Going freelance can be a pretty tough thing if not done right. I mean, I tried it, and within three months I was unbelievably bored and uninspired. Staying in my PJs all day was not good for my mind or my motivation levels, but I could have learned a thing or two from former Dolly Editor turned CLEO editor  Gemma Crisp, who proved that maintaining contacts and motivation levels by working around (and with) others could take you far in freelance world. In this interview, Crisp tells us how she got her start in magazines and how it feels to be back in the editor’s chair for one of Australia’s iconic women’s lifestyle magazines.

Interview: Gemma Crisp, The Show Pony (and newly-appointed Editor of CLEO)

How did you get your big break into magazines? 
It’s a long convoluted story and a lot of it comes down to being in the right place at the right time… but the defining moment was scoring a three-month unpaid internship with the features department of British Marie Claire while living in London a decade ago. I made friends and contacts who helped open doors in the publishing industry when I moved to Sydney.

Did you always want to work in magazines, or did you just want to be a writer? 
I wasn’t one of those people who knew what they wanted to do from an early age – I flirted with the idea of being a radiographer (despite not having a scientific bone in my body!), a French teacher, a diplomat and a hotel manager… It took a career crisis in my early 20s to make me realise what I really wanted to do – and that was journalism, specifically magazine journalism. I devour newspapers both in print and online, but I don’t think my tone and style of writing suit that particular medium. 

How did it feel to score the CLEO Editor’s gig, and does it feel like you’re coming full circle now that you’re going back to the magazine after being their Features Editor and then moving into the Dolly’s Editor’s chair? 
Being offered the CLEO editorship felt a little surreal yet also completely normal – I’ve always had a soft spot for the magazine, even before working there as Features Editor and Associate Editor, so it almost feels like it’s fate, as disgustingly cheesy and clichéd as that sounds. Walking into the office after three years’ absence didn’t feel weird at all, so I guess you could say things have come full circle – although six months down the track, I could be warbling a different tune!

You left Dolly not long ago to try your hand at the freelance life. How does a lifestyle of being your own boss compare to working for a company or magazine?  
I spent eight months freelancing and was really surprised at how much work fell into my lap – I was lucky to get booked for a couple of lengthy in-house stints at two of the celebrity weekly magazines, which was a nice change having previously only worked on monthly mags. I was also fortunate in that I didn’t have to send out endless story pitches and hustle for work – although that may have changed if I’d spent more time in the freelance world.

Freelancers tend to comment about being able to work their own hours, or work in their PJ’s all day. Is that something that appealed to you, or did you structure your day around a routine to keep you more productive? 
I told myself I’d get into a routine and stick to it, but I have to admit the snooze button on my alarm clock was utilised more often than not! I’m not great with my own company, so I rented desk space in a communal warehouse office so I had somewhere to go and could be around other people, as opposed to slobbing around the house in my pyjamas while talking to the walls!

What are you looking forward to the most about editing CLEO? 
I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty, adding my own flavour to the magazine and being part of a team again, which is something I missed while freelancing.

Most bloggers find that, at least initially, it’s very hard to get your writing read by a large audience. Do you think that your work on the glossies made it easier for The Show Pony to work?  
The Showpony was more of a “baby” for me to work on while freelancing – after two years of editing a teen magazine, I wanted to write about things that appealed to me – so it was never meant to set the world on fire. I did have ‘send PR release to magazines’ on my to-do list, but I never quite got around to it! Erica at Girl With A Satchel was kind enough to link to my site a few times and it was mentioned in Sydney Confidential and Mumbrella, but I didn’t take advantage of my contacts as much as I could have.

What were some of the difficulties you first encountered swapping from a very senior editing role to blogging? Was it hard to establish an audience, build up the site, find your niche etc?  
The major difficulty was trying to balance freelance work with blogging – I totally underestimated how much time blogging chewed up so it was hard trying to juggle my personal writing with paying the bills. Unfortunately my life got a bit hectic towards the end, and I began to find blogging more of a chore, so the Pony is officially out to pasture… but who knows if it’s forever?

Did you consult any mentors or magazine girls turned freelancers to make the process a little easier? 
Nedahl Stelio, who was my editor at CLEO when I worked there from 2004 to 2007, has become a good friend and she helped out with advice when I was thinking of leaving DOLLY to do my own thing. She had also jumped from magazines to an online venture (www.cocolee.com.au, a fashion site that has weekly online sales) so had plenty of advice and tips – thanks Ned!

Do you have a goals list that the Wordsmith Lane readers can have a sneak peak at? 
Not really – apart from making CLEO as successful as I can! I’m not really a goal/mantra/affirmation person, mostly because I haven’t needed to be…

Do you have any particular direction you’d like to take CLEO in now that you’re in charge? 
I definitely have a lot of ideas and plans for the title, but that’s for me to know and you to find out!

What advice would you offer to aspiring bloggers, freelancers and wordsmiths who want to follow a similar career path? 
When it comes to becoming a journalist, there are so many different roads and paths that lead to the same place, so don’t feel like there’s only one way to break into magazines or become an editor. Never underestimate the importance of having a good attitude, a willingness to do anything you’re asked (no matter how menial it seems at the time) and the power of great ideas. 

Ten in the Hot Seat:

1. Describe yourself in one word: Can I have two? Pretty please? Go on, you know you want to… I can? “Pocket rocket.” Thanks!
2. Biggest accomplishment to date: Having a successful career in the magazine industry – if you’d told me I’d become the editor of two iconic Australian magazines back when I was a teenager growing up on a sheep farm in Tasmania, I would have thought you were on crack. (Not that I had any idea what crack was back then…)
3. You wish you wrote:  For my personal satisfaction – People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks. Such a great story, I wanted to re-read it as soon as I’d finished the last page.For my bank account – Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy.
4. Can’t leave home without: Getting dressed!
5. One thing you are currently writing: Answers to these questions.
6. First thing you wrote: Professionally? An article for British Marie Claire that involved travelling to the Northern Territory to spend a week on a remote cattle station, interviewing the jillaroos who worked there. I had NO idea what I was doing…
7. Addicted to reading: Vanity Fair and the Bureau of Meterology website – I’m obsessed with the weather forecast.
8. Top spot on your goals list: To survive the next three months – for some reason I thought it’d be a great idea to start a demanding new job, spend a month in Europe, sell my apartment, buy a house and get married, all by October!
9. If you were a character in a novel, you’d be: Little Miss Lucky.
10. The best thing about being a wordsmith: Learning something new every day.