I made my dream job happen—it only took an entire decade. Here’s how I turned a passion into a fierce, full-time career.

The other day when I was sorting through old boxes, I came across my high school newspapers from 2008. I was the fashion writer, in charge of reporting the latest trends, the hottest looks and which designers to watch out for. It was right up my alley. But if you’d told me that a decade later, I’d still be doing essentially the same thing, I’m not sure if I would have rolled my eyes or jumped for joy. (At least as high as my trendy platform sandals would let me.)

It made me realize that I’ve been writing about fashion for more than a decade now and I still love it. Honestly. Time really has flown because it’s been over ten years and I don’t think of it as work at all. Which, ironically, is probably how it ends up taking up so much of my time. Not that I’m complaining.

I was quite the little fashionista during my schooling years. I was meticulous about selecting my outfits—I had a fashionable reputation to uphold after all. One day in grade 9, I remember I wore a pair of kitten heel flip flops with clear plastic straps to school and a girl stopped me on my way to my locker to ask me if I thought this was a runway or a middle school hallway?

My answer: both.

I’ve cared about fashion for a long time. Even before I started writing, I was exploring my passion every chance I got. Whether it was coveting all the latest Mary-Kate & Ashley collections, showing up to grade 6 in a high-fashion head-to-toe camouflage look or cutting photos out of the Sears catalogue and making my own magazines.

Fashion was everywhere in my life and I consumed it ravenously.

Flash forward a few years, and I went from glueing models into scrapbooks to creating websites and blogs. Can you imagine my delight? I could write and share things online and people would actually see them! It was a dream. Although, I’m glad my first websites no longer exist because looking back, they were terrible.

My two favourite electives in high school were Fashion Studies and Creative Writing. I worked hard at both to learn as much as I could about both sides of my passion. From there, I studied English at college before switching to fashion design and then finally journalism.

However, during my time at fashion school, I still created opportunities for myself to write. I went to my professors and told them my goal (write for print magazines) and asked for their help. Who did they know that could help me? What could they do to assist my dreams? How could I go from designing clothes to writing about them?

Well, I ended up being a contributor for the local newspaper! It was fantastic. My first article was about different coffee shops in downtown Victoria and what kind of fashion they attracted. It was called “Americano With Room For Style” and I was over the moon with happiness.

But it wasn’t until I was studying journalism that I started seriously pursuing fashion writing as a career.

I’d been treating it like a snack, but I wanted it to be the whole damn meal.

I attended fashion events and blogged about them, I wrote the fashion column for my university newspaper, I did a fashion writing internship and I submerged myself in everything and anything to do with my passion.

Now, a decade later, I work as a fashion copywriter full-time, I blog on the side and I’m a contributing writer for Chloe Magazine. To a certain extent, I’ve achieved my dreams. Although, I’m always striving for more so I don’t think I’ll ever fully achieve them. But that’s just my personality.

However, fashion writing isn’t always what it seems like from the outside. Getting your pitches rejected, sucks. Chasing editors around for months just for them to turn you away is rough. And unfortunately, there are a lot of bullies in the industry. Plus, there’s always the issue of publications wanting you to work for free. No, thank you.

I’ll never forget one of my professors saying that in journalism, you won’t make any money but you’ll have a fabulous social life. Coincidentally, I heard that when I was studying fashion as well. And to a degree, it’s true. Throughout my career I’ve attended the most glamorous parties, had the opportunity to work with local brands and, one of my favourite perks, stay in some of the best hotels. Sure, I’m not rolling in cash, but my wealth of experiences is high.

At the end of the day I love what I do and I’m not going to let any amount of rejection or negative vibes stop me. I power through, I take charge and I’m thankful that all of these years later, I’m still writing with a smile on my face. And a statement lip colour, of course.

—ᴍᴍᴍ