Intro: Welcome backkkkk fellow readers! I know I was gone for a bit, but now I’m back and (I think) better than ever. Regardless today’s blog comes on a weird day. It’s not #NewStorySunday because we have an important guest, and she has an important launch/announcement. So please continue reading and leave a comment if you want to see more content like this one 🙂 Let’s get on into the interview!
V: To kick things off, who is Sarah?
SARAH: I am a senior journalism major and general business studies minor with a concentration in marketing. That’s the boring part about me. I grew up in the suburbs of Philly- about 45 minutes north. The town is called Harleysville, and it’s in the Bible Belt of PA. I love writing, editing and reading. I’ve always loved those things. I went to a tiny little Mennonite school my whole life, and I decided to come to Temple because I wanted to get out of that bubble. That was probably the best choice I ever made. I love all things health, fitness, and beauty related- basically anything you can find in a lifestyle magazine.
V: What’s your latest project?
SARAH: I decided to take it upon myself to create Temple’s first women’s lifestyle magazine. It’s called REFINE. I came up with that name because of Russell Conwell’s “Acres of Diamonds” speech. He talks about the refining process that carbon goes through to become a diamond. He then compares that to students. We start like carbon and go through the intense process of college, but then we come out as diamonds. REFINE doesn’t initially sound like it is tied to the university but then you hear the story, and it makes sense. Our tagline is “Pressure creates diamonds.”
V: Wow, that is so incredible! I’ve already seen people talking about it on social media. So what can someone find in the magazine?
SARAH: There are four core sections: Culture, Love, Health and Fashion. We have other articles and sections in the front and back of the book. There are things such as: spotlights on students, spotlights on staff, and horoscopes, which I love. My favorite part is the Feature Well, where we have longer articles on topics students really care about. It can be anything that students care about on campus; although it’s been a little tougher getting people to write those, but I have a bigger vision for it in the future. Our fashion shoots are also in there which were so much fun to do.
V: Other than Conwell’s speech was there other inspiration behind REFINE?
SARAH: This summer I was part of an internship program in New York City called the ASME (American Society of Magazine Editors) program. It was a ~big time~ internship that I was so blessed to receive. I was interning with more than 20 other people, and we were all placed at different magazines. Each week we met with different people in the magazine industry, and all of them were talking about their work and their college magazines. Everyone I interned with was either an Editor-in-Chief or writer for their college magazine, and I knew we didn’t have one at Temple. I wanted to be a part of something like that. So I thought: why don’t I just create it? While I interned at Reader’s Digest, I had this large Google Doc of ideas. I still have it so I can look back on it and laugh, but nothing made sense on it. It was all of my ideas. Then I threw out a question on Instagram asking people if they were interested in the idea, and got back about 20 DM’s the next morning. It really just started while I was at my internship, and wanting to have a publication on campus.
V: Who inspires you?
SARAH: I have two people I can think of. My first inspiration is Liz Plosser; she is the Editor-in-Chief of Women’s Health. She has been my inspiration for as long as I’ve been reading the magazine. I met her on my birthday, and it was definitely the best day of my life. She inspires me because she has been through so many careers, and has kids and a family, but still manages to balance her life. Her instagram is so transparent, which is normally not how an Editor-in-Chief is. My other inspiration is one of my best friends, who was my roommate during the internship, named Katie. She is the Editor-in-Chief of her college magazine at Ohio University, and she has been my support through it all. We are platonic soulmates.
V: What makes you excited nowadays?
SARAH: Right now, because it is launch day, I’m a bit stressed. But every time I see a piece of our design come together, I get so excited. It becomes more and more real everytime. I was actually at Maxi’s on Tuesday, and someone came up to me and asked, “Are you the Editor-in-Chief of REFINE?” And I replied, “Uhh yeah,” because I didn’t think people knew who I was. And she talked to me for about 20 minutes about how excited she was for the launch. Those interactions mean the world to me. Seeing the response on social media, and how needed this magazine was on campus is what is keeping me excited.
V: What is the future looking like for you? And for REFINE?
SARAH: So for me, I’m graduating in May. My goal right now is to move to New York, even though the rent is high. I want to work specifically in magazines in the wellness area. Women’s Health is my goal, but also digital platforms would be great too. I definitely want to get into magazines.
As for the future of REFINE, we are starting out as a semesterly publication, which is pretty spread out. But for the future I want to do a quarterly release. I’d also really like our blog content to go up to daily updates. However, I think the most important thing is that the fire doesn’t burn out. I want this to continue after I graduate, because I know it can be tough to make happen with everyone’s busy schedules.
V: Best piece of advice you’ve received?
SARAH: Over the summer, I got so much good advice. I think the best would be that if you want to do something, and that space doesn’t exist yet then you need to create that space. This is probably the advice I have for other people too. When I wanted what my friends had, I just had to make it. Know that you’re going to be exhausted, that it’s going to take time, that it’s going to be so much money…but if you’re passionate, you’ll be able to create a space that makes a difference. But also, just keep going. We have so many things to do, and sometimes it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. There are days I just break down and want to quit everything. Everyone has had that moment. You have to realize these 3-6 years, or however long you spend in college, are an intense time, but they are going to lead to something better.
V: Next question: What do you do when you’re not in school or working on REFINE?
SARAH: You can find me at the gym. I love working out. And I love writing about that stuff. When I was younger, I had an eating disorder so I love educating people about those things. I used to punish myself by working out, but now it’s something that I love. If I’m not at the gym, I’m in bed watching Netflix or Hulu because that’s just the person I am. It’s my getaway because I’m such an introvert.
V: I love a good Netflix session, won’t lie. Anything else you’d like people to know before the interview is over?
SARAH: Read REFINE. Drops today. Everyone should just know how hard my team worked on this. I couldn’t do anything without them. I’m so impressed they stayed with me throughout this crazy time. They probably thought I was psycho, but not only did they stick around, they also did some very impressive work.
V: That’s right! I love it when leaders are humble enough to give credit to their teams. It truly makes a difference. Regardless, to all the readers, make sure to check out REFINE (12/14 launch date!!), and check out their socials right here as well (@refine.magazine or www.refinemagazine.com/). And make sure to stay tuned for another story coming atcha soon 🙂
Xoxo,
V