but representatives of Silicon Slopes have said all data collected by the website belongs to the Utah Department of Health.

Elkington said he doesnt know how many asymptomatic people have been tested or how many of the tests facilitated by TestUtah.com came back positive. Even aggregated data, he said, goes to the state.

Besides facilitating testing, TestUtah.com also has received about 77,000 evaluations submitted by website visitors. That information, which includes personal details as well as whether the respondent has suffered a job loss or mental health problems due to the pandemic, also has been submitted to the health department.

Those who are selected for COVID-19 tests are directed to a drive-thru test site in Provo, Orem, Heber City, South Ogden, Roosevelt, Vernal or St. George. All tests are free.

That made a big difference for Melinda Layten, 43, who lives in Lehi with her husband. She lost her job in December and was trying to find a new one when the pandemic ruined all her prospects.

She then began experiencing a cough that she assumed was caused by seasonal allergies. Layten said her life could be put at risk if she contracted COVID-19 due to a previous viral infection of her heart.

I was 95% sure it wasnt COVID, Layten said. Weve been practicing social distancing, taking precautions. We were always using the hand sanitizer, but theres always that nagging concern in the back of your head that somethings wrong.

After uploading her information to TestUtah.com, Layten was referred to the testing site in Orem on April 10. She received her result, a negative, the next evening, easing her mind.

Our country as a whole is not doing a good job getting people tested, Layten said. So I really appreciate that the state is stepping up and taking care of things like this.

Specimens from Layten and other subjects are collected by trained medical personnel wearing personal protective equipment another resource in short supply across the country and which yet could be scarce in Utah.

Elkington said TestUtah.com has been able to provide each test and its result to the state at a cost of about $50 a test. Some news outlets have reported stories of individuals elsewhere paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a single test.

TestUtah.com has been boosting its capacity. It facilitated 1,626 tests Thursday, Betts said. Elkington said its operations can process up to 6,000 a day if the state asks for it.

Elkington said he has spoken with an executive at Apple in charge of health care products and four state governors about what Utah and Silicon Slopes is doing and whether it can be replicated elsewhere. He declined to name the governors.

Phillips, the Farmington resident, saw getting tested as doing his part to slow the coronavirus.

The more people that are tested, he said, the more accurate the numbers will be and the better idea we will have of how to deal with something like this.

Phillips was waiting for his results as of Friday afternoon.

Tribune reporters Erin Alberty and Courtney Tanner contributed to this report.

Editors note Clint Betts serves on The Salt Lake Tribunes nonprofit board of directors.

More here:

Silicon Slopes has tested a wide swath of Utah for coronavirus even people without symptoms - Salt Lake Tribune

When it comes to the saturated smartphone market of today, competition is certainly great. Besides the race between brands to put out the best combinations of hardware and software in mobile devices, marketing also plays a huge role in the success of any productjust ask Apple. Therefore, Oppos decision to work with Mohamed (Mo) Salah of Liverpool FC certainly makes a lot of sense.

Salah is a current first team player at English Premier League team Liverpool, and has gained worldwide fame for his exploits in Europe with the Merseyside-based club. The global following that he enjoys also means that the Liverpool player enjoys lucrative sponsorship deals. However, a recent sponsored post that was uploaded on Salahs Twitter account didnt exactly go according to plan.

Like countless others before him, Salah shared a couple of images in a apparent sponsored post, where he is seen to be holding an Oppo smartphoneprobably the Find X2 or Find X2 Pro. Theres not much in the way of text, besides a mention of Oppo Arabia, where he is an Oppo ambassador. However, look closely, and youll spot Salahs blunder: Twitter for iPhone.

It looks like Salah prefers to use an iPhone over any of Oppos Android devices, with the images and post shared on an iPhone. This, of course, isnt the first time something like this has happened. Back in early 2019, a Huawei employee was reportedly in trouble with the company for uploading a Tweet on the official company Twitter with an iPhone.

Twitter always displays the client used to share a Tweet, whether its via the companys iOS, Android, or browser-based clients. In Salahs case, the images were probably uploaded by a PR manager, or firm, that handles his commercial duties. Still, Im pretty sure that the Tweet wasnt taken to kindly by Oppo.

If youre looking for the Tweet, it has since been deleted of the page by Salah (or his manager). There hasnt been a reupload of the images just yet, but it seems likely that the sponsored Tweet from the Liverpool star will be uploaded with an Android device when the time comes.

Mo Salah, like most other professional footballers in major European leagues, is currently on hiatus as most of the world goes into lockdown to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Liverpool FC, for whom the Egyption forward plays, is currently en route to winning its first league title in 30 years. There hasnt been a definite plan of action yet, and there are even suggestions that the season could be declared null and void.

Perhaps Salah had other things on his mind, then.

[ VIA ]

Read the original here:

Oppo won't be happy with Liverpool player Mo Salah's recent Tweet - SoyaCincau.com

Lauren Indvik.

Photo: Jamie Spence/Courtesy of Lauren Indvik

In our long-running series, "How I'm Making It," we talk to people making a living in the fashion and beauty industries about how they broke in and found success.

When current Financial Times fashion editor Lauren Indvik graduated from college in 2009, jobs were in scarce supply. Though fashion magazines were having their day in the pop culture spotlight this was the era of "The Devil Wears Prada" and "The September Issue" the reality facing recent grads was much bleaker as the nation staggered its way out of the Great Recession.

"There were no jobs at the time," Indvik recalls on the phone.

As inhospitable as the job market might have been when she started out, Indvik's career trajectory looks far more like a parable about how to succeed in a rapidly-changing landscape than a cautionary tale about the woes of graduating in a recession. As online publications pioneered new territory and legacy titles began the clunky pivot to digital, Indvik found herself navigating the Wild West of internet publishing and quickly established herself as a trusted voice in the fashion industry with a knack for growing digital audiences.

"It used to be all about who you know or who your parents know," the American-born journalist says from her current home in London, England. "It's so much more of a meritocracy now you can't really bullshit anymore; you have to be good at your work. There is no substitute for actually learning the industry."

Related ArticlesWhat Is the Future of the 'Fashion Editor' as a Career?How Vanessa Friedman Became One of the Foremost Critics in the Fashion IndustryThe Shifting Media Landscape Has Also Changed the Dynamics of Mentorship

Indvik cut her teeth at media startups like Mashable and finance site The Street, led our very own Fashionista as it firmly established itself as a respected industry news source, freelanced for publications like the New York Times and InStyle and helped launch Vogue Business before landing in her current role at the Financial Times.

We caught up with Indvik to hear how she landed her dream job after starting a career in an intimidating economic climate. Read on for the highlights of our conversation.

At what point did you know you wanted to work in fashion?

I never thought about fashion as a career. My dad wanted me to study economics, and he started cutting out Christina Binkley's columns in the Wall Street JournaI. Once a month when I was in college he'd mail me a giant pack of her clips. She'd use fashion as a lens to talk about culture and business, and I started seeing fashion in a different light.

My first internship in college was at this magazine called Ocean, which doesn't exist anymore. I assisted the fashion director on shoots and we did one in Tijuana at a matador ring where we all got robbed. We often couldn't get enough samples for shoots, so we went into department stores and bought what we couldn't get loaned. It was my responsibility after the shoots to try to return thousands of dollars worth of stuff.

My junior year of college I went on Ed2010, where you could buy the mastheads of each magazine for like $5 and get access to email addresses. I emailed every editorial assistant that I could find, and it totally worked.

When I finally got an email from someone at Vogue, I cold-emailed Scott Schuman at The Sartorialist about what to wear to this interview. He actually responded, and thank god, because I would've shown up in a total fall look for an August interview. I was in New Hampshire, so my boyfriend drove me in for an interview in New York at like three in the morning. I remember changing in the car. The actual interview lasted maybe five minutes, but I got the internship and was over the moon.

My first day at Voguewas amazing. They gave me a town car and a driver for the day. That was the era when people were so impressed by Vogue that they would do all kinds of favors to get in the magazine. I started in January 2008; they had just shot "The September Issue." A lot of the internship was me going on "Devil Wears Prada"-esque errands for editors.

How did you go from that to working forThe Street,a finance site?

I loved how there was a cultural excellence at Vogue at the time, and I initially wanted to graduate early and start my career in New York immediately. But once I got back to school in New Hampshire, I had this very weird reaction. I had gotten out of that Vogue bubble I lost a lot of weight while I was there and really cared about appearances. It was very competitive. I started to think it wasn't a way for me to be a good person. When I got back to Dartmouth, I started volunteering a ton at places like Habitat for Humanity.

I had been so sure for so long that I wanted to work at Vogue that when I didn't want to work at Vogue anymore, I had no idea what to do. I got an internship at an ad agency and quickly learned that I didn't want to work in advertising. I did a bunch more interviews at Cond Nast and at The Street. I knew there were editors in their 30s at Vogue who were still getting lunches for their bosses, so I decided not to go to Cond Nast. I didn't want to get stuck on a steady career ladder. I wanted to get as far up as I could, as quickly as I could.

I went to The Street and within six months they promoted me and I had a team of four people. My job was basically to help them figure out how to drive traffic and establish a voice on Facebook and Twitter, which is hilarious because I didn't know anything about finance. I was really focused on traffic referrals and on boosting traffic numbers.

I was anxious, though. I remember when I graduated from Dartmouth someone told me Dartmouth was a big brand name, and he said, 'Make sure you stay with big brand names. Sometimes people take an obscure job when they graduate and you never hear from them again.' I was convinced that's what I had done I started at this company no one had heard of, and would never be able to break into a big company.

How did you transition from The Street to Mashable?

I thought Mashable was the future of media and I really wanted to work there I had friends at Google who were like, 'Mashable's so cool!' When they had a job opening I took it. I also took a pay cut, which I've done for every single job I've taken except for one.

My parents were like, 'What are you doing it's a blog, it's not even a real company!' I was working from my kitchen table. But I got to see firsthand how you scale a media company. When I started we were 12 people, and when I left three and a half years later, we were 160.

My job was to copy edit the whole website, run Facebook and Twitter and also somehow write three to seven posts a day until my eyes bled. Back then it was blogging, it wasn't reporting, so you'd find stuff on the internet and then put a Mashable spin on it.

I still think that was one of my favorite jobs I've ever had, because they let me cover whatever I wanted. Because I was interested in fashion, I'd write a lot about how digital technology and e-commerce were disrupting the industry. I got to meet a lot of editors that way, and those editors started reading what I was writing.

Did you have your eye on Fashionista as a place to move to next?

I had reached a ceiling at Mashable so I started looking around for jobs. At that point I really wanted to go to a big brand I wanted the prestige and the access I couldn't get at Mashable. I was very much like, 'I'm done with fashion.' But then I met with [Fashionista's CEO] about becoming editor-in-chief and that was when I really started to think, 'What would it be like to do this?'

I didn't get the job initially. They offered me the managing editor job, and I said no. Probably what I'm most proud of is that I asked [Fashionista's CEO] out to breakfast and I said, 'You're making a huge mistake by not hiring me,' and I listed all the reasons I thought I was the best person for the job. They came back and were like, 'How do you feel about being co-editor in chief?' I was thrilled.

Describe what the media landscape was like when you started at Fashionista in 2013.

It was the end of blogs. That was the time when The Cut and Fashionista were more like curators you'd go see what the trade publications were covering and aggregate it. There was not that much original reporting, so there was a big opportunity.WWD wasn't really transitioning that well to digital, Business of Fashion at the time was still [CEO and founder] Imran [Amed]'s side project. I thought, 'We can do business and we can make it really accessible for people who work in the industry or want to.' We started doing more original reporting, which was how I thought we could survive and grow our audience. It was really fun. I stayed for two and half years.

What prompted you to move from that position into freelancing?

I really missed writing and I felt like I was too young to just be a desk editor. I needed to go out and actually become a good reporter. It was hard you don't make a lot of money as a freelancer. I had this idea in my head like, 'I'll be really free and just write for the New York Times.' But actually, if you just wrote for the New York Times, you would never make enough money to support yourself. I never did commercial work, which I know most freelancers do I was really afraid that that would prevent me from being able to do certain kinds of editorial work. Probably not true, but that's what I thought. I did the $2 per word trade stories so I could afford to do vocational pieces for the New York Times or Wall Street Journal.

How did you end up transitioning out of freelancing?

I was living in London by this point, and I would have stayed freelance, maybe, if I didn't need a visa. At that point I was just like, 'I love London, I'll take any job.' I was offered two: one at a brand, the other at Cond Nast.

They were going to build this new internal Vogue hub, and they needed someone to come in and set it up. I told them, 'I'm much more interested in business and trade journalism, and I need you to sponsor my visa.' I didn't hear from them for a while so I wrote them this email to say I was taking the other job. Then they snapped into action, saying they'd sponsor my visa, pay for my move and give me a full-time job.

While all this is happening, I had applied for this visa for tech entrepreneurs saying, essentially, 'I can come to the U.K. and help media companies with digital.' So then all of a sudden I had this five-year visa and I could just stay freelance if I wanted. But at that point I was really interested in the Vogue project. I knew that one day I wanted to work at the Financial Times as a fashion editor, and I'd been thinking about how to make my CV super competitive.

I started by helping set up this international Vogue hub there are all these Vogues, something like 27 or 28 internationally, and every day they were replicating the same functions, like uploading the exact same runway show to the websites. The company was like, 'This is crazy, we need a central hub so we can start marshaling these digital teams together and find efficiencies.'

How did that lead to you helping launch Vogue Business?

The company had looked at the landscape and knew that print media was probably not going to get any bigger. They were looking for new revenue-generating activities, and thought, 'There's a B2B [business-to-business] publication opportunity.' We ran a series of tests to figure out whether this could generate revenue, and we decided that a newsletter was going to be our best way to do it. We got a few hundred luxury execs to sign up as our testing pool.

It was just me in terms of editorial I was a writer, editor and occasional photo editor. Originally the newsletter was once a week, then three times a week, then daily. I'd write about all kinds of things in all kinds of voices and we saw what resonated.

When we talked to readers based in the U.S. or in the U.K., they said 'WWD and BoF are everything we need.' But we started talking to people in other markets like Brazil, Russia and India, and that was not the case, because those publications don't cover their markets. Maybe they'll do a piece every few years, but [our readers] said, 'They never talk to the right people, they don't have authority in our market.'Meanwhile we had 20-something Vogues in all of these markets, using their networks and insights to make beautiful consumer magazines. We thought, 'What if we started mining those to create really great trade stories?'

We started telling local business stories because they weren't out there. That's what we ended up launching with this idea that we could be a truly global, digital B2B media platform.

Talk to me a little bit about your current role at the Financial Times, which is quite new. What are you hoping to accomplish there?

It's my dream job. I never thought I was going to get it. But I had more of an international mindset, and they were wanting to make the pages more global. I also had a business background.

I've been in the role for three months and it's certainly not what I thought it would look like I wrote out my 180-day plan and then the coronavirus happened. So it's been an incredibly interesting time.My hope is to make our Style coverage more international and diverse in scope; deepen our coverage of the fashion business; and be more creative about the way we tell stories, especially online. There are other projects in the works, but I can't talk about them yet!

The fun challenge at the Financial Times is that you're not preaching to the converted. A lot of the readers are not necessarily interested in fashion. I'm not writing for an industry audience here; I'm writing for people who may buy from these brands, or are interested in business, or are analysts who might invest in these companies. They're trying to understand whether this creative vision is going to translate commercially. It's a fun audience to write for.

As someone who entered media when it was really finding its footing digitally, I'm curious about how you think social media fits into all this.

I think social media is a fundamental part of a journalist's job, both for taking a pulse on what people and the industry are feeling and thinking, but also as part of your output. At the same time, social media is designed to be addictive and can be a big distraction like anything, it's about moderating your time and maximizing your efforts there.

It's a really personal thing, though. I know writers and editors who are very successful and do almost no social media. Like Cathy Horyn, for example she doesn't do anything on social media, really.

I used to be very active on Twitter when I was a news reporter, but as I've gotten older, I'm a lot shyer. I sometimes wish I didn't even have a byline. I've been an editor for so long and I'm used to being behind the scenes. When you start reporting again, it's almost a little scary being on the frontline and having people know it's your work.

Any advice for aspiring fashion media professionals?

First, have a dream job in mind, even if you're not absolutely sure what your dream job is. I really admired Vanessa Friedman, and I had a pretty good idea by 23 that I wanted to be fashion editor of the Financial Times or a close equivalent. For me the question became: How do I make myself the best candidate for the job when it opens up? Every six months or so, I'd have a check-in to make sure I was still progressing towards that goal.

Second, read everything you can. There are many fantastic publications that cover the fashion industry WWD, Business of Fashion, Vestoj, Vogue Business, Fashionista, Glossy as well as individual writers at bigger publications, such as Elizabeth Paton at the New York Times or Marc Bain at Quartz. Sign up for their newsletters, add them to your RSS feeds, follow them on Twitter or Instagram and read them every day. Find books that will teach you about the history of fashion and the fashion business. Read outside fashion, too. Learn what's going on in China and in other industries. Really learn and interrogate sustainability; it's going to be the big story in fashion for the next several decades. And read great writing that has nothing to do with fashion.

Lastly, be reliable, meet deadlines and master your role. Many assistants and interns I've worked with are keen to write as soon as possible, which is great! But it's important to show you can be relied on to fulfill your responsibilities first, including the more boring parts, such as admin. Even more than good clips, that will set you up for promotions. When it comes to writing, study the edits your editors make, and learn not to make the same mistakes again.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Stay current on the latest trends, news and people shaping the fashion industry. Sign up for our daily newsletter.

More:

How Lauren Indvik Navigated an Uncertain Media Landscape to Land Her Dream Fashion Job - Fashionista